to rhyme path and aftermath. I couldn’t help my racing heart when the “torn and bloody on the snow” bit rolled around. I squelched my musical inclinations and darted past the chapel and toward the wall.
Chobo skittered behind me, looking less and less like the savage guard dog I longed for.
I reached the tall, outer wall and pressed against the doorway to catch my breath. I heard the crunch of footsteps breaking through the icy crust that had formed on the deep drifts outside the castle. I crouched in the gateway.
Someone was running away from the castle and into the darkened night. The figure paused when he reached the tree line. The moon was high overhead and the terrible storm had blown past. The man looked back over his shoulder and I stifled a gasp, pressing both mittens over my mouth.
Vladim Volkov!
He scanned the empty stretch of snow behind him, pressed his forehead against the trunk of a pine for a few breaths, and then hurried into the forest beyond.
I wrapped my mittens around the thick iron ring in the door and heaved back. The heavy wood stuck for a moment, then groaned and eased shut, blocking out my view of Kirill Volkov’s missing nephew.
9
Chobo is Less Than Stealthy
The wolves were contained. I had officially saved the day and trapped Chobo and myself inside the castle grounds with a pack of ill-mannered pets and an angry young woman who was convinced that I was a killer. Why hadn’t I slipped out the door and locked the wolves inside?
My reasons were simple. I did not want to freeze to death. There was nowhere for me to take shelter except behind the tall rock walls surrounding the castle. At least I could duck into a tunnel if hypothermia really started to kick in.
So why had Vladim Volkov run off into the woods? True, he was dressed for it and probably had the advantage of actual snacks which he could eat to keep his body from shivering itself to pieces. But even with the snacks, it didn’t seem like a smart move. Did he have a reason to flee?
I looked toward the wolf pen. They had removed Kirill Volkov’s body, but there was still a bloody patch where I had found him.
That thought stopped me. The tunnels…
I needed to find the real killer. Rasia was certain I had murdered her uncle. I wouldn’t last long out in the woods and I needed shelter and work. I must prove my innocence. Although I supposed one might find shelter in prison. However, it was sure to be even worse than the orphanage and there would be no babies to rock, no purpose in life, only punishment and the passing of time.
Yikes! I needed to get cracking and the only thing that even remotely resembled a clue had been down in those tunnels.
Chobo sat in the snow at my feet and let out a happy “Wooo wooo woooo.”
I ruffled her ears and was about to answer her (with words, not woo woos) when something else answered first. A long, low howl hung in the clean night air, followed by another and then another. The castle grounds rang with the cries of hunting wolves until I was sure all the wolves had joined the savage song.
“Thanks a lot, Chobo,” I whispered as I took off for the dark stair that led down into the tunnels. Chobo gallumped after me. I slid into the stone alcove just as the darkest wolf trotted into the courtyard. He scented the ground, and then raised his pointed muzzle to the sky. His long, ghostly howl seemed part of the dark forest, the hungry wind, and the vast empty castle that sprawled across the hillside above.
The hair on my arms and neck stood up and I bit my lip to keep silent. The whimper of fear that sat in my chest and pressed against my throat would only bring him running.
Chobo whined.
His dark head swung toward us. Yellow eyes locked with mine and the breath froze and stilled within my lungs.
I turned and scrambled down the stairway, sprinting into the tunnels beyond.
The good news, there were a lot of tunnels and the wolves seemed hesitant to delve too deeply into their depths.
Chobo skittered behind me, looking less and less like the savage guard dog I longed for.
I reached the tall, outer wall and pressed against the doorway to catch my breath. I heard the crunch of footsteps breaking through the icy crust that had formed on the deep drifts outside the castle. I crouched in the gateway.
Someone was running away from the castle and into the darkened night. The figure paused when he reached the tree line. The moon was high overhead and the terrible storm had blown past. The man looked back over his shoulder and I stifled a gasp, pressing both mittens over my mouth.
Vladim Volkov!
He scanned the empty stretch of snow behind him, pressed his forehead against the trunk of a pine for a few breaths, and then hurried into the forest beyond.
I wrapped my mittens around the thick iron ring in the door and heaved back. The heavy wood stuck for a moment, then groaned and eased shut, blocking out my view of Kirill Volkov’s missing nephew.
9
Chobo is Less Than Stealthy
The wolves were contained. I had officially saved the day and trapped Chobo and myself inside the castle grounds with a pack of ill-mannered pets and an angry young woman who was convinced that I was a killer. Why hadn’t I slipped out the door and locked the wolves inside?
My reasons were simple. I did not want to freeze to death. There was nowhere for me to take shelter except behind the tall rock walls surrounding the castle. At least I could duck into a tunnel if hypothermia really started to kick in.
So why had Vladim Volkov run off into the woods? True, he was dressed for it and probably had the advantage of actual snacks which he could eat to keep his body from shivering itself to pieces. But even with the snacks, it didn’t seem like a smart move. Did he have a reason to flee?
I looked toward the wolf pen. They had removed Kirill Volkov’s body, but there was still a bloody patch where I had found him.
That thought stopped me. The tunnels…
I needed to find the real killer. Rasia was certain I had murdered her uncle. I wouldn’t last long out in the woods and I needed shelter and work. I must prove my innocence. Although I supposed one might find shelter in prison. However, it was sure to be even worse than the orphanage and there would be no babies to rock, no purpose in life, only punishment and the passing of time.
Yikes! I needed to get cracking and the only thing that even remotely resembled a clue had been down in those tunnels.
Chobo sat in the snow at my feet and let out a happy “Wooo wooo woooo.”
I ruffled her ears and was about to answer her (with words, not woo woos) when something else answered first. A long, low howl hung in the clean night air, followed by another and then another. The castle grounds rang with the cries of hunting wolves until I was sure all the wolves had joined the savage song.
“Thanks a lot, Chobo,” I whispered as I took off for the dark stair that led down into the tunnels. Chobo gallumped after me. I slid into the stone alcove just as the darkest wolf trotted into the courtyard. He scented the ground, and then raised his pointed muzzle to the sky. His long, ghostly howl seemed part of the dark forest, the hungry wind, and the vast empty castle that sprawled across the hillside above.
The hair on my arms and neck stood up and I bit my lip to keep silent. The whimper of fear that sat in my chest and pressed against my throat would only bring him running.
Chobo whined.
His dark head swung toward us. Yellow eyes locked with mine and the breath froze and stilled within my lungs.
I turned and scrambled down the stairway, sprinting into the tunnels beyond.
The good news, there were a lot of tunnels and the wolves seemed hesitant to delve too deeply into their depths.
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