'All right, ye probably ken what's happenin',' he told the blue-and-red audience looking down on him. She stood straight and proud, like a kelda should, but close up it seemed to him that she had been crying. Rob Anybody walked across the floor to the fire, where his wife, Jeannie, was waiting. Usually the place was awash with noise, but now it was frighteningly quiet. All around the inner wall were tiers of galleries, and every one of them was packed with Feegles. A human could just about stand up in the middle, but would then bend double with coughing because the middle was where there was a hole to let smoke out. 'It's time fra' the Hero.' He ducked out of sight, the plug of snow dropping neatly back into place, and slid down into the heart of the Feegle mound. 'Wee Dangerous Spike, Rob.' Rob looked up at clouds so full of snow that they sagged in the middle. Who's watchin' over her doon at the farm?' He's come for the big wee hag, right enough. 'Aye, Rob, ye did that,' said the head addressed as Daft Wullie.

'Did I no' tell ye to lay off that waily business?'

'He's found the big wee hag again!' The first head turned toward this head, and said, 'Daft Wullie?' 'Oh waily, waily, waily!' said one of them. 'Will ye no' look at this? 'Tis the work o' the Wintersmith! Noo there's a scunner that willna tak' 'no' fra' an answer!' Other lumps of snow were pushed up. A very small but very angry blue face, with the lump of snow still balanced on top of it, looked out at the sudden white wilderness. A hand no larger than a rabbit's paw waved the smoke away. A piece about the size of an apple rose up, with smoke pouring out around it. This time last year there had been a few early primroses now there was just snow. There was a small hill of snow where there had been, a few hours ago, a little cluster of thorn trees on an ancient mound. No sky should hold as much snow as this, and because no sky could, the snow fell, fell in a wall of white.

The Big Snow W hen the storm came, it hit the hills like a hammer.

Wintersmith book