Deltora Quest #8: Return to Deltora by Emily Rodda Read Free Book Online Page A

buried deep under the mound. It was not only large, but clean and well organized, with many stretchers arranged neatly around the walls, each topped with folded blankets, and with possessions stacked below.
    The scavenger turned to them, straightened, and threw off both the eye patch and the scarf.
    “Doom!” Jasmine exclaimed in amazement.
    “Did you not know me?” asked Doom, his lips tweaking into a smile. “That is excellent! You did not expect the Resistance stronghold to be in a garbagedump, no doubt. But what better place to hide? No one comes here willingly — not even Grey Guards. And who cares for or about poor scavengers? Some of the people you saw on your way here are true scavengers — sad souls from Del whose livelihoods have been taken from them. Others — many others — are our people. Glock, Fardeep, and even Zeean are out there somewhere, with all the rest. Dain is away fetching water.”
    Leif nodded slowly, taking it in. So nothing is as it seems, even here, he thought.
    “Doom,” Jasmine said urgently. “Barda is injured. He needs care. And …” She glanced at Lief. “There is other news. Very bad.”
    Lief fumbled in his pocket and drew out Endon’s crumpled note.
    Doom’s dark eyes grew even darker as though, somehow, he knew what was coming. But he did not take the note. Instead, he turned swiftly to face the door once more.
    “Time enough for that when Barda has been seen to,” he said roughly. “Bring him in. We will do what we can for him.”

    Later, Lief and Jasmine sat by Barda’s bed. Their own wounds had been washed and bandaged, and the big man lay peacefully at last. The bleeding had stopped, and for this they had to thank a strange ally — Glock.
    “You won’t heal this with bandages,” Glock had mumbled, grabbing Lief’s wrist and inspecting it.“Grippers inject something that keeps the blood flowing.”
    He went over to his own stretcher, rummaged beneath it, then came back holding a grubby jar filled with grey paste. “Smear this on the bites,” he ordered.
    “What is it?” asked Jasmine, smelling the paste suspiciously.
    “How would I know?” snarled Glock. “Those who made it are long dead. But my tribe always used it in the old days — for half-wits and infants who blundered into gripper fields.”
    Jasmine bit back her angry response and turned to Barda.
    “Do not waste it on him,” Glock growled. “He is finished.”
    Jasmine did not bother to reply. Already she was smearing the paste on Barda’s cleaned wounds. Glock spat in disgust, and lumbered away. Now he was nowhere to be seen.
    Lief looked up wearily. Zeean, Fardeep, and Doom were standing together not far away, with Steven beside them. Their heads were bent. Their faces were grave. They were reading Endon’s note.
    “So,” Lief heard Doom say heavily. “That is the end of that.”
    They looked up, saw Lief and Jasmine watching, and moved to join them. Doom handed the note back to Lief.
    “The Dread Gnome and the Ralad will arrive to find they have made their journey for nothing,” he said.
    Lief nodded. “All our journeys have been for nothing,” he replied through stiff lips.
    Zeean’s face was shadowed with grief. “It is very hard,” she murmured. “I had — such hopes.”
    “It is well for our hopes to be dashed, if they were false.” The old bitterness had returned to Doom’s voice. “Soon we will all return to our places. And every step we go, we will tell what we know, so no other fools will be tempted to risk their lives in a useless cause.”
    There was a sound beside Lief. He looked down, and his heart thudded. Barda had stirred. His eyes were open.
    “What is — the matter?” Barda asked weakly.
    Jasmine stroked his forehead. “Nothing is the matter,” she said soothingly. “Rest, now.”
    But Barda moved his head impatiently and his eyes fastened on the note in Lief’s hand. “What is that? Show it to me!” he demanded.
    Lief knew Barda too well to