Chapter Four (part b)

Jennifer looked down at her hand to see what the strange-looking man had given her. When she saw what it was she was somewhat surprised. It was only a small, very ordinary stone. It wasn't especially pretty or even particularly interesting, it looked just like all the other everyday stones that she'd seen on the ground. But for some strange reason this one had been wrapped all around by a thin silver wire and attached to a short silver chain.

Jennifer closed her hand around the stone again, then she leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes. The stone was quite warm and it seemed almost friendly. All at once, and without any warning, Jennifer felt better than she had in the longest time. A beautiful glow seemed to flow all around and she felt unbelievably happy all the way deep down inside, not the least bit afraid or unsure or alone...

It was such a wonderful feeling of peace and belonging that Jennifer wanted it to go on forever. But as it turned out, it didn't last very long at all. The moment was suddenly shattered by a great commotion. It seemed to be approaching from just below the cliff that dropped off into the ravine at the end of the back yard. Jennifer opened her eyes and peeked around the trunk of the tree to see what was happening. The bushes shook and their branches snapped. A volley of curses rattled the air and then quite suddenly a pair of dwarves came climbing up over the cliff and into view.

The dwarves were completely grey from their beards to their boots. Their arms were thick and their necks were too. Their faces were craggy and pitted and cracked the way rocks get sometimes after they've been rained on for years. Their ears were too big and their eyes too small, their noses were gnarled and their mouths were twisted with snarls. They both were armed with dangerous-looking rock hammers. A number of dead rats were tied to their belts, hung there head down so they swung by their tails. One dwarf was fat. The other had warts. Both were unbelievably filthy.

The fat dwarf squatted down and sniffed at the ground. "He's been here all right!" he growled.

The other dwarf sniffed the air and then pointed off in the direction the strange- looking man had just taken. "That way!" he said with a scowl. "Come on, let's get going, we don't want to lose him!"

The two dwarves went stomping off across the back yard and were soon out of sight. Jennifer was glad they hadn't noticed her looking out from behind the tree. They made her feel quite uneasy. She knew she should try to warn the strange-looking man. The dwarves were definitely following him and it looked like they might be dangerous. But she couldn't bring herself to follow them. She knew the dwarves wouldn't like it at all and she was a little afraid of what they might do.

"They might start following me around too!" she worried to herself. "What if they did? What if they got mad! Oh, why did we have to go and leave Vancouver anyway?,Nothing like this ever happened at Uncle Walter's house!"

Suddenly Jennifer wasn't so sure about her new home. Everything seemed so dangerous. Strange-looking men and dwarves with rock hammers; anything could happen and when it did it would happen to her. She didn't want this much change. It was hard enough managing things as they were.

"Maybe I better go back inside the house for a while," she told herself

But as it turned out she didn't get a chance. All at once someone was standing right behind her.

"What's that in your hand?" demanded a voice.