Free Forest Shadows by David Laing Page B

nearest town was miles away. She didn’t know whether to make her presence known or not, didn’t know whether she’d be welcome.
    Plucking up courage, she stepped out into the open. The wild animals continued to graze, seemingly oblivious to her presence.
    Shadow saw her at once. He raced across the open space to her side. He propped, his whole body wagging. Grinning and slobbering slightly, he jumped up, paws on her shoulders. She waved a finger in his face. ‘Bad dog!’ she scolded. ‘Why’d you take off like that? I was sick with worry.’
    Shadow backed away and slunk to the ground, tail between his legs. He whimpered, looking up, eyes baleful, questioning, not understanding why she was angry.
    Feeling a little guilty now, Jars patted his head. ‘It’s okay, Shadow. I’m not really mad at you. You just scared me, running off like that. But why did you do it? There must have been a good reason.’
    Giving him one last pat, she said, ‘C’mon, let’s forget about it. Let’s go make ourselves known.’
    With Shadow trotting alongside, she crossed the cleared space towards the man. She drew closer and saw that he was old and that he was dressed in a very unusual way. He wore black trousers, loose fitting trackpants, a flowing purple gown and a small black hat. His hair was grey and it hung below his shoulders in pigtails. He’s oriental, she guessed.
    â€˜Hello,’ she said, drawing near, ‘I’m sorry if my dog disturbed you.’
    The old man raised his eyes and studied her for a moment. Eventually he stood; then to her surprise, he bowed. Straightening and clasping his hands in front of him, in a singsong voice, he said, ‘I know you coming.’
    Jars raised her eyebrows. ‘You did? How come?’
    The man resumed his seat, which looked homemade. ‘Birds tell me. I hear birds many minutes ago.’ Changing the subject, he asked, ‘What your name? I Wu Han and this my cat, Po-Yee. Her name mean, Precious One.
    Shadow settled at Wu’s feet. Wu bent over and stroked his coat. ‘He good dog. Make friends with animals. What is name?’ Jars told him Shadow’s name, then hers. Wu nodded then said, ‘But why you so deep in forest? Why you find your way to Wu Han?’
    She moved over to Shadow and rested a hand on his head.
    â€˜I’m here because Shadow ran off as if he was chasing something. My friends said he’d probably run after a wild animal, but he’d never do that. He likes other animals, especially wild ones.’
    â€˜You say your friends with you?’
    She pointed over her shoulder, ‘Yes, back there. I’m here with my cousin, Snook, and his friend, Quenton. Reg, who’s a ranger, is with us too. He didn’t really want me to go after Shadow but I had to. Something definitely spooked him.’
    Wu thought for a moment. ‘Perhaps it not animal Shadow chase.’
    Jars’ stomach clenched. The vision of the mysterious, darting shapes came to her. ‘I did see something unusual, Mr Wu, but I don’t know what it was. Do you think he chased that … or them?’ She explained what she had seen in as much detail as she could and then asked, ‘Have you noticed anything strange in the forest, Mr Wu? Something out of the ordinary?’
    Wu frowned and lowered his eyes. He leaned over and poked at the fire, not answering.
    That’s odd, Jars thought, reading his behaviour. He knows something but doesn’t want to tell me. Reluctantly, she dropped the subject. ‘Okay, Mr Wu, but something else puzzles me.’ She pointed towards the wallabies and other animals that were still grazing on the cleared area of land, not far from where they were sitting. ‘They’re not frightened of each other or us either. I was wondering why.’
    â€˜I been here many, many year. Animals learn to trust Wu Han. When animals here, they know it is