Free The Snowy Tower by Belinda Murrell Page A

a slight movement in the forest ahead. He stopped his horse and held up his hand for silence.
    There was another sudden movement, and a muffled noise. Sniffer gestured to the rest of the party to stay behind, while he dismounted and crept on ahead for twenty metres. He peered through the undergrowth into a small glade.
    Here he could see five horses tethered – three well-bred hunters, a pure white pony and a black pony. The sturdy black pony whickered in warning, pawing the ground and shaking its head. A smile lit up Sniffer’s face. Huddled together under an overhanging fallen log, he could see two sleeping bodies – two children, covered with dark green cloaks.
    Sniffer crept back to his men, who dismounted and crowded around to listen to his report.
    ‘They are just up ahead,’ he whispered. ‘Sleeping. Now I want you four to creep around to the west, you four over to the south. I’ll take four men to the north, so we will have them surrounded. Leave the horses tethered here and go on foot as quietly as you can. When you hear my call, then we will strike.’
    Lord Mortimer gazed eagerly at the figures sleeping in the distance. ‘Remember, don’t injure the girl dressed as a boy!’ he said, already planning his wedding later that day.
    The soldiers nodded their understanding and crept off in the directions that Sniffer had specified. Lord Mortimer and Captain Malish stayed at the rear with the horses and four soldiers.
    Sniffer and his band of men crept to the north, moving slowly to avoid cracking branches. The children’s horses started nervously, snuffling the air for danger. One of the children stirred, but settled back to sleep again. Sniffer chose a spot with clear access to the glade. He paused for a few minutes, watching. There was no sign of the dog.
    Sniffer whistled softly into the morning air, ‘Too-wit-too-woo.’
    ‘Too-wit-too-woo,’ answered back from the east.
    Things happened quickly. Sniffer and his soldiers ran forward, spreading out over a few metres, eyes forward and daggers drawn. From the trees above, a man dressed in green dropped suddenly, landing on the last soldier, knocking him to the ground. Sniffer heard the thump of a body hitting the forest floor and turned around in surprise, ready to berate the soldier who had tripped. Another green flash jumped from behind a log, knocking his black-armoured target flying. Two more emerged from behind tree trunks, daggers in their hands.
    Before Sniffer could react, he realised that all four of his men were fighting, struggling, rolling on the ground with men dressed in green, who had sprung as if from the very soil. In a few moments, the four Sedah soldiers were deprived of weapons and tied up.
    Sniffer ran. He ran as fast as his short, stooped frame could take him. He ran straight for the bodies of the two children sleeping in the clearing. One of them was the Princess Roana, and this time he was going to catch her.

    At that moment, Lily was struggling with the ropethat bound her. She wriggled and twisted until at last the rope dropped free.
    Lily sighed with satisfaction. Ethan whistled in excitement.
    ‘Thank the Moon Goddess, you’re free,’ Ethan whispered. ‘The guard must’ve been in such a hurry that he tied the knots carelessly. Come and untie mine.’
    ‘Yes, he was in a hurry,’ Lily whispered, as her fingers worked at the knots that tied Ethan’s hands. ‘But I also thought of Caramel and how she always blows herself up like a barrel, so that when she releases her breath, the girth comes loose and slides off. So when he was tying me up the second time, I filled my lungs with air and puffed myself up as hard and strong as I could. The rope didn’t quite slide off, but it made it a lot easier to undo.’
    ‘That was clever,’ congratulated Ethan, grinning broadly as he rubbed blood back into his tingling fingers. ‘Thanks, that feels better. Now let’s see if we can get out of this cottage and find the