Waiting For Sunrise - The Books Of Beginning AU

33. Wolves

"I hate this! I hate this stupid rain!" 

Emma's emphatic declaration came after she slipped and fell right into a puddle. The storm had turned the forest into a swamp, complete with large collections of standing water, rain-slicked leaves, and copious amounts of mud. It had turned the going slow ever since they first made it into the woods, with the children having to take care not to make a wrong step. Such a mistake could lead to harm, and harm could lead to being captured. 

Already, the terrible conditions had caused trouble and lost time. Emma wasn't the only one to fall over - at one point, Michael had tripped and landed in the mud, and precious time was spent trying to recover his glasses when they went missing after the fact. (They had ended up being located hooked around his ear and half tucked in his collar, much to the annoyance of Emma, who had already stuck her hand down a slimy, worm infested hole in search of them.) 

Kate and Michael helped the now downright irate Emma to her feet. Neither could blame her for her grumpy state. The three siblings were soaking wet, extremely dirty, and bone tired. They had no idea how much farther was left to go tonight, how long they would be forced to walk before they could be safe. (All three of them were missing the church, so dry and warm with the fireplace and Addie's woodstove and loads of blankets, right about now.)

Truly, the state of their world was dismal. Out alone in the storm, trekking through rough terrain in hopes of escaping the evil witch and her monsters, still lacking a way to return to their rightful time and their home. It didn't seem like it could get any worse for them, and yet, of course, it did. For they had only just started on their way after Emma's slip-and-fall incident, when they heard the howl.

It wasn't a Screecher, but had nevertheless come from the direction of the house. In seconds, more followed, a series of savage cries, growing closer quickly. Then the cries died down and Kate turned to her brother and sister, her face grim.

"They're coming," she said. "We need to move faster."

And so they did, running fast as they could with the mud and the leaves, and somehow managed to avoid falling. Despite the pain in their sides and the ache in their legs, despite the fact that Michael was naturally clumsy and Emma had a tendency to not watch where she was going and Kate kept distracting herself by looking over her shoulder to ensure her brother was still keeping pace, they stayed upright.  

Emma was at the front of the trio, and was the first to shove her way through a thick tangle of bushes. Kate followed, then Michael, the two older siblings hearing their younger sister shriek as they ducked under a branch and emerged from the dense vegetation. 

"No!" Michael cried out, seeing what had upset Emma so badly. 

They were on the edge of a cliff, looking down into a dark gorge lit up by the sporadic lightning flashes cracking in the sky. It was hundreds of feet to the bottom and nothing but sheer rock walls in every direction. Kate had to resist the urge to swear bitterly as she thought about the town name and the dammed lake - there must have been a waterfall cutting through, at some point, but now the gorge was dry and dangerous, yet another obstacle in their path.

Another series of howls sounded, this time from within the forest. Their enemies were getting closer. The children needed to keep going, but how?

"What the hell are we gonna do?" Emma cried out, her annoyance only matched by the pulse-pounding fear coursing through her.

"There!" Kate said. She had spotted a narrow path, twenty yards away, which twisted down the cliffside. She had no idea if it would take them all the way down into the crevice, but it was their only option at this point. "Come on!"