Barney: Part 5

By ANTHONY HOLCROFT

Pete was soon setting out into the fresh autumn morning. Dew glistened on the tall grasses like beads of honey, and in the distance the forest cast a broad dark shadow on the fields. Above the tree-tops a hawk floated in the blue air.

It took Pete longer to reach the forest than he'd expected. He'd stopped on the way to pick mushrooms and now the sun was well up in the sky. Then suddenly the forest rose in front of him. The trees were older than any he had ever seen before. Light fell between them in dusty shafts, and there was a smell of spice in the air. The river flowed brown and silent.

Pete shivered, watching his breath drift mistily in the cold air. For a moment he wondered whether he should run back to the farm-house. It was then that he saw the bridge. Not far from where he stood, almost hidden among the tall reeds, two thin planks spanned the river. They were still white with frost. Leaves were rustling in the wind, as if birds were hidden in the trees. It was a sound that made Pete uneasy.

Publisher: Shortland Publications

Price: $7.85

Age group: 9 years plus

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