Gustav Gloom and the Cryptic Carousel by Adam-Troy Castro

Author:Adam-Troy Castro
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2014-07-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

In Between a Rock and a Cruel Place

The voice rumbled on: “Silverspinner can smell the one who hurt her.”

Gustav couldn’t shrug properly, clinging to the cliff the way he was, but he shook his head a little, just enough to show Fernie that he was as confused by this development as she was.

“Silverspinner remembers his smell. It stank of blood and dust. It was a smell that did not belong anywhere near Silverspinner’s web, and it made Silverspinner unhappy, oh, so very unhappy. Silverspinner tried to squash him, yes, she did. Silverspinner tried to eat him. Yes, she did. Silverspinner ate all her enemies back then. Silverspinner grew strong and feared. Oh, so very feared. But this one had the needle of fire and he hurt her first. He freed Silverspinner’s toys and brought Silverspinner to this terrible lonely place where there’s no one to worship her and nothing to eat but the nasty reptile birds.”

Gustav glanced at the high-flying shapes so far above them. So, yes, he seemed to have been right about that much. Silverspinner, if that was indeed the spider-thing’s name, preyed on whatever they were and they didn’t come down more than they absolutely had to.

Fernie wasn’t comforted to learn that Silverspinner didn’t seem to like the taste of the bird-creatures very much. A creature that didn’t enjoy what it had been eating would have absolutely no problem with moving on to another item on the buffet.

“We’ve come this far,” Gustav whispered. “We can rest on the next ledge.”

Fernie also wasn’t exactly thrilled that her day had deteriorated to the point where, finding herself trapped on a cliff that was also the home of a giant spider, the best of all her possible choices was climbing closer to it. But that did seem to be the kind of day she was having, so she got on with it.

The rumbling, half-insane rant continued: “Silverspinner knows he has come back, but why? Has he come to hurt her some more? Silverspinner would not like that. Oh, no, don’t believe that for a second. Silverspinner would not like that at all.”

Gustav had pulled a little ahead of her and scrambled onto a ledge wide enough for him to turn around and offer Fernie his hand. Half on her own power, half on his, she joined him on the ledge and pressed her back hard against the cliff side. A narrow vertical crevice split the wall between them, so deep and so dark that it was not possible to see what lay within. It was certainly a place to go if a hiding place became necessary, but did not seem inviting enough to investigate out of idle curiosity.

“Silverspinner would not want him to hear her. Silverspinner’s sometimes so lonely that she forgets and talks to herself, but Silverspinner doesn’t think she’s talking to herself now. Maybe she is. Silverspinner must stop. Silverspinner must be quiet or he’ll know she’s lying in wait. This is Silverspinner being quiet now. Oh, so very quiet.

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