In Deep Dark Wood Read Online Free Page B

many centuries ago.
    ‘I want to see down by the roadworks,’ said Mia, startling Rory from his daydream.
    At the edge of the wood they both stopped, horrified by the decimated area where huge trees had been removed to make room for road widening. Cars and trucks would soon replace green leaves and tree trunks.
    ‘It has been destroyed,’ said Rory, sadly.
    Mia searched among the enormous tree trunks cut close to the ground. Bending down low she scrabbled among the scattered sawdust and timber until she found what shewanted. There it was, a large circle of rounded stones placed near to each other, almost covered by bracken and ferns.
    ‘That’s funny,’ said Rory, ‘I never noticed them before.’

    Rory had put two chocolate bars in his pocket. Fresh air and exercise always made him hungry. Deep in the woods there was a clearing where wooden picnic tables had been set up for the summer visitors. Rory sat down on one of the benches and passed Mia some chocolate.
    She nibbled it slowly, like a small rabbit, leaving teeth marks in the bar. A fat wood pigeon strutted by, pecking at the ground.
    ‘I bet she sent him to spy on me,’ Mia muttered to herself, shooing the bird away.
    ‘Is everything all right, Mia?’ Rory asked softly.
    He could see a flicker of indecision cross her face.
    ‘I don’t know what to do, Rory, I’m scared and …’ His sister looked around as if checking her surroundings. ‘Do you believe in magic, Rory?’
    Surprised by her question, he began to laugh, ignoring her dismay.
    ‘You mean like Dad!’ he jeered. ‘No way! It’s just tricks and sleight of hand and practice, that’s all magic is.’
    ‘No, I mean proper magic,’ she insisted.
    ‘Hocus pocus! I don’t believe any of that kind of stuff,’ he said firmly. ‘You know that! There’s always a logical reason for things. An explanation.’
    Mia smiled nervously. ‘What about Bella? You saw her too, Rory. Bella can do magic! You know she can!’
    ‘The Bird Woman! Is that what’s upset you?’
    ‘She’s not a Bird Woman!’ Mia shouted angrily at him. ‘She’s a Dragon Woman, a Dragon Keeper!’
    ‘A Dragon Woman!’ he burst out laughing. ‘I don’t believe it, Mia! Where on earth did you get such a crazy idea from? Dragons! They don’t exist! They’re just a myth, part of old legends!’
    ‘They do exist!’ she screamed at him. ‘I’ve seen them!’
    ‘You thought you saw them, imagined you saw them!’ he insisted. Perhaps that old witch or whatever she is conjured them up, or hypnotised you. Be sensible, Mia, there’s no such thing as dragons, not really!’
    ‘You play with dragons, I’ve seen you, Rory.’
    ‘That’s on the computer. They’re just games. Made-up, animated, computer-generated images of dragons and monsters, whatever. They’re not real, it’s just for fun!’
    ‘But someone must have seen them once. How else would they know how to draw them?’
    ‘They imagined them,’ he retorted firmly.
    ‘The other day I was looking for Bella, Rory, and I went into the glasshouse. Remember when Mr Hackett had it and it was full of all his plants? Do you know what Bella has hidden there? Dragons, small baby dragons. Dragonlings. I saw them. I swear! She found them in that circle of stones at the edge of the woods. She says that they’re the last surviving dragons in the world. They’re so small they look almost like big lizards.Bella says that she wants me to help her, to become her apprentice. She says she’s too old, that she wants to teach me all she knows about them and show me what to do before her time runs out!’ Mia, pale and breathless, let the words come tumbling out, fast and furious, her voice shaking.
    ‘They’re dragons, baby dragons, I saw them, Rory, honest I did! I touched one, felt his skin, and ran my fingers along his backbone. I saw his eyes. It was a real dragon, Rory, I’m not imagining it, honest I’m not!’
    Rory didn’t know what to think. How could Mia