Diggers by Terry Pratchett Read Free Book Online Page A

He pointed a finger at Dorcas. “The people who seem to be giving us all the orders now are the very people who, um, got us into this trouble in the first place!”
    â€œNow just you hold on—” Dorcas began.
    â€œYou all know I’m right!” shouted Nisodemus. “Think about it, nomes! Why in the name of Arnold Bros (est. 1905) did we have to leave the Store?”
    There were a few more vague cheers, and several arguments broke out among the audience.
    â€œDon’t be stupid,” said Dorcas. “The Store was going to be demolished!”
    â€œWe don’t know that!” shouted Nisodemus.
    â€œOf course we do!” roared Dorcas. “Masklin and Gurder saw—”
    â€œAnd where are they now, eh?”
    â€œThey’ve gone to—well, they’ve gone to—” Dorcas began. He wasn’t much good at this, he knew. Why did it have to be him? He preferred messing around with wires and bolts and things. Bolts didn’t keep shouting at you.
    â€œYes, they’ve gone!” Nisodemus lowered his voice to a sort of angry hiss. “Think about it, you nomes! Use your, um, brains! In the Store, we knew where we were, things worked, everything was exactly as Arnold Bros (est. 1905) decreed. And suddenly we’re out here. Remember how you used to despise Outsiders? Well, the Outsiders are us! Um. And now it’s all panic again, and it always will be—until we mend our ways and Arnold Bros (est. 1905) graciously allows us back into the Store as better, wiser nomes!”
    â€œLet’s just get this clear,” said a nome. “Are you saying that the Abbot lied to us?”
    â€œI’m not saying anything like that,” said Nisodemus, sniffing. “I’m just presenting you with the facts. Um. That’s all I’m doing.”
    â€œBut, but, but the Abbot has gone to get help,” said a lady nome uncertainly. “And, and, after all, I’m sure the Store was demolished. I mean, we wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble otherwise, would we? Er.” She looked desperate.
    â€œI know this, though,” said the nome beside her. “Say what you like, but I don’t fancy this old barn everyone’s talking about. There’s not even any electricity there.”
    â€œYes, and it’s in the middle of”—another nome began, and then lowered his voice—“you know. Things. You know what I’m talking about.”
    â€œYeah,” said an elderly nome. “ Things . I’ve seen ’em. My lad took me blackberryin’ a month or two back, up above the quarry, and I seen ’em.”
    â€œI don’t mind seeing them a long way off,” said the worried lady nome. “It’s the thought of being in the middle of them that makes me come over all shaky.”
    They don’t even like to say the words open fields , thought Dorcas. I know how they feel.
    â€œIt’s snug enough here, I’ll grant you,” said the first nome, “but all this stuff you get outside, what d’you call it, begins with an N—”
    â€œNature?” said Dorcas weakly. Nisodemus was smiling madly, his eyes sparkling.
    â€œThat’s right,” said the nome. “Well, it’s not natural. And there’s a sight too much of it. ’S not like a proper world at all. You’ve only got to look at it. The floor’s all rough, ’n’ it should be flat. There’s hardly any walls. All them little starry lights that comes out at night, well, they’re not much help, are they? And now these humans go where they please, and there’s no proper Regulations like there was in the Store.”
    â€œThat’s why Arnold Bros Established the Store in 1905,” said Nisodemus. “A proper place for, um, nomes to live.”
    Dorcas gently grabbed Sacco’s ear and pulled the young nome toward him.
    â€œDo you know where Grimma