Read Online Circles in the Stream (Avalon: Web of Magic #1) by Rachel Roberts - Free Book Online

get away tomorrow?” Adriane asked.
    “As long as I get my chores done…which reminds me, I should get back. “
    “What should we do about him ?” Adriane jerked her thumb in the direction of the snoring ferret.
    “I’ll take him with me.” Emily gently scooped the ferret up and deposited him in her backpack.
    “Mommy, I don’t want to ride the flobbin,” Ozzie mumbled, sleepily.
    Adriane shrugged. “Elves! Come on, I’ll walk you and Alice up to the main road.”
    Outside, the western sky was awash with orange and purple, tingeing the forest with a magical glow. From out of nowhere, Stormbringer appeared by Adriane’s side and joined the girls as they made their way along the road. The wolf was silent and Emily had to remind herself that Storm wasn’t just Adriane’s pet dog, jogging along beside them. When they reached the edge of the park grounds, the girls stopped.
    “Okay, tomorrow we’ll search the woods and see if we can find the animals,” Adriane said.
    “We’re going to have to be really careful.”
    “I’m not afraid,” Adriane boasted. “Are you?”
    “I grew up hiking in the Colorado Mountains, where plenty of wild animals roam—I’m not afraid.” Emily tried to sound as brave as she could.
    “You know,” Adriane said, “there’s an Iroquois story that says if two people wear the same bracelet, it means they’re linked, joined.”
    “Like…friends?” Emily smiled and raised her bracelet.
    Adriane grimaced. Then a small smile escaped her lips. She held her braceleted arm next to Emily’s. The two gems sparkled in the fading sun.

T HE NEXT MORNING , Emily was up early. She dressed quickly, pulling on shorts and an aqua T-shirt. Sliding on her hiking boots, she ran downstairs to check on the cat. Her remaining bandages looked clean and dry—no more seepage through the white gauze, no unnatural glow evident at all—and she actually ate all the canned food Emily gave her.
    Emily went to the Pet Palace and fed the dogs, then returned to the house, where she fetched Ozzie from her room. He was still sleeping on the big fluffy pillow she’d given him for a bed.
    As she slipped him into her backpack, he opened his eyes. “Hey, what’re you doing?”
    “Rise and shine, we’re off to see the wizard.”
    “Really? That’s great news!”
    Emily shook her head as she bounced down the stairs. “You are one wacky ferret.”
    “Thank you.”
    Carolyn was sitting in the kitchen eating a grapefruit and making notes in her scheduling book.
    “Hey, Mom.” Emily opened the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice. “I’m going over to Adriane’s, okay?”
    “Chores done?”
    Emily smiled. “Yup. And the cat’s doing much better, too.”
    Carolyn smiled. “That’s great, Doc. But wouldn’t it be better if Adriane came here?”
    “Why?” Emily gulped down her juice while she waited for an English muffin to toast.
    “I’m not happy about you going into those woods.”
    “Mom! Adriane lives in a house, not in the woods!” She left out the fact that once she was at Adriane’s house, she was, technically, already in the woods. She lathered her breakfast with jam and handed a piece to Ozzie.
    “Strawberry! Yumm!”
    Carolyn looked over. Emily and Ozzie both smiled back.
    E MILY MADE HER way across the park and up the road to the preserve. The morning air held a faint crispness that reminded her summer was fading. She sighed, thinking of what September would bring: more changes.
    Ozzie was rummaging around in her backpack.
    “Stop fidgeting,” she told him.
    “Where’s the oatmeal ones?”
    “They’re in there.”
    Ozzie stuck his head out. “Can this wizard help us find the portal?”
    “I was kidding about the wizard.”
    “Oh.” Ozzie leaned out of the pack, clearly depressed. “I’ll never get home, will I?”
    “Maybe we can help you.”
    He perked up. “You’d help me?”
    “Of course I would, and Adriane would, too”
    “You know, if I have to be