Into the Woods

Annabeth snapped her head to the side for a moment before returning her eyes to what was in front. Her feet were moving quickly through the undergrowth of the woods, not once tripping since she knew every bump and twist in this place. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red and her instincts told her to keep running towards the tall oak that couldn’t be more than 10 metres in front. She noticed the tree dipped slightly, with a few thick branches hanging low that would give her the perfect leverage she needed.

“Oh Snow,” An angelic voice sang out from the near distance, “Come out, come out wherever you are!”

By now, Snow had reached the tree and had used the balls of her feet to pounce forward onto the lowest branch. Her delicate hand wrapped firmly around the bark as she used all her strength to pull her weight onto the next protruding stick above her. She climbed until she was firmly nestled into the dip of the tree that gave her enough cover, but the right amount of eyesight to keep an eye out for anyone below.

“I can smell the honeysuckle from your hair piece, Snow!” The girl’s voice spoke again and Annabeth had to hold her hand close to her mouth to prevent herself from making a noise that would jeopardise her whereabouts.

Below her on the hard ground of the woods, Snow watched the girl she called Red check under broken logs or behind tree trunks, still trying to pinpoint the blonde girls whereabouts.

“I know you’re here somewhere.” Eleanor Redding was now growing bored and was now moving with harder feet as she stomped around the tall oak that Annabeth Snow was sitting in. Waiting as Red stopped dead below; Snow used all her strength to push forward off the tree. She floated through the air for a moment, before landing on her feet and hands in front of her friend.

A scream left Reds mouth, just as Snow jumped forward and pressed her hand to the girl’s mouth.

“Next time, don’t scare me like that or my screams may attract the wolves.” Red pointed out, sending her a friend a less than friendly look.

Snow laughed before hugging her friend close. “There are no wolves out here. It’s all just a bunch of stories the villagers made-up to scare their children from leaving.” Red shook her head.

“Believe what you want, but I know it was one of those foul beasts that destroyed your flower gardens back home in the meadow. I saw the claw marks in the mud and I found clumps of fur.” Red’s face turned down in disgust, remembering the day she found her friend hysterically crying over her flower beds being torn to shreds. Snow’s flowers were her most priced belongings. She could spend all day fastening beautiful head pieces to sell on in the village, just near where she lived just on the outskirts in a clearing in a meadow. She had lived there with her father and little sister since she was born, whilst their mother had died of a disease that had once circulated these areas, not long after Freya’s birth.

“Enough with that old story, Red, I think our families wouldn’t be best pleased if we returned home empty-handed.” Snow wrapped her arm around the slim shoulders of her friend.

“Very well,” Red sighed, knowing that perhaps her imagination was getting the better of her. “I know Grandmother has been looking thinner these days, so I best try and bring some home, as well as to sell.”

“The village relies too much on us,” Snow seethed, finding the tree that they hid their hunting weapons.

“We’re the only ones brave enough to enter these woods. Nobody will hunt past the clearing!” Red reminded her slinging her bow and arrow over her shoulder.

“I know.” Snow sighed, grabbing her own supplies, also checking for her lucky knife that sat safe in her belt. If they were lucky today, they would find some rabbits stuck in the traps they made, or even more, they may just come across some deer grazing by the river.

Until the sun began to set, the girls hunted through the woods, using their natural instincts they had learned growing up in these parts. Red had found a family of pheasants, all six now hanging over her back, whilst Snow threw the three rabbits they had caught, over her shoulder.

The girls took a rabbit and pheasant each, before selling the rest on to the butcher. He made a comment about the catch being small, but the girls shrugged and ignored it, turning back and heading towards home. They had grown use to the complaints, yet nobody seemed to care that the animals seemed to be migrating further and further away. Hunt was becoming harder by the day.

As they reached the edge of the village they said goodbyes for the day and parted ways. Snow headed back to her house in the meadow, whilst Red returned to her grandma in the woods.

All ready to start the same routine again tomorrow.