The Queen and the Nobody Boy by Barbara Else Read Free Book Online

out something shiny. The bird’s head was round like an owl’s, with dark eyes. Its tail feathers were like spikes, some of them bent.
    Hodie stared. “I saw King Jasper making that. I didn’t think it would actually fly – and it got this far!”
    â€œHe said he was making me a present …” She turned it in her hands.
    Hodie felt relief swell in his chest. “The King put a lot of work into that. Some of it’s gold. You’d better take it home before it gets broken.”
    The bird squawked again, then chirped. Queen Sibilla held it to her ear. Hodie heard a few words, faint and garbled. Then there was a soft whirring as if it caught its metal breath.
    â€œThere,” Hodie said. “It told you to go home.”
    Her eyes sparked with mischief. “It said that you were a bit timid of the Bridge. Race you across!”
    She grabbed her bag and started running.
    ~

8
    earlier bad choices
lead to ...
    The bird had said nothing of the sort! Hodie looked around for something that might help, wrenched one of those rusty metal bars out of the dirt, and hurtled after her.
    Loose stones skidded under his boot, but he righted himself and reached the road. Ahead was a squawk – the metal bird was flying above the Queen’s shoulder.
    Hodie pounded on. But can’t you sneak across quietly? he had asked his father. No , Dardy had answered . You have to run for it. Run for your life .
    He slipped again but found his balance. The little Queen had nearly reached the first set of iron pillars. Now Hodie was near enough to see tiny spikes of metal on the planks. Sibilla set foot on the Bridge, and a loud yell came from underneath. It was the bridge-troll.
    The river churned and frothed as the troll lurched to the machinery on the far side. “Oi! Say me the password!” It grabbed the levers.
    Sibilla hesitated – good, Hodie would catch her in time, he might not need to use the metal bar after all. But then she tossed her head and started across.
    There was a shriek of steel. The metal spikes along the planks shot up. The Queen screamed and dodged. The troll heaved on the levers to make the spikes jab up and down.
    Hodie reached the pillars and ran on. A spike scratched his calf. He nearly dropped the metal bar, juggled it, and had to leap because another spike stabbed up.
    Ahead, the little Queen scrambled and dodged too, screaming. Three spikes jabbed for him at the same time – somehow, he jumped them all. At last he saw a gap between the planks, and jammed the metal bar down into it as hard as he could. With a terrible screech, the machinery stopped.
    Hodie leaned on the railing, chest heaving. Blood dripped into his boot. The little Queen was half way across, hands on her hips.
    The troll kept tugging the levers. “You break the mechi-nism!”
    The little Queen’s voice rang out. “All we want to do is walk across! You don’t have permission to stop us!”
    â€œThe Um’Binnians put him there,” called Hodie.
    â€œBad boy break mechi-nism!” The troll waded back into the river, tugging its hair and grumbling louder.
    â€œOne side of the river is Fontania,” Sibilla shouted down to it. “But nobody owns the river, and nobody owns the Stones of Beyond. There is an agreement that we share the Stones with Um’Binnia!”
    â€œBut they don’t want to share! They don’t let everybody in!” Hodie limped towards her. “And Fontania has never done a thing about it.”
    â€œBecause we don’t like arguments!” Sibilla cried.
    â€œYou’re arguing now!” he yelled.
    Sibilla stuck her chin out. “If Emperor Prowdd’on says he owns this bridge, he’s wrong.”
    â€œThere was nearly a war because Fontania won’t stand up for itself,” Hodie shouted. “Um’Binnia thinks it can own everything because it’s so much bigger.”
    The troll let out a