We Are Not Eaten by Yaks by C. Alexander London Read Free Book Online

it could be to have a twin sister, sometimes it was helpful. Oliver didn’t have to say anything. They were thinking the same thing. There was something not right about Choden Thordup either, for that matter.
    Celia thought the Tibetan mountain climber looked the way a person looks when she’s just handed in a paper about a book she didn’t read. The teacher always says that seeing a movie isn’t the same thing, but it’s so much more fun to watch the movie, so you do and then you write the paper and you hope that the book and the movie are the same and that the teacher won’t notice. Choden Thordup had that look on her face. Celia knew that look. She was an expert in it.
    â€œShangri-La is a fantasy,” Sir Edmund scoffed. “Only fools believe in it.” He looked menacingly at Dr. Navel. Oliver and Celia tried to glare menacingly back at him, but he didn’t even seem to notice.
    â€œMy wife was no fool,” Celia and Oliver’s father answered. “She believed in it. I wasn’t certain until now, but I believe she found it, which means she was right about the Great Library too. The Lost Tablets are the closest thing we have to finding the library itself.”
    He held the paper up above Sir Edmund, who did not even bother to look up at it.
    â€œDon’t be an idiot, Navel.” Sir Edmund rolled his eyes. “You’ll get the children’s hopes up.”
    Oliver and Celia looked to their father, who gazed back at them with his gentle blue eyes that held so much sadness. His glasses had slipped down his nose again. He missed their mother, very dearly.
    â€œThe scientific value of such a discovery would be unimaginable,” he finally answered. “Shangri-La and the Lost Tablets of Alexandria!”
    â€œPoppycock!” Sir Edmund shouted.
    â€œI am no liar, sir,” Choden Thordup added. “This place is real.”
    â€œRubbish!” said Sir Edmund. “No such thing.”
    â€œBut the doctor’s wife’s writing suggests that—”
    â€œBalderdash!” Sir Edmund cut her off.
    â€œYou do wrong to insult our guest,” Dr. Navel said.
    â€œYou do wrong to believe in such a fairy tale. I think this discovery is just a cry for attention from an unknown mountain climber trying to make a name for herself. Who ever heard of Choden Thordup before today?”
    The explorers’ murmurs got louder, but no one spoke up.
    â€œI’ve discovered more in my sock drawer than you will ever see in your entire life,” Choden Thordup finally answered.
    â€œName one thing!”
    â€œIf we were in my country, Sir Edmund,” she snapped, “I would feed you to a yak.”
    â€œYaks don’t even eat meat,” said Sir Edmund.
    â€œFor you, they would make an exception,” Choden replied.
    Oliver and Celia smirked at each other. This was almost as good as a soap opera. Sure, their father’s life was in danger—even though he didn’t seem to care—and their mother might be found, and threats were flying back and forth across the room like paper airplanes during study hall, but this sort of thing happened every day on television, and you could eat microwave popcorn while you watched it. All the snacks at the Ceremony of Discovery were slimy. Some were still moving.
    â€œEnough!” shouted Professor Kamil Rasmali-Greenberg, the president of the Explorers Club and the most legendary adventurer in the world. He had been made a king in several countries, was called a god in others and had the world’s largest collection of ties with ducks on them. He was wearing a thick purple and green one at the moment, and, because he was a very big man, the tie was almost as wide as Celia’s head.
    â€œI will not have more arguing than usual at this meeting,” the professor announced. “We have now reached eight minutes of shouting and death threats for every one minute of