Just for a moment he thought he was lying in the shade of the bell tree at home, and a falling leaf had drifted onto his face. Half smiling he put up his hand to brush the leaf off, and felt movement beneath his fingers. He yelled and sat up, slapping at his eye. Wings whirred frantically, and he caught a brief glimpse of something streaking away into the air. He felt for his hood and found that it was still in place. So the flying creature, whatever it was, could not have seen him. It must have sensed him—felt his warmth, perhaps. Sonia was crawling to her knees beside him. She was staring around blankly. A tangle of sticks was caught in her scarf, just below her ear, but she seemed unaware of it. Then the tangle moved. Rye’s stomach heaved as he realised that the sticks were legs, and at the same moment saw stiff, transparent wings, a head filled with glittering eyes, a needle-like stinger poised to strike … Sonia screamed as he shouted and lunged at her.
