It was a sort of game she liked to playact. It was rather a silly thing to do, especially at her age, and she would have been deeply embarrassed if anyone knew what she was doing. Even at fourteen, she was a naive girl with a very imaginative thought world. But she was innocent enough. All she ever yearned for was an adventure of her own, however short or harmless it turned out to be. It didn't matter what kind.
She stopped to rest against a tall and wide pine. Glancing to the side, she saw the shadowy, endless path, winding and curving far down into the darkest part of the wood. Back the other way, she knew her home lay over a stone wall in a large clearing. Sighing, she wished she didn't have to return. Chores and studying waited for her back there, and piles of other things to do.
A branch creaked above her head, but the girl didn't jump or even flinch. Gazing up, she hoped to spot an owl, or a hawk. But there was nothing; the pine was empty.
Another noise came from behind the tree she leaned on. This time, Ann did startle. She froze, a little wide-eyed. She waited, tense and ready to leap away from danger. If it was a bear, she knew it most likely wouldn't harm her if she didn't make any sudden movements or challenging actions. Ann carried only a small hunting knife, sheathed on the belt around the waist of her ankle-length dress. She reached for it reflexively, fingers curling around its tiny hilt.
Silence followed. And then, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a figure stepped out from behind the wide trunk. Ann shoved away from the tree and tightened her hold on the knife.
The figure was a young girl like herself, perhaps a year or two older, and she made hardly a breath of noise as she moved. The girl had a beautifully carved recurve bow in one hand and a sharp-tipped arrow held at the ready in her other hand.
As she came fully into view, the girl slowly lowered her weapon. She wore boy's clothes - a waist-length tunic and a pair of boots over her leggings. Under the dark cowl of the cloak she wore, Ann saw suspicious coppery eyes and long wavy hair of the same color.
"You dare to travel alone in the wood?" the girl asked of her.
Ann swallowed. "This is my property," she said. "My cottage is just up the path." All the while, she kept her wary eyes on the girl's weapon. What was this stranger doing here? Ann knew of no other people living nearby.
The girl followed Ann's gesturing hand and frowned slightly.
"I know these woods far better than most," she said. "I can assure you that there is no cottage up that way."
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