Read Online Rivers of Fire (Atherton, Book 2) by Patrick Carman - Free Book Online
Authors: Patrick Carman
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Children's Books, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure - General, Fantasy & Magic, YA), Children's Fiction, Ages 9-12 Fiction, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Social Issues, Orphans, Social classes, Children: Grades 4-6, Friendship, Science fiction; American, Orphans & Foster Homes, Science fiction (Children's, Children's & young adult fiction & true stories, Earthquakes
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he was unharmed and looking surprisingly well. The old man was always looking surprisingly well. Vincent took his fingers from his nose before answering.
"I'm fine. This will stop bleeding soon enough."
There was a sigh of relief among the three of them, but it lasted only a few seconds. From deep below the Highlands there came a bottomless, gurgling hum that didn't stop for several minutes. The walls lurched out of the ground, slimy with mud. The soggy smell swelled strong and sharp in Edgar's nose, and he couldn't say if it was the smell of Atherton being born or withering away.
Very quickly they went from being thirty feet below Tabletop to a hundred feet, and Edgar wondered how in the world he would ever get his two companions back out again.
The three moved through the trees wordlessly and with great care, expecting to be overtaken or trapped by an enemy at any moment. When they reached the other side of the line of trees and gazed out over the beauty of the Highlands, it was Vincent who spoke first.
"There's no one here," he said. "They've all gone into the House of Power."
"Even the horses are gone," said Edgar. He was looking off
69
toward the stable, the place where he'd first seen the giant four-legged animals he thought might try to eat him. It was silent there, too. He couldn't imagine the horses crowded into the courtyard of the House of Power, trampling the flowers and making a terrible mess.
"I don't think we're going to find anyone here," said Dr. Kincaid, stepping out from the shelter of the trees and into the open field that lay before them. "This place has been deserted."
***
Samuel and Isabel were on a remarkably different path from Edgar as he moved beyond the trees and into the realm of the House of Power. Samuel was trying his best to lead the way through the gloomy world of Mead's Hollow in search of the source of water. His father had told him where he must go and had instructed him on the many dangers to be avoided, but it was slow going in the underbelly of Atherton. They moved with a stone wall at their backs, feeling their thirst growing, following a path that would soon bring them face-to-face with Lord Phineus.
70
*** CHAPTER 9 AN UNNATURAL QUIET
The people who lived in the Village of Rabbits were farmers who raised rabbits all day long. There was hardly a fighter among them--save Maude--and it had been quite a stretch to get them to stand firm against the recent attack from the Highlands. The fight had given them some courage and vigor, but it had also showed them the bleakness of war. People had died, and the violence had left them wishing they'd never have to defend themselves again.
They had spent a long night doing as Dr. Kincaid and Vincent had instructed, but the effort seemed futile to almost everyone in the village. They had taken what wood they could salvage from the broken-down houses to make what might be called spears by someone with an active imagination. Most felt that if there really were giant creatures on the way to the village
71
by the hundreds, makeshift shelters and pointy sticks would not protect them.
When morning came upon them there were three hundred people milling around outside the inn, all of them waiting for word of hope from inside.
But there happened to be on that morning one who didn't stand waiting to hear how the leaders inside the inn would decide her fate. She was a child of seven, and she loved her rabbits more than anything in the world. She especially fond of one particular rabbit, Henrietta, that was about to have babies.
The children were being watched carefully with so much danger afoot, but this particular girl had a way of slipping away unnoticed. She drifted away from the large group, kicking a pebble and pretending to play by herself. There came a moment when no one was watching closely, and she slid behind a house that was leaning unsteadily to one side. She skirted along the row of houses, noticing as she went that almost all
"I'm fine. This will stop bleeding soon enough."
There was a sigh of relief among the three of them, but it lasted only a few seconds. From deep below the Highlands there came a bottomless, gurgling hum that didn't stop for several minutes. The walls lurched out of the ground, slimy with mud. The soggy smell swelled strong and sharp in Edgar's nose, and he couldn't say if it was the smell of Atherton being born or withering away.
Very quickly they went from being thirty feet below Tabletop to a hundred feet, and Edgar wondered how in the world he would ever get his two companions back out again.
The three moved through the trees wordlessly and with great care, expecting to be overtaken or trapped by an enemy at any moment. When they reached the other side of the line of trees and gazed out over the beauty of the Highlands, it was Vincent who spoke first.
"There's no one here," he said. "They've all gone into the House of Power."
"Even the horses are gone," said Edgar. He was looking off
69
toward the stable, the place where he'd first seen the giant four-legged animals he thought might try to eat him. It was silent there, too. He couldn't imagine the horses crowded into the courtyard of the House of Power, trampling the flowers and making a terrible mess.
"I don't think we're going to find anyone here," said Dr. Kincaid, stepping out from the shelter of the trees and into the open field that lay before them. "This place has been deserted."
***
Samuel and Isabel were on a remarkably different path from Edgar as he moved beyond the trees and into the realm of the House of Power. Samuel was trying his best to lead the way through the gloomy world of Mead's Hollow in search of the source of water. His father had told him where he must go and had instructed him on the many dangers to be avoided, but it was slow going in the underbelly of Atherton. They moved with a stone wall at their backs, feeling their thirst growing, following a path that would soon bring them face-to-face with Lord Phineus.
70
*** CHAPTER 9 AN UNNATURAL QUIET
The people who lived in the Village of Rabbits were farmers who raised rabbits all day long. There was hardly a fighter among them--save Maude--and it had been quite a stretch to get them to stand firm against the recent attack from the Highlands. The fight had given them some courage and vigor, but it had also showed them the bleakness of war. People had died, and the violence had left them wishing they'd never have to defend themselves again.
They had spent a long night doing as Dr. Kincaid and Vincent had instructed, but the effort seemed futile to almost everyone in the village. They had taken what wood they could salvage from the broken-down houses to make what might be called spears by someone with an active imagination. Most felt that if there really were giant creatures on the way to the village
71
by the hundreds, makeshift shelters and pointy sticks would not protect them.
When morning came upon them there were three hundred people milling around outside the inn, all of them waiting for word of hope from inside.
But there happened to be on that morning one who didn't stand waiting to hear how the leaders inside the inn would decide her fate. She was a child of seven, and she loved her rabbits more than anything in the world. She especially fond of one particular rabbit, Henrietta, that was about to have babies.
The children were being watched carefully with so much danger afoot, but this particular girl had a way of slipping away unnoticed. She drifted away from the large group, kicking a pebble and pretending to play by herself. There came a moment when no one was watching closely, and she slid behind a house that was leaning unsteadily to one side. She skirted along the row of houses, noticing as she went that almost all
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