The Venom Spreads by Erin Hunter

Author:Erin Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Prance sat at the edge of the Great Father’s clearing, watching the sheltered alcove where Thorn was lying out of sight, tended by the Goodleaf and guarded by Highleaves. Mud was in there too. He hadn’t let Prance see Thorn.

Prance is dangerous. She will be the death of the Great Father.

Mud’s words echoed in her mind as she watched Moth scamper in and out, bringing handfuls of various berries and leaves. She hadn’t been allowed to help with that, either. Mud probably thought she would poison the Great Father if she was involved.

She still had no idea how or why she had seen him say it, but she had to face the fact that he might be right. She could have brought some curse upon the Great Father.

But I’m not the only thing that’s strange in Bravelands.

Even if she was carrying a curse or a bad omen, that didn’t explain the snakes. They had swarmed on Great Father, different species all moving together, all with the same purpose, and as soon as one of them had managed to bite Thorn, the rest had melted away into the grass. Prance had never seen anything like it before.

And there was her nightmare, of her herd turning into snake-creatures. There was the strange behavior of the crocodiles, and there was Broadsight, the giraffe leader, who’d been bitten by something and turned erratic. How many more of the strange tales that the creatures of Bravelands were bringing to the Great Father could be traced back to some kind of sandtongue creature?

With Thorn in such desperate need of help—maybe even dying—nobody was looking for the source of the problem.

But I can.

She made up her mind not to tell Mud what she was thinking, and after a short time agonizing, she decided against telling Moth either. She was sure Moth would understand, but Grub would need her help for a while yet. And Prance didn’t think she should tell Gallant either. If she turned up where she was going with a lion in tow . . . it seemed more likely to put both of them in danger than a gazelle by herself.

No, Prance would go alone. She’d been alone before.

She waited until Gallant got up from his position on the other side of the clearing and headed off alone, telling Prance to stay in the clearing while he tended to his pride. She gave him a little while to get out of the forest, then she got up and slipped away. It was easy enough. She glanced back as she left the clearing, but none of the baboons were watching her.

Am I doing the right thing? she thought as she left the shadow of the trees and walked out onto the grassy plain. What if Mud’s correct, and whatever I do, I’m doomed to hurt Thorn?

Well, if that’s true, there’s nothing I can do to avoid it, she countered. I won’t sit back there and let him die because I’m afraid of making it worse.

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.