Chapter 2 - Teddy Bear's Picnic

If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise...

- Traditional Nursery Rhyme

William Isaacs sat on the stairs and surveyed the four year old in front of him with a mixture of dislike and distrust. Katherine gazed unblinkingly up at him, a small smile on her lips.

"Go away," he said for the seventh time that morning. Katherine raised an eyebrow.

"Mummy says you have to play with me."

"I don't want to. Go play with that Lupin kid." Katherine tilted her head on one side and gazed thoughtfully up at him.

"You don't like me, do you?"

William didn't answer but instead risked a glance through the gap in-between the rail and eyed the two sets of parents warily, wondering how much longer he was going to be stuck here.

"Fine. If you don't want to play, I'll play on my own," sighed Katherine, turning away from him and heading towards the back door.

William waited a while then followed, knowing his parents would be furious if anything happened to Katherine while he was supposed to be looking after her. He pushed the door open slightly and glanced around the sloping garden, searching for the head of black hair.

"Katherine?" he ventured when he saw nothing. He glanced down at the fresh layer of snow and saw a set of footprints leading away from the house, down towards the stream that ran along the bottom of the lawn. Frowning slightly, he trudged down the snowy yard and looked around once more.

"Katherine?"

Where the hell had she gone? He gave the space in front of him a puzzled look before realising exactly what he was seeing. She wouldn't have...would she? Casting a quick glance back at the house, he jumped over the stream and scrambled up the slippery bank on the other side, before quickly scaling the low fence that separated the garden from the deep forest beyond.

"Katherine, it's not funny. Where are you?" he called, the damp foliage squelching unpleasantly beneath his shoes. He peered into the dark spaces between the clumps of trees and thought he saw a movement a little way in front of him. "Katherine?"

xxx

Katherine gazed up at the proud young creature that stood before her. The creature looked back down at her, it's stormy dark eyes watching her sombrely.

"What is a young child such as yourself doing out here alone?" it asked in mournful tones.

"I've seen things like you in books. You're a centaur, aren't you?" she stated, with the overt bluntness that comes with being only four years old.

"You are a witch, child?"

Katherine giggled. "Of course not, witches are old women with green skin and huge warts."

The centaur gazed at her for a moment longer, the light breeze ruffling his wild black hair, before saying, almost to himself: "But you cannot be a muggle, your aura is... Who are your parents, child?"

Katherine gave him an odd look before saying with an air of uncertainty: "People?"

"Katherine?" came a distant voice from behind her.

Katherine half turned in the direction of the speaker, when the centaur asked obscurely: "Your name is Katherine?" She nodded, eyeing him dubiously.

"Katherine Archer." The celestial being paused for a moment then bowed.

"It was nice to meet you Miss Archer." Katherine frowned at him, trying to comprehend his sudden change of character.

"You too Mister...?"

"Bane. My name is Bane. Good day Miss Archer." Katherine shot him a last quizzical look as he bowed and retreated among the shadowy branches.

"Katherine?" William ducked out from behind a pine tree and let out a deep breath on seeing her. "What on earth d'you think you're doing? You can't go wandering off into the woods like that."

"Funny, that's just what Mr Bane said," she remarked as he ushered her back towards the safety of the house. "But you're both wrong, because, you see, I just did." William glared at her then frowned.

"Who's Mr Bane?"

"He's a centaur."

"A centaur?"

"Uh huh," said Katherine, pulling her herself up the fence and dropping down on the other side.

William stared at her through the lattice of wires and said slowly: "You do know that centaurs don't exist right? They're just fairy stories." She shrugged as though this didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Then I guess I must be in one of them." William gave her a condescending look as she jumped easily back over the gentle stream and turned back to watch him.

"William! What on earth are you doing?" shrieked a woman's voice from the back door. "Get out of there this minute!"

William looked up sharply and saw his mother standing in the doorway, glaring furiously at him. He looked from her livid expression to Katherine's grin and back again and wondered vaguely how long it would take to persuade his parents to move.

xxx

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