Read Online Aerenden: The Child Returns (Ærenden) by Kristen Taber - Free Book Online Page A

so dense Meaghan felt dawn had slipped back into
twilight.  There appeared to be no set path and at times the vines and
overgrowth made passage slow. Nick used a stick to push limbs out of their way
as they moved. Only an occasional noise greeted them from the depths, the
warble of a bird or leaves rustling as a small animal ran from them, and it
added to the darkness pressing down on Meaghan’s senses.
    Her
heart ached, squeezed by memories of her parents’ deaths and she gave in to the
pain, allowing a sullen mood to fill the hours. Neither of them spoke until
Meaghan caught sight of a bright blue bird flying overhead. By the time a
second and a third darted past, recognition had brought a smile to her face. “Those
look like blue jays,” she said.
    Nick
glanced up without breaking their pace and nodded. “They are. I’m surprised to
see them. They’re usually skittish around people.”
    A
noise rustled to their left and Meaghan turned in time to catch the tuft of a
white tail. A few seconds later, a flash of brown bounded in front of them,
almost knocking Nick over. The brown paused long enough for Meaghan to
recognize it as a deer before it disappeared into the forest as fast as it had
appeared.
    She
took one look at Nick’s ashen face and the oppression that had eclipsed her all
morning dissolved into laughter.
    Nick
scowled at her, and then chuckled as he rubbed at the back of his neck, his
cheeks flush with embarrassment. “I should’ve seen that coming. I was
concentrating too much on sensing my way, I guess.”
    “You
couldn’t sense him?”
    “Sensing
deer is not one of my skills. I didn’t know he was there until he jumped in
front of me. I think we scared him.”
    “Not
as much as he scared you,” Meaghan teased, and then curbed the urge to laugh
again when Nick narrowed his eyes at her. “I didn’t realize so many of the
animals would be the same here. It’s comforting to think this world isn’t so
different from my own.”
    “Some
of them are the same, but some aren’t, even if they appear to be. You need to
be cautious until you’re certain of what you’re facing.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “I
mean being too comfortable with something which appears familiar can get you
hurt.” Nick placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. “Look into
the higher branches.”
    She
scanned the trees surrounding them. When a blue bird twittered at her from a
high branch to her right, she frowned. “Are you trying to tell me the jay is
dangerous?”
    “Not
the bird. That,” he pointed at a spot above the bird. At first, Meaghan saw
nothing, but then a flicker caught her attention. A small monkey, no bigger
than the size of a kitten, hung from a branch by a long, thin tail. It watched
them, cocking its head back and forth with interest. She took a step toward it,
stopping when Nick’s hand tightened on her shoulder.
    “Don’t
get too close,” he said.
    “Is
he really dangerous?” she asked. “He doesn’t seem big enough to cause harm to
anything larger than a banana.” She took another step so she stood underneath
the tree. The monkey swung on top of the branch, scurrying away from them.
“Darn it. I scared him.”
    “Not
quite,” Nick said. The monkey reappeared in a lower branch, only feet from
Meaghan. It crept toward her, and then froze again.
     “I’ve
never seen a monkey this close before,” she said. The monkey chattered in
excitement. It extended a small paw toward her and she reached up in turn.
    “Don’t!”
Nick snatched her hand from the air seconds before the monkey’s fingers had the
chance to close around her wrist. The animal leapt from the tree limb, catching
the branch with its tail so it swung in front of them before it turned its
focus on Nick. Its eyes glowed red and it hissed, baring a mouth full of jagged
teeth.
    Meaghan
jumped, and then clutched her hands in front of her heart as the monkey swung
back onto the branch, screeching in