The journey begins

It had been three days since Hatty Holiday, daughter of Queen Ursula Holiday, was torn from her mother's arms and abandoned in the Forgotten Forest by the Red Warriors. The wounds across her back from where the Red Warriors had tied her down so tightly on their journey to the forest, still burned and she desperately worried for the safety of her mother. She cowered amongst the huge roots of a Groaner tree and cried. Her eyes felt sore and swollen, her lips dry. The only water she had managed to drink was from the heavy rainfall the previous night. She was too scared to leave the safety of her tree – who knew what was out there, waiting to feast on her young, meaty flesh?

A shrill, sharp cry echoed through the trees above her and was repeated by a similar cry further away. Hatty gasped and grabbed hold of her muddy legs, making herself as small as possible. She tucked her head in behind her knees and closed her eyes. She had been hearing the cries a lot since she arrived, especially after dark and she had no idea what they could be coming from. One thing was for sure, they weren't coming from anything that was likely to give her a hug and point her in the direction of home. Nothing was likely to be that friendly in this forest.

Behind the safety of her eyelids, Hatty thought about her mother. She was Queen and ruler of the Grass Land; the only area in the whole of Second England to still be fertile enough for crops to grow on. It was the most precious and wanted soil in all the land. Without a Queen to lead them, Hatty knew that her people would be vulnerable to Red Warrior attack and the precious land would be destroyed. She knew that the only way to save her people, was to save her mother.

Hatty had a gift which was passed down to her from her Grandmother. Her mother called it her 'sight'. It only happened at times of great stress, when Hatty was worrying about something, but when it did, Hatty had no control over what she saw, or when. It had happened the night before as she drifted off to sleep under a bed of damp leaves. As she began to dream, an image of her mother burst through. She was sat beneath a large red rock and her long golden hair hung loose, covering her face as she peered down into a pool of still, black water. Her body trembled and Hatty realised that she was crying. Tears gently plopped onto the pool of water beneath her, making soft ripples. She slowly lifted her face to the moonlight and closed her eyes.

"Help me somebody", she whispered. "Help my people, help my land, but most importantly, help my daughter to be strong." The sight then faded into darkness and Hatty awoke to soft morning light.

The sight had given Hatty a new hope. She had seen her mother and so knew that she was still alive. Her mother had told her to be strong. She would listen to those words. It was now or never – she had to start her journey through the Forgotten Forest. She had to start her journey to save her mother.