Read Online On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson - Free Book Online Page B

tighter.
    â€œWould you, now?” Gnorm said coldly. “In that case, don’t touch them. If you tried to whip them, they’d probably bessst you anyway. We’ll have them sent to Dang tonight.” He laughed as he turned away. “Send a crow for the Carriage.”

12
    Not the Same as Ships and Sharks
    T he door closed with a thud, and Janner felt his heart drop like a stone over the cliffs and into the sea. Suddenly a growl filled the air. Slarb arched his back and opened his jaws impossibly wide, baring his fangs and clenching his fists. Janner could see the pinkish muscles in Slarb’s mouth, the black, moist tongue wriggling about like a worm, and worst of all, those yellowed, dripping fangs. He shuddered at the thought of those poisonous teeth biting into his skin, of those clawed hands tearing into his flesh. It was easy to see why it was said that no Fang had ever been killed by a human. Black Carriage or not, any fate seemed better to Janner than dying at the hands of Slarb.
    The Fang strode over to the ring of keys, panting, a bit of poisonous drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. He ripped the ring from the wall, strode to the cell door and jammed a key into the lock, infuriated when the first key didn’t work. Tink and Janner slid Leeli into the back corner of the cell, then stood in front of her, wondering what they could possibly do other than grit their teeth and fight with all that was in them when this maddened Fang burst through the cell door.
    But Slarb never opened the cell. The door behind him opened, and the burly Fang called Brak lumbered in.
    â€œHullo, Slarby.”
    Slarb straightened quickly and turned around, hiding the ring of keys behind his back. “Brak,” he said, “I told you not to call me that.”
    â€œSo we get to deport ’em, eh?” Brak said with a hint of glee. “I love watchin’ ’em wriggle when we put ’em in the Carriage, don’t you, SSSlarby?”
    Slarb was straining to speak in a level voice. “Yesss. Deporting them all.” He wiped the poisonous drool from his mouth with his forearm and casually hung the keys back on the wall. “It’s probably worssse for them in the long run anyway,” he said with a wicked grin, turning his black eyes on the children. “
Much
worse in the long run.”
    The two Fangs left the room. Janner and Tink collapsed to the floor beside Leeli.
    â€œWe have to figure a way out of this,” Janner said, trying again to sound older than he was. “If there’s anything Podo taught me, it’s that there’s always a way out.”
    â€œBut that’s grandpa, a one-legged man playing Ships and Sharks 1 with little kids,” Tink said. “
This
isn’t a game.”
    â€œI know it’s no game, Tink. But it won’t do any good to argue with someone bigger than you.” Janner punched Tink’s shoulder playfully.
    Deep down Janner didn’t have the slightest idea how they would get out of this mess—and he feared that they wouldn’t. But as the oldest, he felt the need to keep up their spirits. From what he’d heard, much bigger and braver people had been forced into the Black Carriage, so why shouldn’t they? Those bigger and braver people were never seen again, so why should they? All he knew was that it was better to be in a Fang jail cell with a little bit of hope than without it.
    Leeli fell asleep with her head on Tink’s lap, and before long Tink drifted off too. Janner paced the cell for hours, wondering what Podo and Nia were doing. By now they had to know the children were missing, and they likely knew from the townspeople that the children were in the jail. He pulled himself up by the bars in the high window, but it faced the shadowy rear of the jail. There was nothing to see. The cell door was locked fast and the keys were unreachable. There was nothing to do but wait. Tink was