Emerald (The Protector) - undergoing editing

Chapter 4

"There should be a woodsman's hut not far from here" Emerald explained as they walked. 

"Great," Sarah began to quicken her pace, looks like I will be spending a night under the water. She looked up at the darkening sky and shivered.

Within an hour they had reached their destination. Sarah's feet were sore from where her toes had rubbed on the leather of her shoes. She sat down on a fallen log and pulled off a shoe to take a look at the damage.

Grimacing she held her foot out to her friend – "see what you made me do – why did we have to walk so fast."

"You'll thank me shortly, believe me", Emerald replied

Sarah absentmindedly rubbed her foot as she took in her surroundings. Tall dark trees surrounded the clearing. In the daylight they looked grizzled and very, very old. Their bark was peeling off, remnants of which littered the ground, and some of their branches were bare of leaves. They looked as if someone had taken a scythe and carved their way around various branches.

"Come on" Emerald said "we'd better get inside."

Inside where? Sarah thought and then she saw the small wooden hut that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

This is too weird. She followed her friend inside and looked around – the hut looked extremely rickety – she didn't think it would offer much protection, but to her surprise she found that once the door was shut, it was surprisingly warm and cosy.

She wandered around the small room looking at the small knickknacks around the place – mementoes of previous visitors.

"Don't touch anything."

Sarah pulled her hand back from a small blue statue. Its eyes looked disappointed. Sarah felt goose bumps prick the back of her neck.

She turned to look at her friend, but if Emerald had noticed anything unusual she wasn't going to say anything. Sarah watched her rummaging around in one of the cupboards - "Finally, do you know how long I have wanted to change out of these clothes?" Emerald turned to Sarah with a grin. "Ask and the hut shall provide." Emerald held up a pair of dark green pants and a white shirt – these should fit you. I've got something similar" – she showed Sarah a pair of light brown trousers and a cream shirt. "We will look like travelers and I cannot wait to change into these. Could you help me with the buttons on the back of my dress?"

"Sure" Sarah helped her to undo the buttons before changing in to the clothes Emerald had given her. Sarah was surprised at how well they fit.

She walked over to the fire that burned brightly in the fireplace, a small iron pot, blackened from many years of use, hung on a hook over it. Sarah sniffed the air, casserole, just like the one her mum made. She suddenly realised how hungry she was. "Who lives here?"

"No one." Emerald replied as she pulled the shirt over her head.

"Then, who made the casserole?"

"The pot has a plentiful supply."

"Huh?"

"The pot, it's been making different recipes for many years, for those in need."

"Wow, bet my Mum would love one of these at home. She complains all the time that she doesn't know what to cook for dinner."

Emerald smiled, glad Sarah was taking everything in her stride.

"There should be some bowls in that cupboard over there" she pointed to a small door in the wall. "Could you get them please?"

"Sure" Sarah was still taking in her surroundings, "How long has this place existed?"

"Don't know. It's been here for as long as I can remember."

"Amazing." Sarah murmured to herself.

She opened the cupboard door and discovered an array of bowls, plates, cups and glasses. Some were extremely delicate. Not wishing to break anything, Sarah grabbed two plain white bowls that looked more robust than the rest and took them over to the fireplace where Emerald waited to dole out the stew.

"Well done Sarah" Emerald said

She raised an eyebrow "It's just a couple of bowls."

"Yes, but you didn't choose the most expensive or delicate ones. That is good. The hut will reward you."

"Sorry?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Emerald finished dishing the stew into the bowls and they sat down at a small round wooden table to eat. It was delicious and Sarah discovered she was rather hungry.

"That was fantastic" she said as she pushed her bowl away.

"Yes, it has never yet disappointed me" Emerald smiled.  "Well, time for bed.  We have a long journey ahead of us and I would like to be up early tomorrow. You can sleep over there." she pointed to where two bedrolls had miraculously appeared.

Sarah no longer felt surprise – in this world anything could happen.

She lay down on the thin mattress. She really was quite tired. She closed her eyes and was soon asleep.

She woke with a start. What was that noise?

She tried to peer around the hut, but it was too dark for her to see anything.

She heard a noise – something was wandering around outside.

"Emerald, Em," she went to shake her friend only to discover she wasn't there.

"Emerald" she hissed loudly "Where are you?"

"Quiet Sarah" Emerald's calm voice came from the direction of the window.

Sarah scrambled off her bedroll and went over to her.

"Can you see anything?"

"No, it's too dark"

Sarah could hear something rustling around in the trees.

She felt a hand squeeze her arm "We are safe as long as we remain in the hut. Why don't you go back to sleep. It will be morning soon and we can be on our way."

"Okay, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep."

As Sarah turned to go back to her warm bed she took another look out the window. Was that the shape of a large dog? No, it couldn't be could it? – Emerald said they couldn't get through the door.  

She had said that, hadn't she? Sarah couldn't actually remember what she'd been told – so much had happened that day, it was too much to take in.

She lay down and closed her eyes. As she drifted back to sleep, she found herself remembering looking into two very cold, black eyes.