Thunder: The Shadows Are Stirring (Thunder Stories Book 1) by Sullivan Hannah

Author:Sullivan, Hannah [Sullivan, Hannah]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen: Aw, Rats

(ETHAN)

I WAKE UP FEELING COLD AND DAMP and absorb the smell of wet grass and moist dirt, both of which are strong in the crisp air. Looking across to where Olivia had fallen asleep last night, I realize she’s no longer there. I swear and jump up hastily; the medicine must have made me sleep deeper than I normally do.

I always make sure I have my dagger strapped to me when I turn in, so now I grab my sword and the pack, which Olivia for some reason has left behind. Usually, she sleeps with it looped over her chest, so there’s no way we can leave it without meaning to. The sun has not risen all the way, and the sky has a sleepy deep blue feel to it, with the birds sounding hollow and distant. Flying south or something, if they do that here.

I spin, trying to trace Olivia’s footsteps through the dew and bent blades of grass. I find a trail which leads away from our little clump of trees, down a sloping hill. Here the trees are bigger, more mature, and the leaves, though thickly clustered, are touched with reds and yellows. Her footsteps get muddled, like she walked around several different trees. I stand still and examine the branches.

Not far from me, I see a dense shape on one of the heavy branches of an old, gnarly tree. Either it’s Olivia or a freakishly huge bird. I walk to the base and stare up. She’s watching me and in the dim light I can’t read her expression. My body relaxes at finding her safe, but I know her well enough to recognize something is bugging her.

“Morning!” I call up to her.

“Hey.”

I rub my jaw, wondering whether it would be better to sit here against the trunk until Olivia’s ready to talk or climb up and wait next to her. I’m about to sit when she calls down, “Stop! You don’t wanna sit there!”

I glance down at the ground and notice what looks like clumps of old raspberry jelly all around the base of the trunk. Shrugging, I take Olivia at her word and opt for the climb. I heft myself up through the branches until I’m almost level with her, about twenty feet up. Sitting back and getting comfortable on my branch, I dig my hand into the pack and pull out some bread and cheese and without saying a word, hand them up to her. Breakfast of champions. I’m almost finished with my own by the time she speaks.

“Thanks,” she says. And after a quick pause she sighs out, “Well, they’re here, Ethan.”

“Who?” I study the ground below us and dart my eyes to the surrounding trees, as if there’s someone standing there I could have missed while walking the two hundred yards from our camp to this tree.

She nudges my shoulder with her foot. “Not here, Goof. Just here in general—in the Shadows. My brothers; I saw them last night.” She sounds more contemplative than anything.

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