The Woods
Jess followed Ben along the lane to the path that led into the woods. They walked for a long way. She didn’t like it here. Even though lots of the leaves had come down from the trees it was still quite dark. She knew that her mum would be so cross with her, but Ben was unhappy about the missing piece of gate and she wanted to help him. He seemed so sure of where he was going. He said that his dad had brought him here in the summer with Scoot, and had shown him where the magpies built their nests. Ben thought that the birds might still come to the same place and maybe it was where they brought all the shiny things that they stole.
Jess wasn’t sure if Ben really remembered the way. She decided that she would only go as far as the big holly bush just ahead of them. After that the bushes were thicker and the path was narrower, and Jess did not want to go there.
Ben switched on his torch and shone it on the ground as they walked along. He told Jess what to look for and they moved forward slowly. When they reached the holly bush, Jess stopped.
‘Ben, I want to go back now. I don’t like it here.’ She began to shake.
Ben stared at her and shook his head. ‘Look, Jess. Just there.’ He shone the torch beam at a tree just a little way further down the path. ‘Can you see them? The magpies are there. Right near the top.’
Jess looked up and saw the two birds. They were sitting side by side on a branch. They weren’t arguing any more and they seemed to be watching the torch beam. Ben crept forward until he was underneath the tree. He shone the torch all around the tree trunk and kicked the fallen leaves with his boot.
‘Jess! Jess! I’ve found the wand.’ He picked it up and waved it at her. ‘I’m sure that the other piece of gate must be here somewhere. Come on. Come and help me find it.’
So Jess and Ben found some broken sticks and prodded and poked all around the tree. The two magpies watched them. Then Ben moved on to the next tree and began again. Jess looked up at the sky and saw some big black clouds. She knew that it was going to start raining very soon.
‘Come on, Ben. It’s no good. You won’t find anything here and it’s starting to rain. I want to go back now. Please.’
Ben looked up. He could see that Jess was nearly crying. He felt sorry that he’d asked her to come this far. It was his task to find the last piece of the gate; he was the one who had promised Lox. But he knew Jess couldn’t go back on her own, so he threw down his stick.
‘It’s all right, Jess.’ He smiled at her. ‘We’ll go now. Sorry.’
They began to walk back along the path but as they passed the tree where the magpies were sitting, Ben suddenly gave a shout.
Jess turned around but she couldn’t see Ben anywhere. ‘Ben! Ben! Where are you? Don’t mess about, Ben. It’s not fair. If you don’t stop hiding right now, I’m going back without you. Can you hear me?’
Jess thought she could hear Ben laughing but she wasn’t sure. She didn’t think anything was funny. She meant what she had said about going back but she didn’t know if she could find the way. She sat down on the ground and really began to cry. Big fat raindrops fell from the sky and hit her on the head. As she pulled up the hood of her coat, she saw Ben’s torch lying next to the tree trunk. She picked it up and shone it around her.
‘Ben? Ben!’ Jess called again and again. She was frightened now. Ben wouldn’t have left his torch if he was just hiding. ‘Ben. Please tell me where you are.’
Then she heard a noise. Ben was calling her but she couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from. She shone the torch around again and saw the silver wand poking out from under a large bramble bush. She knelt down and looked through the brambles. Ben was lying on his side. His face was scratched and bleeding and he had a big bump on his forehead.
‘Ben! Are you all right? What happened?’ Jess used the wand to hold the brambles back so that she could talk to Ben.
Ben groaned. ‘I caught my foot in something and rolled under here. I’m all scratched and I bumped my head and my foot hurts really badly. I’ve lost my boot as well. I don’t think I can get out, Jess.’
Jess looked around. ‘If I can find something to hold up the brambles, do you think you could slide out?’
‘I don’t know. It hurts so much.’ Ben tried not to cry but the pain was so bad. He wished he was home in his warm bed.
Jess took the torch and tried to find some branches. There were a few near the tree trunk and a few more back along the path. She didn’t really want to go off on her own but she knew that if she didn’t help Ben to slide out from under the bramble bush, they could be in the woods for a long time. Jess did not want to be there when it got dark.
‘Here.’ Jess shone the torch in Ben’s face and he blinked. ‘Look, I’ve found some branches. I’ve pushed them under the brambles and I’ll hold them up as far as I can. You try to crawl under them.’
Jess pulled the sleeves of her coat down over her hands and caught hold of the brambles. She pulled hard. Ben pushed himself up onto his elbows and began to crawl forwards very slowly and then he stopped.
‘I can’t do it, Jess. The brambles are still too low. They’re going to cut my face again.’ He laid his head on the ground.
‘Pull your hood over your head,’ Jess told him. ‘Then pull it right down over your face. Just keep crawling towards me and you’ll soon be out.’
So Ben did what Jess had said and very slowly he crawled out. Then he lay on the path. Jess sat down next to him. They were both very tired and the rain was pouring down. They knew that they should try to get back to Ben’s house but he couldn’t stand up. His foot was very swollen.
‘What are we going to do, Ben?’ Jess asked. ‘We can’t stay here all night.’
‘It’s all right. Dad will find us, I bet.’
Ben hoped this was true but he didn’t even know when his mum and dad would be home. He looked around and saw how dark it was becoming, and he knew that he had made a big mistake.