Free The Forest of Lost Souls by Anne Plichota Page B

leaning against one of the trees in BigtoeSquare for hours. When you unleashed the storm, Oksa, that man didn’t budge an inch, not even to run for shelter. That’s a real giveaway, don’t you think? A short time ago, Abakum went out to learn the truth. The man ran off as soon as he saw him. Two hours later, he was back in the same spot. Abakum then turned into a shadow to try to get closer. But the man must have been well informed, because he ran away again. And that convinced us once and for all that he was a Runaway.”
    “Or a Felon!” exclaimed Oksa.
    “The Felons
are
Runaways, Dushka,” reminded Dragomira.
    “Yes, that’s true,” admitted Oksa. “But he could also be a secret agent, couldn’t he? Or a policeman?”
    Dragomira and Abakum exchanged a brief smile.
    “An Outsider wouldn’t have run away when Abakum’s shadow came over,” objected Baba Pollock. “He wouldn’t have run away because he wouldn’t even have noticed it! Only a well-informed Insider—in other words, a Runaway close to our family—would know about Abakum’s gift.”
    “You’re right,” conceded Oksa, still thinking hard. “Couldn’t it be a Runaway trying to get back in touch with us?”
    “If that were the case, don’t you think he might go about it a little differently ?” objected Abakum. “For a start, he wouldn’t run off. You know, Oksa, it’s beginning to look like you don’t want to accept that there might be a Runaway spy.”
    Oksa glanced down, disconcerted by this remark, and particularly by the fact that a stranger might be watching them.
    “Well… I don’t want it to be true!” she replied. “Things are complicated enough already, aren’t they?”
    “Do you think it could be Mortimer McGraw?” asked Tugdual suddenly.
    “That’s the first person I thought of,” replied Dragomira.
    “But why would Mortimer keep watch on us?” continued Oksa. “Because of Zoe? Maybe he wants to see her again? She is part of his family, after all… OH NO! Perhaps he wants to kidnap her!”
    This possibility frightened her more than she would have imagined.Zoe was Leomido’s and Reminiscens’s granddaughter, Orthon-McGraw’s niece, a descendant of the vicious Werewalls, Ocious and Temistocles, and of Malorane, the ill-advised Gracious. But she was also just a vulnerable girl with great powers and a tragic, chequered past.
    “I don’t think Zoe is the target of this spy,” said Abakum. “Mortimer certainly has the same motives as his father, but I’ve always believed that Orthon wasn’t the only Felon on the Outside. The one thing we’re sure of is that the minute we’re Impictured, the painting will be even more valuable, which is our main problem now. There are people who see you only as a key that will allow them to re-enter Edefia, Oksa, and they’ll do anything to get their hands on the picture. If they did, they’d only have to wait until you came out to snatch you, so to speak. That’s much easier than trying to abduct you!”
    “Um… I don’t want you to think I’m afraid of entering the picture, but if that’s what you’re concerned about, why don’t I just stay here?” asked Oksa, dismayed.
    “It’s certainly true that being watched by this man complicates matters ,” continued Abakum. “There is danger outside the picture, as well as inside—who knows what we’ll find there and, more importantly, how we’re going to get out? This changes things and we did in fact think about leaving you here and taking Dragomira in your place.”
    “No!” protested Oksa. “That’s out of the question. I’m coming with you!”
    “No one wants to put you in danger. That’s not in our interest, nor in that of the Felons. But of course you’re coming with us,” confirmed Abakum sadly. “You heard the Squoracle: you’re our friends’ only hope of rescue, there’s no denying that.”
    “Let’s imagine the worst,” suggested Tugdual. “Say this Felon or someone else gets hold of