Beast by Chawna Schroeder

Author:Chawna Schroeder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Enclave Publishing

Chapter 21

Penetration

Reaching the castle was a problem. Entering it without Two-Eyes knowing—that is bigger than a problem.

High above where I crouch among the tangled bushes, Two-Eyes has men pacing along the wall. Back and forth, back and forth. And this is at the back of the castle where the stone wall is solid and nothing crosses the moat. How many more men with bows and swords march on the front side?

But I must get in somehow.

My paws pluck at the grass, and I toss some into the river. The green strands twirl around and then float on by the castle. Why did I not think of this when I was coming? Tracker would have planned something. But not me. So what if I watched him trace a path through the black squiggles, seeking another way in?

I frown at the dark, churning water. Another way in? Something lurks beyond. Something I should know. What am I missing? I cannot fly over the wall, for wings are not mine. I cannot climb up it, for my paws cannot cling to the straight-up stones. I cannot go under—that is it! Under the wall. Through the water. Tabby talked about an underground lake fed by water on the outside. If the water can go there, I might be able to too. Then I can go up the tunnel to the cellar and . . .

I choke. The tunnel. Cold. Dark. Made of stone. My body twists into knots so tight that even air can barely squeeze inside me. I cannot do this. I cannot go back to a place like that. Yet I must. For Majesty. For Tracker. For Tabby.

For me.

My teeth clamp together, and I look up. The men on the wall have their backs to me. I dive into the river.

The cold water grabs me and pulls me down toward the river’s bottom. I kick my legs, claw at the water. Don’t fight it. Work with it. The Keeper’s words come back to me. Pull, kick, pull, kick. I blow air out. Pull, kick, pull, kick. My legs stretch out for the rocks around the castle. Kick, pull, kick, pull. My paw brushes stone. Grabbing onto a rock, I shoot up and gulp air. How can it look farther across the water from here than from the other side?

A bird screeches above me. My eyes go up, up, up. The wall. It’s so . . . tall. And solid. A cliff of stone blocks, leaning, tipping, ready to fall on me.

The man marches along the top, a speck against the blueness. A circling predator bird. I sink into the water. He goes by without seeing me. He searches so hard for a far-off prey that he misses the one at his feet. But how long will that last? I must find the way into the underground lake soon.

I bob and swim among the rocks poking partway out of the river. My eyes search above the water for a hole while my paws feel below the surface for an opening.

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