"Ow! Hey!" Merida DunBroch laughed as her friend pelted her with a few snowballs. They'd been best friends since they were children, but no matter how many times Jack Frost had done this, snow and ice in summer had never stopped filling her with delight. She quickly scooped up some of the snow from the forest floor and hit him square in his slim chest.
Jack raised his eyebrows impishly. "You're gonna get it now!" He raised his staff and suddenly snowballs began appearing out of thin air at an alarming rate.
"No-ow!-fair! You can make as many of those as you want by the time I've-OUCH!-gotten enough for-okay, you're gonna pay for that one, you devil!"
The girl made a fantastic leap for Jack, red curls fllying, and tackled him to ground. Jack was about to flip her off of him when Merida suddenly placed a hand on his mouth. She'd heard someone coming.
Without speaking, they got to their feet and Jack flew them into a nearby tree, hoping its leaves would be thick enough to hide them. The last thing he needed was snow on the ground on a hot summer to day to be connected to him. Just as he was beginning to wonder if he should have taken them further away, Merida nudged him and he saw what she had heard a moment ago. Cantering past their tree, far below, was a black horse, riderless-but the strangest horse either had ever seen. Its coat was so shimmery, its movements so fluid, it didn't seem to be real.
Neither of them said anything for a minute after the creature had passed. Finally Jack breathed, "What was that?"
"It looked more wisp than horse. I've never seen the like." Merida's blue eyes flashed. "Want to find out?"
Grinning, Jack flew her back down and they both raced through the forest.
oooooooooo
They couldn't track the horse by hoofprints, for it hadn't left a single one. It did, however, change the quality of the air slightly wherever it had been, making it appear almost wavy as smoke might, and it smelled vaguely of something decaying. After only about a quater of an hour, the horse's trail led them to a small cottage, hidden in a tight crag. Uncertain what to do, the two friends stopped for a moment to catch their breath. The windows were boarded up, the door heavily padlocked; it would have looked abandoned were it not for the steady stream of smoke coming from the chimney.
A piercing shriek broke their thoughts, then SMASH! the boards over the upper floor window suddenly went flying outward. Three black horses flew swiftly out. From the back one streamed dozens of feet of silky golden-
"Is that hair? Merida asked incredulously.
"It's a girl!" Jack took off flying after the horses as desparate shouts of "Mother!" rang through the air.
Merida tore after them, but was unexpectedly shoved hard to the ground from behind. Next moment she was looking up at a woman's pale face surrounded by thick black hair. The cold metal tip of a knife was pressed to her throat as the woman hissed, "Stay out of this, girl." With a swish of her dark cloak she was gone.
Gasping for air, Merida quickly got to her feet and tore after her. Stay out of it indeed.
