Saving Thanehaven by Catherine Jinks Read Free Book Online Page B

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    “Oh.” Lorellina sounds disappointed. “Are the clouds always here?”
    “I don’t know.” He tries to recollect. “I don’t think so.…”
    “How big it is! The outside world. It makes me feel …”—she pauses—“… very small,” she concludes.
    Noble glances down at her. “You
are
small,” he can’t help pointing out.
    For some reason, this isn’t well received. “Small in stature, perhaps,” she growls, flushing. Then she points. “Are those the gargoyles?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then I will give them the freedom of the sky,” she announces.
    As she sets off again, Noble peers back over his shoulder. He sees that Rufus is at the very end of the parade, deep in conversation with one of the potato-headed, shell-backed guards. Noble frowns. He hopes that Rufus doesn’t persuade the whole garrison to lay down its arms. Not yet, anyway. Not until they’re absolutely sure that the mysterious “enemy agent” won’t be showing up.
    But then again, Rufus hasn’t put a foot wrong yet. He seems to know exactly what he’s doing. Noble tells himself that if Rufus isn’t worried, none of them should be. So far, Noble’s faith in Rufus has been well founded.
    “You, there! Gargoyle!” Having reached the first black plinth, Lorellina is addressing the creature chained to it. “What is your name?”
    The gargoyle opens its yellow eyes. It looks vaguely like a winged warthog, with its curly tusks, hairy crest, and leathery snout.
    “I have no name,” it creaks.
    “Then I shall give you one.” The princess lays a finger on her chin and ponders for a moment. “You will be called Doddypoll,” she finally decides. “Doddypoll Scrumping.”
    Doddypoll stares at her in astonishment—and Noble wonders if she might have been the one responsible for naming all the guards.
    “Doddypoll,” she continues, “I am Princess Lorellina, your liege lady, and I am here to set you free.”
    There’s a sudden snapping of wings all along the road. Noble can hear the gargoyles hissing to one another from plinth to plinth. The princess must hear them, too, because she loudly declares, “I have come to set you
all
free, for a new age is upon this land—a golden age of justice and liberty!”
    “Uh—Princess?” A low voice interrupts her. Dropping his gaze, Noble sees that Rufus is tugging at Lorellina’s gown. “Could I just have a word with those guys for one minute?”
    Though Lorellina is startled, she yields with good grace. “Of course,” she says. Rufus promptly steps infront of her to address the corridor of gargoyles in a piercing, high-pitched voice.
    “Okay, you guys—now, as you can see, we’ve kept our promise. We said we’d get you released and we have. But one good turn deserves another.” He shakes his hair out of his eyes and pinions the nearest gargoyle with a glare. “I know you won’t be dumb enough to start misbehaving when we let you go. I know you realize that if you start causing trouble, Lord Harrowmage will simply chain you up again. Right? Huh? Are we all agreed on that?”
    There’s a brief silence. At last, Doddypoll speaks up.
    “Yes,” he squawks, sparking an echo that runs down the double line of gargoyles.
Yes … yes … yesssss …
    “So I’m not asking you to be good, because that’s a given,” Rufus explains. “What I’m asking for is a volunteer. We need one of you to take a message to the clan caves of Thanehaven. It’s an important message about peace in our time and it’s something you should be proud to carry.” He scans the matched rows of attentive, scaly heads. “Any takers?” he asks.
    After another pause, Doddypoll says hoarsely, “I will.”
    “Are you sure?” Rufus seems to have some misgivings. “Can you really handle this? Because it’s a long way to go and a lot to remember.”
    “I can go. I can remember,” Doddypoll assureshim. “Tell me what to say and I will say it.”
    Rufus nods. Then he steps back with a smile