Free The Sapphire Quest by Gill Vickery Page B

that frightened the people of Iserborg so much?
    A cold wind scurried across the square. Tia shivered. Summer was close but the nights were still cold and she needed to find shelter. She wished Loki didn’t roost at night; he’d be useful in finding her a place to go. A large piece of paper blew against her leg. As she pulled it off she saw it was a notice ofsome sort, with a picture of a face. It was too dark to see clearly but something about the face made Tia feel uneasy. She decided to look at it properly.
    She went further down the street, hid in a doorway, and snapped a tiny light on the end of her finger. She gasped at what she saw. The picture was of her own face.
    Hurriedly she read the notice:

    Tia had never heard of so much money. No-one would help her if that was the reward Skadi offered for her capture. She’d have to hide quickly – but where?
    A scraping noise from the end of the street made Tia put out the flame and spin round. To her astonishment a trapdoor rose up and three children, one of them very small, climbed out into the street. They closed the trapdoor and scurried off.
    Tia wondered who on earth they could be. She hurried to the end of the road and saw an alley running behind the houses. Feeling sure that the children had gone that way and wouldn’t see her, Tia hauled on an iron ring set into the trapdoor. It lifted to reveal a gaping black hole.
Let’s see what’s down there
, she thought.
It might be a useful place for me to hide
.
    She clicked another small flame onto her fingertip and leaned into the hole. Inside it looked like a cellar; maybe an old store for fire-rock. There were stools and a table and shelves. As she wriggled forward to take a better look, something shoved her in the back and she tumbled into the blackness. She banged her head as she landed, and fell into an even deeper darkness.

    â€˜Is she dead?’ a small voice asked.
    â€˜No,’ another voice answered. ‘She knocked herself out. Serve her right for breaking into our cellar. It’s a good job we heard the trapdoor creak and came back to see what was happening.’
    Tia’s head ached, but she was glad to know she was alive. She opened her eyes. Sitting in front of her, their backs against the wall, was a girl of about her own age and a very small boy. Light came from an oil lamp standing nearby.
    â€˜You’re awake then,’ the girl said.
    Tia struggled up and discovered that her wrists and ankles were tied. ‘I’m not dangerous,’ she said. ‘I was just looking in your cellar because I need a place to hide.’
    â€˜That’s because you’re a thief, running away from Skadi. We saw the poster. There’s a big reward offered for you.’
    Even though Tia’s head was hurting, she thought quickly. The children wouldn’t be able to turn her in to the High Witch without being caught themselves. ‘You’re hiding as well, aren’t you?’ she asked.
    The girl glared.
    â€˜Does Skadi want you?’ Tia went on, trying to sound friendly.
    The girl nodded slowly. ‘She wanted our family,’she said, hugging the little boy, ‘to punish our father for daring to ask her not to take people. Father was her steward and she made him go and haul marble in the quarry. He was killed. She made Mother her maid and my older brother, Ingvar, and me chimney sweepers.’ She hugged the small boy tighter. ‘And she said she’d take Sindri to be her son.’
    Tia thought about her DragonMother, Freya, who’d brought her up as her own DragonChild. She was kind and Tia loved her. Skadi wasn’t like that. ‘What happened to your mother?’ she asked.
    â€˜The High Witch took her. She tried to run away with me and my brothers but Skadi appeared. Mother struggled with her and Skadi had to let go of us. Mother shouted, “Run!” So we did. I looked back and saw Skadi take her. We’re going