|
-
6 -
Vasilisa
walked deeper and deeper into the dark
forest. She walked on in the darkness,
becoming more and more certain that
she was completely lost. Suddenly she
heard the sound of a horse's hooves
and a horseman galloped past her. He
was dressed entirely in white, his horse
was white, and as he passed her by,
the first silver rays of dawn appeared
in the sky.
A
little while later she again heard the
sound of a horse's hooves behind her
and another man on horseback came galloping
past her. She called out to him but
he was going so fast he could not hear
her.
He was dressed in red, his horse was
red and the harness was red. As he galloped
passed her the sun came up and shone
upon the topmost branches of the tallest
trees.
Vasilisa walked on all day, not knowing
where she was going. There was no path
in that forest, as no one ever dared
venture into it. The doll was silent,
as she had no more food to give it.
Just as she thought she could no longer
keep going, she saw a clearing through
the trees. She could see what appeared
to be a hut in the distance. But it
seemed to be moving. At first she thought
she was dreaming; for it was spinning
around.
When
she came closer she saw that the hut
was on chicken's legs. The fence around
the hut was made of bones, on the top
of which were scores of grinning skulls
with glaring eye sockets. The gates
in the fence had hands for hinges. The
locks were jawbones set with sharp iron
teeth. At
the sight of the fence Valilisa's blood
ran cold and she stood rooted to the
spot in terror.
Suddenly a third man on horseback came
galloping up. His face was black, he
was dressed all in black, and the horse
he rode was jet black. He galloped up
to the gates, took a leap towards the
hut and suddenly disappeared into thin
air. At the same moment night fell as
if a black curtain had been thrown over
the entire forest.
Instantly, the glaring eye sockets of
the skulls lit up and threw out their
baleful light on the clearing until
it gradually became as bright as day.
Vasilisa shuddered at the sight - but
worse was yet to come!
to
page 7
(twelve pages in all)
| 