Thornghost by Tone Almhjell

Author:Tone Almhjell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-06-30T17:40:52+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Nightmares wove into Niklas’s sleep, an endless coil of crypts, and troll runes making his skin glow, and a nasty voice that whispered, “Fear in this one, gray as old bones.”

Then he felt a strange tug. Something cold and lonely pushed into his head and pulled him away, into a dream so lucid, it felt real.

He saw kids in the night, three of them, struggling across a moonlit field. A pale-haired girl led the way and two boys brought up the rear. Even before he got close enough to see their faces, he knew who they were: his mother, Uncle Anders, and Peder Molyk. The reason for their slow pace was the heavy object the boys hauled between them.

A cage.

Inside it, a shape darted restlessly back and forth behind the chicken wire walls. The boys put the cage down in the grass, a little too abruptly. The creature in the cage yelped.

“Don’t hurt him.” Peder Molyk’s eyes seemed too big for his face. Niklas had always thought of Molyk as the looming sort, but the only tall thing about twelve-year-old Peder was the cowlick of hair that stuck up from his forehead.

“I’m careful,” the lankier Anders said.

Erika grinned. “Hurt him?” She sat down on her haunches and peered into the cage. “We’re not hurting him. We’re saving him. No one will find him where we’re going. Not even your father.” She gazed up the mountainside, past the tall pine trees and all the way to the snowcapped face of Buttertop. “He’ll find shelter there, and plenty of food and water. It’s perfect.”

A sharp bark sounded from the woods above. Erika got up, beaming with pride. “Good boy.” She found a corner of the cage to lift. “Sebastifer says the coast is clear.”

They continued up the hill, carrying the cage between them.

None of them saw the dirty water that leaked from the cage, leaving a black trail across Oldmeadow.

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