Glasruhen Gate by Catherine Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

‘Now why didn’t I think of that before?’
    ‘Is he telling the truth?’ asked Jack.
    ‘He isss, he isss,’ screeched Agye. ‘Now give me back my eyesss.’
    ‘I’ll peck the holes,’ Jack told Camelin. ‘If they try to double cross us you can sort her out again, you’ve got a better aim than me.’
    ‘Won’t double crossss, we promissse.’

    Jack hopped back in front of the well when he’d finished pecking two holes into the hardened mud. It looked as if Agye was wearing a mask but at least she didn’t transfix him again.
    ‘Come on,’ said Camelin. ‘Let’s go and find ourselves a Dorysk.’
    ‘What’s a Dorysk?’ asked Jack.
    Camelin tutted loudly, ‘Don’t you know anything?’
    They took off in the direction of Newton Gill. As they left, Grol and Agye were still grumbling. After a while, the only sound in the night was the flapping and fluttering of wings.
    ‘Thank you,’ Jack said after his legs had stopped trembling. ‘It was lucky you two came along when you did.’
    Camelin humphed and gave the bats a glower.
    ‘I don’t think luck has much to do with it. We were followed, weren’t we?’
    ‘You said we could go on an adventure with you, and we wanted to find out what you were up to,’ Timmery replied.
    ‘We thought we could look for Norris and Snook at the same time,’ continued Charkle. ‘Maybe we could ask the Dorysk if it knows where any Dragonettes have been seen lately. That’s if you catch one.’
    ‘What d’you mean, if I catch one! I’ll have you know I can spot a Dorysk no matter how hard it tries to disguise itself, but they’ll only answer one question. You’ll have to catch your own if you want to ask about your family. And make sure you have something to trade or you’ll not get an answer at all.’
    ‘Would someone please tell me what a Dorysk is?’
    They all looked at Jack. Camelin sighed.
    ‘Dorysks are a bit like Bogies, they spy and trade information. Unlike Bogies they can shape shift, but only into something about the same size or smaller, nothing bigger.’
    ‘Do they like shiny things like water nymphs?’
    ‘They’ll trade for anything that takes their fancy but they mainly they like sharp things, like pins. Some of them are pin millionaires.’
    Jack had no idea why anyone would want a million pins. He wondered how big a Dorysk was and hoped it was going to be friendly.
    ‘What’s Nora going to say when she finds out where we’ve been and what happened?’
    Camelin looked at them all in turn.
    ‘Nora isn’t going to find out, is she? No one breathes a word. Promise?’
    ‘Promise,’ they agreed.
    ‘It’ll be our secret,’ piped Timmery.
    ‘Yes, a secret,’ agreed Camelin.
    ‘So what does a Dorysk look like?’ continued Jack.
    ‘Depends what shape it’s in. Don’t know why I didn’t think of a Dorysk, I should have gone hunting for one before. We’d have had the cauldron remade by now. The problem is, they’re not very easy to catch.’
    Jack didn’t ask any more questions. He was worried about getting back to Grandad’s, it must be late by now and he’d got to get up in the morning for school. He didn’t like to ask how long it would take to find a Dorysk.

    They were at the edge of Newton Gill Forest when Camelin started to descend. He made his way towards what used to be an ash tree. Its leafless branches were rotten and creaked as they landed.
    ‘What do we do now?’ asked Jack.
    ‘Act suspicious, do something unusual. That will always bring a Dorysk out. They’re even nosier than Bogies.’
    ‘Couldn’t we go back now? Nora’s going to find out you know, the trees will tell her.’
    ‘Not these. Don’t you remember, dead wood don’t talk? The only thing the trees and Nora are talking about at the moment is Arrana. She hasn’t got time for tittle-tattle, she’s too busy worrying.’
    Jack was worried too. He knew time was running out. They all sat on the branch, no one moved and no one did anything