The Forest of Adventures (#1 of The Knight Trilogy) by Katie M John

as it
trembled in the quiet it was the only movement in the entire
room.
    I let my eyes roam over the
curved shape of Blake’s spine and onto his thighs tensed in the
position of prayer. His eyes were closed and I saw how his black
eyelashes swept down, casting a shadow onto his cheek. The
beautiful and awesome image of an angel hit me with full force and
I stood starring deeply at him, drinking in every detail. I watched
as he licked his lips before beginning to mouth a silent prayer and
when finished, he raised the cross to his lips and kissed it.
    I swung myself back out of the
door, knowing that it would be terrible to be found spying on such
an intimate and private moment. I felt a naughty guilt, almost as
if I had walked in on Blake naked, and it sent such shivers of
desire up my spine that I had to lean against the wall to stop
myself from falling.
    *
    It wasn’t long before Blake
swung the car in front of the hospital doors, “Sorry I’m late Mina.
I got caught up; the rain’s causing havoc with the traffic and
there’s been an accident blocking the main road.”
    I slid in beside him, “No
problem.”
    Seeing me still trembling, he
reached forward and turned up the heater not realising that I was
already on fire.

10. FOREST OF ADVENTURES
     
    Blake’s traffic report turned
out to be more true than he probably realised and after twenty
minutes caught in a tailback out of town, he swerved off onto the
back roads.
    “It’s longer but I think it’ll
be faster tonight,” he said by way of explanation. “That’s just in
case you were beginning to worry that I was secretly a mad axe
murderer,” he smiled.
    “Well I was beginning to
wonder.” I looked over at him for the first time since getting in
the car and returned his smile.
    “Do you want to phone Martha,
tell her about the delay?”
    “Martha?” I looked at him
quizzically. “How do you know my mother’s maiden name? Have you
been checking up on me, Mr Beldevier?” I teased.
    He was embarrassed at having
been caught out, “Just a few neighbourly enquiries.”
    “So what else do you know about
me then?”
    “Not much.” He shrugged,
“You’re really quite elusive. I know that you and Sam have been
together since you were fourteen. I know it’s a generally accepted
fact that you’ll end up married to each other. I know you’re very
clever, top of your class in most subjects. A good artist, I’ve
seen your work displayed in the atrium and I also know that even
you think you’re a bit odd.”
    I laughed, hitting him on the
arm, “Hey, who you calling odd?”
    Suddenly my side window was hit
by the heavy slap-sound of water; the ford, swollen with rain was
running higher than usual. The car spat and juddered to a halt,
sounding as if it had been choked.
    “Shit!” Blake shouted out,
banging the steering wheel. “We’ve got a problem.” He turned the
key, willing the car to spring back into life but it wasn’t having
any of it; it sounded fed up and stubbornly damp.
    “Water’s got into the engine.
I’ll have to call the recovery company. I am so sorry, Mina; so
much for a faster route home!”
    We were miles from anywhere, in
the middle of absolutely nowhere. We hadn’t seen another car the
whole journey and it would take the recovery van at least an hour
to get to us, even if they set off straight away.
    Blake riffled through the glove
box, retrieving his membership card and mobile, “Damn it, I can’t
get a signal. We’re in a valley; must be a black spot. I’m not even
sure where we are,” he said throwing his hands up in apology.
“Look, we’re going to have decide what we’re going to do. I need to
get to higher ground, try and get a signal but I really don’t feel
happy about leaving you here on your own.”
    I looked round at the dark
forest surrounding us, nothing but various shades of blue and black
trees with spiky, scratchy looking limbs which I had a strong
suspicion, in my usually hysterical way, would take