Sunwing by Kenneth Oppel Read Free Book Online

something from us.”
    “No one forced us here,” Marina reminded him. “We chose to come. We didn’t have to fly inside. You went first, remember?”
    “I thought I’d find my father.”
    She sighed. “I’m sorry, Shade, but I’m happy here. I’ve been an outcast for so long, I just want … look, I feel like I’ve got a home here, a family. Ariel’s been really kind to me. And so have you.”
    “Let’s not forget Chinook.”
    He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth.
    She was looking at him carefully. “You don’t approve of me spending time with Chinook?” she asked, with a faint but dangerous edge of anger in her voice. “Forget it.”
    “It’s not as if you’ve been around much, Shade. You’re always off flying, looking for cracks in the walls. Or sulking.”
    “I don’t sulk,” said Shade. “Whatever you call it, then.”
    “I’m thinking. I do that sometimes. Unlike Chinook.”
    “I’ll admit, he’s never going to be an elder. He’s not
special”—
she gave the word contemptuous emphasis—”but I think he’s got a good heart.”
    “Well, if you can’t have a brain, it’s great having a good heart.” Beneath his fur, his face burned with jealousy and anger. “Andlet’s not forget how hilarious he is. Why else would you spend so much time with him?”
    “Well, he’s also handsome,” Marina said carelessly.
    “Really?” Shade said, his anger giving way to genuine surprise. Chinook, handsome. He was certainly big; strong, of course; a good flyer and hunter. But Shade had never thought of him as handsome.
    Am I handsome? he wondered, and knew immediately he wasn’t. He was too runty to ever be handsome. Sometimes, beside Marina, with her luxuriant fur and elegant face, he felt positively ugly.
    “You’re right,” he told Marina coldly. “He’s very handsome.” She looked at him strangely, then shook her head. “You know what? He likes you. He’s jealous of you too. Surprised? Maybe you’ve been too busy to notice.” There was a sharpness in her voice that surprised him. “You’ve been too busy for all of us.”
    “What d’you mean?” he asked, frowning.
    “Take a break from being a hero, Shade. And guess what? You’re not the only one who’s lost a father.”
    And she flew off.
    Shade hung from a low branch, angrily snapping off oak leaves with pellets of sound. He took aim at another stem, blasted it, and watched with satisfaction as the leaf snapped neatly off and fluttered downward. Still, a leaf was not an icicle. Too easy. He turned his attention to the ground and spotted a small stone, about seven feet away. But he couldn’t concentrate.
You’re not the only one who’s lost a father.
    He winced as the words echoed in his head. Marina was telling him to get over it, reminding him she’d lost a father too,
and
a mother, and life went on. Well, maybe she could live like that, but he couldn’t. Cassiel might be lost, but Shade was going to find him. Was he supposed to apologize for that? Not giving up? Not wanting to float around here forever like a sun-stroked moth, eating bad bugs?
    Take a break from being a hero.
Now that really spiked his fur up! He was just doing what needed doing—since no one else seemed to be taking care of things. What about the other Silverwings back at Hibernaculum? What about the owls and their plans for war? What about the fact they were shut up in this artificial forest? If he didn’t worry about these things, who would? Someone had to make things happen around here!
    No wonder Marina liked Chinook better. He had both his parents, he never wondered about anything, never worried about anything. He was just so contented, he made Shade sick to his stomach. Must be great being Chinook.
    He glared at the stone on the ground.
    Move, he told it, and slammed it furiously with sound.
    To his surprise, the stone flipped over on the grass. He tried again and managed to push it along a few more inches before he gave up,