Page 22 of The Secret Keeper's Daughter

“What are you doing?”

He presses some branches back. “Slip through here.”

“I’m going to get scratched.”

“That’s the least of your concerns, trust me.”

My stomach knots. He may be used to danger, but I’m not. My biggest worry is usually if I’m going to get manure on me. Gross, but not exactly a risk.

“If you’d rather return to the farm, be my guest.”

Point taken. I push my way through the scratchy branches, finding a tiny path. It stops at the wall. “Now what?”

“Nudge it.”

I turn around and look at him like he’s crazy.

“Do you trust me?”

More than anyone, so I do as he says.

Part of the wall budges.

“It’s a door?” I exclaim.

“Basically.”

“But… but people aren’t supposed to be able to come and go without the permission of the guards.” I push it harder. It opens all the way, revealing a vast forest stretching as far as the eye can see. The stars twinkle over the trees and between the two snowcapped mountains on opposite ends of the horizon. A full moon hangs low in the sky, casting the landscape in a silvery glow.

The sight steals my breath. This is so unlike the exit outside the town gates where there’s a wide path and the trees are spread apart. It’s made for traveling to and from the settlement. This is something else altogether.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Harek’s voice is right next to my ear, so close his breath tickles my skin.

A shiver runs down my spine, yet a warmth runs through me.

“You should see it when the sun is rising. One time, I saw a phoenix fly across the skyline. Its wingspan was massive, seeming to take up half the view.”

“And you never told me?”

He rests a hand on my shoulder. “You said it hurt too much to think about things you’d never see.”

I vaguely recall making that remark. It was when we were younger, and after my stepfather had told me in no uncertain terms I would never leave the village gates with Harek for any reason.

Now I’m showing Gunnar. I grab my best friend’s hand and drag him through the hidden door.

The trees nearly swallow us. I take in a deep breath of the pine trees, hardly believing how much fresher the air is just a few feet from the town.

Harek steps out then closes the door. “I’ve always wished I could bring you out here. I knew you’d love it.”

“It hardly seems real.” I don’t even want to blink for fear of missing anything. I try to burn these images into my mind so I never forget. “How can this be so close, yet nobody talks about it?”

“To keep everyone inside.”

“But why?”

An owl hoots nearby, and I squint to try to find it. It must be nestled in the evergreens somewhere in the shadow of the darkness.

Harek puts an arm around me. “As breathtaking as this is, the darkness hides many threats. Staying within the walls provides safety.”

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