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    Flora and the Wolf
    Flora and the Wolf
    Flora and the Wolf
    Ebook69 pages1 hour

    Flora and the Wolf

    By Janet Doolaege

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    About this ebook

    Flora, running wild in the forest, longs to see a wolf, but her parents and grandmother are afraid of lurking dangers. Something unusual does indeed happen to her. Besides, who is the stranger in town that all are talking about? This story for children, set in mediaeval Italy, covers human relations with animals, respect for the natural world and the interconnectedness of all living beings.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJanet Doolaege
    Release dateJun 2, 2013
    ISBN9781301564224
    Flora and the Wolf
    Author

    Janet Doolaege

    I grew up in England but now live in France, not too far from Paris, in a village on the edge of a forest. Our house contains more books than I will ever have time to read.

    Read more from Janet Doolaege

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      Book preview

      Flora and the Wolf - Janet Doolaege

      FLORA AND THE WOLF

      by Janet Doolaege

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © 2013 by Janet Doolaege

      All Rights Reserved.

      CHAPTER ONE

      If she hadn’t been startled by such an extraordinary noise, Flora would never have fallen out of the tree.

      Ever since she was tiny, she had been a good tree-climber. Of course, her long green skirt often got in her way, and she wished that she could wear leggings and a short tunic like her brother Antonio. It was not that she wanted to be a boy, but it was tiresome to have to keep her mane of curly hair tied back and to be told all the time that she must be well-behaved and help take care of her twin baby brothers, and – worst of all! – to be forced to spin. She hated spinning. But she loved the forest that climbed the steep slopes of Mount Ingino beyond the walls of Gubbio, her home town.

      Early spring was the best time to wander in the forest, when the pale early leaves of the birches contrasted with the darker conifers, and the morning sunlight slanted through the trees and gleamed on outcrops of rock while, all around, the birds were building their nests and singing.

      There was a blackbirds’ nest in a clump of ivy near the top of the trunk of an ivy-covered oak tree. For days she had been watching the parent birds flitting in and out with nesting materials, and by now she was sure that there must be eggs or even nestlings. The tree had good hand-holds and foot-holds on its trunk and branches, and with her skirt tucked out of the way she was climbing higher and higher. The female blackbird flew out of the ivy with a chattering shriek, and then the male began to fly from branch to branch, shouting Pip! Pip! Pip! at her. The female joined in, nervously.

      I just want to look, she told them, pushing a strand of ivy away from her face. I won’t do any harm. But of course, the birds couldn’t understand her and continued to shout alarm calls.

      She reached into the ivy and found the rim of the nest. Her exploring fingers discovered the warm eggs. One, two…five of them! She raised herself higher and peeped in at the speckled eggs. Carefully, she withdrew and rearranged the curtain of ivy.

      Just as she had begun to climb down, testing the branches before putting her full weight on them, the noise filled the air.

      A long howl, loud, eerie and terrifying, rising higher and higher and then dying away.

      She had never heard anything like it. Panic struck her. Her foot slipped, she grabbed at a branch, but it broke, her skirt came untucked and got in the way of her other foot – and she was falling, falling, crashing through the branches noisily as the blackbirds cried Pip! Pip!

      She hit the ground hard and banged her head on a rock with a blinding flash of pain.

      And then everything went black.

      *****

      Strong arms were holding her, and she could smell her father’s leather jerkin as her face pressed against it. She was jolted as he strode along, carrying her, and she gave a small moan. Her head hurt.

      I think she’s coming round, said the voice of her brother Antonio.

      Her father grunted. I don’t know what your mother is going to say. She deserves a whipping. She could have been killed.

      Stupid girl, stupid girl, stupid girl, said a gruff voice that she didn’t recognize. Who could the third person be? She opened her eyes for a moment, but her head swam and she closed them again. Her father and brother had come to find her, she thought. She had been rescued, and she would be all right after all.

      But she didn’t feel well.

      The light grew brighter as they emerged from the forest, and soon she could smell cooking fires and horse dung and hear all the bustle and clatter of Gubbio on market day. Neighbours’ voices exclaimed and inquired, but her father didn’t stop walking.

      I found her! I found her! said the gruff voice again, and she frowned, puzzled, but kept her eyes closed.

      Her mother would be furious – not to mention her grandmother. If she pretended to be feeling very faint and weak, perhaps she wouldn’t be punished.

      I had better things to do today than spend hours searching in the forest for my silly sister, grumbled Antonio.

      A cool shadow told her that they were entering the house, and immediately her mother and grandmother started shrieking, and the twin babies joined in, yelling in unison, as her father lowered her on to a wooden chair.

      She’s bleeding! screamed Luisa, her mother. Has she been attacked? Wherever was she? I said there are wolves and brigands in the forest! I warned her!

      Gadding about in the forest again! screeched her grandmother, whose name was Caterina. "Haven’t I said that she would come to no good? Haven’t I said that you ought to keep her at home where

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