The Wildcat's Claw by Varian Johnson

Author:Varian Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

ROLLAN’S MUSCLES INVOLUNTARILY FLEXED AS HE heard footsteps creaking above them. He wasn’t sure if the others heard it—they were farther back in the basement, away from the stairs. Pausing from reading the large journal in front of him, he grabbed a torch from the wall sconce and glanced at Essix. The falcon sat at a small arch window high in the basement, looking too dignified to fly farther into the room.

Still holding the torch, Rollan moved to the base of the stairs. With his free hand, he removed his dagger from his belt. “Mind taking a look?” he asked Essix. “It’s probably Meilin and Abeke, but we’d better check just to be sure.”

The bird screeched, then took flight through the room and up the winding metal staircase. Although now empty, the Howling House was still a scary place to be. Every time the wind blew outside, the windows rattled, making Rollan flinch. The four walls surrounding them were covered with scratches and splatters of red. Rollan didn’t care to speculate on the source of the stains.

Rollan watched Essix as she soared back into the basement. She perched on the wooden chandelier in the middle of the space and began pecking at something—probably an insect snack.

“She flew down here,” Rollan heard Meilin say. A few moments later, she and Abeke descended the stairs into the basement.

“What happened to you all?” Rollan asked, holding the torch so he could get a better view of them. “How did you get covered with all that ash?”

Meilin brushed the soot from her shoulder. “We ran into a little trouble, but we were able to handle it. Any luck with finding anything on the Wildcat’s Claw?”

“Not yet, but we haven’t been searching long.” He pointed them toward an untouched stack of books covered in dust and cobwebs. “You can start with those. The others are farther back, looking through, like, a thousand scrolls.”

Meilin cautiously approached the books. “Are you sure there aren’t any spiders in there?”

Rollan smiled. “If you see one, just pretend it’s a big, hairy mouse.”

She huffed in reply, but picked up one of the scrolls. Abeke took a large book beside it.

Rollan removed his cloak and returned to his book. It was cold outside, but all the torches were making the basement stuffy. The brown cloak was heavy and rough, nothing like his green cloak. He hadn’t wanted to part with it, but after Abeke’s speech last night about secrets, Rollan knew he couldn’t continue traveling with the cloak and hiding it from his friends. He and Worthy had decided to store it in Dawson’s cottage for now, underneath one of the loose floorboards. Hopefully, once they’d found all the gifts and rescued the Greencloaks, Rollan could return for it.

He wondered if Tarik would have done the same thing, had he still been with them.

Rollan finished paging through the book, then picked up an equally large and equally boring journal. He had to keep shaking his head in order to stay awake.

But then his eyes flashed open.

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