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Sarah Sues Santa – P.J. Leonard

Chapter Eighteen: Lost in the Forest

That man...he really is terrible. His words echoed through her head like her own footsteps through
the corridors. Something about what he said made her feel...angry. Really angry. Why? Mr. Vekil
hadn't shouted at her or hurt her. He’d even let her leave.
She shook her head. No. I don't need to think about him or this place any more. It’s time to leave.
To meet Santa at last. I have so many questions...
As she walked down the corridor, she passed the other kids as they were doing their evening chores.
They stared at her as she passed, and she could feel their eyes burning on the back of her neck.
Footsteps pattered behind her: a few at first, then more and more. Soon it sounded as if the whole
orphanage were following her. As she passed the playroom, out stepped Becky and Anna.
"Sarah!" Said Anna, "You're OK! What happened? What's going - "
Sarah silently shook her head at them as she walked passed. Finally, she came to a stop at the door.
The crowd behind her stopped too, staying back from her by about ten steps as if the door was some
kind of dangerous animal. Whispers rippled down the corridor. Sarah ran a finger along the cold
surface of the metal door. Tiny drops of condensation ran down it. It was a lot bigger up close. She
took the key from her pocket, and a few of the orphans gave a gasp. She inserted the key into the
lock and turned. The door clicked with a low booming sound like a faraway explosion, and Sarah
pushed the door open.
Snow flew at her, as though it was running inside to escape the cold. She stepped out, and fresh
snow crunched under her feet. She shielded her eyes as big flakes flew into her face. She turned
around. She could barely make out the kids still standing in the dark corridor: for all she knew, they
might have all run away at the sight of the outdoors. One thing was for sure; none of them were
running out into the snow to play. Sarah sighed. Vekil really has made them scared of the outside
world. I’ll show him. I’ll show him there is a Christmas spirit! She pulled at the door handles,
slammed the door shut and with another turn of the key locked it again.
She looked around the courtyard. It was nearly impossible to see: everything had been covered in
snow. All she could make out were the lampposts forming a line into the distance. A path...
The key was getting cold in her hand. She longed to throw the key into the snow, to prove Mr.
Vekil wrong - I will never, ever come back here! - but at the sight of the snowstorm, she growled in
frustration and stuffed the key in her pocket.
Sarah followed the line of lampposts through the courtyard and out of a rusting gate. A dark shadow
swayed in the swirling snow in front of her. As she came closer she saw it was a thick forest of tall
pine trees. The path of lampposts ended at the edge of the forest. The postbox was always to the
right, at the far end of the street. She let out a long breath, steam rising in front of her, and she
stepped into the forest.
The snow was much less here: the thick blanket of pine needles up above shielded her from most of
it, and Sarah could finally look around without squinting. The forest was silent. The straight tree
trunks stretched out in every direction around her, fading away into the darkness - even the trees
behind her, where she'd come from. Wait...that is the direction I came from, right? Maybe it's that
way, the trees in that direction looked thinner...
Sarah's heart raced. Was she lost already? No way: she was just a little confused, that's all. Anyway,
this forest couldn't be that big. If she kept walking in this direction she’d come to the postbox
eventually, she’d just have to...
On and on she went. And so did the forest: it started to make her feel a little bit dizzy. For all she
knew, she could be walking in circles, because all of the trees looked the same. And was it her, or
were the tree trunks slowly closing in on her? She felt suddenly short of breath.

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