A Long, Long Life by R. L. Stedman

Author:R. L. Stedman [Stedman, R. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RL Stedman

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Greg ducked behind the door of the Great Hall. “Do you reckon they saw us?”

“I dunno,” Reg whispered.

The two boys had been lurking outside, trying to overhear what the stranger had been saying. In this wet, grey, castle the orange-garbed man seemed so out of place. The rain began again, harder and faster this time, and cold fingers of water dripped down Gregor’s back.

Reg hunched his shoulders, and muttered: “Sod this! Let’s go somewhere dry.”

“You wish to seek your bed like a child?”

“Yes,” Reg said defiantly.

Gregor’s feet were ice-cold, and they could hear precious little over the drumming of the rain. “All right,” he sighed. “Let’s go.”

They dashed through the dark toward the infirmary, splashing through puddles and sliding on the mud. The keep was empty and quiet. Probably everyone in the Castle was in the hall, listening to the stories of the stranger. Everyone save for them. They tiptoed through the corridor to their chamber, and when they pushed their door open, Jess leaped up, barking happily. Nurse didn’t take kindly to being woken.

“Ssh!” Gregor said, so fiercely she stopped.

Reggie reached up for the lamp. They had set it high on a ledge so Jess couldn’t reach it. A dog, they had found, could create a great deal of chaos when left alone. Carefully, Reggie lit the wick, and set the lamp back up on its dog-proof shelf. The two boys changed for bed, taking care to clean their teeth, because Nurse was liable to check such things.

At the end of Reggie’s bed Jess stirred, and her tail pricked upright. Gregor wondered what she was dreaming about.

Reggie preferred to sleep with the light on. Made him feel safer, and Gregor was sympathetic enough to not complain. So he lay for a while, staring at the flickering lamplight, and thinking about the stranger’s tale.

An invasion, everything burning. Greg shivered. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought again of his parents, and hoped they were well. Right now, his home seemed a long way away.

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