Philomella and the Impossible Forest by Doris Brett

Author:Doris Brett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing
Published: 2022-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

On the far end of the path, about a hundred yards from where Philomella’s friends were gathered, was the source of the commotion – a band of ghastly looking creatures. They were very large, very hairy and very green, and waving huge, murderous-looking clubs. And they were advancing on her friends.

Gertrude already had her rolling pins out. Ash had started firing arrows. Philomella broke into a run, desperate to join her friends. Ash spotted her. ‘Get down!’ he yelled.

Philomella froze, paralysed.

‘Get down!’ Gertrude’s voice echoed Ash’s, and Philomella dropped to the ground. Rapunzel, she noticed, had for once obeyed a command and was already lying flattened on the ground. She turned to Philomella and said, ‘Trolls!’

Bill was racing like a wild, white streak among the trolls. He was biting ankles, hard and very effectively – a number of trolls were rolling around clutching themselves. Gertrude’s rolling pins were zooming around like torpedoes, taking down ever yone in their path. And Ash’s arrows were meeting their targets. But more and more trolls kept coming to take the place of the injured ones. It was going to be impossible for her little band of friends to hold them back. They needed a different weapon. They needed something huge and deadly. Something that could demolish a dozen trolls in a single blow. They needed a … dragon!

‘Mary,’ she breathed. And then she called out loud, ‘Mary!’

Mary turned and looked at her. Philomella didn’t dare say it aloud. She stared at Mary, her mind silently and urgently yelling, ‘Dragon! Dragon!’ She was absolutely positive that Mary knew what she was thinking.

Mary looked at her for a long moment. And then slowly, and with a look of great sadness, she shook her head. No.

Philomella expelled the breath she had been holding. The screams and yells were increasing in volume. Gertrude was throwing knives and forks – with great accuracy, if the resulting shrieks were anything to go by. Mar y was handing her what seemed an unending supply from the picnic basket. But Philomella could see that would not be enough. The trolls were getting closer and it was clear now that they were being directed by a leader – a troll larger than the rest, who stood towards the middle of the pack, well-shielded from attack by the trolls surrounding him. The only way to get to him was to soar over the pack and attack from the air.

Mary kept handing cutlery to Gertrude. Philomella was sure Mary was keeping her head down so that she didn’t have to catch Philomella’s eye. Even so, Philomella could tell she was terrified.

The trolls were advancing faster. Philomella’s insides turned to jelly. There was no way they were going to get out of this. Even Ash had realised it. He had stopped firing arrows and was just standing there, his arm partway around a huge tree. Had he given up?

And then he moved. Or was it the tree that moved? It was both of them. The tree had bent its branches down, wrapped them around Ash and scooped him up.

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