"Patricia C. Wrede - Enchanted Forest 1 - Talking to Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

The Enchanted Forest comes in two parts, the Outer
Forest and the Deep Woods. Most people don't know that.
I'd gone herb gathering in the Outer Forest; it's relatively
safe, if you know what you're doing. I'd never been much

more than an hour's walk from our cottage, but I had to
start somewhere.

I felt the little tingle on my skin that marked the border
between the ordinary woods, where our cottage was, and
the outer part of the Enchanted Forest. Some people have
trouble getting in and out of the Enchanted Forest, but I
never had. I was feeling excited and adventurous, and maybe
a little scared. I mean, for years I'd watched all those Princes
and heroes and so on go into the forest, and now it was my
turn. I looked back over my shoulder to see if Mother was
watching. The cottage was gone.



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That shook me. You just don't expect the place you've
lived in for sixteen years to vanish like that. I looked around.
None of the woods looked familiar, either. The trees were
huge, much larger than the ones by our cottage. I couldn't
reach more than a quarter of the way around the trunk of
the smallest one. The ground was covered with deep green
moss, which ran right up to the bases of the trees and stopped
short. I could see a couple of bushes, one that had three
different colors of flowers on it. Everything felt very dark
and green and alive.

I shivered. This wasn't the Outer Forest. This was the
Deep Woods.

I stood and waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing
much happened. Somehow, I wasn't reassured. Being lost
in the Enchanted Forest is not conducive to peace of mind.
There wasn't really anything I could do about it, though.
After a while I started walking, feeling considerably less
adventurous and considerably more scared.

I walked for a long time. After a while I quit being scared,
at least mostly. Finally I started looking for a place to rest;

my feet hurt and I was getting very tired. I was careful,