02 People of Sparks by DuPrau Jeanne

Author:DuPrau, Jeanne [Jeanne, DuPrau,]
Format: epub
Published: 2010-04-10T10:54:53.637000+00:00

Caspar took a step back and studied Lina, still glowering. Lina tried to look as small and light as she could.

As for food, said Maddy, she can share mine.

Ridiculous, said Caspar again. But he kept his eyes on Lina. She could see he was thinking.

Come on, Caspar, Maddy said. Lets take her. We dont have much choice, after all. The only other thing we can do is leave her out here by herself. She turned to Lina. If we let you come, she said, youll have to work for us. Youll have to do what we say.

All right, Lina said, though she wasnt sure it was all right at all. Maybe it would be better to give up seeing the city and try to get back to Sparks from here. But how would she do that? Shed never be able to find her way. And the Empty Lands frightened her; she didnt want to be alone in such a vast, wild place. But how will I get back again? Will you take me?

You should have thought of that when you climbed onto the truck, said Caspar. Thats your problem, not ours. He turned to Maddy. Right, partner?

Certainly, Maddy said. Now lets get settled for the night. The first thing we need is some kindling. Lina and I will go and gather it.

Lina followed her out toward the trees. Once they were in among them, Maddy bent down and spoke to her in a low voice. Dont worry. You were foolish to do this, but I wont let harm come to you. And Ill see you get home again, somehow. She straightened up again. Now, she said. Gather up some dry twigs and sticks and a few tufts of dry grass.

They carried the sticks and grass back to where the truck was parked. There Maddy scraped out a shallow hole in the ground with the heel of her shoe. In the hole she set the smallest splinters of wood, arranging them in a sort of square. Over these she placed some sticks, and on top of those she added larger branches. She tucked in some handfuls of dried grass at the bottom of this stick building.

Until this point, Lina did not understand what she was doing. But when she pulled from her pocket a little cloth-wrapped package, unwrapped it, and took out a short blue-tipped stick, she knew. She took in a quick breath and stepped backward.

Maddy held up one of the matches and said, Have you ever seen one of these?

Yes, said Lina.

Youre lucky, then, said Maddy. Theyre rare.

She struck the match across a rock and the blue tip burst into flame. She held it to the grass, and the grass sizzled and flared up.

Come and stand close, she said to Lina. We need to shield this from the breeze until it gets going.

But Lina stayed where she was, staring. The little flame at the heart of the stack of sticks flickered. It reached for the splintered end of a stick, caught it, set it aflame.

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