The Ghostfaces by John A. Flanagan

Author:John A. Flanagan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-05-17T16:33:38+00:00

chapter twenty-five

At a signal from Mohegas, the group began to move toward the feast circle, set out around the fireplace in front of the village huts.

The children swarmed around the Herons, studying them with unabashed curiosity. Mohegas and several of the other adults admonished them, but not too severely. When this happened, the children would withdraw a few paces, but within a few seconds, they would gather around the strangers once more. Thorn’s wooden hook aroused great interest. One of the more daring boys reached out to touch it and Thorn rounded on him with a ferocious expression, clacking the gripping hook open and shut like a deranged lobster. The boy recoiled, as did those around him. Then, when Thorn burst out laughing and held out the hook for further inspection, they warily crept back closer to him.

Ingvar was another subject of interest. Tall and massively built, he towered over the other members of the crew. Compared with the Mawagansett, who tended to be short and stocky, he appeared to be a giant. He was wearing his spectacles and the children found the black lenses fascinating. Even when he removed the spectacles, thinking the children might turn their attention from him, the sight of his piercing blue eyes roused further comment, as although most of the Skandians were blue-eyed, Ingvar’s were a particularly brilliant color. But the children used their own language, not the common tongue, so Ingvar had no idea what they were chattering about.

Stefan, with his ability to mimic voices and other sounds, was an enormous favorite with them. At one stage, he stopped, threw his arms wide and intoned, in a perfect impression of Mohegas’s serious tones:

“I am Mohegas, mighty king of the Mawagansett people!”

The group of children close to him took a step back, looking nervously to where Mohegas had turned at the sound of his own voice. When a wide smile cracked the elder’s normally serious face, the children relaxed, taking it as permission to laugh themselves.

Before the laughter died down, Stefan followed up with a perfect imitation of the cry of the bird they now knew was called a tur-gay.

“Oggle-oggle-oggle!” he cried and the children laughed delightedly. It did sound exactly like the cry of the big bird, Hal thought.

Lydia seemed to agree. “Do that again and I’ll put a dart through you,” she said dryly.

At that, Stefan decided to move on to another impression. This time, he produced the shattering, snarling roar of an angry bear. With squeals of fright, the children scampered away from him, stopping some five meters away, studying him to make sure he hadn’t suddenly turned into a bear. Then, as he grinned and made a whimpering, pleading sound, for all the world like a dog begging forgiveness, they began to giggle and gathered around him again, pleading for more impersonations.

But Stefan was a consummate showman and he knew the first rule of a successful entertainer is to leave the audience wanting more. Regretfully, he shook his head and patted his belly.

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