In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce

“Maids at the palace handle snakes and kill spiders without acting silly. “What do they know about girls anyway?” she asked Moonlight as they moved on. They’d say she was behaving like a girl, not knowing she was a girl. Her fellow squires at the palace would laugh if they knew she feared spiders. She shook her head in disgust and gathered the reins in still-trembling hands. I hate spiders, she thought passionately. For a moment Alanna sat and shook, huddled into her cloak. The gold mare pranced nervously until her mistress got her under control once more. Alanna yelled and threw the thing off her, startling Moonlight. Something hit the back of her gloved hand with a wet smack-a huge, hairy wood-spider. It would be nice if she could find an abandoned hut, or even an occupied one, but she knew better than to expect that. If they rode too much longer, it would be impossible to find dry firewood even in a forest this thick. Moonlight carried her under the trees, where Alanna peered through the growing darkness.

Her friend Myles of Olau would be very upset if the three-hundred-year-old document she had been sent to fetch got wet! Checking to make sure the scroll she carried was safe in its waterproof wrapping and tucked between her tunic and shirt, Alanna shrugged into a hooded cloak. In the distance thunder rolled, and a few drops of rain blew into her face. They could probably find shelter somewhere under the trees, if luck was with them.Ĭlucking to Moonlight, she picked up their pace. A forest lay before them beyond it was the Great Road South and a half a day’s ride to the capital city and home. They were on the last leg of an errand in the coastal hills. Alanna sighed and patted Moonlight’s neck-she also didn’t like exposing her faithful mare to such conditions. The horse whickered in reply, flicking her white tail. “I don’t like being cold, either, and we’ll probably be both.”

“I hate getting wet,” Alanna of Trebond told her mare. No matter what she did, she was going to have to spend the night out-of-doors. The storm would be on her soon, and she was hours away from shelter. T HE COPPER-HAIRED RIDER LOOKED AT THE BLACK sky and swore. In the Hand of the Goddess 1 THE LADY IN THE FOREST

In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce