“Because of me!” growled the Wolf and jumped out of the bushes.
“Can’t you see that this is the Wolf? So, get ready and quickly move! Oh-oh, it’s better for us to return than to make such a turn,” squeaked Cheese-eater. Vovka didn’t have a chance to recover from the shock he had got, when she exclaimed, “Have a look at us you may, for you won’t see us again! Little legs, little legs, run away as fast as you can!”
With these words she slipped from Vovka’s shoulder and immediately was under his collar. The boy didn’t expect this and was ready to get the quick mouse out of his shirt, but his legs ran back all by themselves. Maybe because he didn’t like tickling (and Cheese-eater was tickling him under the shirt), or maybe obeying her order to run, but Vovka was running really fast. So fast that he didn’t have time to look at the trees on both sides of the path, and sometimes their spreading branches touched his face, neck and his sides. Cheese-eater was sitting under his shirt, guiding him – she quickly moved to his right side, if he had to turn right, or his left side, if he had to run to the left. Soon Vovka was sweating and didn’t take notice of what was around him. The boy stumbled on the bushes and ran farther, trying to avoid prickly branches. He trusted Cheese-eater completely and turned where she showed him to. Having stumbled on a thick root of an old birch-tree, Vovka fell down. Cheese-eater squeaked, “If you are chased, do get up, for the Wolf behind us is catching up!” Indeed, they could hear the Wolf’s stomping and heavy breathing very close.
“Seems like he’s panting,” thought Vovka, and this gave him more strength. He got up and ran again. Now Vovka left the path far behind him and was making his way through the thicket. The farther he ran, the thicker was the forest and the harder it was to get through. It even seemed to the boy that the forest ahead of them was so dense that he wouldn’t be able to go further. He had to stop, because he came to a blind alley. On both sides and ahead of them there was prickly thicket, behind them there was the Wolf. No way out. But hardly had this gloomy thought crossed Vovka’s mind, the branches under his feet crackled, something squeaked and he fell into a pit. At least, he thought that it was a pit, but in reality they fell into a hole. They landed right on a big pile of autumn leaves. The smell of them was tickling Vovka’s nose and he terribly wanted to sneeze, he even had to hold his nose and mouth with his hand.
