Phoenix by Kelly Gardiner

Phoenix by Kelly Gardiner

Author:Kelly Gardiner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781760973766
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Published: 2020-09-16T16:00:00+00:00


Her name was Elda, she said, and she was all by herself in the old city. She had no family. Nobody.

They sat close together by a tiny fire, deep in the bowels of the building. Her dog – an enormous scraggly hound – stretched out beside her.

‘Nobody can see us here,’ she said.

The embers glowed brightly in the darkness, and he watched her as she worked. She was a couple of years older than him, but her face was all sharp edges, as if she hadn’t had enough to eat for a long time. She wore clothes like the Vikings, but hers were all ragged and patched – woollen trousers and a long blue tunic over the top, reaching down to her knees. A knife hung sideways on a belt at her waist. Like Longsword, she wore her hair in a braid at the back, but hers was dark red. Bits of leather were tied around her feet.

At least someone had shoes.

‘I was cooking when I heard you at the door,’ she said.

‘I feared you were one of the Danes.’

‘I’m not, believe me.’

‘I see that.’

‘Aren’t you scared they’ll find you?’

She shook her head. ‘They watch only the river town. That is why I sleep here at night.’

‘But there’s a watcher post just up the hill.’

‘I know,’ she said. ‘But they only watch in the sunlight.

In the dark, they guard their camp, but no more.’

Christopher shivered and moved closer to the fire.

‘What’s the dog’s name?’

‘Hound. What else?’ She smiled.

‘Doesn’t he bark?’

‘He knows he must not.’

‘Smart dog.’

‘He is the best and bravest hound ever.’

‘You might be right.’

‘I am.’ Elda smiled down at Hound and he licked her hand. ‘He has been with me many winters. He still hunts, but he likes lying down much more.’

‘Don’t we all?’

‘I do not,’ she said. ‘I cannot rest. Not now. There is much to do.’

She dipped a wooden bowl into the cooking pot. ‘I only have one bowl and spoon.’

‘After you,’ he said.

‘You are my guest,’ she said, then laughed. ‘How do you like my house?’

‘It’s impressive,’ he said. ‘Big place for one girl and a dog.’

‘It is safer than the river town at night,’ she said. ‘For now.’

‘What are you doing here all by yourself?’ he said.

‘I am not by myself. Hound is with me.’

She handed him the bowl and he sniffed at it. It smelled good.

‘What is this?’

‘Whatever I could find,’ she said. ‘Carrots, turnips, fish, dandelion.’

‘I can’t see the carrots.’

‘There.’ She picked out a pale little lump.

‘It’s white.’

‘Of course. What do you expect?’

‘But carrots are orange.’

‘What is orange?’

Christopher blinked. Perhaps orange wasn’t invented yet, ‘It’s a sort of bright yellow.’

‘You are very strange but also funny.’ Elda chuckled to herself while Christopher sniffed again at the bowl. ‘Who ever heard of a yellow carrot?’

He, meanwhile, pondered whether a carrot was really a carrot if it wasn’t carrot-coloured. Were they still good for your eyesight? What would happen to the Ministry of Food posters if they knew? DOCTOR CARROT: THE CHILDREN’S BEST FRIEND, HELPS YOU SEE IN THE BLACKOUT.



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.