Free 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison Page A

didn’t look hurt, did he?”
    The girl trained her dark eyes on Tanya. “No, he looked fine. Come with me, I’ll help you look for him. I know these parts well. Once we have the dog I can lead you out of the forest.”
    Tanya shot a relieved glance at Fabian; then they began to follow the girl, who was moving quickly ahead, weaving in and out of the trees. Once or twice Tanya thought she saw faces in the bark of trees, or the limblike movement of a branch, but no longer felt able to distinguish between that which was fey and her own paranoia.
    She noticed that this part of the forest was very quiet, and the trees seemed bigger and older somehow, the colors richer and the woodland scents heavier. They neared a huge tree, with a hole in its trunk wide enough to walk through.
    “I wonder if this is the tree,” Fabian said. “It’s sturdy enough.”
    “What tree?”
    “You know,
the
tree!” He pulled a ghoulish face. “The one people used to be hanged from. There must be one. How else do you think the forest got its name? Go on, you go through first.”
    “I don’t want to,” Tanya protested, but Fabian’s hand was between her shoulder blades, urging her through. Inside it was dark and smelled musty and damp, and she could hear the scuttling of creatures that were nesting there. In her haste to get out quickly she caught her foot on a root, and stumbled back through into the light.
    A rough hand grabbed her shoulder.
    Tanya yelled and kicked out as hard as she could. There was a horrible thud as her foot made contact, and her assailant gave a low groan. Fabian stumbled through, reaching for her blindly, then stopped dead.
    “Warwick,” he gasped.
    Tanya looked up into Warwick’s face. He was rubbing his shin with his free hand. Sitting meekly behind him was Oberon, a length of thin rope joined to his collar as a makeshift leash.
    “That hurt,” Warwick told her through gritted teeth. “Don’t do it again.” He turned to Fabian, eyes flashing with anger. “And it’s
Dad
to you.”
    Tanya wrenched herself free of his grasp and fell upon Oberon. The dog licked her lovingly, not quite sure what all the attention was for but enjoying it all the same. Fabian reached over and patted him, relieved.
    “How did you find him?” Tanya asked.
    “You’re both in big trouble,” Warwick growled, ignoring the question. It was clear he was seething.
    Tanya felt a sudden jolt of fear. She had never seen the man so angry.
    “How many times have I told you, boy? These woods are dangerous!”
    “It’s my fault,” said Tanya, before Fabian had the chance to speak. “Oberon ran off, and I panicked. I—I asked Fabian to come with me.”
    Warwick eyed her coldly. “You should have waited for me. This forest is no place to be if you don’t know your way around.”
    “I’m sorry,” she replied, hanging her head, which seemed to placate him a little.
    “It’s lucky you were wearing that,” he said, jerking his head toward her red T-shirt. He gave Fabian a scathing once-over. “If you were wearing green like this idiot I wouldn’t have spotted you so easily—even though you were making enough noise to wake the dead.”
    “Oh,” Tanya muttered. For a moment she had thought Warwick had known the real reason she had chosen to wear red—not that it had done her much good in the end. Fabian looked down at his brown and green clothes uncomfortably.
    “Best be getting back,” said Warwick, although his tone was marginally less angry now. He turned and began to walk briskly.
    She exchanged glances with Fabian behind Warwick’s back. He was looking glum, and although she was glad he had been with her, she was sorry that he was going to get into trouble.
    “Hang on a minute,” said Fabian suddenly. He turned back to look the way they had just come. “Where did that girl go?”
    Warwick spun around. “What girl?”
    “There was a girl,” said Tanya. “She saw Oberon a few minutes ago—she offered to help us