10

Let's go," he muttered, turning around and leading his horse onwards through the thicket of trees, trying desperately to ignore her.

When he reached the foot of the hill, she followed suit, staying silent as she silently watched him lead his horse towards the trees and disappear behind them. Her heart started beating furiously against her chest as she remembered all the horrible things her mother had told her about her. All the stories that had been told her about people who had done terrible things to their loved ones or children, and that they weren't worthy of mercy. She bit her lip as she stared into the bushes, waiting to see any movement among them, but there was none. She breathed deeply, attempting to calm her racing heart. Then she slowly began following his footsteps, careful to stay quiet as she made her way deeper into the bushes. As he had said, they had left their horses behind, but the path they had chosen didn't lead directly to the other hills. She guessed that they had gone further west.

She saw light appear in the distance. It was too bright for her, too blinding, and when she opened her eyes a fraction, she gasped softly and quickly closed her eyes again. She squinted and moved closer to the light, hoping to get used to it.

"Katarina! What are you doing?! Come back!" a familiar voice shouted impatiently from behind her. She ignored him. After a short while, she felt his hand grabbing her arm and gently shaking her shoulder.

"Come back." His voice sounded urgent and desperate.

She finally let herself move away from the light. She stood still, allowing the sun to warm her body, letting the gentle breeze brush against her face and her hair, calming her down as she gazed into the vast green fields of the surrounding forest. She inhaled deeply, savouring the sweet scent of nature. She hadn't realised how badly she needed that.

Her brother's voice echoed throughout her mind once more as he called her name.

"Katarina! Come back!"

Suddenly, she jumped when she heard the distinct sound of something shattering. She spun around and immediately looked towards the source of the noise, which was coming from above her. She widened her eyes as she recognised what it was: an apple tree. One branch had fallen down and hit her forehead, knocking her backwards on her butt. She groaned, rubbing her forehead gingerly as she stared at the branches that stuck out from between the leaves and tried to make sense of what had just happened.