Vesta
rises (Present
Simple) before the Guide's Bell and
dresses (Present Simple) for the
cold. She
puts (Present Simple) on layers of warm clothes for the
winters
have been growing (Present Perfect Continuous) more severe. She
had
never
seen (Past Perfect) snow until three years ago but now it
lies
(Present Simple) thickly every winter and
gets (Present Simple) worse
every year. She
thinks (Present Simple) about the story of things
lurking in the woods but
dismisses (Present Simple) the idea as she
attaches (Present
Simple) a lamp to her pole. She
knows (Present Simple) that by going to
put flowers on her father's grave she
will miss (Future Simple) an hour
of work but she also
knows (Present Simple) that the others in the village
will be confident
(Future Simple) that she
will make (Future Simple) the time up later.
She
leaves (Present Simple) Beside and
follows (Present Simple) the
North Lane out to Would Be. The trees
are silent (Present Simple) but
she
has (Present Simple) a feeling that something
is following (Present
Continuous) her. She
presses (Present Simple) on across the snowy
landscape until she
reaches (Present Simple) the Memory Yard in the
middle of the wood. She
lays (Present Simple) her flowers at her
father's grave just as the Guide Bell
rings (Present Simple) out in the
village below. She
asks (Present Simple) the Guide to look after her dad
and then
sets out (Present Simple) for home. She
sees (Present
Simple) a star move across the sky. There
has been (Present Perfect) much
talk recently of moving stars, so she
hurries (Present Simple) on down
the path to see if
she can catch (Present Simple) another sight of it.
The villagers of Beside
think (Present Simple) the stars and the winters
are bad
omens (Present Simple) but Vesta
isn't superstitious.
(Present Simple) She
stops (Present Simple) short when she
sees (Present
Simple) the tracks in the snow, deep footprints with an enormous stride. A
giant
has passed (Present Perfect) by through the woods very recently.
Suddenly scared, she
finds (Present Simple) the idea of her father's
grave reassuring and
turns (Present Simple) back the way she
came.
(Past Simple) Something
growls (Present Simple) in the trees.