Winterbringers Read Online Free Page A

us, their branches closing in until we slid through a leafy tunnel, green and silver and then green and gold as the sky above and before us changed and the tunnel of branches was bathed in sunlight, not moonshine.
    The water flowed smoothly now, as though it was deep, and was clotted with plants. We drifted through them, speechless, struck dumb by a combination of fear and wonder at what we had done.
    I never knew if we were in the boat for hours or minutes. In the Kingdom of Summer, time seemed to forget what to do.
    At last, or perhaps after a few minutes, the stream widened to a still pool starred with white lilies, and the boat stopped at a little jetty of silvery wood that pushed out into the water. There was not a living creature to be seen: no man or woman, not even the song of a bird or the buzz of an insect among the branches.
    We looked at each other.
    “We must get out now,” Beatrix whispered, but the silence that she broke was so perfect that we all winced at the sound of her voice.
    We climbed carefully out onto the jetty. “Wait here,” said Janet to the boat as we set off along a winding path of short grass that twisted away in front of us through the trees.
    ***

3. Ice
    Josh edged carefully into the passage. The torchlight reflected back at him oddly from the walls, and it was suddenly very cold. He put out a hand to touch the rock. It was icy, and wet under his fingers, and when he shone the torch at the floor there was water pooled under his shoes.
    “You didn’t say it was wet back here,” he yelled over his shoulder.
    “It isn’t usually. The rain must be coming in somewhere.”
    That made no sense. It was a passageway worn out of solid rock. He edged forward a bit further and came to an abrupt halt, the torchlight flashing back at his face. Cautiously, he reached out a hand to what blocked his way.
    Ice.
    He swung the torch beam up and down. The way forward was completely blocked by a wall of ice, smooth as a mirror except in one place, where a spur of rock poked through at about shoulder height. Disconcerted, he backed out into the main chamber, aware of the rise in temperature as soon as he emerged.
    “What?” Callie was looking at him enquiringly. “What is it?”
    “The ice. Is it always like that?”
    “Ice? What are you talking about?”
    “Look for yourself.” He handed her the torch and she disappeared into the passageway.
    A couple of minutes later she re-emerged, looking puzzled.
    “That’s totally weird. I’ve never seen that before. It’s not even cold enough for there to be ice.” She glanced at her watch. “George should be finished by now. Maybe he’ll know why it’s like that.”
    “Can I have another look?”
    “Sure.” She passed him the torch. This time, he shone the light at the roof, looking for signs of water leaching in, but the stone above his head was dry. He turned the light to the ice at the end of the passageway.
    “What the …” he muttered, moving closer.
    The spur of rock that had been poking through the smooth surface of the ice was now no more than an egg-sized bump.
    The ice was growing.
    As he was about to call Callie, he heard her shouting. “George – come here! There’s something strange in the cave.” He looked over his shoulder and saw her silhouetted against the bright halo of the entrance. When he turned back, the piece of rock he’d been looking at was barely visible any more.
    Moving the light across the ice, he was again about to call to Callie when something made him gasp and jump backwards. His elbow hit the wall hard and the torch fell from his tingling fingers and went out.
    With a yelp, he scrambled backwards from the passage into the main chamber of the cave and stumbled out and on to the beach. As he did so, he blundered into Callie, George beside her.
    “Josh? What’s wrong?”
    “I … nothing. I dropped your torch; I’m sorry. I think the ice is getting thicker.”
    Callie gave him a strange look, but said