As the car slows to a halt, I timidly open my eyes. Tilting my head to peer out of the window all I see are clouds of green against the purple sky of twilight, my favourite time of the day. This at least provides me with a little comfort.

However as I step out of the car and am confronted with the tall grey apartment building looming over me, the feeling of dread returns. I can’t believe I have to live here.

“Come on poppet, lets get you inside” Mummy beckons me, her arms laden with the rubbish of a full days travelling.

I silently plead to my parents to take me back to our house, and to my pink bedroom, and our huge garden, which has so many places to hide. I want my Wendy house. I want my rabbits. I want my friends. But I am too tired from the ten-hour journey to complain, so I hold my teddy tightly to me, take my mothers hand, and let her drag me inside.

 Five minutes later I am standing in what is to be my bedroom. Floral wallpaper, an empty musty smell, huge mirrored wardrobes that cover a length of wall and a really really big bed confronts me. Too big a bed for wee me. I clamber on board anyway to test it out. This in itself takes me a minute or two. It’s soft, cold though and I’m not sure whether I’m supposed to sleep on a side of the bed like Mummy and Daddy do, or in the middle. I eventually decide that the side nearest the window is the best place to sleep. I assign the other side to teddy, although I’m slightly afraid I’ll loose him in the night. On second thoughts, he can share my side with me.

I look out the window and see Daddy unpacking the last of the luggage. I head towards the hall to see if I can find some toys to put in my room.

“Daddy, where are my toys?”

He shuts the front door, drops the load he has in his hands and sighs deeply. He’s all red in the face like Santa.

“I honestly don’t have a clue sweetheart. Most of them are in the moving van but we kept a few aside. I’ll have a look later ok? Let me have a cup of tea and a look around the flat a bit first” He puts his hand on my head and ruffles my hair, then heads into what I think is the lounge. I am in hot pursuit.

“But my room smells and looks funny. I don’t like it! I need my toys to make it like home!”

“Molly come in here a minute and help me find us something to eat” Mummy pops her head out of what I think is the kitchen looking red in the face too. “Jack I can’t find the mugs. Are they in the box labelled ‘crockery’?”

“No, I think they’re in ‘kitchen stuff’. I packed that box. Sorry.”

“Well they should be in the ‘crockery’ box. I don’t know about you sometimes no common sense…”

 Daddy cuts her off. “Beth not tonight okay. It’s been a long day.”

Mummy mutters something to herself, but in the break I take the opportunity to ask about my toys.

“Mummy, Daddy doesn’t know where my toys are, do you?” I head over to the boxes and start to pull off the sellotape. I am swiftly snatched away.

“Let’s just go out?” Mummy says, and with me under her arm grabs the coats, and we are out the door.

It is very cold outside and the air is heavy.

“Brrr reckon it’ll snow tonight” Mummy wraps me up tight. So much so I can hardly see or move. I take daddy’s hand a waddle next to him as we head out onto the street.

“No it’s too cold to snow. I heard on the radio that a snow storm’s going to hit in the next few days though. You’ve never seen snow Molly.” Daddy tells me this but I am sure I have. Maybe I dreamt it.

“Well Jack it’s been a long time since we’ve seen snow. We’ve been living by the beach for so long. I forgot how cold it could get up here. I am frozen. We’ll need to go and get some more warm clothes soon. If it weren’t for this ski stuff we wouldn’t have anything! Oh look, here’s a café, will we go in here?”

I am glad to be inside but I am suddenly too hot. I try to get off my scarf and hat but my mittens are attached somehow. I can’t get them off! I’m too hot!

'Help!' I yell out in desperation.

Mummy comes to my rescue and I am soon sat down, at a perfect temperature, sipping a strawberry milkshake.

As my parents chat about the new flat and where everything is going to go, I am thinking about getting back and exploring. There is supposed to be an old fairy princess castle nearby. I wonder if I’ll be able to see it from my bedroom window. That would be cool.

Just then the door opens and another family comes in. They sit at the table next to us. There is a girl about my age at the table. I smile over at her. She just stares back.

“Hi,” Mummy introduces herself, “We’ve just moved to the village. Thought we’d grab a bite to eat before tackling the unpacking! My name is Elizabeth, this is my husband Jack and this is our daughter Molly. She’s seven, and will be starting at the school next week.”

The woman at the next table gives my Mummy the same stare but still responds politely.

“I’m Sandra. This is Bethany who is nine. Where have you moved to?” To me this woman looks as though she’s smelt something bad.

Daddy clears his throat and replies. “We’re staying in the flats opposite the riding centre? Just until our house gets built on the new estate.”

“We live there too. Perhaps we’ll see you around then.” The woman turns away, and then an elderly lady, who smiles at me, places our meals in front of us.

We don’t speak to the woman again. We hardly speak to each other. That funny feeling settles in my tummy again, and I don’t like it.

* 

 Later on when we arrive back at the flat, full and sleepy, Mummy says I can have ten minutes to explore before I have to get ready for bed.

“Can I go outside?”

“Yes, but put on your coat and stay where I can see you. Don’t go beyond that fence.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not safe. So I don’t want you going even a centimetre over that fence okay?”

“K.” I reply, only half paying attention I am so eager to explore.

I put my coat on, clamber over boxes in the kitchen, and head out the back door.
 
 It is very quiet out here. It seems strange to me that a patch of garden so large is so bare. At home we had a flower patch and a vegetable patch (where my rabbit, Candy, always slept). A garden path made up of pinky grey hexagonal stones that lead to a big shed that smelt of grass, dirt and varnish and my swing set, that sat under a big cherry blossom tree which, in the summer, showered you with flowers and made you feel like a fairy princess. The patch of garden here is bigger than we had at home, so many people have to share it. But it was just grass. I thought there would be more.

Bored already, I wrinkle my nose and head towards the trees which stand at the far end of the garden. As I walk I peer over my shoulder towards our new kitchen window, which is on the ground floor, and see Mummy. I wave and she smiles back. I am still in bounds, it is ok.

 The first tree I come to is very small and has such skinny branches on it that I am sure won’t hold even me, so I move towards the next. This one is a little bit better but I can’t reach the branches because they are too high. The third tree is perfect. It twists upwards into pockets of wooden nests, and there are birds perched near the top. I pull myself up onto the first branch, which isn’t higher than my shoulders, and look around. I can’t see anything. I am surrounded by higher trees and mountains. Where I lived before was so flat that when Daddy lifted me on his shoulders I could see for miles! I decide to climb a little higher. I can still see the kitchen window so it is ok, although Mummy isn’t looking. It looks like she is cleaning the cupboards.

Higher and higher I climb, until suddenly, something catches my eye. A golden, twinkly light is blinking through the branches, far beyond. It is coming from the princess Castle.

My lips spread into a grin. The wonderful white building is nestled in amongst a black screen of darkness, lit up by magic. Four turrets stand proudly on each corner of the building and, what looks like a giant candle is burning from the top of each one. I can see women in gowns so beautiful and sparkly they really do look like Princess’s.

         There are actual horse drawn carriages parked in a line in front of the entrance. The horses look like unicorns, nodding their heads up and down, ready to fly off into the night sky.

 Climbing a branch higher I get a better view, where I can see through the large double glass doors into the entrance hall. It looks like it made of gold, and there is an actual red carpet. The kind that important people like the Queen, have to walk on.

‘Wow.’ I breathe, the word coming out my mouth in a long swirly grey cloud.

 The trees sway more gently, the birds stop fluttering, an owl hoots only once. It feels like I am the only person in the whole world. It’s scary, but exciting.
 
‘Hi!’

I yelp and jump in surprise, sliding almost completely off of the branch I am perched on, caught only by snagging the string of my mittens on a particularly sturdy twig. My eyes dart around the ground searching for the person who spoke.
 
‘I’m over here.’

I look to my left. Reaching over with my arm, I pull more branches to one side.

‘Hi.’ I say, slightly bewildered for there sits a girl with long mousey brown hair, skin as white as snow, and eyes as green as pools. She smiles warmly.

‘I didn’t mean to scare you. I saw you come out here from my bedroom window,’ she points over her shoulder to a window on the third floor, along to the right, with purple curtains ‘…and thought I would come out here to meet you. There aren’t many children in the building. My name’s Beth.’ she holds out her hand.

I am still staring at her with an expression I am sure my Mummy would call ‘inappropriate’. I don’t often meet people up trees. Still, I hold out my mittened hand (thinking how odd this is, this is how grown ups say hello) and shake hers.

‘Hi. I’m Molly. We just moved here today.’

‘I know.’ Beth replies confidently. ‘We saw you at the Café at dinner time. How old are you again?’

‘Seven.’

‘I’m eight.’

We fall into silence.

I keep stealing glances over at this strange girl, wondering if perhaps she might be someone I could be friends with. She was still staring intently, a wistful smile on her face, ahead of her towards the Castle.

‘Do you like rabbits?’ I ask her, thinking this would be important in a new friend of mine.

‘Yes. I like horses more though. Birds too.’ She doesn’t look at me when she says this.

I furrow my brow. She continues. ‘There is a riding school over the road. They have a pony club every Tuesday night. I go to watch. You can come with me next week if you like?’ She smiles over this time, her eyes wide and hopeful.

‘Ok,’ I said. ‘…if my Mummy and Daddy let me.’

Beth seems content with this answer, and goes back to staring.

‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ I ask.

‘No.’

‘Do you like climbing trees?’

‘Obviously.’

This Beth strikes me as strange. She doesn’t say much and she behaves and speaks like an adult to me.

She turns and hits me with a startling stare. I feel as though something warm and wet is being poured over me, like a hot shower on a snowy day. I am glowing inside. I really like this girl, I decide. I want her to be my new best friend.

‘Do you want to play a game with me?’ she asks, still looking at me, one eyebrow raised and hiding behind her fringe.

‘What kind of game?’ I ask, fiddling with the hem of my duffel coat now, eager to make a good impression. You have to be good at games to make friends.

Beth slides effortlessly down from the tree, and I follow her, with a little more difficulty. She leads me over to a gate, the gate that leads out of the garden and onto the path towards the Castle.

‘The game is that you have to run as far to the Castle as you can before you get scared.’

‘But I’m not allowed into the woods.’ I explain, butterflies beginning to flutter in my tummy.

‘Well obviously.’ Beth rolls her eyes. ‘None of us are. That’s what makes it a game silly. You’ve got to have guts to play it.’

I glance back at my new house, and see that Mummy is still cleaning. Maybe I could run a little way and get back without her seeing.

She did say that i wasn't allowed though and i don't like getting into trouble.

I eye Beth nervously and she fixes me with a stare.

Almost without meaning to, i take a deep breath, hop over the gate and begin to run.

It's not so dark at first. The lights from the flats and the beam from the full moon guide me through the thicket.

The deeper i get into the woods, the darker, the colder it becomes. I want to stop, but feel like i can't.
 
Further and further I run with my eyes half screwed up, too scared to look into the dark in case monsters are lurking.

‘Ah!’ I trip over a rock and land on my hands and knees.

Shakily i pull myself to my feet.

I've ripped my jeans and i feel a trickle of blood run down my shin.

‘Ow.’ My bottom lip trembles but I try not to cry, I don’t want Beth to think I’m a baby.

I look around me to see how far I have come. Darkness is pressing in, suffocating me.

‘Beth?’ I call out. An owl hoots in reply.

I take a few steps in every direction but I have no idea where I am.

‘Beth!’

Silence.

There is a light blinking at me through the trees. I walk slowly towards it and realise it’s coming from the Castle. Except it’s not the Castle I saw from the tree top. It is empty. Quiet. Creaking. My boots crunch over broken glass on the ground and there is the scuttling of tiny paws nearby. Standing before it I see that it is not the Princess Castle from my imagination; the Castle in the stories my Daddy reads to me. It is a giant stone monster, waiting for me to enter its lair and trap me.
 
Dreadfully afraid now I whirl around, intending to run in any direction that gets me away from this nightmare, but a terrible sight stops me in my tracks.

I scream.

The sound bounces off every surface and back at me causing my ears to ache.

‘Shh!’ Suddenly Beth is at my side and holding a hand over my mouth. ‘What are you doing?!’

I point; down deep into the hole by my muddy, tiny, trembling boots.

‘Oh. Well I should have warned you about that, but I didn’t think you’d get this far. I’m impressed!’

I stare at Beth, my mouth forming silent words, the solid lump in my throat blocking all sound.

‘You can’t tell anyone ok? You have to promise? If you keep it a secret you can be my friend.’

Even in the blanket of black, Beth catches me with that stare that makes me feel warm and tingly, that makes me want to do anything she tells me to do so I can be her friend. I have to have a friend, everything is strange and scary here.

I nod and try to speak, 'But how...why...?'

She smiles nervously. ‘It was only an accident you know. We were afraid we'd get into trouble so we're keeping it a secret. Now come on. We’d better go back, it’s not very safe out here.’

We wander back to the block of flats, Beth chattering happily away about the Pony Club, with me screaming silently, and wondering whether to tell Mummy about monster’s hole in the woods and what is at the bottom; about the girl with the long blonde ringlets, and the bone poking out of her neck.