fox, I suppose." He took a deep breath to steady himself.
Victoria reached down to help her mother up. Before their hands met, the team let out a chorus of frightened whinnies and broke into a gallop. Caught off guard, her father tumbled backward into the buggy, landing squarely on his wife. She cried out in pain and desperately tried to shove him off. The carriage shook and rattled as the horses picked up speed, and the motion kept knocking him off balance as he tried to gather himself. His struggles only provoked further cries from his wife, who started crying.
Climbing over her fallen parents, Victoria pulled herself into the driver's seat. The reins bounced along the floorboards, coming dangerously close to sliding out of the buggy completely. She made a grab for them and missed, nearly tumbling off her perch. Righting herself, she tried again. This time, a bump on the road shook the buggy's frame, knocking the reins into her outstretched hand. Clenching the leather strips in a white-knuckled fist, she pulled herself upright. Grunts and scraping sounds came from behind her as her parents struggled to regain their balance.
Without thinking, Victoria pulled on the reins with all her might. The heads of both horses snapped to the right. The rest of the frightened animals followed, pulling the buggy off the road and into the grass. Panicking, Victoria continued to fight with the reins, causing the buggy to swerve violently from side to side. Stealing glances ahead of them, she saw flashes of bright yellow light looming ahead in the darkness. She pulled the reins to the right again. The horses whinnied, fighting her. Looking right, she saw the reason for their terror, and a powerful shock of fear slammed into her stomach.
Beside the carriage, not three yards away, was a huge black animal. At first she thought it might have been another horse, but its gait gave it away: it was an enormous dog. Dumbstruck, she stared at it, the reins slack in her hands.
Before she could understand what she was seeing, the monster turned its head and looked at her. Eyes like tiny suns seared trails of liquid fire across her vision. Victoria jerked backward, instinctively pulling the reins to the left. The horses eagerly followed her lead, pulling the buggy headlong toward the waiting trees. The black creature slipped from view as they turned, bringing her a moment's respite. Turning her attention back to the team, she coaxed it into running at an angle toward the tree line. She could still feel those terrible eyes on her. The creature was chasing them now, she was sure of it. With any luck, she could turn the buggy in a slow circle, bringing them back to the road and a chance at escape.
Two more creatures charged out of the trees. Their eyes flashed in the shadows as they ran straight for the buggy. The terrified horses veered sharply to the left. The buggy's wheels skidded along the ground as it pulled through the turn, but it stayed upright. Victoria clung to the reins in desperation. She thought she could make out the road ahead of them. Just a few seconds and they would reach it.
"Victoria!" her father shouted from behind her. "What's happening?"
"I don't know," she called back. "Now hush!"
Victoria could feel the monsters behind them, but she forced the thought out of her mind. If she lost control now, she would kill herself and her parents. She had to focus on keeping the horses under control. In their present state, not even her father's driver would have had an easy time of it, and she had little experience with driving a buggy. Still, if she could take herself in hand and guide the animals in the right direction, they might just live through the night.
The road appeared ahead of them much sooner than she anticipated. As luck would have it, however, they were running along it at an angle. She gave the reins a short, sharp tug to the right as it passed beneath them. The horses responded, pulling the buggy out of the grass and back onto packed earth. Victoria looked to the right, expecting to see monstrous yellow eyes bearing down on them, but the field was deserted. She allowed herself a small smile of relief.
"Are you all right?" she asked over her shoulder.
"Yes, I think so. Your mother's fainted on us, I'm afraid," her father replied. She felt his hand on her shoulder. "Well