Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Cosette and any alterations to the original storyline plot her presence creates to various readers amusement everywhere across the globe.

Innocence of a Child Chapter 3

A storm was brewing. That was the simplest way Cosette could put it.

Maurice and Cosette had been riding down the paths in the woods for hours and still, they hadn't come across the market yet. Time flew by fast and what didn't help matters was that it was already night. Luckily Maurice had a lamp hanging from the wagon to light part of the way, but it didn't do much to offer protection from the chill in the air.

Cosette had never been to the market before now so she didn't know the way, but by the look on her father's face, she suspected they were lost.

"Papa, when are we going to get there," asked Cosette.

"I don't know, Cosette," sighed Maurice. "The woods here are lovely. I only wish I recognized them." He then aimed his next comment at the horse. "Do you know where we are, Philippe? Because I don't."

Of course, Maurice was never going to receive an answer from the gelding. After all, horses couldn't talk.

At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning struck a tree in front of them. Splitting it in two making half of it collapse over the path Maurice was trying to take effectively blocking the way.

Startled Philippe reared onto his hind legs whinnying shrilly. Cosette screamed in fright trying to burry herself into Maurice's coat.

Taking charge of the situation, quickly working to calm down the scared horse and horse, soothingly, Maurice said "It's all right. It's all right, Philippe." Once the horse had settled he turned to Cosette wrapping an arm around her trembling body. "There's nothing to be afraid of, Cosette. It's just a bit of lightning. You see, it didn't even hit us."

It was then that Maurice spotted the second path leading off to the right. He couldn't remember it from any of his excursions before and yet here it is.

"Hmm," mused Maurice, musing on it and deciding it was safe enough to travel down. Yes, we can go this way." He clicked his tongue and slapped the reins on Philippe's flank to get him to move in the right direction. "Go on. To the right." Maurice maneuvered around the fallen trunk to go where Maurice encouraged him to go. "That's it. Steady! Walk on!"

"Papa," said Cosette, clutching onto his sleeve, not exactly sure about this little detour.

"It's fine," reassured Maurice. "One path closes another one opens. Don't worry. Soon you'll be treated to a hot meal and a nice cozy bed to keep you warm."

Cosette wanted to believe him, but she sincerely doubted it. What Cosette saw next only elevated the nerves and anxiety she was feeling at present. She was the first to spot it. Tapping Maurice on the shoulder Cosette pointed her finger ahead of them. Maurice then saw what had gotten his youngest daughter so spooked.

For reasons Maurice couldn't explain to Cosette, there was snow up ahead where the summer season stopped and winter took over. Snow was covering the forest floor with there being a heavy snowfall.

"It's all right," said Maurice, looking at it all with increasing unease at this peculiarity. "It's just a bit of snow. In June. Mind your step, Philippe. It's slippery."

The second they entered the snowy climate the temperature in the air dropped drastically. Cosette immediately began shivering from the cold the coat she was wearing not doing that much to shield her.

But the cold wasn't the worst to come.

They were barely in there a few seconds when Philippe suddenly tossed his head up releasing a loud neigh. Maurice and Cosette soon found out why.

A growling noise made Maurice snap his head up to find a snarling wolf eyeing them hungrily from on top of a slope. A nasty scar was over the left side of its face. This had to be a dominant male. And where there was one wolf there was always a pack somewhere close by.

"Hold on tight, Cosette," exclaimed Maurice.

Cosette did just that.

Not wasting any time to see if there were any around, snapping the reins, Maurice urged "Go! Go, Philippe! Come on! Come on!"

Philippe broke out into a dead run galloping down the path. There was a howl from behind and soon afterwards the trio were surrounded by wolves chasing them from all sides.

"Papa, I'm scared," cried Cosette.

"Go! Philippe, go! Go! Go," shouted Maurice, slapping to reins again trying to push the horse to go faster.

There was a loud snap making Maurice realize the hitch attaching the horse to the wagon was coming loose. This entire reckless running around on the rocky road wasn't something this wagon was used to. Unfortunately, there was nothing that Maurice could do with the wolves pursuing so aggressively on their tail. It certainly didn't help when the wolves pulled ahead and intercepted them.

Then the unthinkable occurred. As Maurice was trying to slow down Philippe to avoid a mishap that's what happened as a result. One of the wheels knocked into a fallen log upending the wagon and releasing Philippe at the same time, scattering the music boxes everywhere. As the wolves went off chasing the fleeing horse Maurice and Cosette were thrown into the air. Maurice caught her just in the nick of time as they hit the slope. Luckily neither of them was hurt by the impact.

With Cosette hanging like a monkey off of his back Maurice tried to climb to the top of the slope. When he was nearly there he found the first wolf snarling at them baring his deadly teeth. Maurice turned to slide down so the wolf missed them by mere inches as it lunged. Below the pack was back abandoning the horse for a much easier meal. There was no way out.

"Philippe," called Maurice, now holding Cosette in his arms.

Out of nowhere, Philippe reappeared catching the duo onto his back.

"Good boy," said Maurice, taking the reins. With one swift kick to Philippe's sides, they were off. "Go, boy. Go!"

Finally, it looked like they were going to be home free until Maurice failed to pay attention and got hit in the head by a low-hanging branch. Maurice didn't see it coming until it was too late and he was knocked abruptly from Philippe's back. Maurice dropped onto the ground with little time to recover and gather his feet. As she stood he saw that someone was missing.

Cosette was still on the horse. Somehow she'd avoided falling with Maurice and managed to hang onto Philippe's neck.

"Papa," screamed Cosette, reaching back for him.

"I'm all right! Keep going," said Maurice, running into the forest to get away from the wolves. "Run, Cosette! I promise I'll find you! Run!"

A couple of wolves diverted to run down Maurice, but the majority of them continued to hunt Cosette and Philippe.

Cosette was far too small to actually ride Philippe, but he needed no prodding from her. The threat of the wolves was more than enough to get him to keep going. They rounded the bend coming across an open gateway. Cosette took no notice of it, but the gates opened of their own accord letting her and Philippe entrance.

The moment she and Philippe were inside the ominous gates the predators skidded to a stop, halting the wolves in their advance preventing them from going any further. Whatever it was they were prevented from coming inside.

She was safe for now, but what in the world did Cosette just ride into?

Authors Note:

Yeah! Cosette is alive and at the castle. She survived the first hurdle. I wonder what's going to happen to her now that she's arrived there.

I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D

For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.

So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.

I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.