Chosen Ones Read Online Free

path along the rocky outcrop, woods to her right and sea to her left. Suddenly the trees came to an end and she found herself in a clearing. She could see, hear, and smel the sea through the line of gnarled old trees that encircled the open space. And at the opposite end she saw a familiar figure, his back to her as he looked out over this unfamiliar world. She caught her breath and broke into a run.
    Hearing the approaching footsteps, Peter turned. He looked at his sister as she came running towards him and almost didn’t recognize her. Her eyes were bright, her face flushed with relief and delight, and he hugged her, something he would never have dreamed of doing back home. But the rules seemed different here.
    “Peter, it’s come true! We’ve gotten to Wonderland after al !”
    Peter pul ed away with a grimace. “I don’t think we’re in Wonderland, Julia.”
    “Wel then, let’s go exploring and find out what this place is.” She looked over Peter’s shoulder, past the edge of the clearing. “What were you looking at earlier? Did you see anything?”
    “I saw a silver patch just over there—no, there,” he said, pointing. “It looks just like the light from the garden back at home. I was about to go explore when you appeared.”
    “It seems as good a place to begin as any,” she agreed. “Shal we fol ow that trail, and see where it takes us?” She indicated a worn path down through the trees.
    It might not have been a path at al , as Peter was only too eager to point out. It was nothing more than a deer trail, real y—a few patches of trampled grass that wove between the trees. But no other option presenting itself, the two started forward.

    And they walked into the woods, the sea receding behind them. The soft whishing of the waves on the shoreline quickly gave way to the rustling of the leafy canopy in the warm breeze. The salty tang of the beach was displaced by the fragrance of blossoms and pine resin. Peter and Julia looked around in wonder at plants which seemed to have come straight out of travelers’ tales.
    Green dappled light flickered on the path ahead of them, while creepers with blue, white, and orange flowers descended on al sides.

    “It’s magic!” thought Julia to herself.
    After ten minutes, the path—if indeed it could be cal ed a path—came to a fork. Peter, in the lead, paused and turned to Julia.
    “Which way, do you think?” he asked, scuffing a toe in the ground. He didn’t look at his sister, loathe to admit he didn’t know the way. Julia, grateful that they had stopped, began ceremoniously tearing wide strips of cloth from the edges of her garment.
    “Absolutely no idea,” she muttered, teeth clenched as she tore the white cloth. “Wait one minute while I make some shoes. My feet are kil ing me.” She tore off two lengths of fabric and wrapped them careful y around her feet, tucking the ends in under the folds. Peter, seeing the wisdom in this, did likewise.
    “Now then,” said Julia, grinning at the sight of her brother’s freshly swaddled feet, “which path to take? Where’s that silver glow?”
    “The trees are blocking it,” said Peter. “We’ve gone downhil from the clearing, I’m afraid.” And so they had. There was nothing but forest in every direction, and the two lightly trampled paths leading away from each other.
    “Left,” said Julia promptly.
    “I think right,” said Peter.
    “Why?”
    Peter tried very, very hard to think of a reason, wishing he’d paid a great deal more attention during his Orienteering training as a Boy Scout. He could remember something about the North Star, but it was ful daylight, and anyway who was to say that the North Star existed here, wherever they were?
    “Because I said so,” he concluded. Julia gave a sound somewhere between a snort and a scoff and headed to the left, and what choice had Peter but to fol ow?
    It was a half hour later—a very long half hour later—that the trees fel away to reveal