The Dream Weavers by Barbara Erskine (books you have to read txt) 📕

scarf round the girl’s shoulders, but Emma clutched at her with a cry of fear. ‘Don’t go.’

‘I have to go, Em. We can’t stay out here any longer.’

‘Can’t you phone?’

‘I’m afraid I left my phone at home. If I stand up on the bank there, I can shout. He’ll be outside looking for you and he’ll hear me.’

‘Where is he?’

‘I told you, your dad is coming.’

‘No, not Dad, Elise. I saw him. She was calling him and I came out and I saw him and I followed him. He was here.’ Tears were coursing down her face.

Bea froze. She didn’t know what to say, then she recovered herself. ‘He’s gone, sweetheart.’ How was it possible that Emma had seen Elisedd? Plenty of time to work that out later. Bea gave her a quick hug then she tore herself away. They were in a grassy hollow out of the wind. The track nearby was barely visible in the starlight, but Emma had followed it at a run, only stopping at last when her breath gave out and she had no choice but to pull up, gasping for air. When Bea had found her, she was sobbing desperately, not knowing which way to turn.

Bea set off towards the light she had seen in the trees. Someone out there was flashing a torch. She kept looking over her shoulder, terrified she would lose Emma in the dark. The girl was no more than a dark hump huddled at the base of the wall amongst the fallen stones, too exhausted and frightened to move.

‘Simon!’ Bea shouted. ‘Simon, we’re here!’ She waved her arms above her head, hoping he could see her silhouette against the stars. Her voice sounded thin and reedy in the darkness as she headed towards the torchlight.

The horse was on her without warning, the sudden thunder of hooves on the turf making the ground shake. She stopped with a cry of fright and faced it, her arms in front of her face to try and protect herself as it raced towards her. She threw herself sideways as with a furious scream the horse half reared. She glimpsed the rider wrenching the reins to pull it away from her, his face a blur in the starlight as he hesitated, looking down at her, then he kicked the animal on, missing her by inches, galloping away along the track towards the west.

‘Bea?’ She heard a man’s voice in the distance: Mark’s voice. ‘Bea, I’m coming!’ Frozen with shock, she couldn’t move. Then she saw them: three figures running along the track towards her.

‘There!’ She was shaking so much she could hardly speak. ‘Emma’s there. By the wall. She’s OK.’

She watched as they ran across the grass and through the heather, following her pointing finger. She saw them stop then she saw the tallest figure, Simon, stoop and pull Emma to her feet, folding her in his arms. Already Felix, ever practical, was dragging off his fleece and tenderly wrapping it round his sister’s shoulders. With a sob, Bea subsided to her knees, shaking so much she couldn’t stand. The third figure with them was Mark.

‘Bea? Bea, darling, are you all right?’ He left the group and ran towards her.

‘Did you see the horseman? It was Elisedd. He nearly ran me down.’

‘Horseman?’ Mark crouched, his arm round her shoulders. ‘What horseman?’

She found she was sobbing. ‘Emma saw him. She tried to follow him.’ She looked up. ‘She’s terrified, Mark.’

‘She’ll be all right. Simon and Felix are taking her back to the cottage. It’s only a few hundred yards away.’ In the dark it was almost impossible to make out the building, sheltered below the ridge. Behind them the vast emptiness of the hills was part of the night. He helped her to her feet and hugged her to him. ‘Darling, I thought I’d lost you.’

She managed a smile. ‘Whisked into the past by Emma’s handsome prince.’

‘Something like that,’ he confirmed drily. ‘Can you walk? Let’s get you inside.’

He couldn’t quite explain even to himself the sudden extra apprehension that had gripped him, the cold breath that was nothing to do with the wind that touched his back.

Pulling the door closed behind them, Simon drew the bolt across and leaned back with a sigh of relief. Emma was unhurt. Apart from being very cold and frightened, she seemed remarkably unfazed by her ordeal. Wrapped in a rug by the fire, her colour had returned and she was beginning to talk. ‘I heard the voice like before, but it sounded even more sad this time. I didn’t mean to follow it, but it seemed to be so near. I couldn’t see her in the dark but I knew she was there, close to me. I opened the gate and walked out onto the hill, and she kept moving further and further away in front of me. And then I saw him; Elise. He’s the one she’s been calling. I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to scare you.’

Simon didn’t know whether to be angry or happy and opted instead for tight-lipped silence.

Felix had vanished into the kitchen to reappear with a tray of mugs. Hot chocolate for Emma. Tea for the rest of them. They all moved closer to the fire, Felix sitting on the rush matting of the floor and Mark perched on a stool. Bea was huddled in the chair opposite Emma. She was trying to conceal the fact that she was still shaking.

‘So, who was Elise?’ Felix asked at last.

‘He’s the one she’s been calling. She’s lost him, and I had to find him for her,’ Emma said. She broke into a fresh torrent of sobs.

‘I ought to ring your mum and tell her what happened,’ Simon said at last as the silence threatened to stretch out too long.

‘No!’ Emma looked up in horror. ‘You mustn’t tell her!’

‘She needs to know, Em.’

‘No, she doesn’t. She will only make us go back home.’ Felix’s expression echoed his sister’s. ‘She’s enjoying her stay in Worcester, Dad.