PROLOGUE
 
   ‘He’s coming!’ 
   Kristrún pushed her legs to move faster. She didn’t need the warning. All around her the ice cave shook and crumbled with each of the beast’s bounding strides.
   The man beside her, Baldur, struggled to keep up. ‘How close are we?’ he yelled.
   From around a corner, a little way ahead, there came a sharp shriek and a small sparrowhawk appeared, gliding deftly through the passage toward them. 
   ‘Not close enough,’ the bird cried as it reared and fluttered its wings.
   Baldur and Kristrún looked to one another. They were both frightened, not of the talking sparrowhawk, she was a friend, but of the unseen terror pursuing them. They knew the ice caves beneath the volcano Öræfajökull (Err iver yerkotl)
 well, but the creature could sense their fear and was closing in. 
   ‘I can still smell the blood,’ a ring-tailed lemur chattered as it sped along at Baldur’s feet, its eyes wide and wet. ‘Death.’
   Baldur grimaced. He had lost two dear friends already this day to the beast, had heard their cries silenced by its jaws, and he would not see his love, Kristrún, added to that list. He would do anything to avoid that.
   The lemur gasped and stumbled. It looked up at him, mouth agape, its expression searching and understanding the resolve in Baldur’s eyes. Its brow furrowed and the small simian nodded.
   Baldur looked back across at the woman beside him, his beautiful Valkyrie, then closed his eyes and stopped running. 
   ‘What are you doing!?’ Kristrún cried. She stopped a little way ahead and turned. ‘Come on! Hurry!’
   ‘Go,’ he replied softly. ‘Get out of here.’
   Kristrún looked confused for a moment but understood. ‘Nei!’ she gasped. ‘Come! We have to run!’
   ‘Go!’ he repeated. 
   Taking the backpack from his shoulders he tossed it to her. ‘Take it. Get as far away as you can and hide. Leave Iceland altogether. He can’t find out!’
   Taking up the bag and slinging it over her shoulders, Kristrún shook her head. ‘Please come with me,’ she pleaded weakly.
   ‘I can’t,’ Baldur said. ‘I can slow him down a bit, buy you some time, but that’s it. You’re faster than me. Alone you can make it. It’s the only way.’
   A deep roar echoed up the tunnel and made them both jump. The beast was close.
   ‘Come Kristrún,’ the sparrowhawk urged, making tight circles around her waist. ‘We have to go!’
   Tears ran from Kristrún’s eyes as she began to back unsteadily along the passage. ‘How did it know we’d be here?’ she sobbed. ‘How did it know?’
   ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ Baldur said.‘He can’t be allowed to find Vidar.’ 
   Turning, Baldur took a deep breath, the lemur at his feet mirroring his movements. ‘Go my love,’ he said. ‘Tell everyone what has happened here today. Let them know the truth.’
   ‘I will,’ she replied.
   Baldur turned his head and looked at her with a smile. ‘Who’d have thought I’d be the one to have a warrior’s death huh?’ He forced a chuckle, took another deep breath, and charged back the way they had come, the lemur running beside him.
   Kristrún reached out to him but kept backing away. She watched him disappear around a corner and shook her head, repeating his name over and over under her breath.
   Another roar shook the ice, causing tiny fractures in the walls of the cave and then she heard Baldur scream.
   Stumbling, Kristrún turned and ran.
   The sparrowhawk kept pace beside her. ‘I think we can make it!’ it said hopefully.
   A deep howl filled the cave, almost deafening Kristrún, so that she winced. It terrified her but the light seemed brighter here, the air fresher. There was even a slight breeze. The end of the tunnel was near.
   Rounding a bend, she saw it, the opening, an almost perfect circle of light not more than fifty meters ahead.
   ‘Faster!’ the bird cried. ‘He’s catching up!’
   Straining, fighting, desperately urging her body past its limits, Kristrún ran. The circle of light grew larger as she approached, the breeze held more of a chill, she was so close, but the beast was almost upon her. She could hear its heavy breaths, its steady gallop, and when she was less than twenty meters short of freedom, it had her.
   ‘Nei!’ she gasped, as she was brought to a sudden jarring halt. 
   The beast held her backpack in its jaws, and raised Kristrún off the icy floor of the cave. It shook her from side to side, smacking her arms and legs against the walls and grazing her head against the ceiling.
   Kristrún contorted herself, slipped her arms out of the straps of the backpack, and was thrown free. She rolled a little, got up quickly and glanced back at the beast; a giant white wolf. 
   Its body all but filled the passage, and it was forced to stoop. A deep rumbling growl rose from its belly as it fixed her with its cold eyes.
   Wiping back a trickle of blood that ran from a split on her forehead, Kristrún turned and made a desperate dash. 
   The hawk darted a little way ahead, turned sharply, and dove into her, its small body vanishing ghostlike into Kristrún’s chest.
   Kristrún gasped but kept running. The irises of her eyes turned a dirty yellow, her skin darkened to a soft brown, her ears flattened against her head, her nose and mouth lengthened into a beak and the hands at the end of her sleaves were replaced with long feathers.
   She leapt toward the cave opening as powerful wings tore through the arms of her coat. Hope is not lost, she thought. Baldur, my love, I have not failed y…
   A burning pain shot through her as the arrow pierced her right hip. It drove deep into her flesh. 
   She screamed and her body became human again as the sparrowhawk tumbled out of her. They both rolled along the tunnel floor, coming to a stop, mere steps from escape.
 
      Growling and ripping at the backpack, the monster searched its contents eagerly while another figure, one the size of a man but sporting a long scaled tail and claws, its face and body mostly shrouded in white, stepped past. It slung a bow over its shoulder and looked down at Kristrún with cold white eyes.
   ‘Very good Finnbjörn,’ the beast said in a deep grinding voice as it stared at the photos and things strewn across the cave floor. ‘…but I don’t know what any of this means!’ 
   Raising its head, the wolf’s predatory gaze fell on Kristrún.‘…so let us see what secrets our new valkyrie friend has to tell us hmmm?’
   The creature with the bow bent down and tore his arrow from Kristrún’s hip. 
   She screamed again as he forced her to sit up.
   ‘I’ll tell you nothing,’ she shouted defiantly.
   The giant wolf ran its tongue over its bared teeth as it stepped steadily toward her. ‘You will tell me everything!’
    
   

Chapter 1

   ‘Get up Finn!’
   Connor heard the order but didn’t move. He knelt doubled over on the asphalt in the middle of the high school basketball court, clutching his aching stomach. The punch had surprised him, it hurt, and he felt like he was going to be sick.
   “I said get up Finn!”
   Wincing, Connor forced his head up and stared into the face of the boy who had struck him.
   Sean Mangan glared down in contempt. The edges of his mouth were curled in a smug grin. 
   “What’s the matter Finn? Scared?”
   Connor drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Leave me alone,” he muttered.
   The smile on Sean Mangan’s face broadened and he laughed out loud. Those standing at his sides, Kevin Ryan, David Smith, Ben Higgins and Josh Ford, laughed along with him. Their taunts made Connor feel small and he wished they’d go away.
   Why do they do this? he wondered.
   Hearing a familiar laugh, he turned his head to see who it was, and there, across the schoolyard, sat Falda Varicksdóttir.
   Falda had been his friend up until a week ago. She was new to the area, new to the country. Her family had recently come to Grimmly from Norway. They had moved into the house directly across the street and in the two weeks before school had started, Falda and Connor had become close. 
   She was the same age as him, had long black hair, dark eyes and rosy cheeks. Falda was weird and funny and their friendship came easily.
   It wasn’t to last however. When the school term began, she soon became one of the popular kids. 
   Falda now sat across the schoolyard with one of her “new” friends and hadn’t even noticed what was happening to him. Hadn’t noticed or simply hadn’t cared. Either way it stung.
   Bringing his head up, Connor looked at the boys standing over him and his brow furrowed. ‘No more,’ he thought. ‘I don’t care about her, and I don’t care about them!’
   In one swift movement he rose to his feet and clenched his fists. Sean Mangan and his gang flinched and stepped back.
   ‘I said leave me alone!’ Connor shouted.
   The boys’ eyes widened. Their confidence wavered and they edged back a little more. 
   Connor was taller than the other boys, and stronger, but even though he had the physical advantage he hated fighting and had always managed to avoid it. There was no backing down this time however. Connor was angry and they were asking for it.
   Suddenly one of the boys, David Smith, burst into laughter. 
   This only made Connor more furious and he raised his fists.
   Sean Mangan started laughing as well and pointed at Connor’s trousers.
   Connor stepped toward them but then paused. He felt something strange and looked down. The front of his trousers were stained with a dark wet patch. 
   My medicine,he thought, the bottle must have broken open in my pocket.
   ‘Finn’s wet his pants!’ Sean Mangan yelled. ‘He’s wet his pants!!!’
   The blood drained from Connor’s face and his anger evaporated. Looking up it seemed as though the whole school was now staring at him and laughing. ‘I didn’t…’ he shook his head. ‘Its just my medicine. The bottle broke. Look.’
   Connor reached into his pocket and immediately felt a sharp stab as a shard of broken glass pierced his finger. He pulled his hand out and looked at the blood.
   More and more people started laughing and so after a moment’s hesitation he turned and ran.   
   Teasing and laughter followed him as he fled across the schoolyard, but as he came to the doors of the main building, he paused and turned his head.
   Falda was the only one not looking at him. Her head was slumped forward and her eyes were hidden behind her fringe.
 
   Connor spent the final hours of the school day avoiding his classmates’ gazes. He could feel them looking at him in the corridors, and could hear their snickering and whispering. He had managed to dry his trousers under the bathroom dryers and nobody actually said anything more to his face but it was obvious that everyone had heard the story. 
   To make things even worse, Connor was stricken with a frightful headache, and without his medicine there was no way to ease it. 
   He didn’t actually know why the headaches happened but he had always gotten them from as far back as he could remember, and the medicine had always given him relief. 
   His only distraction from the pain this day however came in the form of a raven that landed in the branches of a small eucalyptus tree just outside the window of his art class. It was larger than a normal raven and danced through the leaves, making all sorts of racket.
   Though the class assignment was to draw and shade a sphere Connor decided that he would much rather draw the raven. It was such an unusual bird, with a white marking on its chest and a shiny silver ring on its leg. 
   The raven seemed to notice that it was being drawn, for it took long quizzical stares at Connor and cawed at him softly.
   The bell soon rang, the schoolyard emptied, and Connor walked home alone.
   While the day had begun with pelting rain and a lot of wind, by late afternoon the sun shone down from a clear blue sky, and steam rose in gentle wisps from the puddles in the street.
   Connor’s headache continued to get worse and, as he walked, all that he could think of was getting to the spare bottle of medicine that he kept in his room. 
   When he was half way home Falda hurriedly overtook him. She bumped his arm with her bag as she past, but offered no apology.  
   He watched her trudge over the muddy ground by the side of the road and, almost without realizing it, quickened his pace to match hers.
   ‘I don’t care!’ she suddenly shouted. 
   Connor froze.
   ‘Nei I don’t!’ she hissed in her thick Scandinavian accent. ‘I couldn’t care less!’
    Was she talking to him? Connor wasn’t sure.
   ‘Nei! I will not!’ she spat. Falda turned her head slightly, so that she could see Connor from only the corner of her eye. ‘I can’ttalk to him!’
   Even from behind, it was obvious that she wasn’t holding a phone, and there were no other people about. It was just the two of them.
   A deep cawing caught Connor’s attention and he turned his gaze to a nearby fence where there sat perched a raven, much like the one he had seen from his art class window. In fact, he realized, it wasexactly the same raven. 
   It turned to stare directly at him with its harsh amber eyes and cawed again. 
   Falda made a grunt and continued on her way. 
   Connor ran his fingers through his tussled brown hair and watched her stupefied. There was nobody else around but it sounded like she wasarguingwith someone.He stood stunned and watched her until she was out of sight.
   The raven waited with him for a few moments, tilting its head this way and that, examining him, and then it cawed loudly again and flew away.
 
   When Connor eventually got home, he dropped his bag at the base of the stairs of the two-story house that he and his mother shared, and began to head straight on up to his room.
   ‘Connor? Connor is that you?’
   Connors’s mother, Anna, sounded stressed, something that was all too common.
   ‘Connor, come here! I want to speak to you!’
Connor paused on the third step and sighed wearily, his head pounding. ‘Mum I just want to go up to my room okay?’
   He heard a rustling of papers coming from the kitchen and a chair creaking.
   ‘No it is notokay!’ she snapped. ‘I got a phone call from your art teacher a few minutes ago. He thinks that you cheated in class today. Now, come here!’
   ‘What!?’ Connor squeezed his eyes tightly shut and stepped back down into the narrow hallway. ‘What are you talking about!?’
   ‘Mr Gill called,’ she replied. ‘He said that you and that girl from across the street have been copying from each other!’
   Entering the kitchen, Connor was not surprised to find his mother in something of a state. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were all red and she was wearing her dressing gown.
   ‘Its not true.’ Connor said. ‘I didn’t copy anyone.’
   Anna Finn rubbed her brow and shook her head. ‘He said that you both drew something that nobody else did, a bird.’
   That’s it? Connor thought. That’s what he calls copying?
   ‘So what?’ he said. ‘We drew the same bird. Big deal! It was right there outside the window!        
   Connor’s mother stood and waved a hand dismissively. ‘He says that it wasn’t there, that one of you imagined it and the other copied.’ Her eyes were pained and worried. ‘Tell me Connor …’ she demanded ‘…did you do it? Did you copy Falda’s picture?’ 
   Connor’s mother was obviously having one of her “bad days”. He didn’t know for certain why she got like this, but imagined that it was mostly because she was still heartbroken over his father.
   ‘Look Conny,’ she sighed, her voice heavy, ‘I need you to be careful of things like this. Okay?’
   Anna released her grip a little and Connor managed to take a quick step back. He hated it when she called him Conny; it was such a baby name. ‘But mum…I didn’t copy. I didn’t know Falda was drawing the same thing, but so what if she did. The raven was right there. Anybody could have seen it! Mr Gill must be blind.’
   ‘A raven?’ his mother gasped. ‘Mr Gill didn’t say it was a raven.’
   ‘Right,’ Connor frowned, ‘well it was. So what? It was right there outside the window and we both drew it…its not a big deal. I haven’t done anything wrong!’
   She paused and looked at him hard for a moment. ‘I know Conny, I know, I just…’
   ‘Mum, I didn’t do anything! Now can I pleasego to my room?’
   For a brief moment the two of them stared at one another. 
   ‘All right,’ his mother eventually sighed again, ‘all right. Go ahead…go on.’ Turning, she went to the kitchen sink and began rifling through the draws. ‘But no going outside this evening,’ she added. ‘You don’t look well. We might need to raise the dosage of your medicine.’ 
 
   Later that night, as the stars shone down through his window and his stomach came to terms with the somewhat tasteless dinner of fish fingers and powdered mash, Connor laid back upon his bed and looked up at the mould stains on the ceiling. Resting on his chest was the single photo of his father that his mother usually kept displayed on the mantelpiece.  
      Steven Finn had died unexpectedly. Connor wasn’t even born when it happened and his mother never spoke at great length about it, but apparently he had been crossing the road on a blind corner and had been struck down by a car. It had been nobody’s fault, just a sad and terribly unfortunate accident.
   Often, at night however, Connor fantasized about what his life might be like if things were different. He fantasized that his father’s passing had been a mistake, or faked, and thought about what they might do together as a family should he return. The fantasies made him happy and helped him get to sleep when the stresses of school kept him awake. 
   The light from a car’s headlights ran faintly across Connor’s bedroom ceiling and he turned his head to look out through the window at the night sky. He imagined what it might be like to know the sound of his father’s car and hear him coming home late after work.
   Another set of lights played across the wall and Connor could hear cars coming up the street. As the vehicles neared, their engines eased and they drove more slowly. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table.
   It was now just after eleven thirty and at this time of night the street was usually quiet. 
   Curiosity got the better of his thirteen-year-old mind and he sat up. Looking out through the window he saw a light go on in Falda’s room, directly across the street from his own. 
   Throwing back the covers, Connor rose to his feet. He shivered and began rubbing his arms with his hands. The small bar heater that his mother owned wasn’t nearly enough to heat the whole house, and it was so cold in his room that he could see his breath rising as vapour.
   Intrigued by the sound of car doors opening, he moved quickly to the window and looked down. Two white SUVs were parked in front of Falda’s house. They had insignias printed on the doors and flags flying from the aerials. 
   Connor squinted, so that he might get a clearer view of the insignias and could just make out what looked like a snowflake.   
   Looking past the vehicles, he noticed a figure walking purposefully towards Falda’s front door. There wasn’t much to be seen of the man from behind, but he was clearly tall and thin, with a dark over coat that hung down past his knees. His feet were bare and his hair was pure white.
   ‘Get away from there!’
   Connor’s mother had appeared at the doorway to his room. He hadn’t even heard the door open and she certainly hadn’t knocked like she was supposed to.
   ‘Mum, you can’t just come barging in here!’ 
   ‘Connor! I said get away from the window!’ Anna Finn dashed across the room, grabbed her son by the arm and jerked him away with such force that his head spun.
   ‘Ow!’ he cried. ‘What was that for?’ 
   Her eyes wide, Connor’s mother stood on tiptoe and dared a quick glance out through the window. She was shaking her head and mouthing words beneath her breath.
   ‘Mum. What’s wrong?’
   ‘Be quiet Connor!’ 
   Connor did what he was told and stood silently, staring at his mother. Even in the dark he could see that she was trembling. He reached out toward the old standing lamp that stood in the corner of the room, and gripped its pull cord.
   ‘Stop!’ 
   With another sudden burst, Anna grabbed her son’s wrist and squeezed so hard that his fingers were forced open.
   ‘Don’t turn on the light!’ she hissed.
   Connor pulled his hand away and rubbed his wrist. ‘Mum…calm down.’
   Anna scoffed and shook her head. She stretched her neck to again look out the window. Her gaze lingered this time and her eyes narrowed intently.
   Connor was taller than his mother and merely had to stand a little straighter to investigate.
   Others had emerged from the SUVs, three large figures carrying spears. They didn’t look human, but more like monsters, with fur and fangs. 
   Connor’s mother let out a short sob.
   ‘Mum… what is it? What’s wrong? What’s going on over there?’ 
   Anna gripped her son by the wrist again and dragged him towards the door. Once they were on the far side of the room from the window she turned and looked him straight in the eyes. ‘Get your things together. Only the necessary things, what will fit in your bag, clothes, your toothbrush…we don’t have much time.’
   Without offering an explanation she moved quickly out into the hall.
   Connor shook his head. He heard what she had said and knew what it meant. ‘No Mum!’ he barked. ‘No. I’m not moving again!’
   Turning, Connor’s mother lunged. She held his face in her hands with such a tight grip that his cheeks hurt. ‘You will do what I say! Do you understand me!? Now get your things together!’
   Connor tore free of her grip. ‘You can’t do this!’ he snapped. ‘Not again! I’m not moving again!’ 
   Fixing him with a threatening stare, she leant forward and raised a finger between them. ‘Get your things together…NOW!!!’
   Connor watched her turn and hurry into another room. He heard her rummaging through things, mumbling to herself, and cursing aloud. She’d never acted quite like this or seemed so terrified before.
   Strange animal noises sounded from across the street and Connor stepped quickly back to the window. Peering down from behind the curtain he could see that the front door of Falda’s house was open. There was a loud hiss and the man with the bare feet and white hair emerged from within, followed by a strange procession. 
   Two of the monstrous figures exited the house next. Each of them stood over seven feet tall. On their heads they wore high plumes of long white fur that stood up and out like the mane of a lion. Their masked skeletal faces held wide dead eyes, and their mouths were parted by sharp, yellowed tusks.
   Across their shoulders and chests they wore shining silver armour. Their arms and legs were covered with white fur, and fabrics decorated with intricate shapes hung from their waists and down their backs. The hands that held the spears had no fingers, but five long yellow claws.
   As Connor continued to spy on them, he saw others being led out through the doorway, in equally bizarre costumes.
   At first glance, he didn’t recognize them, but then he noticed their clothes, and realised they were Falda’s parents.
   Falda’s father, Varick, now sported what seemed to be a short hooked beak. His face was dark brown, his eyes small and yellow and his hands now looked more like wings, his fingers more like feathers. Falda’s mother, Erla now had skin that looked as black as coal. Her eyes were also yellow, her ears sat higher than usual and were pointed, and behind her swished what looked like a tail. 
   They both wore shinny silver collars around their necks and followed the others calmly.
   As he watched them being led down the front path, his attention was drawn suddenly to something moving in Falda’s bedroom. 
   She opened the window and climbed out onto the roof.
   What’s going on over there?he wondered again.
   Falda crouched low and crawled quickly up the tiled roof. She paused to look down at those in the street, but only for a moment, before she skittered over the apex and disappeared from sight.
   There was another movement in the window and Connor watched as the third costumed figure moved about inside. Once it saw the open window, it placed its hands upon the cill and began to ease itself out. 
   Connor was about to open his window and cry a warning to Falda when a short high whistle sounded from the street below, making the monster halt. 
   He looked back to the vehicles and saw the man in the long coat staring up at it, a small silver instrument held firmly between his lips. His white hair all but glowed.  
   Without warning, the man span on his heels and looked directly at Connor. His eyes were white, his face was misshapen and inhuman.
   Connor dropped to a crouch and ducked his head low.
   He gasped for breath and it took a few moments to build up enough courage to take another look. 
   When he did, he was relieved to see that the man had turned away.   
   The thing had disappeared from Falda’s bedroom window, and now marched out through the front door. It bowed before the man with white hair and climbed into one of the white SUVs. The man looked very pleased with himself, but then turned and again looked directly into Connor’s window, as if sensing that he was being watched. 
   Connor didn’t duck this time, but shuffled slowly back from the window, hoping that the darkness of his bedroom would conceal him. 
   The man stared for a long moment, and flashed a confident smile.
   Gagging, Connor backed clear across the room and stumbled over his school shoes, bashing his head against the wall as he fell.
   He lay there for a moment, rubbing his scalp, listening to the sounds of car engines rising and fading into the distance. 
   A loud thump startled him and he looked up. His mother, it seemed, was in the attic. 
   Dragging himself up, he looked out through the window again and relaxed briefly when he saw that the SUVs were gone. Sighing, he forced himself to breath. Perhaps, he thought, ‘mum will calm down now and we wont have to go anywhere. 
   Again he noticed a movement across the street and watched as Falda climbed down the roof and back into her bedroom.
   ‘Damn it!’ his mother snapped, her voice coming from the open manhole in the hallway ceiling. ‘Damn it!’
   Connor really hoped he could calm her down. They had moved house more times than he could remember and he was sick of it. He was never keen on moving and they always argued about it. She never gave in and this time seemed more desperate than ever, but he had to try. 
   He knew however that if he stood any chance of stopping her he needed to find out what had terrified her so.
   Shaking his head and gritting his teeth, he pulled on his jeans and crept out into the hallway. He tiptoed around the ladder to the attic, hearing his mother mumbling away to herself and papers spilling onto the floor.
   ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid!’ she hissed. ‘Should have realised! Should have seen this!’
   Stepping lightly, Connor made his way stealthily down the stairs and out through the front door, easing it carefully closed behind him.
   As he stepped out into the night and felt the cold breeze bite through his t-shirt, he saw Falda. She flew out through the door to her house and began walking hurriedly down the street, staying low to the ground and shrouding herself in shadows. She was still wearing her pyjamas but she had thrown a coat over the top of them.
   Wishing he had grabbed his own coat or at least put on some shoes, Connor crossed the street and gave chase. She was moving swiftly and it took a while for him to catch up.
   When he was within five meters Falda stopped suddenly. ‘Go home Connor,’ she hissed without turning to face him.
   Connor stopped and looked down. Somewhere along the way he must have walked right through a puddle because his feet were wet and the bottom of his jeans were soaked.
   ‘Where are you going?’ he asked. 
   ‘That’s none of your business,’ she replied, her voice more nasally than usual. ‘Just go home!’ 
   ‘Wait,’ Connor called as she continued on her way. ‘What happened? Who were those people that were at your house?’ 
   Again Falda stopped. She turned her head slightly to one side. ‘You were watching? You saw?’
   Connor took a deep breath and almost coughed as the cold air bit his lungs. ‘Yeah.’ 
   ‘Forget it,’ she ordered. ‘Go home and forget it.’
   Falda began walking again but Connor paused.
   ‘No…wait. I need to know what happened.’
   She stopped. ‘Nei Connor, you need to go home’
   ‘Look Falda,’ he said, as he took a tentative step toward her, ‘if you don’t tell me what happened, who those people were, I won’t even have a home, at least not hereanyway.’
   Falda took a step to keep the distance between them, but went no farther. ‘What do you mean?’
   ‘My mum, she saw those people, the man in the long coat and the ones in the masks, and she freaked out. She says we have to go. She told me to get my stuff together. She wants to leave…tonight, and we’re not coming back.’
   Falda took a deep breath and let her head slump forward. ‘Then you’d better get back.’  
   ‘I cant,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to leave. I need to find a way to calm her down…to stop her.’ He sighed and shivered. ‘Look…where are you going anyway?’
   ‘I…’ Falda lifted her head and gave a little shrug. ‘I don’t know. To catch a boat…I think.’
   ‘To catch a boat?’ Connor walked slowly forward but instead of pulling away, Falda just turned from him. ‘What do you mean? Is that where your parents have gone…to a boat? Is it like a fancy dress party or something?’
  Falda shook her head. ‘They didn’t go to any partyand they didn’t go by choice. They were taken.’ 
   ‘Taken?’ Connor asked.
   ‘They were kidnapped.’  
   ‘Kidnapped? Are you sure?’
   ‘Of course!’ Falda hissed. ‘I heard them fighting!’ 
   Connor nodded. ‘Well okay then come back with me. My mother seems to think she knows something about those people. I don’t know…maybe she does. Maybe she can help. We could maybe drive you or…’
   Falda took a sudden step but went no farther.
   ‘Come on,’ he said gently, reaching out and touching her arm. ‘Its cold out here.’
   ‘Go home,’ she grunted, pulling away. She began to hurry off again but stumbled and fell onto her hands and knees.
   Connor moved toward her.
   ‘Nei!’ she cried. ‘Don’t!’
   He froze.
   ‘I won’t let you!’ Falda bit, ‘Stop it! STOP!!!’
   She tried to stand but her legs gave way beneath her and she began to convulse. Her arms flailed and her head shook as she toppled onto the damp grass.
   Connor raced forward, trying to catch her as she fell and managed to cup his hand beneath her scalp before it hit the ground.
   Kneeling on a muddy patch, he brought her face up into the light from a nearby street lamp, and gasped.
   Falda, like her parents, seemed to be wearing a mask. Her face was as black as her hair and was covered with some kind of fur, or feathers. Like her father, she now sported a beak, a long beak, with a slight hook at the end.
   It looked real. Connor was mesmerized and, as her shaking eased, he reached toward her face with his free hand.
   Just as his fingers were about to touch the beak, it faded away, as did the feathers. One second they were there, as plain as day, and the next they were gone.  
   Connor stared at her for a long moment, unbelieving of what he had just seen. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and knelt staring in stunned silence. 
   Did I just see that?He wondered.
   The sound of an approaching car snapped him out of it and he turned his head to see the lights of the vehicle coming up the street.
   Oh no, he thought,they’ve come back?!
   Scooping Falda up in his arms, Connor dove behind a low laying hedge that bordered a grassy yard.
   From there he watched from a gap in the bushes as the car sped by. He had expected one of the white SUVs, but it was his mother in her little yellow hatchback. 
   Standing up, he called out, but she didn’t hear him, and the rear lights of the car soon disappeared around a corner. 
   ‘No way!’ he huffed. ‘Did she just leave without me?’ Kneeling again, he looked down at Falda and placed his face close to her mouth. 
   The night air had chilled his cheeks, and it took a few seconds before he could feel the warmth of her breath. Relieved that she was at least breathing he sighed and thought for a moment. 
   The cold soaked through his jeans and he realized that if the chill was biting through hisclothes, it was no doubt biting through Falda’s pyjamas just as badly. The first thing he needed to do therefore was get her someplace warm.
   Sliding his arms beneath her again, he rose to his feet and cradled her still limp form against his chest. ‘What the hell is going on here?’ he wondered aloud.

ALL CHARACTERS  AND "CONNOR FINN The Secret of Snow" ARE COPYRIGHT FILTHY THE BEAR 2013.