The Daughters Daring (The Daughters Daring & The Enchanted Forest Book 1) Read Online Free

direction of the mustached guard. Most of the area around them was an open field, but there were a few stands of trees that they could use to stay hidden. After they ran beyond the nearest thicket, no one seemed to be following them, and they slowed down.
         “What happened back there?” Emily asked her sister.
         “I don’t know,” Elizabeth said, looking back. “Someone was helping us, not that I needed any help, but who?”
         “And why?” Emily said.
         The daughters decided it was a mystery best solved later, after they found the missing sweetberries. They rounded another stand of trees and came to an old trail. Although grown over, it was clear from the trampled foliage that it had been used recently, and by numerous sets of feet. They didn’t have to follow the trail very far before they came upon the Enchanted Forest.
         “This is it, Liz. Once we go in, there's no turning back.”
         “Really, Em, you're soooo dramatic! What's the worst that can happen?”
         With characteristic daring, the girls entered the forest. Emily hefted her staff for extra comfort, while Elizabeth gripped the handle of her bow. As they walked, their confidence grew as they beheld the many sights of the beautiful forest. There were majestic trees that seemed to reach up into the heavens, vines and flowers of every sort, colorful butterflies that danced softly in the air. This certainly did not seem like a place of danger.
         After a while, Elizabeth spotted a crushed sweetberry on the trail, and Emily found tiny footprints just beyond that. The girls agreed it had to be the footprints of gnomes, and they followed them farther into the forest, until the trail lead them to the entrance of a large, dark cave. The forest was quiet here, and the air coming from the cave was chilly. They tried peering in, but couldn't see very far for the limited light. Emily started gathering small sticks and bundled them together to make a torch.
         “Well,” Emily said, “the trail clearly leads here. I guess we should check it out.”
         “All right,” said Elizabeth, “but you hold the torch. I need two hands for my bow.”
         Emily gave her sister a look. “Fine, just be careful. I would hate to get shot in the backside!”
         “Oh please! Do I have to hear about it endlessly? He ran right in front of me, and his chubby backside was impossible to miss!”
          Emily shook her head at her sister and started into the cave. Elizabeth followed closely behind, an arrow nocked on her bow.
         The cave was damp and not very inviting. The girls agreed this didn’t seem like a pleasant place for gnomes to live. Still, neither of them had ever visited the homes of gnomes before, so they couldn't be sure.
         They ventured on for a while and soon Elizabeth lost interest. While Emily was carefully tiptoeing, her sister (having returned the arrow to her quiver) made sport of jumping from rock to rock. This was fun, and she was enjoying herself quite well, until she stepped on a wobbly rock that was covered in moss, and slipped. The rock spun out from under her, dumping her on her own backside with a thud. The rock rolled into the darkness, falling down a crevice and bouncing loudly off several other large rocks in its path.
         Something in the distance grumbled.
         The girls froze, trembling as they tried to listen into the darkness. Whatever had grumbled sounded big, much bigger than a gnome. After a few moments, Emily sighed, ready to press on.
         Then, there was a different noise. This was a lighter sound, like raindrops, or maybe the sound of hundreds of tiny feet.  It grew louder.
         “Somethings coming!” Emily shouted. “Run!”
         The girls raced back out of the cave and into the forest where they could see their surroundings better. Emily dropped the torch and already had a good, round stone loaded up on