The Blazing Bridge by Carter Roy

Author:Carter Roy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic UK
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

THE CAT’S IN THE BAG

“Grendel?” Greta said, leaning away.

The cat turned to her, bared its fangs, and made a mwah-mwah-mwah! sound halfway between a meow and a laugh. Then it crouched down and aimed itself at the back of Diz’s head.

“Oh no you don’t,” I said, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck as it launched off the seat.

It snarled as I hoisted it up in the middle of the cab. “I will exact my revenge beginning with you, Evelyn Truelove!”

“Sure,” I said, tightening my grip as it swiped at me with its claws.

“Your father cannot protect you now!” the cat said in its yowling singsong. “Not after I deliver all of you to Evangeline Birk!”

“He wouldn’t help me, anyway,” I said, trading a look with Dawkins.

“Birk will name me the new Head!” screamed the cat.

“Oh my gosh, it’s you,” Dawkins said, his eyebrows rising. “The mysterious Hand who is too ashamed to show himself!”

So that’s why the cat had gone all stiff and weird: the Hand had moved his consciousness into it.

The cat slitted its eyes. “I am not ashamed, soon-to-be-dead Blood Guard! I am stealth personified.”

“Don’t you mean ‘catified’?” Dawkins asked.

“I can be anywhere! You cannot see me coming, because I am all around you.”

“Yes, we’ve heard—you are legion and blah blah,” Dawkins said, reaching forward and snapping the cat’s jaws shut with his hand. “You really shouldn’t talk so much. Spoils the effect.”

The cat growled.

“So is this your particular gift from the Bend Sinister? You get to occupy mindless Bend drones and the occasional small-brained mammal? What a paltry talent.”

He let go of the cat’s jaw and it snarled, “Shut up! When Birk gets her hands on you—”

“She’s going to have to find us first,” Dawkins said. With his other hand, he unbuckled the cat collar and passed it to Greta. “Please throw that out the window. Diz, we need something in which to …”

“Under your seat,” she said.

Dawkins pulled out a pink nylon gym bag, unzipped it, and held it open. “Ronan, just bung that little beast in here.”

I held the cat inside the bag while Dawkins zipped it, releasing its neck at the last moment. The bag seemed to explode, the cat ricocheting around inside, looking for a way out and yowling.

Diz pulled over, and Dawkins marched the bag to the trunk, flung it in, and slammed it shut.

He got back in and smoothed his hair. “I’m sorry about your pet, Mrs. Sustermann,” he told her. “But we couldn’t have that beast see where we’re headed.”

I could still hear the cat howling and yammering in the trunk, but it was muffled enough now to be bearable.

Mrs. Sustermann stared over her shoulder out the back window. “That’s all right. Whatever that was, it wasn’t Grendel.” She turned to Greta. “Honey, what is going on?”

“I’ll tell you everything soon, Mom,” Greta said. “I promise.”

“Hello?” Sammy said via the Bluetooth necklace. “Remember me?”

“Hey, Sammy,” I said. “Thanks for the help back there.”

“No problem. I’m just glad you guys are headed back here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.