Free May Bird Among the Stars by Peter Ferguson, Jodi Lynn Anderson, Sammy Yuen Jr., Christopher Grassi Page A
and May began to think that, miraculously, the riders had gone past the church. She peered out from her hiding spot. She could just see, through one of the church windows, a smallish sliver of purplish face.
May gasped and ducked behind the stone again, bending her chin close to her knees and trying not to breathe too loud. Soon she heard the whispery rustling of the riders drifting into the cemetery. She peeked around a second time, just barely. The three hunters had dismounted and were floating among the stones, the mist rising from the graves around them. One seemed to glance in her direction. As smoothly and slickly as a snake, he drifted toward her.
May curled back behind the stone and bit her bottom lip firmly. She looked around for some kind of weapon to defend herself. There was nothing. She held her breath and sat stock-still.
A few seconds went by Then, slowly a white, withered hand reached around the side of the tombstone. It touched Mayâs cheek, then, feeling, moved across her nose.
May opened her mouth and bit down.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeech!
May didnât think. She acted. She leaped forward and wrapped her arm around the hunterâs neck. Then she rubbed her knuckles against his head as hard as she could, yelling, âNoogie! Noogie! Noogie!â
The hunter let out a shocked gargling sound, trying to escape but unable to loose himself from Mayâs locked grasp. When he finally stumbled backward, his oily hair making him too slick to hold any longer, May moved quickly She cocked back her left foot and kicked his rotten left shin.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
The hunter reeled backward, clutching his leg. Hobbled, half crouched, and completely bewildered, he turned and zipped past his two companionsâwho were levitating across the graveyard, utterly shockedâknocking down small tombstones in his wake, his gargoyle following on his heels.
Stunned, May turned and ran the other way.
Chapter Nine
The Carnival at the Edge of the World
T HIS WAY FOR A GREAT VIEW.
May came to a sudden halt, turning to look behind her and breathing hard. She had been running for as long as she could, turning this way and that. And it looked like it had worked. There was no sign of the hunters. But now, she realized, she was perfectly lost.
May turned back to the sign that had caused her to stop. It hung from a post beside a tunnel carved into a rocky hill. It seemed suspicious, appearing as it did in the middle of nowhere.
She cast another glance behind her. Surely, Somber Kitty would sniff her trail and find her. Until then, she resolved to go on. She set her chin and made her way into the tunnel. A tiny imprint in the stone said CUSTOM WALLS BY HADRIAN. A few feet farther a larger sign read AMUSEMENTS, REFRESHMENTS, THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE, THIS WAY. A moment later the tunnel poured her out into starlight again. May went to take another step forward, but she gasped and leaped backward instead.
There was nothing in front of her. Nothing but black space and billions of stars zooming past. She had reached a ledge of some sort, and only space lay beyond it.
May steadied herself and crept up to the edge, leaning forward gingerly and peering over. The rocky cliff face ran in a straight wall downward, without end for as far as the eye could see.
âThe edge of the world,â May whispered, her breath quite taken away. She stared out at the vast space for several minutes, unable to move. Eventually, a bit of light drew her attention left. There she noticed a walkway winding along the ledge and a crumbled stone wall, disintegrated in places, hugging its right side. The walkway curved around a hill and disappeared in a halo of light to the south. Letting out a deep breath, May followed it.
Shortly, it brought her to another dazzling sight. On a wide shelf overlooking the cliff stood a cluster of tattered pink-and-red-striped circus tents, all looking like they were about to collapse. Each
May gasped and ducked behind the stone again, bending her chin close to her knees and trying not to breathe too loud. Soon she heard the whispery rustling of the riders drifting into the cemetery. She peeked around a second time, just barely. The three hunters had dismounted and were floating among the stones, the mist rising from the graves around them. One seemed to glance in her direction. As smoothly and slickly as a snake, he drifted toward her.
May curled back behind the stone and bit her bottom lip firmly. She looked around for some kind of weapon to defend herself. There was nothing. She held her breath and sat stock-still.
A few seconds went by Then, slowly a white, withered hand reached around the side of the tombstone. It touched Mayâs cheek, then, feeling, moved across her nose.
May opened her mouth and bit down.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeceeeech!
May didnât think. She acted. She leaped forward and wrapped her arm around the hunterâs neck. Then she rubbed her knuckles against his head as hard as she could, yelling, âNoogie! Noogie! Noogie!â
The hunter let out a shocked gargling sound, trying to escape but unable to loose himself from Mayâs locked grasp. When he finally stumbled backward, his oily hair making him too slick to hold any longer, May moved quickly She cocked back her left foot and kicked his rotten left shin.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
The hunter reeled backward, clutching his leg. Hobbled, half crouched, and completely bewildered, he turned and zipped past his two companionsâwho were levitating across the graveyard, utterly shockedâknocking down small tombstones in his wake, his gargoyle following on his heels.
Stunned, May turned and ran the other way.
Chapter Nine
The Carnival at the Edge of the World
T HIS WAY FOR A GREAT VIEW.
May came to a sudden halt, turning to look behind her and breathing hard. She had been running for as long as she could, turning this way and that. And it looked like it had worked. There was no sign of the hunters. But now, she realized, she was perfectly lost.
May turned back to the sign that had caused her to stop. It hung from a post beside a tunnel carved into a rocky hill. It seemed suspicious, appearing as it did in the middle of nowhere.
She cast another glance behind her. Surely, Somber Kitty would sniff her trail and find her. Until then, she resolved to go on. She set her chin and made her way into the tunnel. A tiny imprint in the stone said CUSTOM WALLS BY HADRIAN. A few feet farther a larger sign read AMUSEMENTS, REFRESHMENTS, THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE, THIS WAY. A moment later the tunnel poured her out into starlight again. May went to take another step forward, but she gasped and leaped backward instead.
There was nothing in front of her. Nothing but black space and billions of stars zooming past. She had reached a ledge of some sort, and only space lay beyond it.
May steadied herself and crept up to the edge, leaning forward gingerly and peering over. The rocky cliff face ran in a straight wall downward, without end for as far as the eye could see.
âThe edge of the world,â May whispered, her breath quite taken away. She stared out at the vast space for several minutes, unable to move. Eventually, a bit of light drew her attention left. There she noticed a walkway winding along the ledge and a crumbled stone wall, disintegrated in places, hugging its right side. The walkway curved around a hill and disappeared in a halo of light to the south. Letting out a deep breath, May followed it.
Shortly, it brought her to another dazzling sight. On a wide shelf overlooking the cliff stood a cluster of tattered pink-and-red-striped circus tents, all looking like they were about to collapse. Each
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