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Chapter 1
A Summer Meeting
Mr Blood, Mary and Edgar were high on a hill. They could see for miles all around. It was summer, and the sun was hot. But they could see storm clouds were coming towards them.
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âWe must find somewhere to stay tonight,â said Mr Blood. He led the way down into a valley. The fields on either side of the path were just brown earth.
Edgar was surprised. âItâs summer,â he said. âThe crops should be ready for harvest. But look, everything is dead.â He was right. The crops had failed.
âSomeone is coming,â said Mary. A skinny boy was running towards them across the field.
âDo you have any food?â begged the boy. âWe havenât eaten for days.â
âTake this,â said Mr Blood, handing over an apple and a loaf of bread from his pack. The boy put the bread under his arm and ran back across the field, eating the apple as he went.
They saw more empty fields and then came to a small village. More hungry people came to beg for food, just as the boy had done.
âWe shouldnât stay here,â Edgar whispered.
âYouâre right,â said Mr Blood, âwe havenât enough to feed them all and they could get nasty.â
They handed over all the food they could spare and kept walking. Everywhere they looked the crops had failed.
âPoor people,â Mr Blood said, shaking his head.
They came round a bend in the lane and saw a young woman. She was dressed all in white. She was humming softly to herself. As soon as Edgar and Mr Blood saw the woman they stopped and stared at her. They could not stop staring at her.
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Mary spoke to the young woman. âCould you help us?â she asked. âThereâs a storm coming and we need somewhere to stay for the night.â
âYou can stay at my fatherâs farm if you like,â the young woman said. âWe let guests stay with us all the time. Some of them stay for a long time.â As she said this, she gave a strange smile.
Edgar and Mr Blood stood still, staring at the woman.
âSorry about them,â said Mary. âThe boy is called Edgar, the manâs name is Mr Blood and Iâm Mary.â
âFollow me,â said the woman, turning away.
Mr Blood and Edgar both blinked and shook their heads. It was as if they had been in a dream and had just woken up.
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Chapter 2
The Farm
The young woman led them across a field towards a large farmhouse. A big man stood next to the house.
âHave you found some more guests for us?â he shouted. The woman in white nodded. The man seemed pleased and he hurried across the field to meet them.
âYou must stay with us until the storm has passed,â he said. âYou have met my daughter, June. Now come inside and meet her sisters and my wife.â
Mary saw that the farmer was carrying a bow.
The farmhouse door opened and a fat woman with red cheeks waved to them.
âWelcome, welcome!â she said, and then turned round to shout back through the door. âLily! Rose! Come and meet our guests.â
Two young women came out of the house. They both looked just like June. Mr Blood and Edgar stopped still, staring at them.
âStop staring!â whispered Mary to Edgar. âRemember your manners!â
âTriplets!â said the farmer, pointing at his three daughters. âI am a lucky man, arenât I?â
Mary was puzzled. She was thinking about the poor, starving boy who had asked them for food. And the villagers had been starving too. Yet the farmer and his wife were fat, and their daughters looked well-fed.
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Mary wanted to ask Mr Blood what he thought. But when she looked at him, she saw that his eyes were blank. It was as if the three young women had put a spell on him and Edgar. Mary began to feel afraid.
They went into the farmhouse and sat down in the kitchen.
âI have some stew ready and