Stolen Souls by Andrea Cremer Page A

practice, and perhaps throwing oneself at the hens wasn’t the best choice. Despite her soothing words, Jean was resigned to the notion that Rabbie wouldn’t be gathering eggs until he was at least four.
    As her brother sniffled, Jean considered the other chores of the day, wondering if Rabbie could manage any of them. The first scream, of what would become too many to count, silenced her thoughts.
    “Wait here,” Jean told Rabbie. Another scream.
    Jean placed an egg in Rabbie’s small hands. “Take good care of this till I get back.”
    Rabbie accepted the egg like a treasure. She hoped the task would hold his attention more than the alarming sounds that spread through the village.
    Jean rushed around the hut toward the center of the village. She stumbled when she saw the creatures. They resembled no beast or spirit her grandmother had warned her of. Like shadow and smoke, their shape changed constantly. Sometimes a creature reminded her of a dark cloud being sculpted by the wind, at others it was more like a nest of black snakes.
    Her neighbor, John Croft, was striking at two of the creatures with a pitchfork. The sharp points of the farm tool passed through their shadowy bodies without effect. For a moment Jean thought they must be spirits, unable to touch or be touched by flesh. She was robbed of that idea when one of the creatures slithered forward, pouring over John like tar. He began to scream immediately and Jean knew the reason for the other screams in the village.
    “Jean!” She looked to the sound of her mother’s cry. “Jeanie!”
    Jean’s mother ran toward her, but faltered and then stopped when she saw John Croft’s torment. The second shadow creature hovered in the space between her and Jean.
    “Ma!” Jean stood helplessly as the shadow beast began to move toward her mother.
    Taking a few steps back, Jean’s mother shouted, “Jeanie, get your brother. You must flee!”
    Jean began to shake her head, feeling tears prick the corners of her eyes. Then she saw a third shadow bubbling up from the ground at her mother’s back.
    “Run, Jean!” her mother screamed. The beast engulfed her.
    Terror, white-hot, seared Jean’s skin, shocking her into action. She pivoted, running back to the place she’d left Rabbie. Her brother was waiting for her as he’d been bidden. The egg was cradled in his palms, but his face was pale with fear.
    Grabbing his arm, Jean jerked Rabbie into a run. He wailed as the egg tumbled out of his hands, smashing on the ground.
    “Hush, Rabbie!” Jean hissed at him. “The egg doesn’t matter now.”
    She dragged her brother around the far side of the hut, away from where she’d seen the creatures take John and her mother. Rabbie staggered along beside her, his expression bewildered and frightened.
    Jean rounded the hut, and finding no monsters blocking the door, she pushed Rabbie inside. After closing the door and barring it from within, Jean picked up Rabbie and dragged him beneath their mother’s pallet.
    “No!” Rabbie kicked and tried to bite her.
    “Rabbie, stop,” Jean whispered. “You must be quiet. Please. Please.”
    While she tried to calm Rabbie, refusing to let him wriggle from their hiding place, Jean locked away her grief and panic. They were hidden, but was that good enough?
    It was too easy to recall John Croft stabbing futilely at the shadow beast. They could kill but they couldn’t be touched. Jean glanced toward the barred door. If the creatures were made of shadow and smoke, would a door keep them out? The monsters couldn’t be fought, so if they came into the hut, she’d have no way of defending herself and Rabbie.
    Two choices became clear in Jean’s mind. She and Rabbie could stay hidden, hoping that the creatures would leave the village without discovering them. But Jean didn’t know why the shadow beasts had attacked or how long they would remain in Dorusduain. The other option was to flee. From what she’d briefly witnessed, it seemed