The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone Page A

There was a hole, and it was big enough for her to crawl through.
    ‘You won’t get past Skull’s clearing,’ Alfie muttered uneasily as he realised the hole wasn’t big enough for him.
    ‘Try me.’
    Alfie held the roll of leather into the light of his match. ‘Don’t you want to find the amulets?’
    Forces far bigger than Moll could understand tugged hard inside her. She looked from the leather to Alfie and then up to Gryff. She lunged at Alfie, but he drew out his knife.
    ‘Stay and I’ll give you the roll of leather,’ he growled. ‘You won’t escape Skull without my help.’
    Moll’s eyes grew dark, then she turned and scrambled up out of the hole.
    Alfie watched in surprise. Who was this girl who charged headlong into danger, again and again and again? ‘You’ll be back,’ he called. ‘You’ve no idea what’s
out there!’
    Moll found herself grabbing Gryff and clutching him tight, then they ran across the clearing and into the trees.
    She hadn’t gone more than a few steps before she felt them, squeezing out of the crippled trees like vapours of the night. Moll hadn’t been imagining them when they’d crossed
the river. These shadows were
real
. They floated towards Moll and Gryff, faceless and black, moaning like funnelled wind.
    Moll closed her eyes and ran blindly on. But, as her fear swelled, the shadows grew, looming over her like bottomless caves. Moll clenched her fists. The shadows were slipping in between her and
Gryff, forcing them apart. She reached out desperate arms, but the shadows grew larger between the two fugitives, driving them further away until Moll could no longer see Gryff and once more
he’d vanished into the trees.
    The shadows were all around Moll now and she skidded to a terrified halt. She felt the weight of their darkness pressing down on her chest. And she knew what they wanted. Cool fingers slipped
down her throat, plucking at her trembling voice.
    Your name
, they moaned.
Give us your name
.
    Moll doubled over, closing her mind to the shadows. But the darkness inside her was too much and she sank to her knees, alone again – and terrified.

M oll glared across the cage at Alfie. It was the same one she and Gryff had spotted the night they’d rescued Jinx, only now it was strung up
by rope, like some kind of giant metal claw, from the tallest tree in Skull’s clearing – and she and Alfie were locked inside it.
    It was dawn now and light trickled through the trees, shaping the branches into crooked silhouettes. Skull’s boys and the hounds were still gone, and there was no sign of Gryff. But Skull
and Gobbler were back, muttering together inside Skull’s black wagon while a pan of sausages cooked over the fire in the middle of the clearing. Moll’s mouth watered.
    ‘First a pit then a cage,’ Alfie spat. ‘Were you this much trouble in your camp?’
    Moll was, so she didn’t bother answering.
    The cage was huge and domed, large enough to stand up in and pace around, and the bones that had previously lined the floor had been hurled into the clearing below. Moll eyed the enormous
padlock with disgust. Her throat was dry and, when she swallowed, it felt like the roof of her mouth had been rubbed raw.
    ‘Did they get my name?’ she mumbled. ‘Did I give it up?’
    Alfie shook his head. ‘Somehow you held on to it – even though Skull and Gobbler turned back from the hounds and dragged us up here.’
    Moll thought she could detect a trace of surprise, almost respect, in Alfie’s voice, but he was glowering at her now so it was hard to be sure.
    ‘What – what were those shadow
things
?’
    ‘Vapours,’ Alfie said. ‘Skull conjures them when he wants to guard his clearing. He says they’re made from the broken hearts of witches – and they feed on
fear.’
    ‘How do you ever get past them when you sneak over to our camp?’
    ‘By being brave.’
    ‘Oh.’ Moll paused. ‘And is that how we’ll get past them then?’
    Alfie nodded.