Page 29 of Tattered Huntress
I looked to the right; there was something else between the old road and the waterfall. ‘What’s that?’ I asked.
The brownies twisted around to look. ‘It’s a little cairn,’ Hester said.
‘They usually mark burial sites,’ Otis added, helpfully.
‘I know what they’re used for,’ I told him. ‘But don’t you think it’s a little strange that somebody was buried halfway up a rocky hill?’
We stared harder at the distant lump of stones. ‘Winner, winner, chicken dinner,’ I breathed.
Hester scratched her head. ‘I’m all for some food, Daisy, but shouldn’t we get that treasure before we eat?’
‘It’s a figure of speech,’ I said. ‘It?—’
Otis interrupted. ‘Look,’ he said urgently. ‘Over there. There’s a group of people coming around the hill from the other side.’
I peered ahead, squinting until I saw them. My back stiffened. Although they were too far away to make out their faces, I recognised them from their clothes: it was Hugo cumbubbling Pemberville and the rest of his Primes. Naturally he was leading the way, his long-legged stride obvious even from this distance.
I flicked my gaze towards the cairn. We were closer, we could beat them. A slow, satisfied smile spread across my face. This was brilliant; I’d get to the section of the key first. I couldn’t have planned it better.
‘He must have gone the long way around to avoid the snake,’ Otis said.
Hester snorted. ‘I didn’t think he’d be such a scaredy-pants.’
I smirked and licked my lips in anticipation. ‘Come on.’ I shouldered my bag. ‘Let’s make our move and beat him.’
I’d barely taken three steps forward to descend into thevalley below when I heard the roar of an engine behind us. I turned my head in time to see the men in the black SUV pull up.
All four of them jumped out. One of them spotted me on top of the hill and started yelling, waving and pointing. That was quickly followed by more yelling as all four of them ran towards me, clearly determined to catch me.
‘We should go,’ Hester said. ‘They’re fit and they’re fast. If we don’t hurry, they’ll overtake us.’
I nodded but I didn’t move.
‘Daisy!’ Hester muttered. ‘Comeon!’
The men’s shouts and heavy footsteps were amplified by the hills around us and I looked at the dark hole where the snake resided. The men didn’t know it was there and they were making no attempt to be quiet. ‘Fucking idiots,’ I muttered, then I waved frantically at them to be careful. I didn’t dare shout – that would only increase the risk of waking the snake – but I couldn’t let them make so much noise.
Hester grabbed hold of my earlobe and pinched it. ‘Let’s go!’
‘She can’t go,’ Otis told her. ‘They’ll wake up the snake if they don’t start taking more care.’
‘All the more reason to get out of here,’ she retorted.
‘We can’t leave them to be attacked and eaten!’
‘Of course we can,’ Hester snapped. ‘It’s their own fault for following us here.’
The men were closing in on the cave mouth – they’d be level with it in a minute. And their voices were getting louder.
‘Otis,’ I said urgently, ‘can you fly down and warn them? Tell them that if they don’t stop making so much noise then?—’
I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence. There was a sudden rumble, like ominous grumbling thunder, and the ground beneath my feet trembled. There was no longer any point in attempting to stay quiet; the snake was already awake. ‘Run!’ I screamed at the men. ‘Get out of the way!’
That was when the snake’s giant head darted out from the cave at lightning speed. It lunged towards the nearest man in black and snapped its jaws twice in quick succession, then it grabbed hold of him in its massive mouth and chomped down hard as if he were nothing more than a tastyamuse-bouche. But then, of course, the snake still had starter, main course and dessert to go.
Chapter
Twelve
