The Rebel Star Part 4

On hands and knees, I crawled, my fingers scrabbling in the lawn for fallen branches, wincing as I cracked a twig. And as I searched, the woman, the shepherd of the stars, glowed brighter. A core of light was growing in her cupped hands. As I turned back towards her, the bear saw it.

He came crashing through the kitchen door, left ajar.

The woman whirled to me, her hands outstretched. “Stella –!”

I straightened and ran for her, shoving the sticks into her glowing hands. She thrust me behind her, but I could already see the red teeth in the bear’s mouth, jaws stretching wider, only a few paw-steps away –

The woman twirled those dead lengths of wood in her hands, and I blinked, and she held a great bow, flaming at the edges. She drew back a sleek arrow and let it fly. The beast swerved, stumbled…

She took my hand and we ran up the hill from my garden into the town. The bow in her hands flamed and fell in ashes at our feet.

“You were brilliant!” she whispered.

NEXT STOP: St Lawrence Church XXXlocationXXX