Free By These Ten Bones by Clare B. Dunkle

in astonishment. He began pacing rapidly to and fro as close as he could come to her, staring at her all the while.
    â€œYou smell,” he said, his eyes glittering with excitement. “You smell like sweat. You smell like blood. You spineless slug, you mound of mud, come here !” he shrieked. “Just three more steps, and wouldn’t you get a surprise!”
    Maddie blinked. A black shadow seemed to lie across his face. His eyes gleamed out through it, brilliantly green. She stooped and lifted the lantern to shine it full on him, but the shadow on his face didn’t move.
    â€œYou blister,” he snarled, his voice harsh and rough. “You squashy bubble of blood. Just one little tug, and the bones come all apart. Just one little prick, and it all comes gushing out!”
    Shadow lay around him, spreading out and climbing up the cave walls. Those eyes were like lamps above her now, round and glowing.
    â€œ Blood ,” purred the shadow in a thick voice. “ Salty, sweaty blood .”
    The black figure was indistinct in the dimness of the cave, flickering in the darkness. Maddie couldn’t see anymore where it began and where it ended. It seemed to reach out and engulf her little pool of lantern light. It swung its arms, and she heard a metal clashing, like big knives being sharpened.
    â€œ Come here now! ” it screamed. It bent over her in the darkness, and the lantern flickered and dimmed. “ I’m hungry! ” wailed the shadow in an agony of greed. “ Warm blood! I’m hungry! ”
    Gripping the lantern, Maddie tore off down the passage, the light forming wild patterns on the walls. She tripped over a boulder, and the candle flame guttered and sank almost to nothing. The darkness pressed in around her.
    â€œ Come back! ” sobbed that thick voice, echoing along the passage. “ Come back so I can eat you alive! ”

8
    The opening of the cave was in sight before her, a narrow rectangle of cool gray twilight. Maddie dropped the lantern and scrambled out into the semidarkness. She ran until she thought her lungs would burst. Her sides ached as she stumbled along, the loch waters rustling beside her and the steep folds of the hills shadowing her way. On and on she ran until the hard, square bulk of the castle stood before her and the black mouth of its open doorway welcomed her in. She careered headlong up the stone steps in the darkness and flung herself into the friendly candlelight of Lady Mary’s hall.
    Lady Mary was sitting up in bed, her long white hair in a braid and the curtain by her head pulled back so she could read in the light of the candle. She gaped in astonishment at the girl who stood gasping on the landing, unable to speak.
    The old woman hurried over and steered her toward the light. Maddie collapsed onto a padded bench, her whole body sore. A minute later, a silver cup appeared beside her, and Lady Mary sat down on the bed.
    â€œWhat happened? Is it Black Ewan’s boy?” she asked, looking very worried.
    Maddie took ragged breaths and listened to the pounding of her heart. She thought about the wood-carver and her happy daydreams. Then she relived for just an instant what had happened in the cave, and her daydreams crumbled into revulsion. But she mustn’t give anything away. She had sworn on her soul. She had made a promise to protect him, no matter what he was, and she was determined to keep it.
    â€œI brought your food,” she gasped, “and I went down the path by the loch. I saw a thing, and I followed it. But when night fell, it put me in mind of that thing that attacked the carver. I came running back, thinking it was chasing me.”
    Lady Mary walked to the window. “What did your thing look like?” she asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.
    â€œIt looked like a shadow,” answered the girl. “A big black shadow.”
    â€œMaybe you saw a werewolf,” suggested the old woman,