Prelude: Into the Woods

Ignis slid open the window and swung out onto the darkened roof. Moving silently on hands and feet, he crept down the tarmac slope and peered out over the edge.

Just beneath him, a figure was leaning against the wall. The shadows would have hidden the man's shape but for the glow of the cigarette he held in his hands. Ignis' nose twitched as he inhaled the smoke, recognising the smell: it was Pete. He would have a gun, but Ignis knew he wouldn't dare use it, not on them. Silently, Ignis pulled back, looked back up towards the window and held up one finger.

Allandra had already come out onto the roof behind him, waiting for his signal. She looked back into the window, where her twin, Michael, was watching anxiously. Allandra beckoned.

Michael looked anxiously at his siblings. Later, he mouthed.

Allandra shook her head. Michael hesitated. Allandra beckoned again, more urgently. Reluctantly, Michael reached back for a roll of sellotape and put it into Allandra's hand.

Ignis looked up. In the eastern sky, the first tinges of grey were showing, but the dawn was still too far away to make the house and the woods anything but looming shadows. It was time to see if Allandra's plan would work. He looked back at his sister and nodded.

Allandra turned and threw the roll up and over the house. Spiralling over and over, it vanished into the darkness and for a moment there was silence. Then, from the other side of the house, came a faint thump.

Below, Ignis heard Pete catch his breath. Footfalls, faint but purposeful, came from under the eaves of the roof as Pete started around the house towards the sound. Quick as a flash, Ignis dropped over the edge.

He landed hard on all fours, but the damp grass under his hands silenced his fall. He moved quickly aside, and Allandra and Michael came down behind him, small, dark shapes in the twilight. The three of them ran for the driveway. Ignis looked back over his shoulder as they passed the black Land Rover, but as trees cut off his view of the house, he could see no trace of Pete. A second later, they were out on the open road, shivering in the sudden cold. Ignis felt a surge of exhilaration as the house, Tawelfan, disappeared behind them. They were free.

Rhosmaen was hardly big enough to be called a village: a few dozen houses on either side of the road, clinging to the steep slopes of the valley. Above them, rocky hills rose into overgrown farmland and light forest; below, between the trees that crowded its banks, the river gleamed faintly. Ahead, in the distance, they could see the shadow of the high, forested hills around which the valley forked.

The trees closed in quickly in around them as they walked. In the early morning silence, the only sound beyond the padding of their trainers on the road was the quiet whisper of the river down to the left. They passed a track that led to a house with a sign at the gate saying "The Old Vicarage", and a triangular red sign that read "Beware of falling rocks" in English and Welsh. Ignis looked up, curious. Shadowed boulders littered the slope. They didn't look as though they were about to fall any time soon.

Michael glanced back and spoke for the first time. Even though no-one was in sight, he kept his voice low. "Do you think they can hear us?"

Ignis laughed, the sound loud in the cool air. "Pete's probably gone back to sleep."

Allandra put her hands behind her head and stretched. "Maybe." She shook her hair back. "But we'd better get a long way away before we stop."

"Oh, c'mon." Ignis yawned and looked around at the trees. "They're not even awake yet."

"Pete might go back inside to check on us," Allandra replied. "Or Tav might get up early. We have to make sure."

Ignis shrugged. Pete, Tav, and Vargas were nowhere in sight, and they were out on the open road and free. What was the point of worrying over what might happen? But it had been Allandra's plan that had got them out, so he kept going.

The sky grew slowly lighter as they walked, the greyness changing to a dusky blue. The clouds that had covered the sky throughout the night had faded away, and in their wake stars sparkled in the clear air. The constellations glowed softly overhead, an intricate web of twinkling blue and white pinpoints, now beginning to fade as the sky brightened around them. On the horizon all around, the hills and mountains that had been hidden were beginning to appear out of the darkness. Reaching the place where the valley forked, the children crossed a bridge over the river, passing a sign that pointed off to their right for the dam. They followed the road up into the left valley, disappearing into its thickly forested slopes. The last houses of the village had been left behind them now, and the only sign of human life was the road they were walking on.

"Michael, what food did you get?" Allandra asked.

Michael rummaged in his pockets. "Let's see . . . an apple, two bunches of grapes - they're a bit squashed - and four sandwiches. No, three. And a Mars bar."

"What kind of sandwiches?"

"One's cheese, the others are tuna."

Allandra made a face. "I hate tuna."

"Well, it was hard with him watching."

"I told you, he wasn't watching you, he was watching me. That was why I couldn't take anything."

"Well, I didn't notice," Michael muttered.

"Let's get off the road," Ignis said.

They had come to a place where the road ran high along the left side of the valley, a long way above the narrow, fast-flowing river at the bottom. Ignis led the other two down the earth and granite of the valley's slopes, and across the river at a narrow point where it could be jumped. The sky was a slate-blue now, the last stars of the night glinting faintly in the west, and the valley regaining its colour with the rising sun.

Now that they were at the bottom of the valley, they could see that it was the meeting place of two rivers, their channels forming a Y shape as they followed the slope of the valley downhill. At the intersection of the Y was a junction pool, a churning froth of water fifteen metres wide, and just above it, between the two rivers, a jumble of granite rocks that provided cover from the road above them. The three children waded through the bracken down towards the rocks, hearing the rustles of animals around them.

"Look, people have been here," Michael said. In the grass next to the pool was a circle of blackened earth and the remains of an old fire.

"Maybe people use this place for camping," Allandra said, interested. "We could-"

"Look out!" Ignis hissed. Through the trees above he had seen the flash of a windscreen. For a moment the three children froze, then a black Land Rover roared into sight. The rush of the water had drowned out the approaching engine. Ignis looked back to see Michael standing in the middle of the grass, in plain sight, staring upwards in panic. He shoved him forward, hard. "Go! Get down!"

Michael scrambled over the rocks. For a moment he looked as if he was going to slide down the boulders into the water, then he disappeared from sight down the other side. Ignis and Allandra darted after him.

They had landed in a perfect little hideaway. It was a small patch of grass, only a few inches above the running water of the pool, surrounded by granite. Rock walls to their left and right blocked off sight to either side, and the curve of the left wall hid them from the road. No-one could see them without climbing down from the road, crossing the river, and approaching the rocks on foot as they had done.

"Did they see us?" Michael worried.

"If they did, it was because you were so slow!" Ignis scowled. "What, were you waiting for them to spot you?"

"It's fine," Allandra said quickly. "If they'd seen us, they'd have been out of the car by now, and," she sneaked a look around the rocks, "they're not."

Ignis looked at the empty road with satisfaction. "I hope they crash and die."

"I hope they didn't take the other car as well." Michael sat down. "What if they come looking?"

"Who cares?" Allandra propped herself up against the rocks happily. "We could stay here forever. They'd never find us."

"So can we have something to eat?" Michael asked.

Allandra gave him a stern look. "We should be rationing ourselves. We could be out here for days. Weeks, even."

"Yes, but I'm hungry now."

"Oh, all right. But only half of it. And leave me the cheese one." she added as Michael retrieved the sandwiches from his pockets.

Ignis kept lookout. The Land Rover had vanished northwards, following the road into the trees. The sides of the valley were too steep for even the four-wheel drive Land Rover to handle, and there was no road down. Satisfied, Ignis settled down to wait.

They ate, drinking from the river one at a time as the other two kept watch for the hunters. Before long the Land Rover appeared again, returning across the valley above them, then going in the opposite direction. They sighted it four more times as the morning wore on, passing back and forth along the road. Each time, a little more time passed before it appeared again. Once it stopped and three figures emerged to scan the valley from the ridge, but Ignis spotted them early and all three children hid in the shadow of the rocks until they had gone. The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, but gave little heat. It was one of those clear, crisp autumn days, where the sky is a bright robin's-egg blue but the shadows are deep and cold.

By eleven o'clock the Land Rover had not appeared for more than an hour. Ignis pulled himself up again for another quick look around. "They've given up."

"Bet you they haven't," Michael answered gloomily.

"They probably think we went the other way," Ignis said. "Let's head up into the hills."

"If they come back while we're climbing they'll see us," Allandra said. "Let's wait till we're sure they're gone."

Ignis shrugged. It was all the same to him where they waited. They sat a little while in silence.

Allandra leant back against the rock and sighed. "I wish we could have brought my books."

"Let's have lunch," Michael suggested.

"No," Allandra answered sternly. "We haven't got any more food. We have to make it last."

"But I'm hungry."

"Fugitives are always hungry. People who escape from prison can go for days and days without eating."

"We're not escaping from prison," Michael replied.

Ignis rolled his eyes, but his sister carried on talking. "Yes we are. We want to leave, don't we?"

"Yeah."

"And he won't let us," Allandra finished conclusively. "So it's a prison."

"No, it's not," Michael answered. "Anyway, we're going to get some food when we get back."

"We're not going back," Ignis cut in.

"But when they bring us back, there'll be food in the house. So what's the point of starving?"

Ignis looked up sharply. "What do you mean? You don't know they'll catch us."

"They always catch us."

"Well, this time, they won't."

"That's what you say every time."

Ignis' eyes narrowed. "What's your problem all of a sudden? Don't you remember last year? We got away from the house. We went three whole days without him getting close to us. If we'd picked a different shelter, we could have done it forever."

"And what about the other times we've tried it in London?" Michael began to count on his fingers. "The time Tav came in the room while we were trying to climb out of the window? The time you made it out the window, then landed on a fork and sprained your ankle? Or what about the time you took us out through the laundry door? We got halfway down the street before we bumped into Pete. It's always the same. One of us gets caught and we have to stop. And remember when we were in Devon and you and Ally thought we could just walk out the front door into the garden? It only took them a few hours for them find us on the road, and when they did Vargas was so angry that he-"

"Oh, yeah? Well, if it's all too much trouble, I'll tell you what." Ignis pointed away down the valley. "Go home. Go on! It's only an hour down the road. Then you can eat as much as you want, and we won't have to listen to you complaining!"

"That's not what I meant!" Michael protested.

"Yeah?" Ignis grinned nastily. "I think you've got cold feet about the idea of escaping in the first place. If it wasn't for me and Ally, you'd never have the nerve to do it yourself. Maybe you want us to get caught so you'll be safe. So why don't you save us all some time and run home? That way you can be a good little boy and he'll be pleased with you. Go on." Ignis made flapping motions. "Back home, little chicken."

Michael narrowed his eyes. "You're just jealous. You know that it's me and Ally he wants the most. He only chases you because you're part of the family, not because he really wants you around. He cares much more about us than he does about you."

Ignis jumped to his feet in a rush of anger and advanced on his brother. Michael scrambled up, fear suddenly showing in his eyes.

Then suddenly Allandra was between them, eyes blazing. "Stop it! Are you crazy, Ig?" She pointed up at the road. "They could be right next to us. All three of them are trying to hunt us down and you're going to fight each other? What are you thinking?"

Ignis glared down at his sister, anger burning inside him, then with an effort turned away. The three of them stood for a few seconds in silence.

"But Michael's right."

Ignis turned in surprise.

Allandra and Michael didn't look like twins. Although both were small and slight, Allandra stood a little taller than Michael, and while his hair was a pale brown, hers was a bright golden-blonde. But they were twins, twelve years old and constant companions. Ignis was a year older than them both, taller, with sharper features and darker hair. The only feature all three shared was their light blue eyes, tilted up at the corners. Those same eyes, set into Allandra's pale face, were now clouded with worry as she looked at her elder brother.

When Ignis didn't answer, Allandra dropped her gaze and spoke again. "Michael's right. We do always get caught. There's no point pretending. No matter what I come up with, they always get us eventually."

"Ally . . ." Michael said uncertainly.

"So what are you saying?" Ignis demanded. "I'm not giving up."

"That's not it." Allandra took a few steps away and stared down into the pool at their feet. When she spoke, her voice was quieter.

"I'm not going back this time. I'm not. I don't care what we have to do. I just . . ." She turned and hesitated. "If one of us gets caught this time, I think we shouldn't stop."

Michael's blue eyes went wide. "You mean separate?"

Allandra nodded. Michael shook his head. "No. Ally, don't."

"No. I'm not going back, Michael. Not this time." Allandra stared into the swirling pool, the water golden-brown in the sunlight. "If I do . . ." She shook her head. "If we get split up, we can meet again later. You're right, Michael. They always catch us because they only need to get one of us to make the others stop."

Michael was shaking his head, fear plain on his face. "But what if one of us ends up caught and the others get away? No, Ally, don't, please. You, too, Ignis. I'm sorry about what I said before. I didn't mean it."

Michael stared at Allandra forlornly. Allandra looked back at him, then bent down and picked up a sharp rock.

"Here." As Ignis watched, she walked to where Michael was standing and used the rock to cut a line across the granite wall. "Now scratch another line across that one."

Michael hesitated, then took the rock from her and scratched again across the granite face. The two lines formed an X.

"There." Allandra stepped back. "This is for all three of us. If we do get separated, then we'll meet back here. This mark is our promise that we'll find each other again."

Michael still looked unhappy, but he nodded. Allandra beckoned to Ignis. "You do one too, Ig."

Ignis rolled his eyes. "Forget it. I'm going to take a look around - then we'll get moving." Ignis walked to the rockface, pulled himself up - and found himself staring into a man's face.

The man was short but heavily built, with a battered, unshaven face and grizzled black hair, and his name was Pete. As he saw Ignis, his eyes went wide. He turned and shouted: "Hey! Hey! They're over he-"

As he twisted, he grabbed for Ignis, and lost his footing on the granite. With a yell he slid down the rockface, falling into the pool with a splash.

Ignis jumped down. "Run!" he shouted.

There was only one way to go. They scrambled around the edge of Junction Pool, the gorse bushes that littered the rocks scratching their clothes and skin. Ignis jumped up to the next higher level of the rocks, and pulled Allandra after him. A growing roar of water made him look up, and for the first time he saw the second of the two rivers.

White water smashed and frothed against line after line of jagged granite boulders, disappearing up into the hills. The pounding of the water on the rock made a constant, steady roar. On the far side was thick forest, but the riverbank on their side was formed of water-worn formations of rock, resting against each other at crazy angles. Ignis and Allandra looked at each other, and started climbing.

Rocks two metres tall blocked their progress. Ignis used the trees and bracken growing between the rocks as handholds, climbing and jumping from one rock to the next. Allandra, with her shorter legs, was finding it harder, but she struggled on gamely, Michael a step behind. Ignis paused on a flat ledge and looked out at the roaring waters to his right.

Allandra pulled at Ignis' arm and pointed back. Behind them was Pete, scrambling over the first rock. He was soaking wet, and looked very angry.

They scrambled slowly up the valley, the boulders becoming larger and larger the further they went. Pete might be bigger than they were, but he wasn't as nimble, and as Ignis glanced back he saw that the stocky man was falling further and further behind. For a moment it seemed that they would be able to get away.

Then Ignis looked ahead and his heart sank. There was another man among the rocks fifteen metres in front of them: Tav, the second-in-command.

Ignis, Allandra, and Michael came to a halt by a jagged rock three metres high that pointed upwards like a knife. The slope to their left was too steep to climb. They were trapped.

"Ignis," Allandra said quietly.

"Yeah, I know, it's the end of the line." Ignis laughed suddenly, the sound swallowed by the roaring water. Somehow, everything seemed so much simpler now that their escape route was cut off. The roaring water sang to him, filling him with a wild energy. All he could do now was make a last stand, fighting until he was struck down. "I'll go for Tav. You and Michael might be able to get past if I distract him."

"No. We can get across."

Ignis looked at Allandra in surprise. She was pointing into the river, where the white water frothed and roared, throwing spray into the air. Just a couple of metres away from them, the raging torrent broke around two or three boulders - and the boulders were within jumping distance of each other.

Ignis' eyes widened in admiration. "No kidding!"

Michael followed their gazes, and his eyes widened for quite a different reason. "No way. You are not even thinking about that!"

"I mean it." Allandra stared intently at the river, plotting out a course. "Three jumps, that's all it'll take. Just two rocks."

"You're out of your mind!" Michael shouted. "You'll actually die!"

"We can hang on. It's the only way."

"No." Michael shook his head. "I'm not doing this, Ally. It's over!"

A cold voice spoke from above. "Yes. It is."

The man standing at the top of the rise dropped onto the first rock, then gripped the branch of a tree and swung to the ground. Despite his size, he moved with the grace of a panther. He had Ignis' dark brown hair and angular face, and his blue eyes smouldered as he looked down at them. Ignis backed away to stand next to Allandra and Michael, hate and fear fighting inside him.

The man's name was Vargas Havelock, and he was their father.

"This was supposed to be a holiday." His voice was tight and angry. "A few days where we could take a break before you went back to school. Now we're going to have to return home in the evening instead of the morning, and I'll have to cancel everything I'd planned for today. By performing this stupid stunt, the three of you have caused me a week of work. You have no idea how much trouble you are in."

Ignis tried to sound defiant. "We're not going back."

Vargas' cold blue eyes locked on Ignis, and despite his anger Ignis quailed. "You," Vargas said, biting off the word. "You are going back, Ignis. Back home, or back into that river, but believe me, you are going back." Vargas' gaze flicked to Allandra, and Ignis could feel her trembling beside him. "And then all three of you returning to London with me. I've no more time for your childishness today."

Pete and Tav had reached them, and they moved up behind Vargas, panting. Pete's rough face had an ugly scowl. "You stupid brats," he snarled. "I'll teach yer a lesson yer'll remember if yer live to be a hundred." Their father held up a hand, and Pete fell silent. The three children remained motionless, like birds mesmerised by a snake.

Then as Pete and Tav started for them Allandra turned and with a desperate leap launched herself at the first rock. For an instant she skidded, then found a grip with both hands. She turned back. "Michael, Ig!" she shouted. "Come on!"

Ignis looked at Michael, saw his brother hesitate. Then Michael walked towards his father, shaking his head. Tav grabbed him. "Michael!" Allandra shouted, spray whipping at her face.

Vargas moved forward, his eyes blazing. Ignis stepped up towards him, but Vargas struck him aside, sending him sliding to the water's edge. "Allandra!" he shouted. "Get back here right now!"

Ignis rose to his feet, snarling. In the middle of the river, Allandra stood up, wobbling, then turned towards the second rock. It was small and glistened with moisture.

"Ally, don't!" Michael cried.

Allandra jumped.

She landed squarely with both feet and for a moment it looked to Ignis as though she had made it. Then her feet slid out from underneath her and she fell awkwardly upon the slippery stone, grabbing at the rock as her legs slid into the water. Ignis saw her mouth come open in a gasp, but the sound was lost in the roar.

Michael was fighting against Tav, shouting, trying to get to his sister. Everyone's attention was fixed on Allandra, struggling in the river. Ignis was free to run: no-one would notice. Allandra slid further, the roaring water dragging her into the current.

Ignis charged. He made a flying leap past Vargas, coming down on the first boulder with both feet. Suddenly he was surrounded by rushing water. Spray whipped at his face, nearly blinding him. Allandra was only a metre or so away. Ignis braced himself to jump again.

"I'll be all right!" Allandra shouted, her voice barely audible over the thunder of the river. The two of them were on tiny islands in the roaring water, white spray all around them. Ignis could see his sister's fingers being pulled loose from the rock, inch by inch. She lifted her head. "Ignis! Get Michael and-"

Allandra's grip slipped and she vanished into the torrent. With a wordless shout Ignis dived in after her, getting a grip on her arm as the water whipped them both away towards a huge boulder. In the second before they struck Ignis pulled Allandra around, shielding her. The water smashed him against the rock, the blow landing across his back and head, and his vision exploded into stars and darkness.

Icy cold gripped Allandra, freezing her body. She and Ignis were dragged down head over heels, and she lost her breath in a cloud of bubbles. Her head broke the surface and she struggled to take a breath, but before she could a current sucked her under again, banging her legs and arms against sharp-edged rocks.

She hung on to Ignis with a death grip, clawing with her spare arm at the rocks as she glanced off them, but the current spun her past too quickly to catch herself. The world had turned into a whirling chaos of water, foam, and noise. Bumping, bruising, striking, feeling pain in every part of her body, Allandra was thrown like a rag doll down through the river, catching confused glimpses of trees, earth, and sky.

Then suddenly the current was slackening, and she was floating, drifting along the edge of a wide pool. Floating next to her, Ignis was heavy and still, his eyes closed. She clutched at the rocks of the shoreline, trying to keep them both afloat, but the deadly cold had leeched her strength. The world seemed to have become dark and distant, and the shore just in front of her was fading from her vision. She made a last feeble attempt to pull herself up, then let herself sink back into the water's freezing embrace.

A hand shot down and grabbed her. Allandra was hauled, coughing and gasping, out of the pool. Dimly she was aware of Ignis being pulled out after her, and of being set down on soft grass. A figure was leaning over her.

"They'll be here in a few minutes." The voice was quiet. "Just lie still, and you'll be found."

"No!" Allandra gasped. Coughing, she grabbed at the person above her, forcing out words. "Don't let them find us. We have to get somewhere safe. Please . . .you have to help . . ." Blackness swept in from the edges of Allandra's vision and the world faded away. The last thing she saw was a pair of strange blue eyes looking down at her.

When Pete and Vargas reached Junction Pool, both Allandra and Ignis were gone.

Benedict Jacka

Prelude: Into the Woods