Free The Warble by Victoria Simcox Page B

Bernovem to visit her in her beautiful
palace, where you will be treated as royalty.” Ugan hoped this would entice
them.
    Davina’s and Hester’s
faces lit up, but Graham looked very suspicious.
    “When do we get to go?”
Davina asked excitedly.
    “We must leave at once,
for the sooner we get there, the sooner your pampering will begin.”
    Graham did not quite
believe what Ugan was offering them. “How do we know we can trust you?” he
asked apprehensively.
    Ugan thought hard for a
moment and then said, “You know, I can tell you are a very smart young man,
with much concern for your friends’ and your own safety, and this tells a lot
about you. I must tell you that Her Majesty is longing for such a nice boy as
yourself that she can spoil as she did her own son, whom I’m sad to say”—Ugan
lowered his head as if from great sorrow—“has passed on.”
    Graham’s suspicious
look suddenly changed to an annoying grin. Hester stomped her foot hard on
Graham’s toe to let him know that he’d better not ruin this once in a lifetime
opportunity.
    “Ouch!” Graham yelled.
Not only did his toe hurt, but he’d also burnt his finger on the hot pipe. As
he did so, he stepped backwards and hit the top of his head on the underneath
of the fireplace mantel, causing three books to fall off, one of them being the
Book of Prophecy. The three children began to bicker among themselves and so
paid no attention as the book lay open on the floor—with their names on the
open page.
    Ugan snatched the book
up quickly, and as he did so, he could see the word “zelbocks” very faintly
appearing, and then the word “pillage” and then his brother’s name, “Rumalock”.
He glanced out the window to see eight zelbocks coming out of the forest,
carrying torches. “We really must leave now!” he said, urgently.
    “We’re more than
ready,” Hester said, grabbing Graham by his arm.
    Ugan put on his cloak
and tucked the Book of Prophecy inside it. Then he led the three children out
the back door and down a path to the forest. A few minutes into their journey,
they smelled smoke, and when they turned around, they saw Rumalock’s cottage
lit up in flames. Now Ugan realized the meaning of the last words he saw appear
on the page in the Book of Prophecy.

 
 
13
 
    Kristina and Werrien were in the second
day of their journey, and everything was going quite smoothly; even the rain
had let up.
    “It’s going to get dark
soon, so we’ll need to stop and set up camp for the night,” Werrien said to
Kristina.
    Kristina noticed a
smooth spot on the ground not far off in the distance. “Look! There’s a good
spot over there,” she suggested, pointing toward it.
    “Good eye.” Werrien
smiled at her.
    Kristina liked the fact
that she and Werrien were getting along better, and she was starting to see
that he had a nice side to him. They dismounted Taysha, and Werrien led her to
a shady area under a large tree. Then he and Kristina went to look for wood to
build a fire. While they were looking, they could hear Taysha talking. “Watch
where you’re going! I almost stepped on you!” she said.
    “Well, excuse me,
Madam, but I don’t see very well, not to mention that I have no idea where I
am,” a huffy voice replied.
    Kristina and Werrien
both stopped what they were doing to listen. Then they went a little closer to
Taysha to see who she was talking to.
    Kristina’s mouth
dropped open in surprise. “Raymond? Is that you?” She walked quickly toward a
small gray mound in the grass.
    “Yes, it’s me, and am I
glad to see you!”
    Kristina scooped up
Raymond and then headed toward Werrien. “Look!” she said excitedly. “This is my
pet rat, Raymond,” She kissed Raymond on his head.
    “Your pet rat?” Werrien
chuckled.
    “Yeah. His name’s
Raymond.”
    “How’s it going
Raymond?” Werrien tried to pet the rat on his head but as he reached out to
him, Raymond crawled into Kristina’s sleeve.
    “I’ve been