Web of Fire Bind-up Read Free Page A

hedge.
    As he turned to look, the humming became almost deafening and then a furious yellow and black cloud of wasps suddenly plunged over the hedge and fanned out as if frantically searching for something. He instinctively ducked and fell to the floor, waving his hands in blind panic as the wasps swarmed wildly around him, but as quickly as they had arrived they were gone again, spreading out above the house before fading like smoke into the blue sky.
    Breathing heavily, Sam got shakily to his feet and watched in amazement as the buzzing maelstrom ofinsects dispersed. Four wasps continued to hover several metres above his head, but Sam was too intent on the main group to notice them.
    For some reason he felt strangely exhilarated, as though he had scratched the surface of the world and caught a brief glimpse of something beneath it.
    He would follow the insects; find out what was going on.
    Without another thought he climbed onto his bike and pedalled off down the drive in the direction of the disappearing swarm. Behind him, his mother called his name, but her voice was lost on the breeze.
    The well-oiled chain slipped smoothly over the cogs and the wind made Sam’s eyes water as he began to pick up speed. Milk-white cow parsley foamed in the hedgerows beneath the blue skies of summer.
    Changing up a gear, his speed increased still further and the wind whipped through his hair. It was almost as though he was flying.
    But then suddenly a tearing, stabbing sensation in his neck made him cry out in shock and bewilderment. As his hand flew up to investigate there was a screech of rubber on tarmac, followed by a sound so loud and furious that it seemed as if the very sky had exploded around him. Pain twisted and burst into a million violent stars. Then the fields and sky whirled and sucked him down into the shadows with a deep and terrible roar.
    Back at the house, Sam’s father heard the sickening crunch of metal and glass. Dropping his coffee cup, heran desperately towards the road, while behind him his wife’s screams split the air. High above the fields the crows flew noisily from the treetops, croaking and flapping into an empty sky.

Four
    Much later, after the long and empty silence that followed, something stirred. There was a beating of wings and a sparkle of blue; a feeling of flying instead of falling, and a sudden sweet, warm breath on Sam’s face. He felt as though he was being carried and laid gently to rest in a soft bed where sleep would come once more. But then there was a crack like thunder and with a sickening lurch he was falling again, falling down into the cold and inky blackness that drew him in and enveloped him.

    He awoke to the sound of the wind and the smell of stagnant water. It was night-time, but the landscape was dimly lit by a strange, blue-green light which filtered through the clouds. He could see that he was surrounded by flat marshlands which stretched all the way to the horizon. Pools of leaden water lay in grey pockets and green vapours rose like ghosts from the damp bogs allaround, curling up to meet the yellowish mist that hung in heavy clouds above giant reeds. Far away in the distance he could make out the shapes of towers, columns and blocks rising starkly against the skyline. Ribbons of silver lightning ripped through the sky, illuminating the clouds that gathered above the strange city.
    Sam shivered and stared into the gloom.
Where am I?
he thought fearfully.
What is going on?
    The storm strengthened as it swept across the marshes and the bitter wind quickly developed into a howling gale. Sam suddenly found himself caught in a torrential downpour which flung droplets of stinging rain into his face and soaked his mud-spattered clothes.
    Huddled there in the freezing mud he knew that he must find shelter quickly. His teeth chattering, he staggered to his feet and began to stumble and splash across the boggy ground towards the lights of the distant city. Maybe there would