Chaos Quest by Gill Arbuthnott Read Free Book Online

on
.”
    “Okay. Kate: got to go. Talk to you later.”
    The phone went silent and Kate threw it down on her bed in frustration.
    “Kate?”
    “Yes, Mum?”
    Her mother pushed the door open and stood there, obviously fuming.
    “Where have you been?” Kate opened her mouth to reply but her mother cut her off. “You forgot, didn’t you?”
    Kate’s hand flew to her open mouth as she remembered to her horror that she had been meant to come straight home from school to look after Ben so that her mum could get her hair cut.
    “Oh no Mum, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”
    “Well, that doesn’t really help does it? I’ve had to cancel the appointment and believe it or not, Ben was looking forward to going out somewhere with you.”
    “I’m sorry,” Kate said again miserably.
    “It’s about time you started taking a bit more responsibility around here. You’re not a child any more.” Ruth turned on her heel and went out, closingthe door hard behind her.
    Kate threw herself on the bed and pulled the pillow down over her head.
    ***
    The wood was beautiful, full of so many different things. Not like the city, where you could only hear people, drowning out everything else. Here she listened to the words of the trees and the birds, the mice and the fungi and the deer, words about sunlight and water and seeds and nests. It seemed to open in front of her, drawing her on. She was intrigued by the constant tug she felt and followed it, eager to find its source.
    ***
    Morgan and Thomas had avoided entering the city and instead followed a route that took them round the south side of its walls following the line of the red sandstone crags and the little river that fed the loch. The few people they met glanced at them curiously, for their clothes were not the same as those of the inhabitants, but nor were they so different that they caused comment.
    Morgan walked like a man in a dream, and though he said nothing Thomas felt a tight knot of anxiety for him in his stomach. He still couldn’t imagine what Morgan meant to do when he was finally able to confront the Stardreamer.
    Just as he was thinking this, Morgan stopped,frowning, and stood still for several seconds, as though listening.
    “He’s not where he was. He’s moving. This way.” He set off between a straggle of buildings, heading south west now instead of due west. They soon left the buildings and the little fields behind and were back in uncultivated land, with springy heather underfoot and gorse and hazel around them.
    Less than ten minutes later Morgan stopped again and gripped Thomas’s arm. “He’s closer. Can you feel him yet? He’s coming to find us.”
    Thomas felt all his hair stand up.
I was wrong to come
, he wanted to say.
Let’s go back. Tell them we couldn’t find him. Let’s run away while we can
. He bit the words back and tried to look as though he felt calm. Morgan was depending on him to help … somehow.
    They walked on, towards destiny and doom.
    ***
    Erda lay on her back in a clearing, watching drops of sunlight slide through the mosaic of leaves above her. She joined them for a little, moving with the breeze, feeling the warm sun feed her. She turned over and pushed her face into the grass, inhaling the green sappy scent, with the underlying smells of earthworm and beetle.
    Refreshed, she got to her feet and went on. She was close to the source of the frail tugging now. Soon she would find where it came from.
    ***
    Ahead of Morgan and Thomas was the edge of a great wood of birch and pine and oak. Many small paths led into it, but there was no obvious way to decide which, if any, was the main one. There was no sign here of any of the villagers, though the smell of charcoal-burning came out from the eaves of the forest.
    Thomas put a hand on Morgan’s arm. “Let’s stop here for a while, rest and eat before we go in there. We want to be ready when we meet him.”
    Morgan nodded. “All right. That makes sense.”
    They sat with