Dream Boat by Marilyn Todd Read Free Book Online Page A

around him like a whirlwind. Which path would he choose? The snarl meant
    nothing. Bravado. An authentic streak of viciousness. Only he could know.
    Dammit, this could still go either way.
    Crouched forward, the boy jabbed the air. To show he meant business? To stall for time?
    Back off, Claudia. Now. While you can. Walk away. This simply isn't worth it. The voice nagged on in her head, but unfortunately Claudia Seferius had never been a good listener.
    This was Life with a capital L. Precious. Precarious.
    You had to taste terror to appreciate life, because without fear, there could be no highs to offset against it. You had to taste death to understand its opposite. You had to gamble.  Claudia was a born gambler, and always the stake was the same. Adventure. The difference between tedium and the unknown; humdrum or the zest for living. And who in their right minds would settle for humdrum and tedious, when life turns on the spin of a coin?
    The coin continued to spin.
    Sweat stuck the cotton to her back, fear made the blood thunder past her temples. Time - precious time, maybe all the time she had left - became at once both meaningless and dear.
    She thought of the coin. And wondered how long it would remain spinning in the air.
    Time, already stretched to its limit, now became stuck fast at zero. In this dingy, narrow alley, street sounds from beyond were muted. Only Claudia's heart crashed like a boar in the undergrowth. Perspiration trickled down her forehead and dripped into her eye. She didn't blink. Couldn't -
    Come on. Come on, come on, get it over with . . .
    Suddenly - 'Bitch!' With a wild lunge, the boy rushed towards her.
    SHIT!
    Frozen for so long, his mood shift caught Claudia off her guard. Almost. As he dived forward, she dropped to the ground. It was a move he hadn't expected. It knocked his knees from
    under him. Claudia latched on to his thin, bony ankle. He kicked free, but as he did so, they spun a full semi-circle together and simultaneously sprang to their feet.
    The boy's furious expression told her all she needed to know about his feelings at being back at the point where he had started. Heart thumping, she followed his eyes. Frightened eyes. Angry eyes. Green as a feral cat's. Now the cat was cornered once again, and it did not know what to do.
    With a high-pitched, ululating sound screaming from the back of his throat, he shot forwards, head down, and suddenly Claudia realised the coin of life had, after all, landed her way. The knife was held out to the side.
    His body language told her his intention was to head-butt her in the stomach, not to kill. Just like the first time, she realised somewhat belatedly. Because by charging forward, as he had, he'd expected her to flatten herself against the house wall as he made good his escape. But still he ran towards her. With her breath suspended and his primitive cry ringing in her ears, she waited until the last possible second, made a feint to the left, skewed to the right. As she spun, she grabbed the boy's wrist and twisted as hard as she could.
    'Aaargh!' With a sharp yelp of pain, the blade shot out of his grip and spun harmlessly back down the alley.
    Jack-knifing him round, the momentum carried them both forward until they tumbled - praise be to Juno - on to a soft pile of fleeces, newly washed and ready for market. And this time, when she grabbed hold, Claudia made sure it was by the boy's hair and not by the tunic. White fleeces, brown fleeces, some with black spots lay strewn all over the cobbles.
    There are times, she thought, blowing the hair out of her eyes, when life proves it can be worth living.
    'This,' she wheezed, stuffing the scrap of tunic from their last encounter under his nose, 'is no fair exchange for my gold bracelet.'
    The boy could barely see for tears of pain.
    'Take a long, lingering look at the sun up there, because it'll be the last you see of it for some time.'
    Claudia tipped his head up