She didn't notice us at first. 

She shuffled in, shutting the door with a clank before hobbling over to a table and lighting a match that illuminated the darkness with an amber glow. Now I knew exactly how it felt to be Hansel and Gretel, minus the sugar rush and being siblings.

The witch lit a candle that burnt the air with a stale waxy smell, making me cringe and almost sneeze, but thank God I didn't.

Keith pressed himself against the wall and squeezed my hand so tightly I nearly cried out. Thank God I didn't. But it wouldn't have made any difference anyway because the witch had finally seen us. The candlelight flickered shadows across her weather beaten face, making her appear scarier than usual. Yep, it was definitely that old lady I bumped into. I knew she meant something if I dreamed about her two nights in a row. She hobbled over to us in tortoise speed, squinting like she was trying to work out if we were real or not.

Finally, she spoke, and when she did, it sounded like she hadn't had a sip of water for 50 years, which might be true. "You," was all she said.

"Me?" I squeaked. Then I realised she was speaking to Keith.

"You, the boy who is always stealing from me and sneaking into my home!"

Keith gulped and I felt his hands go all clammy against mine. So the old witch speaks the truth.

"I'm sorry!" Keith blurted out in a pathetic wail, like he was about to burst into tears.

"And YOU!" Now she was talking to me. I shrunk against the wooden walls, bracing myself to be zapped into a slimy toad, but all the old lady did was scowl at me. "Did your sister get back the necklace?"

I gasped with fright and shock. What was she talking about? How could she know? I could feel Keith's gaze on me and the old lady was still frowning, but there was a strange glimmer in her eyes, but perhaps that was just a trick of the candle light.

"Y-yes," I stammered. "But, how...?" The old lady ignored me and turned her attention back to Keith.

"Where's my horse?" She demanded.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Keith trembled.

"Tell me boy, where's my horse? I KNOW you have it!" the old lady croaked. 

Keith looked down at his hands and said, "I can't tell you."

"WHAT did you say?" the old lady rasped.

"I said I can't tell you!" Keith shouted, his voice wobbling with fear.

"And why is that, boy?" the old woman asked, folding her arms. "It better be alive!"

"Oh, it's more than alive," Keith said, growing indignant. "You had no right to treat it the way you did! Now it's free and happier than it's ever been! And you know why? Because it's finally rid of you, you old nasty witch!"

The old lady gasped as if he'd gone too far and hurt her feelings. I just listened with immense curiosity, wondering what horse they were talking about, and whether it looked like the one from my dream.

"How dare you talk to me like that, you little street urchin!" the old lady growled. Keith suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me out the little wooden hut with the witch screeching after us angrily waving a broomstick in the air.

"Quick! We've gotta get away!" Keith urged. As we ran, I glanced over my shoulder at the witch, but she was gone. And so was the wooden hut. I blinked a few times, but it still wasn't there.

"Keith?" I panted as we reached the river. I just noticed that it had stopped raining and the sky was a pale watercolour blue, studded with greyish clouds, floating away and making room for the sun to shine gloriously.

Keith leaned against a tree, catching his breath. His cheeks were flushed and his dark hair was matted to his head.

"I thought you said the witch died."

"She did die," Keith said. "But since she's a witch and all, she can come back to life again."

"O...K. And the hut disappeared," I told him.

"What do you mean?" Keith asked.

"I looked back and it's gone," I said.

Keith nodded. "Yeah, that's her invisibility trick to fool people so when they come across her hut, she can grab them and eat them up," he explained.

"O...K," I said. "I highly doubt that. It all just sounds like a bunch of superstitious nonsense to me."

"But it's true," Keith said earnestly.

"Sure, Keith. Whatever helps you sleep at night," I said, smirking.

"OK, don't believe me, but one day you'll be sorry," Keith warned.

"What? Sorry I met you?" I joked. Keith cracked a smile and soon we were laughing.

After a hiccup fiesta Keith said, "You look like you're wearing the sun's light on your hair."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

"You're the daughter of the sun," Keith replied.

"And you're the son of a donkey," I laughed.

Keith punched me softly in the arm and said, "Hey, that's mean."

"I'm the daughter of the sun, you must obey me," I say grandly in my most posh English accent.

"I am not amused, Lavinia," Keith said in an English accent. I pulled my best poker face and cocked an eyebrow at him until he burst out laughing.

"Hey, you wanna see the horse I freed from the witch?" Keith asked.

"Absolutely," I said. "But can I just know one thing?"

"What thing?" Keith asked.

"Is it a white horse?" I asked.

Keith's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

I tapped my temple. "I'm psychic."

"Hey, can I know one thing too?" Keith asked.

"Yeah?" I said, drawing circles in the dirt as Keith ripped up bits of dried fallen leaves.

"What was that about the necklace?"

I shrugged. "Well, this may sound completely crazy, but..."

"Don't worry, everything you say sounds completely crazy," Keith assured me.

"Gee, thanks," I said sarcastically. "Anyway, my sister lost her necklace and then I had a dream about the witch giving me the necklace and suddenly, when I woke up, it was there in my hand. Weird, right?"

Keith looked amazed. "Whoa. Heavy," he said.

"Actually the necklace was quite light," I said.

"No, I meant that's pretty overwhelming stuff, you know?" Keith said, tossing the confetti of leaves onto my lap "But how do you know the witch?"

"I don't know her, that's the thing," I said. "Remember that day you fell off your skateboard?" I felt my cheeks burn up and I notice spots of colour emerge in Keith's cheeks.

"Yeah, I remember," Keith sighed.

"Well, you see, I accidentally bumped into the witch as well when I saw you across the street. And that's pretty much how it all started," I said.

Keith laughed. "What a strange coincidence. The witch probably cast a spell on me to slam into that pole...or something."

"Maybe it was just karma," I shrugged. "Pretty stupid actually if she got angry at me for bumping into her."

"Exactly," Keith agreed. "This is all too weird."

"So, how about a ride on your stallion?" I suggested.

"Okay how did you know it was a stallion?" Keith asked, looking a bit scared now.

"I'm psychic, remember?"

"Or maybe you're just a really good guesser," Keith mused. "Have you ever entered the lottery?"

"I'm not THAT good," I said.

"You're freaky," Keith said, standing up.

"Such a gentleman, always complimenting me," I said sarcastically.

"My mum did raise a gentleman," Keith said proudly, completely missing the sarcastic tone of my voice.

"Now are you gonna help me up?" I asked, looking up at him from the ground.

"How's the weather down there, shortie?" Keith smirked. I stood up myself as ungracefully as ever and brushed off my bottom to discover that I had been sitting in mud. Keith laughed so hard he snorted.

"You look like you- it looks like you- it's so-" Keith could hardly speak. As we passed the river I shoved him roughly so that he lost his balance and fell backwards into the water.

"Who's laughing now?" I yelled as he surfaced, wiping his eyes and fixing his hair.

"Ha ha ha. Very funny," Keith said flatly as he climbed out, soaking wet. The sun glinted off the beads of water dripping from his hair and his eyes reflected the sky and I was captivated by him for a moment until he shook his hair and splattered me with water.

"Ew!" I squealed as he cupped his hands into the river and threw water at me and chased me through the woods, threatening to wipe his wet hands on my face. We reached a broad meadow of daisies and wheat grass up to our waists swaying in the warm breeze, and we ran until the sun dried the water from Keith's hands so he eventually gave up.

I slipped off my shoes and socks again and twirled around in the grass, embracing the warmth of the sun and the open blue sky stretched out above me. Keith snatched my hand and spun me towards him so that we were face to face. He leaned in so our noses almost touched, then let me go so I twirled away and fell into the grass, the blades tickling my face. I spread out my arms and closed my eyes.

I must have dozed off because when I awoke I found a crown of daisies in my hair and I heard the soft whinny of a horse, and not just any horse. His coat gleamed in the sunlight and the sun highlighted his pale mane that Keith was stroking now and murmuring in his ears. The horse grunted as if he understood what Keith was saying. I sat up and watched, mesmerized, until Keith noticed me and gently guided the stallion towards me, so close that I could now smell its horsey smell. I stood up and reached out a hand to pat the side of his snout and realised this felt extremely familiar, even though I'd never been this close to a horse before. Well, not in real life, anyway. But in my dreams...

I ran my hands over its smooth white coat and weaved my fingers through its silky mane, all so familiar.

I plucked a daisy from the ground and threaded it into its hair. My hands met Keith's in the tangle of his fair mane and our eyes connected over the arch of the horse's back.

"Wanna ride?" Keith asked. I smiled and nodded. Keith mounted the horse so swiftly that I knew he had been doing it all his life. But as for me...

Keith held out his hand and I used it to help me climb on. But it wasn't as easy as it looked, especially on a horse without a saddle or anything. But in the end I got on, but I had an extreme wedgie and I had to shuffle about to get comfortable and try not to fall off. We were so high up.

I wrapped my arms around Keith's waist as we slowly cantered across the field. I suddenly remembered my shoes and socks, lying hidden by the tall grass, but I pushed them out of my mind. I'd get them later. If I could be stuffed.

The wind whipped my face and swirled through my curls, my ponytail coming loose and my hair trailing behind me like golden banners licking the air. Though it was slightly uncomfortable, riding a horse was the most magical thing and I felt so...free.

But I didn't dare let go of Keith for even one second. Now we were galloping so fast the wind might have temporarily damaged my ear drums from the way it whistled in my ears.

"Keith!" I shouted.

"Ow, not so loud!" Keith yelled.

"Sorry!" I screamed. "I just wanted to know the horse's name!"

"What?" Keith asked.

"The name...of the horse!" I repeated loudly.

"Oh!" Keith shouted. "It's Moonstone!"

"Moonstone?" I echoed.

"Yes!" Keith replied.

"Great name!" 

"Thanks!" 

We were now back in the woods, trotting softly, Moonstone's hooves creating crescents in the dirt behind us. We stopped completely by the waterfall and I had a feeling I'd been here before, except it was much darker, and the moon was out, illuminating everything in a silver glow.

Moonstone was ankle deep in water as we carefully climbed off. My throat was parched so I quenched my thirst by cupping my hands into the cool cascade of the waterfall and drinking it.

"You do know that's not clean water, right?" Keith said.

"Whatever," I shrugged, wiping my mouth. Thirst definitely quenched, clean water or not.

Moonstone wandered off to a clump of berry bushes as we hung around the fall. "I wonder what time it is?" I wondered aloud.

Keith held up his hands to the sun and counted how many hands to the horizon. I watched him, completely bemused. "What're you doing?"

"It's approximately two o'clock," Keith reported.

 "How do you know?" I queried.

"It's a trick my mum taught me," Keith told me. "You count how many hands between the sun and the horizon, and that's how many hours until sunset."

"What if you have big hands?" I asked.

"It usually works," Keith shrugged.

"It sounds like a caveman way of finding time," I remarked.

"Are you calling my mum a cave man?" Keith asked.

"No, I'm just saying that we're in an age of technology so if you're going to take clocks for granted..." I trailed off.

"Do you have a clock with you?" Keith inquired.

"Well, I did have a watch in my bag..." I suddenly realised I had left my bag at the park. "Oh no! My bag!"

"Well, I doubt anyone would want your schoolbag since it's probably full of junk anyway," Keith said.

"You're not helping!" I cried. 

"We'll get it later, don't worry," Keith said. 

"No, we're getting it now since I have to go home anyway," I said.

Keith looked disappointed. "Since when did you become the party pooper?" Keith asked.

"This isn't a party, Keith," I said seriously. "This is reality."

"Whoa, don't go all serious and moody on me. I don't think I could handle that," Keith said, holding up his hands and taking a step back.

"You're going to take me home, and that's final," I said firmly. "And you should get home too."

"You can't tell me what to do, crazy girl!" Keith cried. "Take yourself home."

"Fine!" I snapped, stomping my foot in the water.

"Fine." Keith marched over to Moonstone, where it was stuffing its face with red berries that were smothered all over its snout. I watched Keith disappear with Moonstone in tow, before turning away and realising I had just had my first fight with Keith. Oh, dear. What have I done? But it was all so ridiculous anyway and he couldn't be mad at me for wanting to leave...could he?

I stormed off in the opposite direction, hoping I was going the right way that would lead me back home, even though I was probably in a whole heap of trouble for A) wagging school B) losing my school shoes and C) dirtying my uniform.

But in a nutshell, it had been a spectacular day. I mean, I had ridden a horse for the first time in my entire life without falling off and I had been attacked by a crazy old witch...I just wish I could actually TELL someone without mentioning Keith...because he was MY secret, the only living proof that dreams really can come true.