The bell rang, announcing the big break. Matilda was talking and talking, waving her hand. The girl had moved back next to Ferry and everything had turned back to normal between them. Each morning, she cheerfully chatted about the adventures of Shadow, her dog. About how intelligent he was and how he could understand almost everything she was saying. Matilda was sure the dog was trained. He knew how to bring her the shoes, the exact pair she asked. He barked when the food was burning on the stove and she could swear she saw him stirring the pot, holding the wooden spoon with his mouth. And most important of all, he was walking on two legs more often than he was walking on four.

"You have to see him, Ferry," she said. "He's the biggest climber I've ever seen. Even bigger than you."

But Ferry was not listening. He was nodding from time to time, but he was paying attention to something else. May was reading a book by the class's window. After many gray days, the sun was finally sending a few shy rays and one of them was playing in May's hair.

May was the daughter of Basil and Iris Flower. Her father was the owner of the only flower shop in town ─ Flower's Flowers. The flower shop was situated on the first floor while the family lived on the second floor of the house. It was the prettiest house in town. Or at least that's what Ferry thought. There were flowers at every window: shamrocks, geraniums, African violets. The outside walls were covered with climbing roses and morning glories, the most colorful, sweet-smelling wallpaper in the world. It was like finding the land of the fairies, and May was their queen. Always smiling. Always kind and warm, spreading warmth around her.

That morning, though, she didn't seem like herself. She was trying to smile, as she usually did, but something was shadowing her smile. Then Ferry realized what troubled her. Biology was next and Miss Summer had given each student a special assignment ─ they had to plant seeds in a pot and then take care of the plant until it was blooming. African violets, petunias, ferns, geraniums were now sitting by the window, waiting to be presented in front of the class. Ferry had a big azalea, the most beautiful of them all. Only May's plant didn't seem to have grown much. It was a begonia with only a few frail leaves, which would have fallen eventually at the first breath of wind. The girl was vainly trying to hide it, but sooner or later, she knew she had to show it in front of the whole class.

"You know, my mum talks to her flowers and that really helps them grow..."

It was the first time Ferry talked to May. The little girl's big, brown eyes studied him, and Ferry felt it was hot in the classroom all of a sudden.

"I've tried everything," she said in a low voice. "I've watered them and kept them away from cold... I've even used some special treatment my father uses to help plants grow. What a disgrace!" she sobbed. "The florist's daughter has the ugliest flower..."

"Can I take a look?" Ferry asked her. "My mom loves gardening and I've learned a few things from her."

The girl gave him the little pot and Ferry observed the flower closely. Then, pretending to take a better look, he whispered to the flower, his lips touching the leaves, "You'd better bloom! Or else, I will look for the worst weed and plant it in the same pot."

Then he gave the flower back to May, who noticed that her flower didn't look that bad anymore. Even the leaves seemed to cheer up a little.

"You see? I told you. You should talk to the plant," said Ferry. May smiled back at him with all her heart. The whole scene didn't go unnoticed by Billy Pride, who was watching them from the opposite corner.

When the Biology class started, May had the most beautiful flower of all.

⃰

"Do you like May?"

The question fell upon Ferry like a thunder. Matilda was staring at him with arrows in her eyes. The ribbon holding her bangs was slouching, falling on her forehead. Her foot was tapping and her left eye was twitching. And those were not good signs; not good signs at all.

"Do you find her pretty?"

Ferry was becoming flustered, "Well... I ─ It's not a like-like... It's more like─"

"She hasn't even noticed you, you know," Matilda continued without minding him. "All she does is flutter her eyelashes like a butterfly in the wind and spins her head so that everyone notices her hair," she added, trying to imitate May. "Do you think she noticed you? You think you could be friends? You are so wrong! She's in Cecilia Haughty's group, the group of the popular ones. Girls like them will never be friends with children like us."

Matilda stopped for a second to catch her breath. They were heading home, as usual. Ben was getting even smaller as Matilda's voice raised. He usually did so when he felt Matilda was in the mood for arguing. The girl had eventually accepted him, although she didn't talk to him too often.

This time, though, she did. "She's not even that pretty," she continued. "Ask Ben if you don't believe me."

And Matilda suddenly turned to Ben, who almost stumbled.

"Well... she's not that ugly... " the poor boy mumbled, wishing he could be small enough to hide behind his glasses. "But she's not my type, anyway..."

Matilda stopped on her way, threatening them both with a pointy finger, "I will never talk to any of you again!" Then she carried on with a firm pace.

"She'll be all right," said Ben placatory. "The Fires of the Hills are coming soon, and she will most likely be there."

"What are the Fires of the Hills?" Ferry wondered.

"You mean you never went?" It was Ben's turn to wonder.

"I think my father has mentioned it a couple of times, but I know nothing about that."

"The Fires of the Hills is a celebration hundreds of years old," Ben started to tell the story in a low voice, like an old man in front of his grandchildren. "A long time ago, at harvest time, people who lived in the old village used to light fires on the hills and bring offerings for the spirits of the forest. And the spirits came and warmed themselves beside the fires when the weather was getting colder. Then the spirits would taste the food people were offering. It was their way to be kind to the spirits so that the following year they wouldn't ruin their crops. And guard them and protect them from dangers and bad weather.

"Now that the village is gone, the people in the town had kept the tradition and The Fires of the Hills are now a good reason to feast and celebrate. It will be nice, you'll see. People are setting tents and tables full of food and drinks. Everyone brings their own dishes and then we all eat together. If the weather is fine, the children will raise kites in the sky. There are even contests, such as best pie, or best kite. And at the end, fires are lit up on the top of the hills and people tell ghost stories. Last year, I made my kite all by myself. It was a purple dragon. Of course, Billy Pride's kite won. He wins almost every year. His father buys his kite from the Big City, over the hills," Ben said with bitterness. "Are you and your family coming this year?"

"I don't know. I suppose I could ask my mum..."

"It would be nice if you could come. I bet you could win the climbing contest. Although I don't know if there's going to be a climbing contest this year..."

"Why not?" Ferry wondered.

Ben looked at him with a strange stare, and Ferry could see the fear in his eyes.

"Well, the climbing contest is usually held in the Shepherd's Forest, you know... And the legend says that every seven years, someone mysteriously disappears around the forest. And never comes back. The next year, it will be seven years since the last person disappeared. People say that's what happened to the shepherd the forest was named after. He simply vanished with his three hundred sheep a long, long time ago. And no one saw him ever since. And this fall, there will be seven years since the last person has vanished into the forest."

Ferry was intrigued. "Do you know anyone who vanished?"

"I don't. But my mother does. Twenty-one years ago Sam Digitt's grandfather disappeared. Sam doesn't remember him. And then fourteen years ago, Jason Scott's grandfather also disappeared.

"Who disappeared the last time?" asked Ferry.

Ben looked away. Then he spoke in a low voice, looking around him as if waiting for someone to appear at any moment.

"Matilda's mum..."

⃰

Ferry has never been to the Shepherd's Forest. From the top of the walnut tree, he could see it clearly. And he had a strange feeling each time he watched it. As if an inner voice was calling him. As if someone or something was waiting for him there, in the dark depths of the forest. He didn't know whether to believe the legends about the vanishings. Ben's mother seemed pretty superstitious. And several times, she told them stories about ghosts, and fairies, and giants.

"What do you know about the Shepherd's Forest, Mum?" he asked his mother that evening.She looked at him over her glasses. The question seemed to trouble her. "What is your concern about that forest?"

"I'd like to visit it sometimes."

His mother's anxiety grew. She wriggled in her rocking chair and put the knitting away. "Ferry, I'd like you to stay away from that forest. Bad things can happen to you there."

"What kind of things?" he wondered.

"Well, first of all, you might get lost. The forest is wide and dark, you know. Then, there are many beasts living in that forest. Wolves, bears... Then, there are the stories..." she tried to choose her words carefully.

"What kind of stories?" Ferry asked although he could read on his mother's face she didn't want to say more.

"Well, they say many criminals hide in that forest. Thieves, murderers... "

"How about the disappearances? Do you know anything about that?"

Mrs. Donovan was fussy again, "There have been a few, but all of them because of people's foolishness. You don't go to a place you know criminals might be hiding. I'm sure those unfortunate persons who disappeared had the misfortune to meet one of the criminals hiding there."

"I know, but Ben's mother says that every seven years, someone vanishes around that forest... And that next year, it will make seven years since the last person disappeared."

"Those were only coincidences. Nothing more," she said, irritated. "And I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense. Especially not in front of your father. If he finds out you believe Mrs. Knight's tall tales, he may not let you visit Ben anymore. Is that what you want?"

"What tall tales?" Ferry wondered.

"Enough with this conversation," his mother cut him short. "Now go to bed, it's late already. And please, promise me you won't go near that forest without me or your father around."

Ferry headed to his room, dragging his feet. He couldn't understand why everyone seemed to avoid talking about that forest. He went to the window and watched the forest. It looked black, silent, and still in the falling darkness.

Suddenly, a dark spot detached from the branches of the trees, heading towards his window. Bigger and bigger, a flying shadow coming closer. The boy stood still, listening to his heartbeat. Then he felt at ease when he saw his raven. Yes, he could call him his raven now. He had made a nest for him outside his window. And every night, he'd been saving some bits of bread and cookies from dinner. He named him Baldie because of his bald head.

But that evening, the bird didn't hurry to the bread crumbs. He flew in, sat in the middle of the room, and left something fall from his beak, right in front of Ferry.

Ferry studied the little object with great interest. He had seen nothing like it. A small, black rock was shining in his palm. It looked like a neat river stone, with blunt edges. The only unusual thing was that it had a hole in the shape of a half-moon right in the middle. Without thinking too much, Ferry looked to the forest through the stone's hole. 

That moment, the dark, silent forest seemed to come to life. Silver lights glittered between the trees and then vanished like a mirage. Stripes of colored lights floated above as if the colors of the rainbow were detaching one by one, dancing in the air. 

Ferry watched as if in a trance that magical, otherworldly dance. His raven, who was sitting quietly by the window, suddenly took wing. He decided to watch the forest for a little while. And then he saw his raven flying slowly towards the forest. Only that... his raven didn't look like a bird anymore. Instead, he looked like a winged creature. Almost like a human dressed in dark, shiny feathers. He couldn't see the features of the face. But he certainly looked like a huge bird-man. The strange creature flew towards the forest, then disappeared into the darkness.

Sneak peek of the next chapter

"Ferry, come and play!" he thought he heard a voice coming from the forest. It was a deciduous forest, were poplars and oaks were climbing lofty to the skies, like firm guardians. Although the leaves should have left their branches a long time ago, the trees were still green. Golden and greenish sparkles could be seen, trapped in thin steam which was winding around the trees. Then, they shattered in thousands of shiny particles, like dust in the wind. The forest was calling him.

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