The Kneebone Boy by Potter Ellen

Author:Potter, Ellen [Potter, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2010-09-13T22:00:00+00:00

IF THERE’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO LOSE

BROCCOLI, SMASHED VASE, UGLY SHOES

DROP IT HERE IN THE ABYSS

THE ONLY RULE IS PLEASE NO PISS

Lucia dug in her pocket and pulled out ten pence and dropped it in. She listened for a plunk but it never came.

“Well, that was waste of money,” Max said. He knelt by the hole and put his eye to it. “I can’t see the bottom.”

“Hence, the Abyss,” Lucia said.

“Hang on. I see something.” He adjusted his body so that he lay flat on his right side and shoved his arm down the hole. After a moment of pawing around, he sat up grasping a stick.

“A stick. Oh, well done, Max,” Lucia said.

“It’s not a stick,” Max said. “It’s an arrow.”

Indeed, on closer inspection it was an arrow. Its shaft was green and it had grimy white feather fletches bound to the end.

“The tip was wedged in the side of the hole,” Max said, wiping dirt off of it. The tip was gold colored and was all jaggedy along one edge as though someone had bitten it.

“Weird-looking thing,” Lucia said.

“Otto might like to see it,” Max said.

“I’m sure he would,” Lucia readily agreed.

So they decided to head straight back to the dungeon. They were tired of exploring, and truth be told, they had an idea that their explorations were doomed to failure because Otto wasn’t with them. He knew how to find hidden things, whereas Max and Lucia did not. He would have no doubt led them to the secret passageway without any trouble.

Finding their way back to the dungeon wasn’t easy. The stairwells tricked them again and again, some of them ending in walls at the bottom, some of them twisting about so that suddenly they were going up again. It was pretty maddening. Finally, they went down a stairwell that led them straight into a small foyer. At the end of the foyer was a low wooden door.

“Probably a broom closet.” Max sighed.

But when they opened the door they found that it led directly outside, into the grassy courtyard. It wasn’t where they wanted to go, but they were grateful for the rush of fresh air. They both collapsed on the grass and let the cool sea breeze dry the sweat on their faces. It was very pleasant, and Lucia considered that she and Max had spent more time alone together that day than they had in ages, playing in the sea and exploring the castle folly, and that it had been rather fun.

She cleared her throat. “You’re not at all bad company,” she told him.

“I don’t mind you either,” he replied.

That was very sentimental for them, you understand. It changed things too. They still fought afterwards, of course, but things never got quite as ugly as they had before.

“What say you, prisoners? Can I ask for a partial refund?” Haddie was standing just behind them, a large purple rucksack hung over one shoulder, limp with emptiness.

“We didn’t find anything, but Otto hasn’t had a go yet,” Max said.

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