We Sled With Dragons by C. Alexander London Read Free Book Online Page A

charged toward her, clucking wildly. The pirates were more confused than frightened, but it gave everyone a chance to turn back and run the other way again, past the jeep with the frightened police officers, through the square, and down another alley. Dennis raced after them to keep up, and the pirates, enraged at having let a chicken distract them, gave chase.
    At that point, the women selling vegetables decided to pack up and call it a day.
    â€œYou can run but you can’t hide!” Bonnie shouted after the Navels, although she kept one of her goons in front of her in case one of the warriors threw his spear. “I’m your worst nightmare,” she taunted, unleashing a barrage of cheesy threats. Celia wondered if Bonnie knew she was acting like a second-rate TV villain. She really needed to get scarier lines.
    As they turned down a side street, the mob of goat herders blocked their path.
    â€œRaaarw!” the mob shouted, as mobs so often do. They charged forward.
    Oliver and Celia ran around the corner to the left while everyone else ran to the right. The twins ducked through the alleys as fast as they could, turning and weaving, before they noticed they were suddenly alone. They were about to turn back when they heard the roar of the mob nearby. They kept running and found themselves in front of a wide blue door.
    Celia pushed, but it didn’t open.
    â€œLet me do it,” said Oliver, taking a step back and throwing himself at the door with his shoulder. He bounced off.
    â€œOw!” He slumped down, holding his shoulder. “That looks easier on TV.”
    â€œOh. It’s a pull door, not a push,” said Celia and casually pulled the door open. She stepped over her brother. “Come on,” she said. “We’ll hide in here until the mob passes.”
    She gestured for Oliver to go first. He grunted and scampered inside and Celia shut the door behind him.
    They weren’t exactly inside. The room was large and had four thick stone walls but no ceiling. There were rows and rows of chairs spread out in front of them and there was a hole cut out of the wall above the chairs. Behind them was a narrow stage with a big white screen along the back. A big concrete tower rose from the side of the building, with rusty old letters wrapped around it.
    â€œ ODEON ,” Oliver read out loud. “I think this is some kind of movie theater.”
    â€œYou should be a superhero,” said Celia. “Captain Obvious.”
    They heard police sirens wailing past them.
    â€œI think if this were TV we wouldn’t be superheroes,” said Oliver. “We’d be the bad guys.”
    â€œOur parents just stole a truck from some goat herders and burned down a hotel in the middle of a city, and we used a poisonous lizard and a monkey to threaten the police just before sneaking into a movie theater,” said Celia. “I think even in real life we’re the bad guys now.”
    â€œThis is so
Bizarro Bandits,
” said Oliver. His sister did not disagree with him.
    â€œI can’t believe we thought we could help Mom and Dad find Atlantis,” Celia said. “We can’t even get out of this city. We are just not supposed to be explorers.”
    â€œBut what about the prophecy?” Oliver wondered.
    â€œMaybe it was all a mistake. Like, it was given to the wrong kids.”
    â€œI don’t think prophecies work like that.”
    â€œI’m going to check if the coast is clear,” said Celia, cracking open the door they’d come through to peek out. Oliver looked around. There were mannequins all along the side wall, each dressed like a famous character from a classic movie. There were even a few from famous child actors back in the early black-and-white days of film. Oliver didn’t recognize any of them. He looked up at the hole in the wall.
    â€œThat must be the projection booth,” he said out loud, and glanced away to make sure