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HenWen shook herself off, splashing Arthur, who laughed as she scampered away, scenting Belle. The eldest sibling was taking a basket of freshly gathered eggs to market and planning to meet up with Giselle along the way. Belle smiled as HenWen came trotting up to her and circled her ankles, like a happy cat.

“Alright, HenWen, you can come with me.”

HenWen immediately followed her towards the gate and along the path towards the village. She always stayed close at Belle’s heels, like a little shadow. Belle greeted the few people she met along the way – fellow market-goers, farmers, simple country folk – and they nodded and tipped their hats to HenWen just as much as to her.

“Good morning, Belle,” smiled the baker as the pair finally reached the edge of the village. He had a tray loaded high with bread rolls and cakes. “Hello there, HenWen, Where are you two off to today?”

“To the market to sell these eggs,” Belle replied, brightly. “And then I’m meeting Giselle at the bookshop.”

“Oh?” The baker scratched his head. “I haven’t seen Giselle here in a while. I was beginning to think maybe she was ill.”

That was strange, Belle thought. She had assumed that Giselle had just been tied up in designing a new dress, as sometimes happened, and that was why she hadn’t called around lately, but surely she had been to the village to buy material or needles? She had said the last time Belle saw her that she was running low on pins and thread, so she must have had to buy some lately? Belle resolved to visit the haberdashery as soon as she had offloaded the eggs.

HenWen skipped, if it was possible for a pig to skip, alongside her as she made her way to the stalls. Belle smiled, trying to stem her worry over Giselle, and the man who bought the eggs from her noticed nothing unusual as he paid her the usual amount and gave HenWen a friendly scratch on the top of her head. Belle nodded her gratitude and hurried over to the haberdashery, which was run by three older women, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Belle suspected they were sisters, even though they didn’t look anything alike. When she stepped into the shop, Merryweather was standing on a chair whilst Flora fussed around her, pinning and tucking a pink dress that looked like it was made for someone much larger than Merryweather. Fauna was behind the counter, doing the books, but she looked up and smiled as Belle came in.

“Hello, Belle, dear,” she smiled. Flora and Merryweather looked over too and made cheerful greetings, at least it sounded like Flora was greeting her, it was hard to tell since her mouth was full of pins. “How can we help you today?”

“Well, I was just wondering if my friend Giselle had been in here lately,” Belle explained, politely. HenWen sniffed at the material Flora was pinning around Merryweather. “It’s just I haven’t seen her in a while, and I was wondering if you ladies had.”

“Come to think of it,” Merryweather frowned, looking over at Fauna. “The last time we saw her in here was over three weeks ago, wasn’t it?”

“I’ll see.” Fauna flipped through the books, which contained notes of whom had been into the shop when and what they had bought. “Yes, here it is, three weeks ago she came and bought two yards of the aqua blue satin with pink flowers.” She waved a hand at a roll of the material she was describing as she spoke.

“I remember that material,” Belle said, remembering when Giselle had showed it to her. “But that was later than when she bought it, and I saw her a week ago, and she said she needed more pins and thread...she hasn’t been in here since?”

Fauna very kindly double-checked the books and shook her head. “No, or at least if she was, she didn’t buy anything.”

“Is everything alright, dear?” Flora had finally plucked the last pin from her mouth and tucked the bottom of Merryweather’s dress in properly. “You don’t think something’s happened to her, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Belle admitted. “I just haven’t seen her in a while.” The dream of the night before came back to her and she shook her head. “Well, if you do see her, let me know.”

“Of course,” Merryweather agreed, and then exclaimed “Ouch!” as Flora accidently poked her with a needle. Belle left them with Flora apologising over and over, Merryweather grumbling and Fauna fussing over the pair of them. HenWen trotted along behind her, worrying about her mistress. Belle decided to go to Giselle’s house and check that she was really alright, but when she got there, she was surprise to see that it was in darkness. It looked as if no one was home. Belle peeked in through the window that she knew was for Giselle’s room. All she could see inside was an empty bed and a half-finished aqua-blue floral dress hanging off a mannequin.

Belle frowned at HenWen. “Surely Giselle would have told me if she was going away for a while? And this place looks like it’s been left in a hurry.” She looked around. The family cart was still sitting in the open doorway to the barn. “If they’d gone for a long time, they would have taken the cart, surely?” HenWen went over to sniff at the cart, and suddenly recoiled, shaking her head. “What is it, girl?” HenWen looked alarmed and started squealing at the top of her lungs. “HenWen?” Ignoring her, HenWen started rushing about in a circle, as if she could sense something dangerous. “Hen, what is it? What’s wrong?” Belle looked around for something that could help. There was a bucket of water sitting against the barn wall, and she quickly put it in front of her. “Are you thirsty, Hen? You never act like this when you’re hungry or thirsty! I’ve never seen you act like this at all!”

HenWen shook her head, staggering giddly towards the bucket. Belle was frightened now. Was HenWen dying? She’d seen older animals rush about, stagger and collapse when they were on the brink of death, but HenWen was still young, she couldn’t possibly...

HenWen placed her face in the water and Belle felt a twinge of relief. Maybe she had just been extremely thirsty. Then, she realised that HenWen wasn’t drinking the water. The ripples her face had made from touching the surface were changing colour, from clear to blue to indigo. HenWen’s eyes had turned from blue to pink and she was staring at the shadowy shapes now appearing in the water.

“HenWen?” Belle crouched down beside her, seeing the strange shapes taking on a proper form. She could see a figure, but it wasn’t human, it looked like a mermaid, and then its tail split into eight tentacles and it was grasping what looked like a trident. Belle blinked and the shapes manifested themselves into the form of a great animal that she couldn’t identify, a great castle on an island and then a shape that looked like the silhouette of-

“Giselle!” Belle gasped, looking at HenWen, who still seemed to be under a kind of trance. “Do you know where she is, HenWen?”

HenWen didn’t move. Belle watched the shapes manifest themselves again, this time into three figures. Their outlines looked vaguely familiar and then HenWen abruptly raised her head, water dripping from her chin. She looked startled, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep.

“HenWen...are you..clairvoyant?” Belle asked, staring at her. Was this what Tinkerbell had meant when she had said that she sensed something special about HenWen? Belle wiped the pig’s chin with her apron, feeling a sense of thrill that quickly turned into a sense of dread. She had thought all the magical stuff would stop, beyond the occasional visit from Tinkerbell. What could this mean?

“Hen...has someone taken Giselle? Has she been kidnapped, by someone like the Coven?”

HenWen blinked at her, slowly and solemnly. Belle took that to mean yes.

“That’s why the house is empty now,” she realised. “Her parents must be out looking for her. I suppose they assumed that if she was with us, she’d have let them know, that’s why they haven’t come to ask us if we’ve seen her. But who could have taken Giselle? And how? And why?”

HenWen blinked again. Belle knew that this time it was her way of saying that she didn’t know.

“Oh, Hen...what can I do?”

***

If any of the family noticed that Belle was in a subdued mood that night, no one said anything. The whole time she was going about her chores and eating, Belle was thinking about what someone could possibly want with Giselle. The Coven were gone for good, she knew that, and besides which, it was children they kidnapped, not fully-grown teenagers. Though, Belle reflected, they had been willing to take her in Arthur and Kayley’s place that night on Bald Mountain. Giselle was a sweet girl, but she had no discernible talents beyond dressmaking, and Belle couldn’t envisage a scenario where someone was so desperate for a new dress that they’d resort to kidnapping for it. The only solution she could come up with was that Giselle had somehow been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Belle didn’t say anything to the family about Giselle, nor about HenWen’s special powers. After everything they had gone through a year before, she was determined to keep anything related to dark magic under wraps. As she sat up in bed that night, unable to sleep, Belle turned her gaze towards the Forbidden Forest. She had a clear view of it from her bedroom window, and had vowed, after the last time, never to go inside it ever again. The problem was, the only people who could help with such a dilemma her lived inside the Forest, and after several hours of tossing and turning and arguing with herself over and over inside her head, Belle could stand it no longer.

She got up and dressed quickly and quietly. It was almost like the last time except that this time everyone was home and she had to be sure not to wake them. In the kitchen, she packed her bag with some food, water, rope, candles, matches and a small knife. She didn’t think any books would help her now, and besides, she knew where she was going. Grabbing her cloak, her eyes fell on the table where Arthur and Kayley had left out some sheets of paper and coloured pencils. She smiled at the drawing Kayley had done of Tinkerbell, and then took up a clean sheet and a black pencil to write a quick note.

“Mother, Father, Arthur and Kayley,

“Don’t worry about me, I am safe, but I have to go away for a while. It’s something urgent, only I don’t want you all mixed up in it, so I can’t say what it is. I will be back as soon as I can. Please don’t come looking for me. I will be just fine. Trust me.

“Belle.”

She weighed the note down under a bowl and crept quietly across the floor to the front door. It creaked only slightly as she opened it, but no one stirred upstairs, and Belle slipped out into the darkness. Even though she knew the farm so well by now, it still looked eerily different in the night and Belle was halfway along the path leading to their front gate when something nudge into her from behind and she stumbled, catching herself on the fence post just in time.

“HenWen!” In the darkness, the little pig’s eyes looked to be shining electric blue. Belle sighed and glanced towards the Forest. It was a dangerous place, she knew, but on the other hand, it was HenWen who had had the vision. “Alright, you can come with me, but stay close.” Belle reached for a length of spare rope in her bag and tied a makeshift harness around HenWen’s body. The little pig trotted amiably beside her, keeping close to her ankles as Belle creaked open the gate and set off towards the outskirts of the Forest.

She half-expected HenWen to pull on the rope and try to drag her back towards the farm as they approached the Forest, but HenWen simply walked along beside her, obviously trusting Belle to keep them both safe. Belle was suddenly glad of her presence, for even though it wasn’t her first time inside the Forbidden Forest, it was still rather frightening walking back in there in the dark.

“Come on.” She tugged HenWen a little closer to her. “We’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of us...if I can just remember how to get there.”

They moved on through the dense, dark trees, both of them startled whenever grass suddenly became pebbles, and Belle navigated their way carefully across the enchanted pool which she knew led to the Fair Folk’s world. She paused on a stepping stone, wondering if she could somehow call up Tinkerbell for help. The last time she had crossed this pool, a stepping stone had moved by itself, turned into a whirlpool and pulled her down to where the Fair Folk lived, almost as if it knew she needed their help. But this time, the stones remained still as she and HenWen crossed to the other side.

“Doli must have fixed the whirlpool properly this time,” Belle murmured, looking around. Everything looked the same in the dark, and she couldn’t exactly remember which direction Tinkerbell had led her in the first time. One tree looked exactly like another, and there were no discernible landmarks to guide their way along. She drew out a candle and lit it, although it did little to light the darkness around them. HenWen pressed closer to her, nervously. Belle was just wondering whether they ought to turn around and try another direction when the ground suddenly fell out from under her feet and with a startled yelp, she and HenWen tumbled down the slope they hadn’t seen, rolling over and over until they hit soft ground at the bottom. The candle hit a puddle with a hiss and was extinguished.

“HenWen!” Belle reached for the rope that had slipped from her hands and felt a cold, muddy snout pressing into her hand. She sighed in relief. “Sorry, Hen, I didn’t see...” She broke off and looked around. The great shape looming out of the darkness was definitely familiar to her. She reached for the candle, wiped the wick dry and lit it again. In front of them was a large cottage contained within the roots of a tree, a tangled bramble fence surrounding it, decorated with animal skulls...

“Morfa!”

Description

HenWen shook herself off, splashing Arthur, who laughed as she scampered away, scenting Belle. The eldest sibling was taking a basket of freshly gathered eggs to market and planning to meet up with Giselle along the way. Belle smiled as HenWen came trotting up to her and circled her ankles, like a happy cat.

“Alright, HenWen, you can come with me.”

HenWen immediately followed her towards the gate and along the path towards the village. She always stayed close at Belle’s heels, like a little shadow. Belle greeted the few people she met along the way – fellow market-goers, farmers, simple country folk – and they nodded and tipped their hats to HenWen just as much as to her.

“Good morning, Belle,” smiled the baker as the pair finally reached the edge of the village. He had a tray loaded high with bread rolls and cakes. “Hello there, HenWen, Where are you two off to today?”

“To the market to sell these eggs,” Belle replied, brightly. “And then I’m meeting Giselle at the bookshop.”

“Oh?” The baker scratched his head. “I haven’t seen Giselle here in a while. I was beginning to think maybe she was ill.”

That was strange, Belle thought. She had assumed that Giselle had just been tied up in designing a new dress, as sometimes happened, and that was why she hadn’t called around lately, but surely she had been to the village to buy material or needles? She had said the last time Belle saw her that she was running low on pins and thread, so she must have had to buy some lately? Belle resolved to visit the haberdashery as soon as she had offloaded the eggs.

HenWen skipped, if it was possible for a pig to skip, alongside her as she made her way to the stalls. Belle smiled, trying to stem her worry over Giselle, and the man who bought the eggs from her noticed nothing unusual as he paid her the usual amount and gave HenWen a friendly scratch on the top of her head. Belle nodded her gratitude and hurried over to the haberdashery, which was run by three older women, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Belle suspected they were sisters, even though they didn’t look anything alike. When she stepped into the shop, Merryweather was standing on a chair whilst Flora fussed around her, pinning and tucking a pink dress that looked like it was made for someone much larger than Merryweather. Fauna was behind the counter, doing the books, but she looked up and smiled as Belle came in.

“Hello, Belle, dear,” she smiled. Flora and Merryweather looked over too and made cheerful greetings, at least it sounded like Flora was greeting her, it was hard to tell since her mouth was full of pins. “How can we help you today?”

“Well, I was just wondering if my friend Giselle had been in here lately,” Belle explained, politely. HenWen sniffed at the material Flora was pinning around Merryweather. “It’s just I haven’t seen her in a while, and I was wondering if you ladies had.”

“Come to think of it,” Merryweather frowned, looking over at Fauna. “The last time we saw her in here was over three weeks ago, wasn’t it?”

“I’ll see.” Fauna flipped through the books, which contained notes of whom had been into the shop when and what they had bought. “Yes, here it is, three weeks ago she came and bought two yards of the aqua blue satin with pink flowers.” She waved a hand at a roll of the material she was describing as she spoke.

“I remember that material,” Belle said, remembering when Giselle had showed it to her. “But that was later than when she bought it, and I saw her a week ago, and she said she needed more pins and thread...she hasn’t been in here since?”

Fauna very kindly double-checked the books and shook her head. “No, or at least if she was, she didn’t buy anything.”

“Is everything alright, dear?” Flora had finally plucked the last pin from her mouth and tucked the bottom of Merryweather’s dress in properly. “You don’t think something’s happened to her, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Belle admitted. “I just haven’t seen her in a while.” The dream of the night before came back to her and she shook her head. “Well, if you do see her, let me know.”

“Of course,” Merryweather agreed, and then exclaimed “Ouch!” as Flora accidently poked her with a needle. Belle left them with Flora apologising over and over, Merryweather grumbling and Fauna fussing over the pair of them. HenWen trotted along behind her, worrying about her mistress. Belle decided to go to Giselle’s house and check that she was really alright, but when she got there, she was surprise to see that it was in darkness. It looked as if no one was home. Belle peeked in through the window that she knew was for Giselle’s room. All she could see inside was an empty bed and a half-finished aqua-blue floral dress hanging off a mannequin.

Belle frowned at HenWen. “Surely Giselle would have told me if she was going away for a while? And this place looks like it’s been left in a hurry.” She looked around. The family cart was still sitting in the open doorway to the barn. “If they’d gone for a long time, they would have taken the cart, surely?” HenWen went over to sniff at the cart, and suddenly recoiled, shaking her head. “What is it, girl?” HenWen looked alarmed and started squealing at the top of her lungs. “HenWen?” Ignoring her, HenWen started rushing about in a circle, as if she could sense something dangerous. “Hen, what is it? What’s wrong?” Belle looked around for something that could help. There was a bucket of water sitting against the barn wall, and she quickly put it in front of her. “Are you thirsty, Hen? You never act like this when you’re hungry or thirsty! I’ve never seen you act like this at all!”

HenWen shook her head, staggering giddly towards the bucket. Belle was frightened now. Was HenWen dying? She’d seen older animals rush about, stagger and collapse when they were on the brink of death, but HenWen was still young, she couldn’t possibly...

HenWen placed her face in the water and Belle felt a twinge of relief. Maybe she had just been extremely thirsty. Then, she realised that HenWen wasn’t drinking the water. The ripples her face had made from touching the surface were changing colour, from clear to blue to indigo. HenWen’s eyes had turned from blue to pink and she was staring at the shadowy shapes now appearing in the water.

“HenWen?” Belle crouched down beside her, seeing the strange shapes taking on a proper form. She could see a figure, but it wasn’t human, it looked like a mermaid, and then its tail split into eight tentacles and it was grasping what looked like a trident. Belle blinked and the shapes manifested themselves into the form of a great animal that she couldn’t identify, a great castle on an island and then a shape that looked like the silhouette of-

“Giselle!” Belle gasped, looking at HenWen, who still seemed to be under a kind of trance. “Do you know where she is, HenWen?”

HenWen didn’t move. Belle watched the shapes manifest themselves again, this time into three figures. Their outlines looked vaguely familiar and then HenWen abruptly raised her head, water dripping from her chin. She looked startled, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep.

“HenWen...are you..clairvoyant?” Belle asked, staring at her. Was this what Tinkerbell had meant when she had said that she sensed something special about HenWen? Belle wiped the pig’s chin with her apron, feeling a sense of thrill that quickly turned into a sense of dread. She had thought all the magical stuff would stop, beyond the occasional visit from Tinkerbell. What could this mean?

“Hen...has someone taken Giselle? Has she been kidnapped, by someone like the Coven?”

HenWen blinked at her, slowly and solemnly. Belle took that to mean yes.

“That’s why the house is empty now,” she realised. “Her parents must be out looking for her. I suppose they assumed that if she was with us, she’d have let them know, that’s why they haven’t come to ask us if we’ve seen her. But who could have taken Giselle? And how? And why?”

HenWen blinked again. Belle knew that this time it was her way of saying that she didn’t know.

“Oh, Hen...what can I do?”

***

If any of the family noticed that Belle was in a subdued mood that night, no one said anything. The whole time she was going about her chores and eating, Belle was thinking about what someone could possibly want with Giselle. The Coven were gone for good, she knew that, and besides which, it was children they kidnapped, not fully-grown teenagers. Though, Belle reflected, they had been willing to take her in Arthur and Kayley’s place that night on Bald Mountain. Giselle was a sweet girl, but she had no discernible talents beyond dressmaking, and Belle couldn’t envisage a scenario where someone was so desperate for a new dress that they’d resort to kidnapping for it. The only solution she could come up with was that Giselle had somehow been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Belle didn’t say anything to the family about Giselle, nor about HenWen’s special powers. After everything they had gone through a year before, she was determined to keep anything related to dark magic under wraps. As she sat up in bed that night, unable to sleep, Belle turned her gaze towards the Forbidden Forest. She had a clear view of it from her bedroom window, and had vowed, after the last time, never to go inside it ever again. The problem was, the only people who could help with such a dilemma her lived inside the Forest, and after several hours of tossing and turning and arguing with herself over and over inside her head, Belle could stand it no longer.

She got up and dressed quickly and quietly. It was almost like the last time except that this time everyone was home and she had to be sure not to wake them. In the kitchen, she packed her bag with some food, water, rope, candles, matches and a small knife. She didn’t think any books would help her now, and besides, she knew where she was going. Grabbing her cloak, her eyes fell on the table where Arthur and Kayley had left out some sheets of paper and coloured pencils. She smiled at the drawing Kayley had done of Tinkerbell, and then took up a clean sheet and a black pencil to write a quick note.

“Mother, Father, Arthur and Kayley,

“Don’t worry about me, I am safe, but I have to go away for a while. It’s something urgent, only I don’t want you all mixed up in it, so I can’t say what it is. I will be back as soon as I can. Please don’t come looking for me. I will be just fine. Trust me.

“Belle.”

She weighed the note down under a bowl and crept quietly across the floor to the front door. It creaked only slightly as she opened it, but no one stirred upstairs, and Belle slipped out into the darkness. Even though she knew the farm so well by now, it still looked eerily different in the night and Belle was halfway along the path leading to their front gate when something nudge into her from behind and she stumbled, catching herself on the fence post just in time.

“HenWen!” In the darkness, the little pig’s eyes looked to be shining electric blue. Belle sighed and glanced towards the Forest. It was a dangerous place, she knew, but on the other hand, it was HenWen who had had the vision. “Alright, you can come with me, but stay close.” Belle reached for a length of spare rope in her bag and tied a makeshift harness around HenWen’s body. The little pig trotted amiably beside her, keeping close to her ankles as Belle creaked open the gate and set off towards the outskirts of the Forest.

She half-expected HenWen to pull on the rope and try to drag her back towards the farm as they approached the Forest, but HenWen simply walked along beside her, obviously trusting Belle to keep them both safe. Belle was suddenly glad of her presence, for even though it wasn’t her first time inside the Forbidden Forest, it was still rather frightening walking back in there in the dark.

“Come on.” She tugged HenWen a little closer to her. “We’ve got a bit of a walk ahead of us...if I can just remember how to get there.”

They moved on through the dense, dark trees, both of them startled whenever grass suddenly became pebbles, and Belle navigated their way carefully across the enchanted pool which she knew led to the Fair Folk’s world. She paused on a stepping stone, wondering if she could somehow call up Tinkerbell for help. The last time she had crossed this pool, a stepping stone had moved by itself, turned into a whirlpool and pulled her down to where the Fair Folk lived, almost as if it knew she needed their help. But this time, the stones remained still as she and HenWen crossed to the other side.

“Doli must have fixed the whirlpool properly this time,” Belle murmured, looking around. Everything looked the same in the dark, and she couldn’t exactly remember which direction Tinkerbell had led her in the first time. One tree looked exactly like another, and there were no discernible landmarks to guide their way along. She drew out a candle and lit it, although it did little to light the darkness around them. HenWen pressed closer to her, nervously. Belle was just wondering whether they ought to turn around and try another direction when the ground suddenly fell out from under her feet and with a startled yelp, she and HenWen tumbled down the slope they hadn’t seen, rolling over and over until they hit soft ground at the bottom. The candle hit a puddle with a hiss and was extinguished.

“HenWen!” Belle reached for the rope that had slipped from her hands and felt a cold, muddy snout pressing into her hand. She sighed in relief. “Sorry, Hen, I didn’t see...” She broke off and looked around. The great shape looming out of the darkness was definitely familiar to her. She reached for the candle, wiped the wick dry and lit it again. In front of them was a large cottage contained within the roots of a tree, a tangled bramble fence surrounding it, decorated with animal skulls...

“Morfa!”