Free The Lightning Bolt by Kate Forsyth

Luka said.
    â€˜Nothing could make me go,’ Van cried. ‘Nothing!’
    â€˜Nothing?’ Emilia whispered, bitterly disappointed.
    Van’s eyes suddenly flicked towards Zizi, who was combing Luka’s hair lovingly with her tiny paws.
    Luka went white. ‘No!’ he cried. ‘You couldn’t ask me to give up Zizi! She’s like my own little baby, I’ve had her all her life. She’d never understand. It’d be cruel. She’d mope to death.’
    Van said nothing.
    Luka clutched his monkey close to him, his eyes suddenly bright with tears.
    â€˜You can’t ask it of him!’ Emilia’s voice shook. ‘It’s not fair. He’s already given up so much. He gave away his violin and his telescope that he really loved – you couldn’t ask it of him, could you?’
    But even as she spoke, she was thinking of her own mare Alida, who she had loved at least as much as Luka loved Zizi. Her cousin glanced ather. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and cuddled Zizi so close she squeaked in protest.
    â€˜You’re asking me to go where people can see me,’ Van said passionately, his voice shaking as much as Emilia’s. ‘You say he’s lost his violin, and his telescope. So, tell me, what have I lost?’
    Once more he shook his stunted red stump in their face, then turned and ran out of the room.

A Storm of Bees

    T here was no one to eat Fairnette’s roast chicken but Luka and Emilia – and Rollo, who enjoyed the best meal he had had in weeks as each of the three children surreptitiously passed him down tidbits from under the table.
    Fairnette took a tray to Van’s room, but he would not open the door to take it, and she took another tray to the forge where her father was banging and hammering away but not actually making anything, which was, she said, a very bad sign.
    â€˜I’m sorry we’ve brought trouble upon you,’ Emilia said unhappily.
    Fairnette sighed. ‘You didn’t bring the trouble, Emilia, it was already here.’
    They helped her clear away the remains of the meal, and put the chicken bones on to simmer with a bunch of herbs to make soup. Luka in particular was very quiet, and kept Zizi cuddled close to him. They all felt very low and miserable. Fairnette brought in their clothes, stiff and smelling of soap, and deftly sewed up any rents and tears while Emilia and Luka washed and dried the dishes for her. No one said very much.
    Then Rollo lifted his head from his paws, and growled, deep in his throat. Luka and Emilia at once tensed and looked up. They heard a low, sullen humming that quickly increased in pitch and intensity.
    Fairnette lost all her rosy colour. ‘The bees . . .’ she whispered.
    A storm of bees swept in through the open door. Instinctively Luka and Emilia ducked low, arms over their heads. Zizi gibbered with fear and dived under the table, pressing her face into Rollo’s shaggy fur. Rollo buried his face in his paws, whining.
    Slowly Fairnette bent and thrust a taper into the fire until its tip was burning brightly. She then straightened and began to sweep the taper through the air, trailing smoke this way and that. ‘What is wrong, noble bees?’ she crooned. ‘What has angered you?’
    The bees were confused and lulled by the smoke. They stopped their furious zooming, and bumped about her head.
    â€˜Is there danger?’ Fairnette asked. ‘So many of you, here in the house. Are we to have a whole crowd of visitors today?’
    Luka and Emilia looked at each other in sudden alarm. Coldham! Constables!
    â€˜Fairnette,’ Luka said in a low, urgent voice. ‘We need to get away. There are constables on our trail. I did not think they would track us here but –’
    â€˜Bob!’ Emilia cried. ‘The boy who told us where you lived. He would not know to keep it quiet.’
    â€˜We must hide . . .’ Luka bent and