His round face was actually grey with fear.

And he huddled in her big apron shivering, for all the world like some terrified animal.
Naturally the first thing to do was to get the thing that had frightened him.

An axe seemed a likely weapon, so, picking it up, I slid into the bushes at the point where Sami had come out of them.
Perfect serenity was there! The afternoon light lay golden on the moss above the fallen trees.

No hidden scurrying in the underbrush told of wild, wood things hastening to safety from some half-sensed danger.

No broken branches or trampled earth told of any past or present struggle.
There was no trace of any fearsome creature having passed along that peaceful trail.
I searched thoroughly and found nothing.