The Forest of Adventures (#1 of The Knight Trilogy) Read Free

to
no one in particular.
    “Yeh, storm coming.”
    “It wasn’t thunder,” I
whispered. “It’s the wrong time of year.” A series of disinterested
shrugs spread through the group.
    Outside the window, I expected
to see the animal close up, its warm breath misting the window and
its rider in shock but there was nothing; just a shifting of the
fog through which I was sure I could see the shimmering glint of
metal.
    “Mina…Mina...Earth calling
Mina! What do you fancy, blood and gore or something more
romantic?” Daisy pulled me to attention, snapping me out of my
bizarre hallucination.
    “What?” I asked having no idea
as to where we were in the conversation.
    “Film. Friday. Romance or
gore?”
    Without taking my eyes from the
window, I responded robotically, “Gore definitely - no
contest.”
    I turned to look at her
briefly.
    “Really, do we have to?” Sara
chimed in, “I hate all that stalking killer stuff. It is always
freaks me out so I can’t sleep. What about the new Anniston film,
you know the one about some love triangle?”
    Sara, true to form, flicked her
expensively highlighted hair as if this might somehow seal the
deal. Clearly it was a move that got Matt to agree to anything she
wanted. The very thought of seeing a film about love triangles made me want to freak!
    “Mina?”
    “Really, I don’t mind - I’ll go
along with everyone else.”
    As I said it, I was already
thinking up the excuse of a coursework deadline.
    By the time the lunch bell
went, I’d decided that I was going to bail on the afternoon,
ensuring no more weird aftershocks from the Blakequake. Feeling
slightly pathetic about it, I convinced myself that Blake wasn’t
the only reason I had a headache and it wasn’t entirely untrue, for
I couldn’t get the sound of the horse’s galloping hooves out of my
head. Only now the sound seemed to have altered ever so slightly so
it sounded more like the beating of somebody else’s heart nestling
along side my own.
    *
    I didn’t tell Sam I was leaving
early because he’d only have worried and fussed. He’d also have
insisted on giving me a ride home and I really wanted to try and
walk off the fever that seemed to be burning.
    I wasn’t long into town when I
began to regret the really foolish decision to walk. The dry-ice
day had grown thick and heavy with sleet and having had a lift with
Sam in the morning, I was completely underdressed and now shivering
violently. Weighing up the very real possibility of freezing to
death before I made it home, I took a turn into the bookshop,
tempted by the warm yellow lights and the thought of the thick,
velvety hot chocolate they served whilst you lost yourself in big
saggy sofas.
    Within minutes of sitting down,
hot chocolate warming my frozen hands, the bell above the shop door
went. Bent over and fleeing the miserable weather outside, Blake
entered. Damn! He too had obviously skipped the afternoon
lesson with Mr Dwell.
    He stopped at the door, wiped
his feet and shook out the snow-rain from his dark curls before
pulling himself up to his full six foot height. With one hand he
undid his coat and the other he loosened his scarf which looked
bizarrely more like the remains of an old flag then the more usual
woollen number.
    Unlike me, he was dressed for
the cold weather, wearing a simple but obviously expensive pair of
jeans and a thick black jumper beneath his thigh length woollen
coat. His clothes gave the impression of subtle wealth and,
although simple in their design, it was obvious that they were of
serious quality. Sleet hung to the fine, soft wool of his navy coat
almost like someone had threaded small diamonds into the weave.
Even at this time of the year he had a slight tan, the kind of tan
that is burnt in by wind and activity. He flashed a smile in
response to something the pretty sales assistant said and made his
way towards the literature section.
    He didn’t spend long looking,
seeming to find whatever it was instinctively.