The Longest Night

By Jessi Hammond

Alinta has come to England to live with her aunt, Misty, after the death of her parents. Fleeing from the Midwinter Festival her aunt is participating in, she stumbles across another group of people in the Great Forest.

At first Alinta thinks they are with the Festival. But when she is asked to take part in an ancient ritual, she realises that, to these folk, the magic of the Midwinter Festival is real – and deadly.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kincaid Publishing
• Release date: Nov 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201980542

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About this book

Alinta has come to England to live with her aunt, Misty, after the death of her parents. Fleeing from the Midwinter Festival her aunt is participating in, she stumbles across another group of people in the Great Forest.

At first Alinta thinks they are with the Festival. But when she is asked to take part in an ancient ritual, she realises that, to these folk, the magic of the Midwinter Festival is real – and deadly.

The Longest Night

One

The dim green of the forest closed in around Alinta as she stumbled along the narrow, uneven path, tree roots buried beneath the snow making the footing treacherous in the half-light. Frosty air bit into her cheeks, and the unfamiliar squeak of snow beneath her new winter boots was an alien sound.

It was also the only sound she could hear, she realised, as she finally came to a halt. Her own headlong flight through the dense brush of Windsor Forest had obviously scared off the local wildlife. The silence was absolute, aside from the slight rustling of leaves all around her and her own laboured breathing. She could no longer hear any of the joyous riot of music and laughter and colour and costumes that was the Midwinter Festival.

Or the crackling of the Yule fire.

Alinta shuddered, her breath hitching in her throat, as the fierce roar of flames, the smell of burning wood and plastic, the taste of acrid salt water, overwhelmed her senses. She fought the memories, using the techniques the psychologist had taught her. Breathe deep, focus on her surroundings, identify the sounds, the sights, the smells of right now.

The icy bite of wind. The clean smell of snow, and trees, and no trace of smoke or food or anything from the Festival. The sound of wind through the leaves, the sudden rustle or creak as some small animal or bird moved in the trees. Safe.

Safe, maybe, but everything was different now.

Three months ago, she and her parents and her little brother had been on a week-long holiday on a houseboat cruising along the south-east Queensland coast. Then the accident had happened