Free Atalanta and the Arcadian Beast by Jane Yolen Page B

wish I could run.”
    Quickly, the men made four torches out of long branches and twig heads, wound about with pieces of their shirts. They held the torches into the campfire till one by one, they blazed.
    Atalanta took the lead with Urso by her side, his ears standing up alertly. The nimbus of torchlight stretched only a few feet ahead, and with the light came accompanying shadows. Atalanta knew she’d have to rely on the bear’s instincts to alert them to any presence of the beast.
    Evenor followed close behind, and at his back came Demas, one hand under Goryx’s arm. Phreneus was their nervous rear guard, flinching at every rustle in the undergrowth and jabbing his spear at irregular intervals as if to keep a whole host of imaginary enemies at bay.
    It was dawn when Eteos finally came in sight, and only then did Atalanta relax a little.
    With a great loud whuffle, Urso abandoned them at the edge of the village, bounding back into the forest. Atalanta turned for a moment, watching him go. She wished she could follow. To keep him safe. But right now she knew the villagers needed reassurance.
    And reinforcements, she thought.
    As they drew nearer to the cluster of cottages, she saw that the whole place was already astir, like a disturbed beehive.
    On the far side of the village, across the square and to the right, a buzzing crowd had gathered around the goat pen. The hunters headed straight there, and when the crowd parted to let them through, Atalanta saw that five of the goats in the pen had been slaughtered, their throats and bellies ripped open and two of them partially eaten. The soft parts.
    “It’s been here already,” Phreneus said, shaking his head.
    “Yes,” Evenor agreed. “Nothing else could have done this much damage.”
    Goryx began to tremble uncontrollably again. Atalanta could hear his teeth chattering. She put her hand out to him, but he shook her off, almost angrily.
    Finding his wife, Herma, in the crowd, Evenor said, “Take Goryx to his cottage and have someone tend his wounds before his leg swells up.”
    “What happened to him?” Herma asked, eyeing the bloody bandage.
    “Nearly the same thing that happened to these goats,” Atalanta said.
    For a long moment after that there was silence. Finally one man asked the hunters, “What manner of creature is it that can move so fast and strike so brutally in the dark? Not even a mountain cat or a bear does this much damage.”
    “Atalanta saw it,” Evenor said.
    “What did it look like, girl?” someone else called out.
    “I only saw it for a second,” Atalanta replied, “but it was a monster. High as a bull at the shoulder, in the likeness of a cat, but with wings.”
    A skeptical murmur passed through the crowd.
    “Does it have a name?” someone else cried. “This monster?”
    “I’ve never seen another like it,” Atalanta replied.
    “Whatever this creature is,” said Phreneus, “we must warn the other villages that they need to guard their animals—and themselves.”
    “I’ll go,” said Evenor, “and Atalanta should come with me. To describe it properly.”
    Atalanta trembled, with fear as well as fatigue, but she gave her silent agreement to Evenor’s plan.
    Only Herma seemed to notice her shaking.
    “Not until you’ve had a proper meal and some sleep,” she told them firmly, before dragging Goryx off to be tended.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LAND OF DANGER
    A TALANTA FOUND IT EASIER to eat than to sleep. Her dreams exhausted her more than the long night’s trek through the forest, dreams of teeth dripping blood, dreams of wings of flame.
    It was a relief when Evenor shook her awake.
    “There are a few hours of daylight left,” he said. “If we leave now, we can reach the next village before dark.”
    “Can we wait for Urso?” Atalanta asked, suddenly missing her furry friend.
    “He’ll have to find us on his own,” Evenor told her. “There’s little, time to lose.”
    Phreneus insisted on coming with them. Since he