City of the Rats by Emily Rodda

Author:Emily Rodda
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Fantasy, Adventure, Childrens
ISBN: 9780439253253
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Published: 2000-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

But Jasmine simply shrugged and went back to stroking Filli’s fur.

“What are we to do now?” muttered Lief. “There are four Ra-Kacharz here, counting Reece. And we know that there are two in the kitchens. But three of the Nine are still missing. Where are they? Where should we go for safety?”

“We must take our chances with the tunnel,” said Barda grimly, looking around for his sword. “There is no other way out for us.”

Lief glanced at the Hole. “Reece thought that whatever is in there would kill us,” he said.

“If the Ra-Kacharz can survive it, so can we,” snapped Barda. “They are strong, and good fighters, but they do not have magic powers.”

“We should put on their garments,” said Jasmine from her place by the wall. “Surely it is not by chance that they dress differently from the others in this place, and it is only they who can use the Hole. Perhaps the creature that dwells in the darkness is trained to attack all colors but red.”

Barda nodded slowly. “It could be. In any case, to wear the Ra-Kacharz garments is a good idea,” he said. “Our own clothes mark us as strangers. We could never bluff our way out of the city through the front entrance. But perhaps the back way …”

They wasted no more time, but began to strip the three Ra-Kacharz they had just defeated. Jasmine was quick and deft at the work. Lief could not help remembering, with a chill, how many times she had stripped the bodies of Grey Guards in the Forests of Silence. She had done it to obtain clothes and other things she needed, and she had done it efficiently and without a moment’s pity, as she was doing now.

They dressed quickly, pulling the red garments over their own clothes, the boots over their own shoes. The Ra-Kacharz lay still. Tight white underclothes covered them from wrist to ankle. Their heads, like those of the other people in the city, were shaved bald.

“They do not look so dangerous now,” said Jasmine grimly, winding red cloth around her head and making sure that Filli was buttoned securely under the collar of her clothes.

Despite his haste and worry, Lief had to smile as he glanced at her. She looked very strange. The Ra-Kacharz garments were too big for him and even for Barda, but on Jasmine they hung in vast, baggy folds. The gloves were not a problem, for they were made of a clinging material that fitted all sizes. But he doubted that she would be able to walk in the huge red boots.

Jasmine had thought of that. Carrying the boots in her hand, she ran over to where Reece lay. She pulled off his gloves, crumpled them, and stuffed them into the toe of one boot. Then she unwound the cloth that bound his head and face and used it in the second boot.

Reece mumbled, his shaven head rolling on the hard floor.

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