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of this and started to run away from her friend and grandfather. When she was just out of sight she crouched down and hid behind a bush of wild berries, and placed her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of her own giggles. She could hear her grandfather and Katya calling to her. The calls were getting louder and louder as they approached; she decided to move further from the path. Isabella stood back up and started to run again. Katya spotted her and began to chase after Isabella.
    Isabella continued to run for a few seconds more. She was not looking where she was going and she soon tripped and fell. She sat rubbing her leg, which had been slightly hurt by the fall. She looked over and was surprised to see that it was a young boy’s leg that had caused her to lose her footing. She moved over to take a closer look.
    The boy was lying unconscious on the forest floor. He had a bruise from a bump on his head. He looked a few years older than Isabella. By this time Katya and Isabella’s grandfather had caught up.
    “Don’t ever run off like that again, Isabella!” her grandfather shouted at her. He had been frightened by his granddaughter straying from the path. “Do you hear me?” he continued when Isabella did not answer.
    “Yes! Yes!” Isabella shouted back.” Come and see what I have found.”
    Isabella’s grandfather bent over to see what Isabella was pointing at through the foliage on the forest floor.
    “Is he alive?” Katya asked. Isabella’s grandfather gently positioned his hand just over the boy’s mouth. He could feel the hot breath of the child on his hand and he answered Katya’s question.
    “Yes, he’s alive.” Isabella’s grandfather stood erect and examined the ground surrounding the boy. He was looking for something and he soon found it. A small distance from them he could see two other people, a man and a woman, also lying on the forest floor. These two bodies had a more gaunt and deathlike appearance. Not wanting to alert the children to these other two, he said to them, “You wait here. I will go and see what I can find.”
    Isabella’s grandfather walked over to the man and woman. Both were dead. They lay clutching each other. It looked as if they had just fallen asleep in each other’s arms, never to wake up. Isabella’s grandfather sighed in disgust. This had happened before. He returned quickly to the girls.
    “Come on, I will carry him home.”
    “Did you find anyone?” Isabella asked.
    “No…no one. Come on now, it’s getting dark.” Isabella’s grandfather leaned down and checked the boy’s neck. He sighed with relief this time. There were no marks on him. This boy had escaped the fate that had befallen his parents.
    When they got back to the cottage Isabella’s grandfather put the foundling down on his bed.
    Isabella was watching her grandfather and asked, “Will he be all right?”
    “Yes, I think so. You girls can stay here tonight and look after him. I am going out for a while but I will be back soon.”
    “Wait a minute, who will look after us?” Katya asked hopefully.
    “I’ll send Dragen into look after you.” Katya smiled in approval and Isabella’s grandfather left the house.
    Dragen was chopping wood. He was only fifteen but he already helped his father and mother a great deal.
    “Where’s your father?” Isabella’s grandfather called over to Dragen, who stopped what he was doing and approached the older man.
    “He’s in the house, Alexei,” said Dragen.
    “All right, I want to talk to him. Could you go and look after the girls for a while? I don’t like leaving them alone for too long.” Dragen smiled, nodded and walked towards Alexei’s home.
    Alexei knocked on the door of their house. Dragen’s mother opened it. Alexei went in and shut the door behind him. He glanced around the room to check that Dragen’s father and mother were the only two there.
    “There’s no one else here, is there?” Alexei inquired, just to make