[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

thought. "Okay. You hold him, stupid. Maybe he'll be quiet for you." Bamey
held out Murp toward Jamie. The cat sensed impending freedom and squirmed out
of Bamey's hands then darted out of Jamies reach and down the stairs. He
disappeared from view.
Jamie stared down the stairs after the vanished Murp.
"Shiti" he whispered. "You let him get away, you moron! You were supposed to
take care of him."
Bamey wanted to cry. He started to go after the cat, but his brother grabbed
him.
Jamie looked hke Barney felt. "You can't go after him.
They might get you." Jamie closed his eyes and rested his head against the
stone wall. "Oh, boy! I hope they dont eat him."
MINERVA WAKES 81
Bamey realized his big brother was scared, too. In a fanny way. knowing mat
made him ieel better.
Jamie pointed to the huge wooden door that led off the landing. "We need to go
in there, and see if we can find any stuff for weapons. Maybe Murp will come
back." He didn't sound very sure-
Carol whispered, "What if someone is in mere?"
Jamie chewed on his bottom lip and frowned. "That would be bad," he said.
Carol put her hands on her hips. "I guess! So what are we
Page 63
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
going to do?"
Bamey closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could feel nothing but
emptiness from the other side of the door.
Wherever the monsters in the castle were, they weren't in there. He decided if
Jamie could be brave when he was scared, then Secret Agent Equator could be,
too. "We can go in there," Secret Agent Equator said, and pushed on the door.
"It's okay."
The door didnt budge. He pushed harder. The door was realty big and really
heavy.
Jamie and Carol pushed with him. Suddenly, something behind the door gave way,
and it slid open, screaming on its hinges like the ghosts in Bamey's
nightmares.
"Oh, man," Jamie whispered. "They're going to hear us for sure."
Carol stared through the opening, and groaned. "It looks like your room," she
said.
Jamie looked over her shoulder, then at her. He gave her a puzzled frown. "No,
it doesn't."
"Yes, it does. It's a dump." Carol stepped through the doorway, and Jamie and
Bamey followed.
The place was a dump, Bamey decided but a really neat one. Huge trunks sat
along one wall, some with the lids open to reveal hats and clothes and stacks
of paper. Silly-
looking suits of armor took up one comer of the huge room, moldy boots and
high-backed saddles and piles of books cluttered the floor. Several mop
buckets sat just inside me door fall of slimy green water and with the mops
propped beside them-
82
Holly Lisle
Jamie ran to a huge mound of rusted metal and started pulling spiky objects
out of it one by one. "Wow! These are caltrops," he whispered, and held up one
of the small, sharp weapons to show Bamey.
"What's it for?"
"Annies put them in fields and on roads and stuff so the bad guys' horses can
step on 'em. But," he gnnned up at
Bamey, "we can throw 'em down the steps."
"Wow!" Bamey was impressed. "Doesnt it hurt the horses when they step on them,
though?"
Jamie nodded. °I guess so."
"I don't like that very much "
Carol wandered over, swathed in ropes of big, gaudy glass beads. "No one
should hurt horses. I won't use those."
Page 64
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Jamie sighed with exasperation- "We aren't gonna hurt horses. Jeez! We're
gonna hurt monsters." He frowned at
Carol. "Unless you'd rather get eaten. Or chopped up into little pieces or
something."
Carol sucked in her bottom lip. "No."
"Okay, then. I promise we won't use the caltrops on horses,"
"Okay."
"You need to take those beads off," he said. "They'll slow you down if you
have to run."
Now it was Carol's turn to look annoyed. "That isn't what the/re for."
"Oh. no. Of course not. So what are they for?" Janue rolled his eyes and
muttered, "Girls."
Bamey felt something moving in the stairwell; sensed curiosity and concern. He
tapped his brother on the arm.
"They're coming,"
Jamie's face went ghost-white. "We can't let them get above us," he whispered.
"We've got to attack now!"
He ran for the door, carrying as many caltrops as he could, and flung them
down the stairs. The clattered and bounced. Below, a gruff voice yelled, "Hey,
watch it with that garbage. You might hurt somebody!"
Bamey imitated his brother.
Carol didn't. Instead, she took one of the necklaces, bit
MINERVA WAKES 83
die string apart, and stripped the beads off with one hand.
The round beads rolled and bounded around the stairwell, clattering as they
fell. Below, the children heard a scream, followed by a heavy thud.
Jamie stared at Carol, amazement dear on his face. "AH
rig/it!" he yelled, "fes-s-s-s!" He pumped the air with his fist, and tossed a
few more caltrops.
"Stop that immediately," the voice yelled. Bamey ran back into the supply room
and grabbed the first thing he could find a bolt of doth. He dragged it out
and shoved it
to the open center of the stairs, then out into the void. He didn't dare watch
it fall.
Jamie and Carol, meanwhile, pushed the fast of the trunks out of the storage
room. It crashed down the stone stairs, making a tremendous racket and
scattering debris in all directions.
"Fly up the middle," one of the monsters yelled,
Bamey grabbed three caltrops and, as soon as he heard me beating of wings,
threw them into the center of the stairwell.
Page 65
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
There was another scream, and a solid thunk- "Great Kar-
ras! Don't fly! Don't fly!" a monster voice screamed. "Try something else."
The castle below the children grew quiet.
Jamie, Carol, and Bamey stood on the landing, breathing heavily. Jamie mumbled
something too softly for Bamey to hear. Then he said, They're going to do
something eke."
He turned to Barney. "Can you tell what?"
Barney held still and listened to the whispery feelings that touched his mind.
He clenched his fists tightly and sucked in his breath. After an instant, he
nodded. The/re going to fly again in just a second, when they think they can
catch us by surprise."
"Do we have any more caltrops?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]