The Green Man's Heir by Juliet E McKenna

Author:Juliet E McKenna [McKenna, Juliet E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, sf, fantasy, kindle
ISBN: 9781908039675
Publisher: Wizard's Tower Press
Published: 2018-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

The narrow path took me down the steep hillside and out onto the road through the valley. We crossed the tarmac and Kalei led me through the scrubby trees and undergrowth to the rising ground on the far side. I recognised the rocky outcrop and headed for the hollow behind the fallen tree.

I tossed the cut brambles aside and dragged out the toolboxes I’d stashed there earlier. A second too late I remembered the wooden mask I’d left on top of everything, in hope the Green Man would help keep it all hidden. Fuck. I couldn’t leave a clue like that here. DS Tunstead would be knocking on my door five minutes after he found it.

But I couldn’t see the carving anywhere, and I didn’t have a torch to search for it. Planning this escapade, I’d decided a flashlight was one thing I could do without. I had my mother’s night vision, and a torch beam would be far too visible from the road. I didn’t want to draw any attention to the poplar trees until it was absolutely unavoidable.

‘What are you doing?’ Kalei demanded.

‘That carving of the Green Man.’ I looked around again. ‘Can you find it while I get started?’

‘All right. Get moving,’ she said, exasperated.

I heaved the box of jars onto one shoulder, not about to trust that much weight to the plastic handle. At least the other toolbox wasn’t so heavy. I picked it up and headed for the river while Kalei began searching for the bloody carving.

The corner of the box of jars was soon digging painfully into the side of my neck. I ignored it, more concerned with finding a safe path up the slope to the crest overlooking the water meadow. Taking the road would have been quicker, but I wasn’t going to risk being seen.

When I reached the ridge line though, I realised I already knew the best way through these boulders and hazel thickets. I remembered all this from my dream, when the Green Man had tried to tell me Tila was in direst trouble.

Guilt knotted my guts as I walked cautiously down the slope to the meadow. If only I’d realised what the Green Man had meant. If I’d come straight here that night, maybe I could have saved her.

Or perhaps not. Cold night air cut through my T-shirt and the gauze dressing beneath it to make the gash on my chest ache. If I’d come here that night, I’d have had no idea what a vicious fighter the wose could be. If I’d met him unprepared, DS Tunstead would surely be investigating my death along with the two murdered girls right now.

Feeling guilty was pointless. Tila was dead and I couldn’t change that. But I could make sure the bastard creature wouldn’t kill anyone else, mortal or ethereal. Or at least, I could try.

Now that I’d reached the water meadow, heading for the river through the tussocky grass, I was grateful for my work boots, laced tight and bracing my ankles to save me from a sprain.

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