He turned and walked up the path toward the odd three-story house. I followed him, curious what the inside would look like. The nearby stream persisted with its Pleasant, crisp sound. We came to the front porch and

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Yipes stopped. Perched on the ledge of the porch rail was the hawk. Yipes gave it a soft scratch on the neck.

"This is my house, Alexa. I'll accommodate you as best as I can until morning. Then Darius will be here to take you to the meeting," he said as he opened the door, which stood about three feet tall and a foot and a half wide.

I had to enter on my knees with my shoulders turned sideways, but I stood only four and a half feet tall myself, so it wasn't as small as I thought it might be. I imagined Grayson trying to get in, sucking his gut tight, mercilessly wedged like a cork with his plump belly against the doorjambs; or Pervis Kotcher crouched inside the front room and turning his behind into the fireplace, banging his head against the low rafters as he whooped and howled. Once inside, I took the room to be on the order of twelve feet side to side, four feet from floor to ceiling.

It was cozy and warm, even though I had to remain seated to avoid hitting my head. There was a table at the center of the room, which was filled with bread, nuts, fruit, and fresh water. I hadn't thought of food all day, but seeing the spread in front of me made my stomach quake with hunger. "Yipes, can I "No need to ask. You are my honored guest; the food is for you, of course." He licked his lips and brushed his mustache with his hand.

"I refuse to eat unless you join me in the feast," I said.

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"Well, I suppose if you insist," he said, pulling a wonderful little nutcracker out of his pocket and advancing on the table. A broad smile covered his face, hiding his mouth almost entirely with the delicate fuzz from his mustache.

I reclined on my elbow, and he sat at the table on a rickety wooden chair. We ate our fill while the warm glow of the fire danced on the walls. A spiral staircase wound up to the second floor, but it was clear I would have difficulty making the climb. By the looks of it, there was a reasonable chance of altogether lodging myself in the pa.s.sageway, so I decided not to ask if I could see the rest of his fine little home. Instead, I probed him with questions.

"You're sworn to secrecy, not a word out of you about this man Darius or the mysterious meeting I'm to attend?" I asked, already well into a large, juicy apple.

"Soon enough you'll know everything, soon enough indeed."

"Can you tell me why you live in the mountains and where you came from?" I asked.

He puzzled awhile, fiddling with his nutcracker, then cleaned out a walnut sh.e.l.l. Nibbling its contents, he offered, "I can't tell you much not allowed, I'm afraid. I did live in Bridewell for a time, a long while ago. When my parents realized I was never going to grow to a normal size, they left me on the streets." He paused, then added,

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"You can disappear easily when n.o.body notices you to begin with." Then crack, he was busy on another walnut.

"I'm small, and I can't disappear easily at all," I said.

"Well now, that's because you're special. You're small, but very special indeed."

I think we talked a while longer, but the heat of the room and my full stomach made me so tired, I really can't remember how I got on the floor or when I began sleeping. I only remember waking up, the room in the early glow of morning, crisp and cool. I was crumpled up on the floor like a baby, with a blanket over my body, A quilted pillow nestled my head. I was half asleep, half awake.

She's bigger than I thought she would be.

Oh, she's just fine. Even I can see that.

All right, all right. No need to get excited. She'll do just fine, I agree. You've done a wonderful job getting her this far.

She did it all by herself No help needed from the likes of me. She's the one you want. She's the one.

The voices became clearer as I sat up. For a timeless moment I thought I was in my room at Renny Lodge and everything I had experienced the previous day had merely been a dream. Then I turned and saw a full-grown wolf standing next to Yipes, razor-sharp white teeth an inch long in its panting mouth.

I jolted back against the wall and felt a familiar cold fear digging into my bones. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was awake, and found with unfortunate clarity that

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I was indeed alert and fully conscious. I began to feel a strange awareness all around me. It felt as though I somehow understood what the trees were saying as the wind blew through the branches outside and what the water rolling over the rocks in the stream meant to express.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the wolf. "I am Darius." His lips did not move to speak like a human, but I comprehended him entirely. The way he moved from side to side, his paws shuffling on the floor. The tilt of his head, the subtle noises from his throat, and a hundred other things combined to form a language I understood with perfect accuracy. What was happening to me?

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you introduce yourself?" I gasped.

"Yes, you did. And I understand you are Alexa Daley of Bridewell Common. I am ever so pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise," I said in a flat, quiet tone.

Yipes said nothing and remained stiff at attention against the far wall. The wolf advanced in liquid strides and stopped a few feet in front of me.

"I know you're confused and in need of answers. I also know that you have only today and tomorrow before you must return to Bridewell. I know about your father, Grayson, Ganesh, and Pervis Kotcher. I know about your mother, about Nicolas, about Warvold, and a great many other things you don't know about.

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"You have been chosen for a special purpose, Alexa. The birth of Warvold set in motion events that his death must now bring to a close. He chose you to accomplish this task, and so you must.

"Yipes has been kind enough to bring you this far. Now it is my duty to escort you to a meeting with the forest ruler and his council. I can take you as far as the tunnel, where you will continue your journey with Malcolm. He will take you the rest of the way."

Forest ruler, council, more tunnels my head swam with facts I could not begin to comprehend. Naturally, my first instinct was to back out of any false sense of duty I might have stumbled into.

"But I'm just a child a small child," I protested. "I can get my father, he'll believe me; you can talk to him about whatever you need."

"Alexa." It was Yipes whispering from across the room. I could barely hear him utter my name. He continued in a soft voice, "Your size is your strength. Without it, you could not have been chosen. Look at me I'm half your size. And yet without me, you would still be b.u.mping your head against a tunnel door, locked away inside Bridewell. The size of your body is just right, Alexa. The only question is whether you're big enough inside."

Then Darius added, "By nightfall, I promise, everything will be clear, and I'll have you on your way home by morning."

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I looked at Yipes and longed to sit with him and chat the day away. He was standing at perfect attention, letting a tear run down his cheek without wiping it away.

"All right, I'll go," I said, and I understood the broad, sweet smile of the wild wolf. It was clear that Darius was in a rush to get things moving along, for just as soon as I agreed to the meeting he was next to me, nudging me toward the door with his powerful head.

"Will I see you again?" I asked Yipes as we made our way out the door and off the porch. He was hanging a satchel packed with dried food around my neck.

"I think so," he said, tears welling up again in his eyes. "Darius will take good care of you. You can trust him." Then he turned away from me to tend to his hawk, embarra.s.sed. I ran back and picked him up like a big stuffed doll and hugged him. Then I spun him in a circle and set him back down on his porch. Without another look back, I began walking with Darius, the sound of the stream farther and farther away until it was lost in the rustle of the trees overhead.

As we walked, I began to think, had Warvold really chosen me as Darius had said? Yes, he asked me to go on his last walk with him. But it wasn't just that. He could have given me the key. . . but instead he gave me one last test. I had to find it. And when I did, I would make myself worthy of the choice.

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CHAPTER 13.

THE TERRIBLE SECRET.

I had the distinct feeling we were going the wrong way. I knew the general location of the wall and the three gated roads, and I was sure we were heading toward the Lathbury road, which was opposite from where we should have been going. The road to Lathbury split the mountains from The Dark Hills, not Mount Norwood from Fenwick Forest.

"Darius?" I said.

"Yes, Alexa, what is it?"

"I haven't as keen a sense of direction as you must have, but it seems to me we're heading in the wrong direction."

"Very good, Alexa. You are correct. We're making a slight detour before the meeting. Something I need you to see that won't take but a moment."

Darius was friendly enough, but he had not mentioned this unscheduled diversion when we were with Yipes. It made me suspicious and edgy. Besides, he was a wolf, and I was as lost and helpless as a sheep. I would keep my guard up, and if things continued to feel wrong, I would cut off the trail and go back to find Yipes.

Darius was a big wolf, not at all like the small ones I'd seen in books. On all fours, he reached my shoulders, and 103.

his head was the size of the ripe watermelons in my mother's garden. His thick salt-and-pepper coat looked soft and full, though I'd not had the occasion to touch it. Placed against my hand, his ma.s.sive paws would surely run the full distance of my fingers and thumb. His powerful jaws looked as though they could cut through a wagon wheel.

"Here we are," he said.

"Where is here?" I asked, apprehensive about what the answer would be. Then I looked past Darius and realized we were standing in a thicket, with only twenty yards between the Lathbury road and us.

"How far to the right is the Lathbury gate?" I questioned.

"Not far, about two hundred yards. But we're safely tucked away where the guards cannot see us. And be' sides, we've got hawks doing double duty this morning. They will let us know if danger is anywhere nearby."

"Why have you brought me here, Darius -- to test me? To see if I'll run for the tower and tell everyone the animals can talk and that this place really is haunted?"

"Goodness me, no! They would think you were crazy Besides, they can't understand us. Only you can," he said.

Darius let that information sink in, then continued, "There was a tunnel carved a long while ago that goes under this wall. It's small, almost too small for me to fit and anyway, I can't stand tunnels. I refuse to go in them, no matter the size.

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"This tunnel is about a hundred yards long, and it goes gradually deeper into the ground. At the end is a row of wood planks, and on the other side of the wood planks is packed dirt, though I'm told there is a spot , where you can see through if you look just right. Badgers built the tunnel, and Yipes constructed the planks and packed dirt at the end. He's smaller than you and spent a lot of time down there working.

"You must crawl down to the end before I take you to Malcolm. It's the one other thing you must do."

Darius stepped aside, and indeed there was a small hole, about two feet around, staring up at me.

"I'm not sure I can fit in that hole," I said, even though I was nearly positive I could.

Darius walked a few paces until he was standing in the shade at the base of a large tree. He lay down and closed his eyes, his large head resting on soft front paws. "You can help us because you are small, Alexa. I think you'll fit." Then he became quiet, breathing steadily, as though he had fallen asleep.

I peered down into the hole, and I was unhappy to find it going dark rather quickly. Was I expected to climb down into a dark hole and stumble into a den of badgers, thrashing and clawing until they tore me to shreds in a silent underground grave? Darius could be plotting to have me killed for any number of reasons. I barely knew him, and he was the only wolf I knew. Could I trust a wolf? I looked over at Darius, who appeared to be perfectly 105.

content to nap the morning away in the shade of the trees.

It was true I could run straight for the tower, screaming and yelling and throwing my arms around. Or I might be able to find my way back to the secret tunnel leading to the library. That was a bit more of a stretch, since I really had no idea where it was. With Darius sleeping, I could probably sneak away and get Yipes to help me. But then, how much did I really know about Yipes? Not much more than I knew about Darius.

I paced back and forth in front of the hole, unsure of what to do.

"You are right for other reasons as well." It was Darius, his head up and alert now, and his piercing dark eyes staring at me. "We have been watching you with interest for quite some time. You plot and scheme in search of a way outside the wall. You have always known there was a higher purpose for your life, some mysterious duty, maybe even a mysterious past you can't remember. Your searching has not been as aimless as you might think. It's brought you this far, hasn't it?" Darius rose and took four powerful strides toward me. I imagined he could stand his own against any man or beast I knew of.

"Do you know where the rock in the pool came from, and why it allows you to understand what I'm saying? Have you any idea what happened to Renny Warvold? Who Elyon is and where he can be found? I think the answers to these questions, and many more, would surprise 106.

you. But first things first -- you won't understand why you are here until you go down that dark hole and see for yourself.

"Your adventure begins or ends here, Alexa."

I hesitated for a moment longer, taking in a big breath of the fresh mountain air and looking up into the light blue of the morning sky. Leaves danced in the wind; a hawk circled overhead. I wondered if Yipes had sent it to watch over me.

I got down on all fours and poked my head into the hole, knowing already that I would soon find myself deep under the earth. I was unable to resist the temptation of discovery that Darius had so aptly placed in front of me.

My hands were next. Touching the cool floor sent a rush of dirt rolling down into the shadows. Once my shoulders were in, I could not turn back to look behind me without knocking loose dirt off the walls. It was claustrophobic, much smaller than it had looked. My body blocked what little of the sun's rays had been streaming into the hole, and only a few shards of light poorly illuminated the s.p.a.ce in front of me. With my knees inside I encountered an additional discomfort. The hunch of my back b.u.mped against the top of the tunnel as I waddled from side to side. I could get my front half down by bending my elbows, but my rear end was a protrusion that was hard to control in the tight underground s.p.a.ce keeping it down required me to bend back on my ankles and move forward in short, awkward shuffles.

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