Kacper and Susie spot strange little footprints by the garden fence and follow them into the woods, where they find a red cap and hear something moving behind them.
Kacper was seven, and he never liked to leave a mystery alone. Susie, his five-year-old sister, was always ready to race after him, especially on warm afternoons when the garden smelled of grass and sun-warmed soil.
That day they were playing tag near the fence when Susie suddenly froze.
"Kacper," she whispered, pointing down.
In the soft earth beside the hedge were tiny round footprints. They were not dog tracks or cat prints. They were too small for a bird and too neat for a squirrel.
Kacper crouched low and brushed some dirt away with his fingers. The prints made a straight line toward the dark trees behind their house.
"Look at that," he said, grinning. "They go right into the woods."
Susie took a step closer, then another step back.
"Maybe they belong to a dwarf," she said softly.
Kacper’s eyes shone. "Or a little dragon."
Susie clutched his sleeve, half nervous and half excited.
Inside the house, Mum was busy in the kitchen, so Kacper and Susie quickly put on their wellington boots. Kacper grabbed a torch and a folded cardboard map he had drawn himself. Susie tucked the jam sandwiches into her bag like they were treasure.
They slipped through the gate and followed the footprints into the woods.
The trees stood close together there, and the air felt cool and still. Birds called high above them, but down on the ground everything was quiet except for their boots in the leaves.
The footprints twisted between roots and rocks, always leading them farther in. Then, under a broad oak tree, Susie spotted something bright red.
"Kacper!"
It was a little cap, crumpled in the moss.
Kacper picked it up carefully. It was soft and warm, as if someone had only just dropped it.
Then somewhere behind them, a twig snapped.
Both children turned at once.
The woods were silent for one breath.
Then came another rustle, closer this time, right behind the oak tree....