[Primrose Bolger]

Sassy was not about to be held down by some boy, friend or no. First the Big Folk; now wolves . . . now Sam acting . . . acting . . . stupid! She tried yelling out at him that they needed to run . . . run fast . . . and hide. But Sam’s hand was clamped down on her mouth and all that came out was some muffled grunting. Sassy opened her mouth a bit and clamped onto Sam’s hand with her teeth. Not too hard, but just enough for him to let out a squeal of pain. He drew back a little and she pushed away at him with her arms, scrambling out from beneath him.

‘Run!’ she screamed, taking off in an opposite direction from where the wolves and Big Folk were clustered. Sassy ran deeper into trees at the edge of their campsite, heedless of whether anyone else was going the same way. Her imagination kept pace with her. At her heels she could hear a wolf. She was sure of it. A huge beast . . . no, beyond huge . . . gigantic. The wind that stirred her curls as she ran seemed like the creature’s breath drawing nearer and nearer.

If anyone called to her, she did not hear them. Fear ruled her thoughts as her little arms pumped wildly, as her feet flew over the dirt striving to get away. At last, when her breath had grown ragged and her legs heavy with weariness, Sassy spied a tree. A lucky tree, she thought, reaching its welcoming trunk.

The branches grew low enough for her to clamber up onto them and make her way quite high up. She hunkered down in the angle of one of the upper branches and the trunk, and closed her eyes tight for a moment telling herself she was safe. She opened her eyes after a while and looked about her, her ears wide for any sounds. But there were none, only the sound of the breeze in the branches. With a sigh, she lay down on the broad limb. Her eyes grew weary after a short while and shut of their own accord . . .