Free 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison

comfortable knowing that neither she nor Fabian had any intentions of disturbing them.
    Soon the fairy rings became fewer, before disappearing altogether, but then they happened upon something else. Silver-gray railings went around in a circular shape, guarding a massive, cavelike hole in the ground. Oberon trotted ahead, sniffing the foliage atthe foot of the railings, then cocking his leg against them.
    “How big do you think this one is?” Tanya asked.
    “About three meters,” said Fabian. “It’s similar in size to the large one we saw in the summer.”
    This was the third
denehole
Tanya had seen, but it had no less impact on her than the first. They were truly sinister, and no real explanation had ever been found for their existence.
    “Come on,” said Fabian. “Look. There’s a path.”
    Oberon waited ahead for them, wagging his tail. As they approached, he lowered his nose to the ground and snuffled along as though picking up a scent. After a short distance, he paused again and waited, his tongue falling out of the side of his mouth.
    “Looks like he’s picked up on something,” said Fabian.
    “He has,” Tanya replied. She glimpsed a flash of yellow through the greenery. “He’s been here before. He’s found her.”
    The caravan was just as she remembered: vibrantly painted, old, and ornate. They crept up to the sky-blue front door. Tanya was a split second from knocking when voices from the open window stopped her. Shocked, she whipped around to face Fabian.
    They had both immediately recognized one of the low voices as Warwick’s.
    “What’s he doing here?” Tanya mouthed.
    “I don’t know!” Fabian whispered. “But he’ll skinus alive if he sees us! You know we’re not supposed to come into the woods!” He darted closer to the caravan and pressed himself to its side, beneath the open window, beckoning for Tanya to join him.
    “What are you doing?” she whispered.
    “Let’s listen,” he said quietly. “I want to know what he’s doing here. We can hide under the caravan if we need to.”
    Tanya scurried to Fabian’s side, her pulse racing. Warwick’s voice was a murmur, drifting through the open window.
    “So you can’t tell me anything then?”
    Morag spoke, her aged voice a croak. “No, I cannot—she is not known to me, not at this time.”
    “But if you see anything, you’ll send for me?” Warwick continued. “It’s important.”
    “If she appears to me I will let you know,” the old woman promised.
    Moments passed wordlessly inside the caravan.
    “What’s going on?” Fabian hissed, clearly bewildered. “Who are they talking about?”
    “I don’t know who,” Tanya answered. “But she’s talking about her visions. Your father is asking her for information, things she might have…
seen
.”
    They both looked up at the open window.
    “I’m getting something else,” Morag could be heard saying at last. “It’s hazy, but it’s something to do with a new arrival… at the manor. Something in the past… a child. A child who was lost. It’s never been forgotten. And ahead there lies trouble, this I can see clearly.”
    “What kind of trouble?” Warwick asked sharply.
    “The kind you are already familiar with,” Morag replied.
    There was a shuffling from inside the caravan, and the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door. The secret meeting was over.
    Tanya and Fabian looked at each other in panic, then scrambled beneath the caravan, each rolling to the opposite edges in order to conceal themselves behind one of the four huge wheels. The caravan door opened above them, and Warwick’s mud-encrusted boots descended the tiny set of steps. Midway, he turned back to face the direction he had come from. To Tanya’s alarm, Oberon’s tail began to thump at the familiar scent of Warwick. She placed a warning hand on his collar, praying that he would not reveal their presence.
    “When will the tonic be ready?” Warwick was saying. “I’m almost