Green Fox Chapter 5

The blacksmith’s dogs barked as villagers gathered under the oak tree. People were still emerging from their homes, drawn by the commotion. Some shouted for Cosi to wait, but he raced ahead.

“Shouldn’t we join them?” Eva asked, running alongside the much taller Cosi, keeping pace despite his long strides. “No time. They’ll spread out and slowly work their way down. But if Alice is trapped, every moment matters. We can reach the black rock faster alone. If she’s not there, we’ll double back.” Cosi led the way over the bridge and into the marshy forest beyond. The spongy ground sucked at their feet, and fallen trees barred the path, branches tangling together. Eva seemed to sense a trail and soon slipped ahead, leaving Cosi to struggle through the underbrush. By the time he wriggled out from under a fallen trunk, she’d vanished. Birds erupted from the canopy as the wind shook the leaves, but the forest floor was eerily quiet. “Eva?” Cosi turned about, only to find her perched overhead, pointing at the ground. “What is it? A footprint?” She landed with a squelch and pushed through the ferns, revealing an impression in the mud. “It’s a paw print, but not like mine or yours.” “It’s just a fox,” Cosi said, peering over her shoulder and shaking his head. “Don’t worry about that. Come on, we’re close.” “Are you sure it’s not a wolf?” Eva skipped ahead with her eyes on the ground, pausing to peer under leaves. “What if a wolf took Alice?” “Wolves don’t enter the lower valley.” Cosi studied the forest on either side of Eva’s trail. The storm had shaken every tree, snapping branches and uprooting giants that had weathered worse. “It’ll take the others time to get through this mess.” With Eva’s knack for finding a path and Cosi’s sense of direction, they soon reached the black rock. It was a wall of dark stone that jutted out of the ground, rising twenty feet up and curving into the distance on either side. Faded images of animals and symbols adorned the lower reaches, most painted by unknown hands but a few by the children of the village. Even Cosi had taken his turn, adding a yellow fish to the menagerie. It swam near the bottom, almost lost among the leaves.

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