It was a wonderful place to be young. The forest stretched for mile around with beckoning paths that led to new adventures every day. Thomas would not hunt the wild animals so they gathered around the little cottage and bears and badgers and roe deer were the little girl's playmates. She could speak animal almost as well as she could speak human but her parents were never comfortable with her grunting conversations and tried to make her speak 'properly.
One bight autumn morning they heard the sound of horses and men's voices. Polly sent Jenny, for that was her name. running into the forest to find Thomas and turned to greet the strangers as they appeared along the forest path.
Jenny ran fast and didn't stop to talk to father bear or even uncle badger. She didn't stop until she reached the clearing where Thomas was working. It was too quiet wheh she got there - no sound of the saw or the hatchett and the trees were empty of their singing chorus of birds. It felt all wrong to Jenny and she turned to run back home when she heard a groan from the other side of the woodpile.
Feeling quite scared she moved slowly toward the sound and there on the ground was Thomas, his green jerkin covered in blood and a knife sticking out of the side of his body. He reached up for Jenny and then fell back with a terrible cry and she could see the light had gone from him and he was no longer a man of the earth..
She didn't cry, just turned and ran swiftly back to her mother but before too long she could smell smoke, acrid and sharp and as she turned the corner to her clearing she saw their cottage burning fiercely. And, she could hear Polly screamiong inside as the flame grew hotter. Jenny hid behind a tree weeping silently and longing to be able to do something.
This has been a little experiment - dleiberately left like this for you to tell me if you would like more.
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