Bad Yeti by Carrie Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

reached toward the ceiling and estimated it to be about six feet or so. As in, no way was I ever going to be able to touch the top. The corners were sturdy, and all the bolts were secure and free of rust. Nothing inside except me and a dirt floor, which was smooth except for the edge of a root that stuck up in one corner. I spent a few minutes trying to come up with an ingenious plan to use the root to free myself, but no soup. Then I tried digging around it, but the Sharpie wasn’t so good as a makeshift shovel, and the dirt was packed tight.
    All right, so my physical assets were pretty much crap. I looked around the outside of my prison. In the cage next to me was my yeti, curled up in the fetal position on the ground. I could see the silver glint of the handcuffs in his fur. I was so mad I could have Hulked out. I tested the links just in case the anger really did give me a surge of energy, but no luck.
    “Hey, big guy,” I said. Yeah, he was cuffed, but he’d gotten free once before, right? I’d just spent an extended period of time getting dragged around a forest by the thing; I knew how strong he was. All I had to do was inspire him to break us out and we’d find a way to best this villain together. By the time we were done, bards would sing our praises. (Literally—one of our LARPers played the guitar.)
    But the creature didn’t move. “Yeti?” I called a little louder. “Can you hear me?”
    No matter how loudly I shouted, I couldn’t get the beast to react. I started to worry that maybe he was injured or unconscious, but I could see his torso move as he breathed, so at least he was alive. At this point, I was starting to feel a little discouraged, and I could use all the goodnews I could get.
    But my shouting did get the attention of the other yeti, who was farther down the line on my yeti’s other side. The other yeti lurched to its feet, stooping to avoid knocking its head on the top of the cage. It wasn’t as tall as my yeti, and it had the unmistakable shape of breasts on its torso. I carefully averted my eyes and reminded myself of my manners.
    “Is he okay?” I called to the she-yeti. The creature huffed and tossed her head. I mentally translated the motion as “of course he’s not okay, you idiot.” And I had to admit she had a point.
    “Yeah, stupid question, I know. So how do we get out of here? Can you break the cage?”
    The she-yeti shook her massive head and I caught a glimpse of a black ring around her neck. I recognized it immediately. Our dog Armstrong had a shock collar just like it. Tobias must have put up invisible fences, and I had to believe that he’d cranked their power if it had been enough to put down a yeti.
    “So this guy slipped his collar?” I asked. The she-yeti nodded. “And the chances of that working again are pretty slim. Okay, so what else can we do?”
    She started gesturing, but I had no idea what she was trying to say. I was really wishing I’d taken sign language instead of Spanish, but then a movement across the clearing caught my eye. The door to the trailer opened slowly, and Amethyst stuck her head out. I couldn’t believe my eyes; they’d been in there the entire time? Where had they been, hanging from the ceiling?
    I leapt to my feet, looking wildly around for any sign of Tobias. I hadn’t really paid attention to where he’d gone after he’d locked me in the cage. I scanned the trees, looking for the muddy brown of his jumpsuit, and finally spotted him near the road. It was probably safe for the girls to make their escape, provided they did it fast.
    So I stood up and waved my arms to get Amethyst’s attention. Her eyes snapped to me instantly and she ducked back into the trailer, probably to report my captive status. It would have been embarrassing if I hadn’t been so busy being impressed by how smart the girls were. They’d tricked both me and Tobias into thinking they’d run, and then they must have hidden somewhere in the trailer. I