She went out the door and set off at a trot, wanting to put as much space between herself and the cottage as she could. As she ran she threw the key to Olric’s padlock into the trees. It might, she thought with satisfaction, be quite some time before anyone happened along to free him.
Gretel alternated walking and running, sticking to narrow tracks, avoiding the road which snaked its way through the woods. Towards mid-day she paused to drink from a stream and ate some of the bread and cheese. Her feet were sore; she’d been unable to find any shoes before she left. She soaked them in the cool water for a while, then set off again. By the middle of the afternoon she had been going for several hours, though she was no longer trotting, just trudging along. She wondered if, when he got free, O
