The Secret Sisters of Finnley Forest

By Lori A. Reeves

After an unexpected meeting in the forest, two innocent little girls, Eve and Dawn, embark upon a new and lasting friendship that changes their lives forever. This providential encounter plunges them into the epic adventure of a lifetime and beyond. A dark cloud looms over their medieval kingdom of Peacehaven as the girls, who are as different as night and day, suddenly find themselves the unlikely center of attention.

Lucian the deceiver has spun a web of lies and destruction in a sinister plot to overthrow Amasa, King of Peacehaven. One thing only stands between him and his treacherous quest for power and glory: capturing the two little girls as they pass through the mysterious dark forest of Wilderland.

Join King Amasas faithful captain, Lord Brin, and the valiant but sometimes overzealous young knight, Johanan, as they lead the girls on a fascinating journey through the forest full of wonderful and unexpected discoveries. Along the way, the lives of these two unassuming young girls impact the destiny of two kingdoms and bring hope to the hopeless throughout their homeland.

The Secret Sisters of Finnley Forest is laced with allegories, archetypes, and foreshadowing that reveal simple biblical truths about the deeper meanings of friendship, forgiveness, and sacrificial love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 18, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490833392

Lori A. Reeves

After more than two decades of missionary adventures on three continents, Lori A. Reeves, a former private Christian school teacher, has combined her love for storytelling with her passion for teaching biblical truth. Lori lives in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina with her husband, pastor and missionary evangelist Michael Reeves.

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Copyright © 2014 Lori A. Reeves.

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Cover image titled a Childhood Idyll, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, c 1900. License agreement by Image Envision,com.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Bible.

Bear Track Icon made by Freepik from Flaticon.com

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3338-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3340-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3339-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014906369

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/18/2014

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Cast Of Characters

Settings

1   The Unexpected Meeting

2   Father's Return

3   Home After Dark

4   Voices In The Dark

5   A Dark Discovery

6   Making A Decision

7   Preparing For The Journey

8   Direction

9   The Adventure Begins

10   A New Beginning

11   Finding Their Place

12   Venturing Into The Unknown

13   An Unexpected Visitor

14   Deep Secrets Revealed

15   Watchers In The Night

16   A Hidden People

17   Fear In The Night

18   Friendly Guides

19   Friendship Renewed

20   Setting The Trap

21   Evil Ensues

22   Iron Sharpeneth Iron

23   Back On The Old Path

24   A Rude Awakening

25   Getting Ready

26   Dreadful Deeds

27   What Happened After

DEDICATION

T o my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the one who loved me, and gave Himself for me. The giver of Life and all good things. I thank You. To You, I bow my heart and knee and give You my allegi ance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

F irst, I would like to say thank you to my wonderful husband, adventure partner, and best friend. We have been on many wonderful adventures together. I look forward to many, many more. Thank you for all your love, support, and encouragement. This book would not have been possible without you. You are my knight in shining armor, and I am very thankful that we are living happily ever a fter.

Pastor Daniel Buchanan, thank you for the many years of instruction, guidance, and sound biblical preaching. You are a living example of God’s love, and your prayers are more valuable to us than silver and gold.

How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:15)

Lita Belk, the best English teacher on the planet and the smartest girl in the family! Thank you for all your help and hard work.

Debby Handy and Heather Hutchens, thank you for being so kind and gracious every time I shoved an updated copy of the manuscript at you to proofread. Thank you for the encouragement.

Elizabeth Wagoner, you are such a talented girl. Thank you for your technical help with the cover.

Dr. Scott Phillip Stewart at Christian Author Services, thank you so much for your kindness and excellent editorial contribution.

Finally, to my father Albert Adams, I’m so thankful you came to trust the Savior. You loved your little girl to the fullest the last year of your life. I love you, Daddy, and I’ll meet you by the stream….

Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Eve

While walking through the woods,

this lonely young girl discovers a new friend,

begins an adventure that reveals many secrets,

and changes the destiny of two kingdoms.

Dawn

Eve’s newfound friend.

Brin

Lord of the kingdom of Peacehaven.

Captain of the soldiers from the village of Garland.

Cook

Keeper of the house of Brin and Eve.

Magi

Lord Brin’s exceptional warhorse.

Johanan

Lord Brin’s charge and protégé.

Albert

Lord of the kingdom of Peacehaven.

Captain of the soldiers from the village of Blain.

King Amasa

Good king of the kingdom of Peacehaven.

Lucian

An evil advisor to King Amasa,

who plots to overthrow the kingdom.

Captain Karl

Lucian’s reluctant, misguided captain.

Sir Marcus

Leader of the woodsmen.

Banished from the kingdom of Avery.

Mikael

Teenage son of Sir Marcus.

Artemas

A skilled archer and noble leader among the woodsmen.

Gilbert

A skilled slinger and noble leader among the woodsmen.

Nicolas the Hermit

A mysterious and legendary figure of Wylderland.

SETTINGS

Peacehaven: The noble, yet troubled, kingdom of King Amasa.

Finnley Forest: A pleasant woodland between the villages of Garland and Blain where Eve and Dawn first meet.

Garland: A country village settlement not far from the home of Brin.

Blain: A country village settlement not far from the home of Albert.

Cliffs of Dove: The north-west most corner of the kingdom of Peacehaven, where Lucian tempts Albert.

Wylderland: A dark foreboding forest. The eastern border of Peacehaven between Peacehaven and Avery.

Hidden Village: The home of the exiled woodsmen within the forest of Wylderland.

Avery: Peacehaven’s eastern neighbor and ally.

C 1

THE UNEXPECTED MEETING

I n the fifteenth year of the reign of King Amasa, in the kingdom of Peacehaven, there lived two little girls. The older was ruddy and plump with long brown hair that fell in curls down her back. Her name was Eve. The younger was thin and frail yet fair as the morning, with long, straight golden hair. Her name was Dawn.

Both girls lived in the vast expanse of Finnley Forest and had not met until one day when, in the providence of God and the time was right, everything changed.

While walking through the forest as she often did, Eve ventured a bit farther than she ever had before and happened upon a place where two small streams met. The day was beautiful. A soft, gentle breeze carried the fresh smell of spring through the air, making her walk especially enjoyable. The woods were alive with the singing of birds, the buzzing of bees, and the occasional chatter of a chipmunk. In fact, it was such a lovely day that Eve lost all sense of her normal boundaries and wandered much farther than she intended.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of something golden dancing in the wind. She squinted and thought she saw the form of a girl, smaller than herself, just up ahead.

Hello! Hello! She called out after the form.

Instead of responding or drawing closer, the obscure little form simply vanished in the shadow of the trees. Eve questioned in her heart whether she had actually seen a little girl or not. After calling out again and again with no sign or answer, puzzled and bewildered, Eve turned and hurried toward home.

Home for Eve was a comfortable cottage at the edge of the forest that she shared with her kind father, Brin, and a motherly housekeeper they simply called Cook. Eve had never known a real mother, just the meek and gentle Cook who had always loved and treated her as a daughter.

Eve was very happy at home except for missing her father who was often gone for weeks at a time. It was bliss, however, when he returned because he never failed to shower her with so much love and attention that it made his absence seem like but a shadow.

Home for Dawn was a different matter altogether. Her dwelling consisted of a dismal little thatch-roofed shack that better resembled a mud hut than a proper cottage. She shared the humble abode with her father, Albert, a hard, bitter man with a violent temper who kept much bottled up inside and spent little time at home. She had no mother and no caring housekeeper, no one to tend to her, play games, or teach her how to care for a home, or cook, or do any of the things that Cook had taught Eve. Yes, Dawn’s home life was very different from Eve’s.

Dawn spent many lonely hours while her father was away, and when he returned, he treated her more like a servant than a daughter. When he was gone, she thought she would die of loneliness, but, when he was home, she longed for him to go away. Dawn spent much of her time in agonizing fear. In some strange way, the loneliness had become a faithful companion that Dawn preferred to the unexplainable tensions that prompted her father’s sudden violent outbursts over the smallest of matters. She could bear being alone better than being in fear. Through it all, she did her best to please her father, and earn his favor, for that’s all a little girl longs for, isn’t it? No matter how Albert treated her, he was still her father, and all she wanted was to please him and make him happy so that maybe someday he would be proud of her and love her with a father’s unconditional love.

So Dawn did her best to obey Albert’s rules, even though she really didn’t understand them – rules such as: never go far from the house or open the door to anyone. If she was ever seen outside, she wasn’t to talk to anyone. In fact, if she could help it, she was to avoid letting others discover her at all. It was such a strange, hard, lonely life for a child, but Dawn tried her best to be obedient because he was, after all, her father.

The next day, after enjoying a nice lunch with Cook, Eve decided once again to go for a walk in the forest. She had such a lovely time the day before, and, besides, she couldn’t stop thinking about her recent adventure and that maybe, just maybe, she really had seen another little girl. So, blessed with another beautiful early spring day, a curious heart, and an adventurous spirit, off she went.

When Eve finally reached the spot where she thought she had seen something the day before, she looked around ever so closely. Then she made her way farther and farther, as quiet as a little mouse. Suddenly, after rounding a bend in the brook, Eve’s heart dropped and her breath caught. Ahead, squatting down at the edge of the stream, was a real live golden-haired girl – the very same little girl Eve had seen the day before. She was pale and terribly thin,