Read Online So Silver Bright by Lisa Mantchev - Free Book Online Page B

suffused her cheeks, and she ducked around the far side of the wagon. Before Serefina traded her for the mask, Bertie certainly hadn’t considered the notion that she was as much an actress as any Player at the Théâtre Illuminata, but now she had the proof of it. She forced herself to take one deep breath, then another, her back pressed flat against the caravan until she was nearly felled by a cloth-wrapped slab of bacon.
    “Incoming!” Mustardseed yelled several seconds too late. Four little heads appeared overhead, followed by squeals of “Bertie!” and “Look at all the grub we bought!”
    Despite the late hour, Peaseblossom and the others had indeed done their duty. The top of the caravan overflowed with supplies, from waxy wheels of cheese to cotton sacks of dried beans and cornmeal.
    “So you cleaned out whatever stalls cater to hearty, raw-boned pioneers traveling by covered wagon?” Even if she’d wanted to look stern, Bertie couldn’t help but smile over their thoroughness. “If I’ve any worries about the journey, they don’t include starvation.”
    Peaseblossom grinned, clearly pleased with herself. “Not only that, but I fetched your things from the bathhouse.” The fairy retrieved the scrimshaw medallion from the pile of shopping with a ladylike grunt and returned it to Bertie.
    As the cool ivory settled back into its proper place between her collarbones, Bertie felt more like herself than she had in hours. “Thanks, Pease.”
    “Yer back.” Approaching from the other side, Nate’s appearance nearly jolted Bertie from her traitorous skin.
    “I am, and we have to hurry. Sedna’s gathering her strength. She’s tried to attack me twice with water tonight.” Before he could demand a recitation of the story, Bertie shoved the cloth sack Serefina had packed into his arms. “Medicines and other necessaries.” She averted her face, trying to school her features. “Your arrow wound probably needs a disinfecting wash, at the very least, and clean rags to bind it—”
    “I’ll be fine.” The pirate leaned in closer, studying her as though she were some sort of odd species of fish that had flopped aboard his vessel. “Ye look different.”
    “It’s just the new hair color.”
    He shook his head. “That’s not it. What else ha’e ye done?”
    Bertie turned away, seeking out any and all shadows. “Didn’t you ever learn that it’s rude to stare?”
    Trained in all sorts of armed combat, Nate required only three seconds and as many steps to cut off her retreat. “Some starin’ needs t’ be done.”
    “Don’t be stubborn for stubborn’s sake—”
    “Says th’ donkey t’ th’ ass.”
    “Smart move, there,” Mustardseed observed with an ear wiggle, “making yourself the ass.”
    Nate didn’t shift his gaze from Bertie’s face when he answered, “I’ve yet some sense o’ self-preservation.”
    “If that’s true, then put a cork in your questions,” Bertie said, her consonants clipped. “We need to leave now.”
    “What about Ariel?” Cobweb asked when Nate didn’t.
    “If he doesn’t resurface within the next five minutes, we leave without him.” Bertie raised her voice for the benefit of anyone who might be eavesdropping. “We are not a trifling thing, an ant upon the road to be easily overlooked. A painted caravan, two silver horses, four sugar-hyper fairies. If Ariel has the least desire to find us, he will.…”
    She wanted to sound flippant and devil-may-care, but the strain of making such a decision manifested in a choking noise that echoed off the walls of the alcove. Nate saw something in her expression that gave him reason to clench his jaw, and Bertie wanted to cover her face with her hands, to demand he look away. Instead, she marched up the stairs to the caravan, bringing her bare feet down with far more force than necessary.
    “Where are ye goin’?” came the inevitable query behind her.
    “To change my clothes! And possibly cut all my hair off