The Edge of Strange Hollow by Gabrielle Byrne (best affordable ebook reader txt) 📕

her tail to her chest and staring up through the canopy. Dusk had fallen, and shadows played over her face like thoughts.

They all grew quiet.

The wood was thick with the scent of pine, and high in the trees, the spike frogs thrummed their drone-like song. Poppy picked at the thick black glob behind her knee.

Now that they had survived the battle—the events of the last few hours were catching up to her. The glob peeled away, leaving her skin raw and angry. A tear ran down her cheek and she wiped it away angrily. They kept coming, and she let out a broken sob.

“Poppy?” Mack sat up.

“Are you hurt?” Nula put a hand on her back.

“She took Dog! Dog’s gone!” Nula snatched her hand back as Poppy buried her forehead into her knees and wept. “We could have died! I could have gotten all of us killed. Oh, Dog!”

Mack’s hand settled on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Pop. I’m so sorry. I should have tried harder. I should have grabbed them sooner. I—I could almost break that web. If I had—”

“No, Mack.” Poppy sniffed, wiping her face on her sleeve. “There’s nothing you could have done. If I had just listened to you in the first place—” She choked back another wave of tears.

“Listen, Poppy.” Mack’s voice was strained. “I know it’s not much … but they’ll take really good care of Dog. They’ll be safe—until we can figure out how to get them back.”

Poppy blew out a deep breath and stood up. “You’re right. And we have to find Mom and Dad. Do you think the Faery Queen might be right about them being in the Hollows?”

“Yes,” Nula said.

“Maybe,” Mack drew out at the same time.

“Why would someone take them? Why would they do that?” I would be so scared if it was me. Poppy tried to imagine her parents scared, then shook the thought away. It made her nauseous.

She flashed on the image of Governor Gale’s sneering expression as he loomed over her in town. Her memory shifted back years, and she heard his voice from where she had stood listening behind the kitchen door. “One day, you won’t be so smug,” he’d said. “One day someone will teach you a lesson.”

She wiped her face again and met Mack’s gaze. “The governor really doesn’t like us,” she admitted. “But he’s still a human being. And he’s still the governor. I don’t think he’d let people get away with violence. And even if he doesn’t want to help my parents … or me, he won’t allow people to break the law in Strange Hollow, right?”

“The part I don’t understand,” Mack said, ignoring her question, “is, why would humans take your parents in the first place. What’s the point?”

“’Cause it’s their fault,” Nula said.

Both Mack and Poppy stared at her. Poppy pressed her lips tight. “What do you mean—”

“I mean, that’s not what I think,” the pooka assured her. “But I’d bet my own blood that it’s what they think in the Hollows. Humans are always looking for someone to blame, and people in Strange Hollow think your parents are in league with the Grimwood, right? That they’re spies, or that they have something to do with the maledictions taking people? Well, maybe they decided to do something about it.”

Mack’s face fell. “Sounds plausible to me, Poppy.”

Poppy frowned. “Well, there have been a lot of maledictions lately.”

“More than usual?” Nula asked.

“Yes—I think so. And they did put up all those new wards,” Poppy admitted. “But the governor is brand-new!” She threw her hands up. “And he keeps telling people he’s going to ‘make the woods fair.’ Blaming the people trying to help is not fair!”

Mack leaned against a tree. “My mom says that fair is like beauty. Just depends who’s judging.”

Nula’s face was sad. “They’re just afraid. Fear turns all the other feelings into hate.”

Poppy began to pace. “So … maybe we just need to try and prove to them that my parents are on their side.”

Mack grimaced. “I mean, your parents have been telling them that for years. Why would they believe us?”

They fell silent again. After a minute Poppy asked, “Well then, what about that other stuff the Faery Queen said, the stuff about the maledictions being connected to the Holly Oak? If that’s true, we could—”

Nula sniffed. “Like I said, faeries don’t lie.”

Mack snorted. “Yeah, but you can bet there’s more to the story.”

The story! The promise of Prudence Barebone! Poppy gasped. “I know what to do.”

Despite all of them being jumpy and Mack threatening to set a circle for the night after every few steps, they all followed the sound of the river. It didn’t take very long, but even so, it was all-the-way dark by the time they found another dock. Poppy wondered if there was a limit to how many times you could ride with the Boatman before he shoved you off the boat. She grimaced, glad that at least Jute had given her plenty of coins. It hadn’t gotten any less scary, but cutting through the water under the storm of the Boatman’s laughter had taken on a dreamlike, déjà-vu quality. She thought he might finally speak when he noticed that Dog was gone … but his eyes only flashed, and his laughter carried a cruel edge that she hadn’t noticed before.

Poppy needed to go to the Holly Oak one last time—and this time she was going to get some real answers. She just hoped the Oak could be trusted. She wanted the Holly Oak to give a merry laugh and tell them that the Faery Queen could lie just like anyone else … and that of course she wasn’t behind the maledictions. If it turned out to be true, her parents wouldn’t be the only ones in trouble. Regardless, Poppy knew in her gut that somehow Prudence’s promise and the disappearance of her parents were connected. She just couldn’t see how yet.

The moon had risen by the time they were safely on the island. Its thin