Read Online Rivers of Fire (Atherton, Book 2) by Patrick Carman - Free Book Online Page A
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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of them were falling apart or already in a pile on the ground. The crashing world of Atherton had done its best to level the Village of Rabbits, and it had come very close to doing a perfect job of it.
As she approached the last house on the end of a row her heart leaped. This was her house, and it was still standing. There was a long narrow room that was open on one end and attached to the house, with maybe twenty rabbits in hutches along the walls. It was shaded from the sun toward the back where the rabbits were, just the way Henrietta liked it.
"Henrietta?" the girl sang softly. Just then she heard a strange sound, like two bones clanging together very quickly
72
from somewhere in the dark corner of the skinny room. She stepped forward carefully, peering through shafts of light that were creeping into the dusty air of the space. The sound came again, and this time the girl screamed like she'd never screamed before. Something had latched onto Henrietta, holding the rabbit between its crooked teeth.
The girl fled back to the inn for help. Whatever it was didn't follow her. Instead, it slunk back into the dark corner and devoured the beloved pet.
A group from the village soon arrived with sharp sticks and rocks. They pried the flimsy walls down and opened the room to the light of day, and there in the corner, clicking its bloody teeth, was the thing they'd been told about. It was a Cleaner.
The moment the walls were down it began racing in search of a new dark spot to hide in. The Cleaner cowered in the middle of a circle of men as they threw rocks at it. Soon the Cleaner was beaten enough that the men could approach it and poke it with the sharp sticks they carried. And then, without further violence, the Cleaner was dead.
There came a howl of excitement from the crowd. This was the monster that would come in great numbers to tear apart the rabbits and the children?
"I think we could handle a hundred of those," cried one man.
"A thousand!" yelled another. There was genuine happiness in the group, except for the girl, who had lost her Henrietta and could not be consoled.
73
Then through the hollering crowd strode Briney, Maude, and Horace with a few of his men. The crowd parted like water as the group who'd been conferring inside the inn came to the middle of the circle and stood before the fallen creature.
"Killed it, did you?" said Maude. She was not in a favorable mood.
"We did!" came the cry of several men, holding their sharp sticks over their heads like great conquerors.
"It would have been more useful if you'd let it live. We could have studied its movements."
This took a little wind out of the group. A quiet passed over them.
"You know what this is, don't you?" asked Maude. She had seen a Cleaner from a distance and been told much more about them by Vincent. The night before, he had visited her while Edgar was in the grove.
"Why, it's a Cleaner, like you said," answered one of the villagers.
"It's a baby Cleaner," said Maude. She walked a few paces and stood over the fallen creature. "This thing must have wandered off from its den in the middle of the night, following the smell of rabbits." Maude looked hard at the circle of people around her. "Imagine something bigger, with teeth as large as those sticks in your hands, and you're getting closer to the truth of what we face."
"How much bigger?" asked a woman holding the crying little girl who had loved Henrietta. The dead Cleaner was about
74
four feet long and thick around the middle, and it had a disgustingly huge mouth full of jagged teeth.
Maude didn't hesitate. "Eight or ten feet long, probably four hundred pounds. And aggressive. You won't be throwing rocks at a pack of full-grown ones when they show up here. You'll be running for your life."
The short-lived glee was now completely gone from the group. Maude wondered if she'd told them too much. There could be a real risk of hysteria if she wasn't careful.
"You need to form groups and go
As she approached the last house on the end of a row her heart leaped. This was her house, and it was still standing. There was a long narrow room that was open on one end and attached to the house, with maybe twenty rabbits in hutches along the walls. It was shaded from the sun toward the back where the rabbits were, just the way Henrietta liked it.
"Henrietta?" the girl sang softly. Just then she heard a strange sound, like two bones clanging together very quickly
72
from somewhere in the dark corner of the skinny room. She stepped forward carefully, peering through shafts of light that were creeping into the dusty air of the space. The sound came again, and this time the girl screamed like she'd never screamed before. Something had latched onto Henrietta, holding the rabbit between its crooked teeth.
The girl fled back to the inn for help. Whatever it was didn't follow her. Instead, it slunk back into the dark corner and devoured the beloved pet.
A group from the village soon arrived with sharp sticks and rocks. They pried the flimsy walls down and opened the room to the light of day, and there in the corner, clicking its bloody teeth, was the thing they'd been told about. It was a Cleaner.
The moment the walls were down it began racing in search of a new dark spot to hide in. The Cleaner cowered in the middle of a circle of men as they threw rocks at it. Soon the Cleaner was beaten enough that the men could approach it and poke it with the sharp sticks they carried. And then, without further violence, the Cleaner was dead.
There came a howl of excitement from the crowd. This was the monster that would come in great numbers to tear apart the rabbits and the children?
"I think we could handle a hundred of those," cried one man.
"A thousand!" yelled another. There was genuine happiness in the group, except for the girl, who had lost her Henrietta and could not be consoled.
73
Then through the hollering crowd strode Briney, Maude, and Horace with a few of his men. The crowd parted like water as the group who'd been conferring inside the inn came to the middle of the circle and stood before the fallen creature.
"Killed it, did you?" said Maude. She was not in a favorable mood.
"We did!" came the cry of several men, holding their sharp sticks over their heads like great conquerors.
"It would have been more useful if you'd let it live. We could have studied its movements."
This took a little wind out of the group. A quiet passed over them.
"You know what this is, don't you?" asked Maude. She had seen a Cleaner from a distance and been told much more about them by Vincent. The night before, he had visited her while Edgar was in the grove.
"Why, it's a Cleaner, like you said," answered one of the villagers.
"It's a baby Cleaner," said Maude. She walked a few paces and stood over the fallen creature. "This thing must have wandered off from its den in the middle of the night, following the smell of rabbits." Maude looked hard at the circle of people around her. "Imagine something bigger, with teeth as large as those sticks in your hands, and you're getting closer to the truth of what we face."
"How much bigger?" asked a woman holding the crying little girl who had loved Henrietta. The dead Cleaner was about
74
four feet long and thick around the middle, and it had a disgustingly huge mouth full of jagged teeth.
Maude didn't hesitate. "Eight or ten feet long, probably four hundred pounds. And aggressive. You won't be throwing rocks at a pack of full-grown ones when they show up here. You'll be running for your life."
The short-lived glee was now completely gone from the group. Maude wondered if she'd told them too much. There could be a real risk of hysteria if she wasn't careful.
"You need to form groups and go
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