The Fox Child

Chapter 4:

Autumn realized immediately after she cut the wrong line because of the look on Ivory's face and because the entire structure began to fall apart. As she clung desperately to the remains of the platform she tried to think of the best way to go down. She began trying to unweave the bits of vines to tie together but slipped. Ivory watched as Autumn fell 15 feet and let out a whimper. She tried to run over to break Autumn's fall and realized she wouldn't make it in time. She heard a thump and Autumn cry out. She ran over and saw Autumn crumpled at the base of the tree. She realized the only thing she could do was drag Autumn the rest of the way to the den. So she grabbed the backpack with her teeth and pulled with all her might dragging Autumn with her. She heard the roar of whatever animal had set up the trap and she pulled Autumn behind the bushes, hoping the animal wouldn't catch her scent. Ivory tried to think of how far it was to the den. She could usually run from the den to Autumn's house by the time the sun was at its peak, or noon as Autumn called it. Of course that was from when the sun just began to rise. When the huge animal left Ivory continued dragging Autumn as fast as she could , she felt relived when she found the moss covered boulder because that meant she was halfway there. The sun had already set, so she took Autumn into the little cave at the base of the boulder and put her into the back of the cave with great effort. Then she drug branches in front of her as she went in the cave, blocking the entrance. Then she walked over to Autumn and snuggled up with her to keep her warm, and then she drifted off to sleep.