The Sirens' Feast by Benjamin Hulme-Cross Read Free Book Online

 
    Chapter 1
    A Summer Meeting
    Mr Blood, Mary and Edgar were high on a hill. They could see for miles all around. It was summer, and the sun was hot. But they could see storm clouds were coming towards them.
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    â€œWe must find somewhere to stay tonight,” said Mr Blood. He led the way down into a valley. The fields on either side of the path were just brown earth.
    Edgar was surprised. “It’s summer,” he said. “The crops should be ready for harvest. But look, everything is dead.” He was right. The crops had failed.
    â€œSomeone is coming,” said Mary. A skinny boy was running towards them across the field.
    â€œDo you have any food?” begged the boy. “We haven’t eaten for days.”

    â€œTake this,” said Mr Blood, handing over an apple and a loaf of bread from his pack. The boy put the bread under his arm and ran back across the field, eating the apple as he went.
    They saw more empty fields and then came to a small village. More hungry people came to beg for food, just as the boy had done.
    â€œWe shouldn’t stay here,” Edgar whispered.
    â€œYou’re right,” said Mr Blood, “we haven’t enough to feed them all and they could get nasty.”

    They handed over all the food they could spare and kept walking. Everywhere they looked the crops had failed.
    â€œPoor people,” Mr Blood said, shaking his head.
    They came round a bend in the lane and saw a young woman. She was dressed all in white. She was humming softly to herself. As soon as Edgar and Mr Blood saw the woman they stopped and stared at her. They could not stop staring at her.
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    Mary spoke to the young woman. “Could you help us?” she asked. “There’s a storm coming and we need somewhere to stay for the night.”

    â€œYou can stay at my father’s farm if you like,” the young woman said. “We let guests stay with us all the time. Some of them stay for a long time.” As she said this, she gave a strange smile.
    Edgar and Mr Blood stood still, staring at the woman.
    â€œSorry about them,” said Mary. “The boy is called Edgar, the man’s name is Mr Blood and I’m Mary.”
    â€œFollow me,” said the woman, turning away.
    Mr Blood and Edgar both blinked and shook their heads. It was as if they had been in a dream and had just woken up.

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    Chapter 2
    The Farm
    The young woman led them across a field towards a large farmhouse. A big man stood next to the house.
    â€œHave you found some more guests for us?” he shouted. The woman in white nodded. The man seemed pleased and he hurried across the field to meet them.
    â€œYou must stay with us until the storm has passed,” he said. “You have met my daughter, June. Now come inside and meet her sisters and my wife.”
    Mary saw that the farmer was carrying a bow.
    The farmhouse door opened and a fat woman with red cheeks waved to them.

    â€œWelcome, welcome!” she said, and then turned round to shout back through the door. “Lily! Rose! Come and meet our guests.”
    Two young women came out of the house. They both looked just like June. Mr Blood and Edgar stopped still, staring at them.
    â€œStop staring!” whispered Mary to Edgar. ‘Remember your manners!”
    â€œTriplets!” said the farmer, pointing at his three daughters. “I am a lucky man, aren’t I?”
    Mary was puzzled. She was thinking about the poor, starving boy who had asked them for food. And the villagers had been starving too. Yet the farmer and his wife were fat, and their daughters looked well-fed.
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    Mary wanted to ask Mr Blood what he thought. But when she looked at him, she saw that his eyes were blank. It was as if the three young women had put a spell on him and Edgar. Mary began to feel afraid.
    They went into the farmhouse and sat down in the kitchen.
    â€œI have some stew ready and