Deltora Quest #3: City of the Rats by Emily Rodda Read Free Book Online Page A

afraid, and many are crying out in their sleep. In the morning, the search will begin again.” Through the narrow slit, the girl’s eyes were dark with fear.
    “Where we come from, animals like Filli are not evil,” Lief said. “We meant no harm in bringing him here. He is Jasmine’s friend. But if you do not let us out of this cell, we are doomed. Reece will see to it that we die of hunger and thirst and no one will ever know. No one but you.”
    There was no reply but a soft groan.
    “Please help us!” begged Lief. “Tira, please!”
    There was a moment’s silence. Then the eyes disappeared and they heard the sliding of the bolt.
    The door swung open and they crowded out of the cell. White-faced in the light of the torches, Tira gave them water and they drank thirstily. She said nothing as they thanked her, and when they bolted the door behind them to disguise their escape, she shivered and coveredher face with her hands. Plainly, she felt as though she was doing something very wrong.
    But when they discovered their packs hidden in a crevice beside the stone steps, she gasped with surprise. “We were told that these had been put into your cell with you!” she said. “So that you would have bedding, and some comforts.”
    “Who told you that?” asked Barda grimly.
    “The First Ra-Kachar,” she whispered. “He said he had brought them to you himself.”
    “Well, he did not, as you can see,” snapped Jasmine, pulling her bag onto her back.
    They crept up the steps. The passage above was empty, but they could hear a few distant voices.
    “We must escape the city,” Barda whispered. “Which way should we go?”
    “There is no way out.” Tira shook her head hopelessly. “The gate in the hill is locked and barred. Those who work in the fields are taken out each morning and brought back at night. No one else may leave, on pain of death.”
    “There must be another way!” hissed Lief.
    She hesitated, then shook her head. But Jasmine had seen the hesitation, and pounced.
    “What did you think of, just then? Tell us what is in your mind!” she urged.
    Tira licked her lips. “It is said … it is said that the Hole leads, in the end, to the outside world. But —”
    “What is the Hole?” demanded Barda. “Where is it?”
    “It is near the kitchens,” shuddered Tira. “It is where they throw the food that has not passed inspection. But it is — forbidden.”
    “Take us there!” hissed Jasmine fiercely. “Take us there now!”

T hey crept like thieves through the corridors, darting into side passages whenever they heard someone approaching. Finally they reached a small metal door.
    “This leads to the walkways above the kitchens,” Tira whispered. “The walkways are used by the Ra-Kacharz, to watch the work below, and by those whose task it is to wash the kitchen walls.”
    She opened the door a crack. From the space beyond poured the smell of cooking, and a muffled clattering.
    “Be very silent,” the girl breathed. “Tread softly. Then we will not be noticed. The night cooks work at speed. They have much to do before dawn.”
    She slipped through the door, and the companions followed her. The sight that met their eyes astonished them.
    They were standing on a narrow metal walkway. Far below lay the great kitchens of Noradz, clattering with sound and blazing with light. The kitchens were huge — as big as a small village — and filled with working people dressed as Tira was, but all in gleaming white.
    Some were peeling vegetables or preparing fruits. Others were mixing, baking, stirring pots that bubbled on the huge stoves. Thousands of cakes cooled on racks, waiting to be iced and decorated. Hundreds of pies and tarts were being lifted from the great ovens. At one side, a team was packing prepared foods into boxes and glass or stone jars.
    “But — surely this does not go on every day and every night?” gasped Lief in amazement. “How much food can the people of Noradz