The Scourge by Nielsen Jennifer A

Author:Nielsen, Jennifer A. [Nielsen, Jennifer A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure, Mystery, Historical, Childrens
ISBN: 9780545682466
Amazon: B01B3DBCSQ
Goodreads: 29499228
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Published: 2016-08-30T07:00:00+00:00

When we returned to the Colony square, Della immediately found us. Her hand was shaking when she reached for me, as if the muscles had already given up. The Scourge was taking her, far too quickly. She needed a stronger medicine. If I had discovered even a single sip of something that might help, the risk would absolutely have been worth it.

“Here,” she whispered. “This is for you.”

She pressed two rolls into my hands. They weren’t enough to cover the hunger I felt, but they were something.

“Why?” I asked, giving one to Weevil.

Her eyes filled with tears, then drifted to the prison walls. “When we first met, I blamed you for stealing my boat, just to keep myself out of trouble. But today you took the blame for me. You could have used me to keep yourself out of trouble. Why did you do that, Ani? Why would a River Person do that for me?”

For the first time, she hadn’t referred to me as a grub. And I vowed at that moment never again to call her people pinchworms.

I took her hand in mine. “It can’t be you and me against each other anymore. It must be you and me against the Scourge.” Or against the wardens and Governor Felling, who I was beginning to think were the far greater dangers here.

She squeezed back, as well as she could. “Agreed.”

After a sideways glance at Weevil, I said, “You shouldn’t stay in the old prison anymore. Come with us, Della. There’s another place we can sleep tonight.”

She shook her head. “My father will come for me in the old prison.”

“He’s not coming. I know he wants to, but they won’t let him come.”

Her mouth pinched together. Then she said, “If your father knew where you were, how far would he go to get you out of trouble?”

Tears welled in my eyes to think of him. “He’d split the earth to save me,” I said. “If he knew.”

“That’s what my father is doing too,” Della said. “He does know where I am. I’ll wait in the prisons until he comes.”

She lumbered away. Weevil took my arm and nudged me along with him. “We’ll see her tomorrow, but for now, we should go,” he said. “No one’s watching.” And we slipped away.

Our plan for finding the caves wasn’t particularly complex: go north. Eventually we’d find the caves or hit seawater. But no matter what we found, we were both firm that we would not stay in the prison. Aside from the fact that it was utterly depressing, I had a feeling that avoiding the infirmary required us to avoid the prison too.

The infirmary. That’s where Della was headed soon, and nothing I could do would stop it. Maybe if I got back inside the wardens’ barracks and searched the rest of the trunks. Maybe all the medicines were kept in one trunk and I hadn’t found it yet.

Weevil seemed to be thinking the same thing, only in a far less dangerous way. “As

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