Free Unlocking the Spell by E. D. Baker Page B

“I don’t like it. It’s old and it’s not pink.”
    â€œI know!” Annie said. “I think it’s perfect!”

Chapter 8
    Beldegard and liam searched the forest for the rest of the afternoon while Annie tried to help and Gwendolyn complained that her feet hurt. The Dark Forest was only a hundred acres, so by the time it began to get dark they had already tromped across most of it without seeing a sign of any dwarves.
    â€œThis is interesting,” said Beldegard, snuffling the ground. They had just reached the northwest corner of the forest where the trees were taller and older than the rest.
    â€œDid you find a dwarf footprint, my love?” asked Gwendolyn.
    Beldegard shook his head. “No, just bear prints—some big, some little. It looks like a mother bear and her cub live around here.”
    The thunder that had been rumbling to either side of them for most of the afternoon sounded closer nowand the sky was quickly growing darker. “We need to find shelter,” said Liam.
    â€œHuh,” grunted Beldegard. “Just stay away from caves. Even I don’t want to face a mother bear with a cub. They get riled easily.”
    â€œThe trees are thinner in this direction,” said Liam. “It looks like someone cut some down. Maybe we’ll find a woodcutter’s cottage where we can pay to spend the night.”
    â€œI’d rather sleep outside,” murmured Gwendolyn.
    â€œNot in the rain,” Annie told her. “When this storm hits, you won’t care what the cottage is like as long as you have a roof over your head.”
    â€œI don’t think that’s true,” Gwendolyn said, but Annie noticed that her sister was quick to pull the hood of her new cape over her head when the first raindrops began to fall.
    They continued to walk as the rain fell harder and were drenched when Liam finally shouted, “Over there! I see a house.”
    â€œI hope it’s clean,” Gwendolyn muttered under her breath.
    â€œI hope they’ll let us in,” said Annie.
    The house had two stories, arched windows, and an arched door. The fireplaces at either end of the house looked as if they were holding the sharply peaked roof in place. Outbuildings in the back included stalls for horses, but the only occupants seemed to be the barnswallows that Beldegard disturbed when he peeked inside.
    â€œThere are no lit candles or fires in the fireplaces,” Liam told Annie as he peered through the windows. “Either no one is home or they’ve gone to bed already. Wait here while I look and see.”
    It was getting colder now, and though the cape kept Gwendolyn warm, Annie had begun to shiver. She drew closer to Liam as he pounded on the door. When no one answered, he shoved it open and stepped inside. “No one’s here as far as I can tell,” he said when he returned to the door a minute later, a lit candle in his hand. “Come in out of the rain, but stay by the door while I go look upstairs.”
    Liam took the candle with him, leaving the room dark once again. When Annie hesitated at the door waiting for her eyes to adjust, Gwendolyn pushed past her. Unfastening the ties on the soggy cape, Gwendolyn dropped it on the floor and walked off.
    â€œHere,” Annie said, handing the cape to her sister. “I’m not your servant. Hang it up somewhere so it can dry.”
    â€œWhere?” Gwendolyn asked as she looked around.
    Annie turned in place, examining the room. Only a little light came through the windows, so she really couldn’t see much aside from a table with three chairs at one end and a grouping of three rocking chairs at the other. When she spotted candles and a flint on themantel, she lit two and handed one to Gwendolyn. “Why don’t you put your cape on the back of one of those chairs?” Annie said, pointing at the table.
    Gwendolyn sighed as if Annie had asked for too much, but