Pages & Co 2: Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales - Eurostar trip

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DEEP,

DARK FOREST

he taxi pulled up at St Pancras station, and Tilly, Oskar and Grandad walked through the airy, glass-ceilinged building that echoed with someone bashing out Christmas carols on a slightly out-of-tune public piano. They made their way through throngs of Tube-map-clutching tourists and festive travellers to the busy queues at the Eurostar entrance. Grandad helped them find their seats on the train, and tracked down the steward tasked with keeping an eye on Tilly and Oskar on the journey to Paris. After a good five minutes of fussing and checking to make sure they were still in possession of the various documents, currencies and phone numbers they needed, the - 97 -

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Tilly and the Lost Fairy Tales

steward intervened and took Grandad gently by the elbow.

‘Sir, the train needs to leave now,’ he said, closing the door firmly. ‘I promise we’ll take good care of them.’ And with a train whistle and a last wave to Grandad, they were on their way.

‘Do you mind if I read?’ Tilly asked straight away, pulling Grandma’s stolen, or secretly borrowed – as Tilly preferred to think of it – fairytale book out of her backpack.

‘Oh. Sure,’ Oskar said. ‘Cool. I might go and explore, see if there’s a café. Do you want anything?’

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A Deep, Dark Forest

‘I’m okay, thank you,’ Tilly said, without looking up. Oskar shrugged and set off, wobbling along the aisle with the rhythm of the moving train.

Tilly ran a careful finger down the contents page, keeping an eye out for anything that might tell her a little more about Grandma as a young woman mapping fairy tales. But there was nothing written in the book, and none of the slips of paper functioning as bookmarks said anything on them. With nothing else to go on, she chose a story marked with a page corner turned down, and settled back in her seat to read. It was ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and Tilly was on high alert for anything that seemed different from how she remembered the story, when a strange, sticky, sweet smell wafted towards her. Assuming it was Oskar back with some snacks, she glanced up, but he was nowhere to be seen.

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