Deltora Quest #2: The Lake of Tears by Emily Rodda Read Free Book Online

back of a bald head from which sprouted three stubby horns. He could not see her face, but of that he was very glad.
    “Efink eht rof ydaer era yeht!” she bellowed as she left the cell, slamming the door after her. Shuddering, Lief heard her footsteps in the kitchen and the sound of another slamming door. Then there was silence. She and her brother had both left the house.
    “So we are ready for the knife, are we? And now they have caught another poor wretch in their trap!”muttered Barda, clambering unsteadily to his feet and hurrying to the door with the others.
    “It must be the Ralad man,” hissed Jasmine. She ran into the kitchen, with the others close behind.
    Now that the spell had been broken, they saw the kitchen with new eyes. It was dark, stinking, and filthy. The stone floor was caked with ancient grime. Old bones lay scattered everywhere. In the darkest corner there was a small bed of moldy straw. By the look of the frayed rope attached to a ring on the wall above it, some sort of pet had slept there until quite recently, when it had chewed its way to freedom.
    The companions only glanced at all these things. Their attention was fixed on the great pot of water bubbling under its lid on the stove, the huge pile of roughly sliced onions, and the two long, sharpened knives lying ready on the greasy table.
    Lief stared, his stomach churning. Then he jumped as his ears, sharpened by fear, picked up a small, stealthy sound from deep within the house. Someone — or something — was moving.
    His companions had heard it, too. “Out!” hissed Barda. “Make haste!”
    They crept into the open, gasping with relief as finally they were able to breathe in fresh, clean air. They looked around cautiously.
    The sweet little cottage they thought they had seen was in fact a grim, hulking square of white stones withno windows. The flower gardens were nothing but beds of onions and thistles. Rough grass stretched on all sides, leading always to the bright green band that marked the quicksand.
    In the distance, they could see Jin and Jod. Shouting angrily at one another, they were digging their long pole into a patch of quicksand where something had fallen in, disturbing the green slime before sinking out of sight.
    A wave of sadness swept over Lief.
    “They were not in time to save him. He has gone under,” said Barda, his face showing his pain.
    “Very well, then,” snapped Jasmine. “We have nothing to stay for. So why are we standing here, when at any moment they could turn and see us?”
    Lief glanced at her. She returned his gaze defiantly, her lips pressed tightly together and her chin raised. Then she turned and began walking quickly around the house, out of sight.
    Lief helped Barda to follow her.
    The back of the house was just the same as the front, with a single door and no windows. On all sides, bare grass stretched away, ending in the same band of bright green. Beyond, there was forest. But the quicksand circled the whole of Jin and Jod’s domain like a moat.
    “There must be a way across!” muttered Lief. “I cannot believe that they never leave this place.”
    Jasmine was scanning the green band with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, she pointed to a slightly mottled-looking section almost opposite the house. The place was marked by a huge rock on the bank. “There!” she exclaimed, and began running.

A s quickly as he could, with Barda leaning on his shoulder, Lief hurried after Jasmine. When finally they reached her, she was standing beside the rock at the edge of the quicksand. Now Lief could see what had made the green slime look mottled in this spot. In the middle of the moat floated a cluster of pale green leaves marked with red — the leaves of some swamp plant, perhaps.
    The edges of the leaves were straight, so that where they touched they fitted together like a puzzle. Where there were gaps between them, the bright green of the quicksand slime showed ominously.
    Lief looked more closely and