Free The Spell of Rosette by Kim Falconer Page B

before scooping snowballs and firing them at their heads, the fists of ice forcing them to seek cover. Rosette had an accurate throwing arm, thanks to her playful summers with Jarrod and Liam, and she felt grateful for it now as the birds flew higher and higher in retreat.
    Constantly looking over her shoulder, the journey home seemed to take forever. At the edge of the woods she turned back, catching her breath. A pale beam of sunlight shone between the clouds. It was near to setting. The baby cat felt warm now, and the dripping had stopped. The double-time tap of its heartbeat against her own reassured her it was still alive.
    ‘We’ll be home soon,’ she cooed, patting the large bump in her coat.
    Hoisting her staff like a fishing pole, she jogged the rest of the way to the cottage.
    Around the corner of the ruined temple, on a fallen slab of marble entangled with bare vines and spotted with snow, a mammoth feline stood. She opened her mouth to roar, but let no air escape her lungs. She closed her eyes instead and sat. Her tail wrapped tight around her body, the tip lifting slightly, moving in fits and jerks. Slowly she lay down on her sternum, her forepaws stretched out in front of her like a sphinx. She didn’t flinch, but her heart pounded into the cold marble like a slow, aching drum.
    Maudi was tortured by her choice. Was it the right one? She was tempted to run down the girl and retrieve her cub. Her whiskers twitched as Drack, a rust-and-black male, approached, sitting a distance away. She could feelthe vibration of his purr through the marble slab, through her heart. She knew it was generated from fear, not joy—an involuntary response to alarm, something like the way humans might laugh when suddenly frightened. Drack probably thought she would eat him alive.
    She considered it.
    It was the only way, Maudi.
    She turned her head towards her mate and snarled, her tongue flashing over white teeth.
    There will be other cubs.
    At this comment she spun on her haunches and lunged at him, claws swiping towards his face. He leapt aside to avoid the raking.
    She returned to her vigil.
    Maudi, Drack tried again, he’s bonded now. They will both benefit from the union.
    I didn’t allow it for their benefit.
    I know, but it’s comforting just the same.
    Not to me.
    There was no sign of the birds, though a curious sound echoed in Rosette’s head from time to time as she ran. Maudi? Maudi?
    She flipped her hood back as sweat trickled down her neck. Throwing open the gate, she ran up to the cottage door.
    ‘Help, Nell. Quickly!’
    Nell swung open the door and Rosette stopped just before ploughing into her.
    ‘It’s wounded,’ she said, gasping for breath.
    Nell pulled Rosette across the threshold, boots and all, and closed the door behind her. She pried the staff from her frozen fingers and leaned it against the wall, noticing the blood on Rosette’s gloves.
    ‘You’re hurt?’
    ‘I’m fine.’
    ‘Are you being chased?’ Nell looked out the window.
    ‘Not any more,’ Rosette stammered. ‘It’s a cub—a kitten.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘I found a huge baby cat.’ Rosette patted the bulge under her coat.
    The colour drained from Nell’s face. ‘Show me.’
    Rosette knelt on the rug next to the glowing hearth and unfastened her coat. She opened her sweater, button by button, until the feline’s head popped out between her breasts, one swollen eye making it look as though it was winking.
    ‘Goddess of the woodlands,’ Nell whispered. ‘That’s not a kitten.’
    ‘It is…it’s just really big. Look at the paws, the size of its head. It’s a baby for sure.’
    ‘That’s not what I meant, Rosette. Where did you find it?’
    ‘A fair way into the woods. Two birds were fighting over it. I chased them off, grabbed him and ran for home.’ She smiled. ‘Oh look, it is a “him”.’
    ‘You found him in the Dumarkian Woods?’
    ‘Yes, Nell, of course I did. What other woods are there?’
    Nell looked