Chapter 4

Thick mist rose from the soggy ground, and the haunting sound of the wind whistling through the trees hung in the air.
Jane had made up her mind. She was going to enjoy this adventure. What would fear do to help her, anyway?
Will spoke. “I’m just glad we haven’t seen those riders yet.”
Breaking her resolve to remain courageous, Jane shuddered. “What do you mean by yet?”
Will shrugged cheerfully. “We’ve got to see them sometime. They are in this same forest, riding around somewhere.”
Jane sighed.
“What’s happened to you?” asked Will, curious. “Ever since you even looked at that picture of them, you’ve been acting strange.”
“I know,” Jane admitted, “I’m just so frightened of them.”
“Why?” asked Will, “We don’t even know if they are bad. Just because the riders look a little different doesn’t mean-”
“Exactly,” interrupted Jane, “They look strange, and I’m not going to take any changes of going near them until I know for certain that they’re friendly.”
The children had made their way to the bank of a great lake. They stood for while, looking about them. Weeping willows cast their graceful branches over the smooth water as fog drifted over the surface of the lake.
“Have you noticed something?” asked Will. “I haven’t seen one animal or living thing here since we first arrived.”
“Yes. It’s so quiet and still.”
Will walked down the bank and stood looking down into the water.
“Jane! Look how the water almost looks like glass,” he noted. Everything was silent.
“Come on, let’s go explore the woods,” Jane called, “This lake is somehow making me nervous.”
They walked back into the woods.
“How do you think we’ll get back to our world?” asked Jane suddenly, as she strode along beside Will.
“I don’t know. Maybe the book would help us.”
“But we don’t have the book!”
“Yes, we do,” reminded Will. “When we walked out of the cabin, I brought it with me.”
“Well, where is the book now? You’re obviously not holding it.” Jane stated.
Will started and stared at his empty hand. “It looks like I dropped it back at the clearing where we were…transported.”
Jane shook her head unbelievingly. “You dropped it there?”
Will nodded.
Jane sighed and turned. “Well, we have a long walk back to the clearing. No, we had better run. I just hope nothing has gotten it.”
“Gotten isn’t good grammar,” Will chided.
“Oh never mind that!” cried Jane, sprinting ahead, “Let’s hurry!”
They ran back along the path, past the lake, through the forest, and arrived in the clearing. The fog was thicker now than before, and it seemed that the wind was blowing stronger.
“It’s going to be nightfall soon,” declared Will, sniffing the air.
“Oh come along, help me look for the book.” Jane was on her hands and knees, peering under the thick brush and lush bushes.
Will stiffened like a hound dog finding the scent of its quarry. He had heard the sound of approaching hoof beats. He cocked an ear, but the sound had died away. Perhaps it was all his imagination, Will thought to himself.
Meanwhile Jane searched on. Finally, her hand brushed across the smooth cover of the book. “Will! I’ve-”
Will dropped to his hands and knees beside her. “Shh!” he hissed, a finger across his mouth. “The horsemen! They’re coming! Under the bushes, quick!”
At that moment, they both heard the sound of jingling stirrups and neighing horses. Jane’s eyes widened and she sank to the ground in terror. “Will!”
Will grabbed her arm and pulled her under the cover of a bush. He was not a moment too soon. The ghostly horsemen had galloped into the clearing, and now the riders were reigning in their foaming steeds. One rider, swathed in a snow-white cape, dismounted. Jane shivered and Will squeezed her arm meaningfully.
The rider lowered himself to the ground and inhaled deeply. He stood up slowly, and threw back his hood. He was facing the children, and his face was terrible to behold. His eyes were icy blue, and they flashed like lightning bolts from the sky. His face was pale, and seemed chiseled from granite. The rider’s beard was white, hanging nearly to his waist.
In a hoarse voice, he thundered back to the other horsemen, “They were here! I have smelled the scent of living blood. They have gone to the lake, just as Nabrehoc foretold.”
The second rider, clothed in gleaming armor, shook his blood red saber in the air, and kicked his fiery horse forward. “I told you, Blancshoyc! We should have awaited them at the lake, and made an end to them at once. If it was not for your foolishness, this trouble would have already been over! Now they are gone, gone, gone!”
The third rider shook his skeletal head and gave a hideous laugh. “Do not be troubled, Marshivoc. They are but children, and easily dealt with…” he gave a meaningful look to the white rider.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” asked the red rider, Marshivoc. “Let us be on our way!” He gave another wrathful kick to his stallion, and the horse wheeled about and galloped off towards the lake. The other horsemen followed, and in a moment vanished in the thick fog.
Only the white rider remained. He slowly climbed back onto his stallion and looked around the clearing once more. Blancshoyc seemed to stare straight into the children’s eyes. Jane felt paralyzed. But Blancshoyc merely dug his heels into his steed’s sides and cantered off into the fog.