OCR Text |
Show 131 "What is it?" I yelled, running to her side. "I can't see! Has the day turned into night?" "You can't see? What do you mean, Hilde?" "Geist, is that you? Something has happened to my eyes! Where is Gast? Oh please, find Gast and tell him that I cannot see!" "He's right in front of you, Hilde. You're holding onto his cloak." Gast had turned and was staring at Hilde, his eyes wide and his face stricken. I had never seen him look so unnerved. Yet he hesitated for only a moment before he began to pry her fingers, one by one, from their vise-like grip on his cloak. "Hurry the children up the pass," he said to me, his voice strained. "The farther we can travel before the three hours are up, the greater will be our advantage." "But something terrible is wrong with Hilde," I objected. "We will have to stop." "No, we will leave her here. Someone will come soon enough to find her. Move the children. Quickly!" His words were drowned in a clap of thunder, but Hilde had heard them. "Gast, don't leave me," she begged, reaching out her hands to grasp him, but he moved beyond her reach. "Gast!" she screamed, "I want to go with you!" "Move along, children," Gast shouted hoarsely. "Hilde is only playing a game." Hilde's face contorted with fear and she burst into sobs, but Gast turned away from her and began to prod the children. "Hurry, |