Two 10 year old girls, Emily and Darcy go into the woods to play hide and seek but it takes a dangerous turn when Darcy is kidnapped. Emily in a panic tries to find her but two men come out of the trees and take her too. She soon realizes that she has crossed a line and is now deep in the past. She is taken to an abbey and they try to have her adopted as an abandoned child in a nearby village but she escapes. The search for Darcy is on. She meets Isabel who's brother has been taken from her. Emily agrees to help her. They face danger and the stakes are high as they try to find both Darcy and little Gilles in a medieval world that Emily isn't prepared for.
Two 10 year old girls, Emily and Darcy go into the woods to play hide and seek but it takes a dangerous turn when Darcy is kidnapped. Emily in a panic tries to find her but two men come out of the trees and take her too. She soon realizes that she has crossed a line and is now deep in the past. She is taken to an abbey and they try to have her adopted as an abandoned child in a nearby village but she escapes. The search for Darcy is on. She meets Isabel who's brother has been taken from her. Emily agrees to help her. They face danger and the stakes are high as they try to find both Darcy and little Gilles in a medieval world that Emily isn't prepared for.
Emily Dustan sat on the green metal gate outside Ellham Woods. She was dressed in her favourite black skull T-shirt, ripped jeans and black boots. She looked around.
What a great place to play hide and seek with all those trees to hide behind, she Emily Dustan sat on the green metal gate outside Ellham Woods. She was dressed in her favourite black skull T-shirt, ripped jeans and black boots. She looked around.
What a great place to play hide and seek with all those trees to hide behind, she thought.
She wriggled uncomfortably, on the cold hard steel, swinging her legs and looking at the time on her mobile phone.
Whereâs Darcy? thought Emily. She said sheâd be here at seven oâclock and itâs twenty-five past. I bet her Mumâs being a pain again. Sheâs ten years old, like me. Her mum treats her like a baby. Itâs ridiculous.
She scratched her head, trying to rid herself of a tiny insect that had crawled onto her scalp through her long black hair.
She stared out onto the road which led to the village of Greater Godwinton. Come on Darcy. Where are you? Emily sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could do but wait. Her thoughts turned to daydreams. She smiled as she remembered how, a few months ago, at school, she'd leaned over to Aiden Coleman and said in a loud whisper, âIâm a vampire and Iâm hungry for blood.â
His cheeks turned a strange shade of pale, his eyes widened and he turned away from her trembling.
The headmistress had summoned her to the office a week later. Mrs Moran looked down at her with fierce eyes.
âEmily, Iâve had a complaint about your behaviour. Aiden Colmanâs parents told me that âa nasty girlâânamely youâfrightened Aiden so much that heâs had nightmares for a week. Why did you do it?â
Emily sniggered.
âDid you think it was funny? Wipe that smile off your face. I think itâs dreadful. Emily Dustan, Iâm ashamed of you. Donât think youâll get away with this young lady. Report to Mrs Friar after school.â
They gave her detention for two weeks and she had to write five hundred lines that read, âI must not frighten other childrenâ. Aiden had snitched on her and told them how scared he was of her and why. She wouldnât forgive him for that. The little worm, she thought.
Then she remembered last Friday morning. She arrived at school with a realistic pair of plastic fangs in her mouth but she was careful not to speak or smile, in case her teacher, Mrs Ledbourne, noticed them.
She sat at her desk waiting for the right moment. When it came, she looked across at Aiden Coleman, sitting three desks away from her. When nobody else was looking, she bared her fangs at him. His eyes widened, like a frightened cat, and his body tensed up. He turned away, not daring to look at her. Emily laughed as she remembered.
Serves him right for telling tales, she thought. She looked down the road into the distance. Her friend, Darcy appeared jogging along, struggling to catch her breath.
âCome on, hurry up!â yelled Emily.
âIâm doing my best,â answered Darcy panting, her wavy brown hair blowing about in the wind as she approached Emily. Darcy shuddered as a cold draught blew on the back of her neck. She zipped up her hoodie and pulled the hood up over her head.
âWhere have you been?â asked Emily, âYouâre late. Itâll be dark soon and weâll have to go home.â
âI thought you were meeting me at my house.â said Darcy, frowning.
âNo, I wasnât. You donât listen, do you? I said we would meet at the gate by the woods.â
âMum made me tidy my room. I said I was going out but she wouldnât listen. How long have you been here?â
âAges,â replied Emily. âMy mumâs horrible boyfriend, Jason, or âPigfaceâ as I call him, was picking on me and dragged me off the sofa, so I grabbed a glass of water from the table and threw it at him. Then Mum shouted at me to leave and not come back until it gets dark. She always blames me when itâs his fault. I hate him. Never mind, weâre here now. Letâs go in.â
âLetâs go that way,â said Darcy pointing to the right. Itâs more fun if you donât stick to the path. Itâs much easier to find a hiding place. Come on then, letâs go.â Emily jumped off the gate and her feet landed with a thump.
They tramped through the woods, twigs crunching beneath their shoes. She looked ahead and said, âThe last person to reach that oak tree is a durbrain.â
They ran through the woods, trying not to trip over branches or bump into tree trunks. They ducked under low branches and Darcy slipped on a patch of mud.
âWoooh!â she cried. She grabbed a branch and clung to it and managed to stay on her feet. Emily stopped and turned towards Darcy.
âCome on. What are you messing about at?â
She turned away and sprinted towards the giant oak tree. Upon reaching it, she stretched out her arms and stopped herself with the flat of her hands on the rough bark. Darcy jogged towards her, struggling to control her breathing.
âCome on, durbrain,â shouted Emily. Darcy frowned as she approached her friend. She stopped, gasping for breath.
âIf I hadnât slipped over, I would have caught up with you.â
âA likely story,â replied Emily, grinning at her. She turned, pointed further into the woods and said, âLet's go that way.â
âOh, okay, âreplied Darcy. Emily took the lead. Darcy looked around and noticed the fading light as they walked into the gloomy woodlands.
âMaybe we should turn back. We don't want to get lost in here,â said Darcy. 'It's getting late.â
âNo, it's not, Come on.â
âI don't want to, it's spooky in here.â
âIt was your idea. Come on, keep walking.â
âIt was a bad idea,â replied Darcy. She followed reluctantly behind, occasionally looking back as the gloom turned slowly into darkness.
Suddenly, there was a loud screeching sound above the treetops. Darcy looked up and stopped in her tracks.
âWhat was that?â she asked, her heart drumming in her chest.
âMaybe it was the voice of a long-dead spirit crying in agony,â said Emily, knowing that it was a barn owl.
âStop it, you're scaring me,â said Darcy.
âHaven't you heard of the Ellham Woods ghosts who roam round the woods at night?â
âStop it. This is one of your stories. You're making it up.â She looked around and behind her, in case some strange ghostly creature should creep up on her. She looked back and halted, reluctant to go any further. Emily stopped, turned, and said, âHave you heard of Nancy Hare, the witch who lived in the trees?â âStop it, Emily. I want to go home.â
âThey say she haunts the woods and casts deadly curses on anyone she sees.â
âThatâs just a stupid story.â
âCome on. Donât be such a wuss.â Emily turned and walked on.
The treetops rustled above them as they wandered into the encircling gloom.
Darcy followed behind Emily as they trudged further into the woods and then she stopped. Emily carried on, unaware that she'd left her friend behind. As she walked on, she realised she could hear only one set of footsteps. She turned around.
Darcy was nowhere in sight.
âDarcy, where are you? Darcy? Stop messing about. Come on. You didnât say we were playing the game yet. You shouldâve told me. Alright, Iâm comingâready or not. You canât hide from me!â she exclaimed.
Emily searched around. She looked behind a tall Sycamore tree but Darcy wasnât there. The trees gave way to a clearing. Over to her left, there was a large pile of logs, big enough to hide behind. Emily crept up to them, hoping that she could jump out at Darcy and startle her, but on further investigation, she realised there was no sign that Darcy had been there. She was convinced that her friend was hiding somewhere close by.
Standing next to a beech tree was a large holly tree. Its branches and prickly leaves were spread out, making it as wide as it was tall.
I bet sheâs behind that bush, thought Emily.
âCome out, Darcy. I know you're there.â
She was about to look around the other side of it when she heard the sound of rustling leaves and the cracking of twigs being downtrodden in front of her in the distance. She turned towards it.
âThere you are. Iâm coming after you,â She ran towards the sound, grinning. Then she heard a familiar voice.
âLet go of me go! Get off me!â
Emily heard her friend's voice protesting as she was dragged away.
She stopped dead, unable to move. An icy shiver ran up and down her back and her blood turned to ice as she realised what had happened. Somebody had kidnapped Darcy.
âDarcy!â she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. She ran forward, not looking where she was going. Everything was a blur. She tripped over a tree root and landed flat on her face. After the shock had subsided, she pushed herself up with her hands. In a wild panic, she forced herself up onto her feet and ran towards the place where sheâd heard Darcyâs voice, her feet pounding the woodlands floor. She felt inside her pocket for her mobile phone, wanting to use the light but to her horror, it had slipped out and was lying somewhere on the ground.
She looked around, her eyes scanning every inch of the woods but she could only see shadowy trees in the growing darkness.
This is all my fault, I shouldnât have been so selfish. I should have turned back when she asked me to, sobbed Emily to herself. I have to find her.
Panicking, she ran deeper into the woods, not looking where she was going, dodging the trees as best as she could. Finally, she stopped and fell to her knees huffing and wheezing, not able to take another step. As a sound came from behind her, she stood up and turned. Two tall men appeared from behind the trees. Emily froze and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She turned and fled, sprinting wildly in any direction, trying to escape. The men followed her.
âCome back,â shouted one of them.
She tried to shake them off, weaving from side to side between the trees but because there were two of them, she couldn't outrun them. From behind, the heavy sound of their boots grew louder and louder. Her feet pounded the forest floor. She couldnât keep up the pace. One of the men caught up with her, running by her side. He reached out his hand and grabbed her arm, pulling her back until she slowed to a halt.
âOw. Let go!â she cried. The other man grabbed her right arm. She thrashed around trying to free herself from their grip.
âStop struggling and you won't get hurt,â said the tall man.
âOw! Let me go!â said Emily.
âStop fighting us and we won't be so rough with you,â said the man. They gripped her tightly until she was exhausted and couldnât fight any longer.
âWho are you? And whereâs my friend? Someone grabbed her and took her away.â
One man took her shoulders. He turned her to face him and said, âWeâre from the watch.
'We work for the Sheriff of Essex and itâs our job to keep vagrants and bandits out of the forest. You can either come with us quietly or weâll have to take you away by force, which we donât want to do. So come with us and donât play us up.â The other man said, âYou know you shouldnât be in here. This is the King's private part of the forest. Itâs the law.â
âBut whereâs my friend? Where is she? Did you take her?â she cried.
'No, it wasnât us. It wouldâve been some of our men.â
âBut why did they grab her?â
âMaybe she refused to go with them. They wouldn't hurt her, but if she tried to fight them ... â
Knowing Darcy, she'd fight like a dog, thought Emily.
âBut where did they take her? What have they done to her? We were only playing.â
âYou ask too many questions.â
âBut I donât understand. This is Ellham Woods ⌠â
âWhat? This is Walt-ham Forest. You must know that. Are you lost or are you one of those forest children living like a wild animal?â
âI am lost and I donât know what you mean by "Forest children". Who are they?â replied Emily.
âNo parents, no home,â replied the second man.
The man in front had shoulder-length blond hair, a dark-red cloak, and a tunic that reached his knees. On his legs, he wore green woollen tights and strange-looking leather boots. The man behind him moved to her side. Wearing a green knee-length tunic and green tights, he had dark-brown hair that was shorter than the other man's. He glared at her with his piercing brown eyes and stroked his beard.
âWe need to take you out of here. Theyâre our orders. Donât ask questions. Come with us and donât argue or weâll have to drag you out,â said the blond man.
The other man said, âWe might be able to find your friend for you. Donât worry, they won't hurt her. Weâre going to take you to a safe place and then leave you there, but donât let us see you in here again, understand?â
Emily refused to answer him.
She looked around, confused. Something was different ⌠very different.
These men looked as if they were from a medieval fantasy story. She knew that she should run from them but they towered over her and she didnât think that she could escape.
âRight, come with us. Tom, watch her and donât let her run off. These forest brats can be little devils. Youâve got to keep an eye on them,â said the man in green.
Emily tensed up. She didnât know what would happen to her.Â
Emily and Darcy decide to play hide and seek one day on the edge of the woods. They quickly discover the woods are not what they seem and find themselves whisked away into an entirely different era. I could easily imagine Robin Hood running through the trees alongside them!
Hide and Seek takes the reader back in time. Informative children's literature still makes me snicker at times - history hidden between the pages of fun fiction, what a novel way to teach! The history comments are simple, sometimes too simple. But a quick look into life during medieval times provides a fairly accurate picture of the difficulty of even the smallest every day tasks.
As for the story itself, I might have been more interested if I was 8-12 years old. Simplified history combined with a youthful writing style lends this novel to a younger audience than I believe is actually intended. Naturally, children are selfish, immature, and still mostly incapable of making wise, considerate decisions. This should be no surprise! However, the disappointment here came in the lack of development before the payoff.
Allow me to elaborate.
Emily becomes a character that we can admire. I can say no more without spoiling the story; yet, I would have liked to see a little more personal processing amongst and between the characters as to why growth and change should (and did) happen. All we get is a few subtle reminders that lying creates complications in our relationships. The truth comes out eventually. This is a unique opportunity (even in a junior fiction novel) to explain morality and growth through the character's experiences. We simply end up at point B in the final chapter without much description of what had to have happened within Emily after point A.
Aside from this very slight frustration, I actually enjoyed this little adventure! It's mostly clean, although Emily as a character was slightly darker than I would have enjoyed as an adolescent. There is one specific description of urination that is entirely unnecessary, but not graphic.
All in all, I can safely recommend this novel to all the young ladies in the land. Don't expect your daughters to be able to explain why Emily is a dynamic character, but you might use this story as an opportunity to discuss the damaging consequences of being a liar.