Free Deltora Quest #3: City of the Rats by Emily Rodda Page A

the horses, whistling softly to himself.
    Lief, Barda, and Jasmine lay watching as the shopkeeper walked casually to the back of the cart where they had been hiding and picked up the straw that had fallen to the ground. He pushed it back into place, then strolled towards the trees, his hands in his pockets. He bent down and began pulling grass, as though he was gathering it for the horses.
    “You sold us muddlets that did not belong to you!” Barda hissed at him furiously.
    “Ah well,” murmured Tom, without looking up. “Poor Tom finds it hard to resist gold. He admits it. But what happened was your fault, not mine, my friend. If you had taken the left-hand path, as I advised, the beasts would never have caught the scent of home and bolted. You have only yourselves to blame for your present trouble.”
    “Perhaps we do,” said Lief bitterly. “But at least our only crime is foolishness. You, however, are a liar. You pretend to be on the side of those who would resist the Shadow Lord, and all the time you help to feed his servants. You deal with Grey Guards as friends.”
    Tom straightened, a clump of sweet grass in his hand, and turned to look at the sign that rose so proudly upon his roof.

    “Have you not noticed, my friend?” he said. “Tom’s name looks the same, whichever side you are on. It is the same whether you approach from the west or the east. It is the same whether you are inside his shop, or outside it,whether you see it in a mirror, or with your own eyes. And Tom himself is like his name. It is a matter of business.”
    “Business?” spat Lief.
    “Certainly. I am the same Tom to all. I do not take sides. I do not interest myself in things that are not my affair. This is wise, in these hard times. And there is far more money in it.”
    He smiled, the edges of his wide mouth curving up, creasing his thin face. “Now, I suggest you make haste to leave this place. I will keep my good friends the Ra-Kacharz here for as long as I can, to give you a good start. Take off those glaring red garments first, but do not leave them here, I beg you. I want no trouble.”
    He turned away and began strolling back towards the carts.
    “You are a deceiver!” Lief hissed after him.
    Tom paused. “Perhaps,” he drawled, without looking back. “But I am a live, rich one. And because of me, you live to fight another day.”
    He walked on, holding out the grass and clicking his tongue to the horses.
    The three friends began pulling off the red garments and boots, and stuffing them into their packs. Lief was simmering with rage. Jasmine glanced at him curiously.
    “Tom helped us,” she pointed out. “Why shouldyou ask any more of him? Many creatures believe in nothing but themselves. He is one of those.”
    “Tom is not a creature, but a man,” Lief snapped. “He should know what is right!”
    “Are you so sure you know?” Jasmine answered sharply.
    Lief stared at her. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded.
    “Do not argue,” said Barda wearily. “Save your strength for walking. It is a long way to Broad River.” He fastened his pack, slung it over his shoulder, and tramped off through the trees.
    “We must go back to Noradz first,” said Lief, hurrying after him. “We must tell the people that they are being lied to!”
    “Indeed?” said Barda wearily. “And if we survived long enough to tell them, which we probably would not, and if they believed us, which I do not think they would, and if by some miracle they broke the pattern of centuries, rebelled against the Ra-Kacharz, and refused to send their food away any longer … what do you think would happen?”
    “The Shadow Lord’s food supply would dry up,” said Lief promptly.
    “Yes. And then the Shadow Lord would bring down his wrath on Noradz, make the people do his will by force instead of by trickery, and begin scouring the country for us,” said Barda bluntly. “Nothingwould be gained, and much would be lost. It would be a