Read Online The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick - Free Book Online

the year.”
    Boy looked at Willow, who opened her mouth to speak but said nothing.
    They trotted after Valerian, who was twenty long paces away already.
    “Where do you think we’re going?” Willow asked. Boy began to scratch his nose.
    “Valerian!” she called.
    Boy looked at her in alarm, for she still did not understand how to wait until Valerian spoke to you.
    “Where are we going?”
    He did not turn round.
    “Valerian!” she called, louder. “Where are-”
    And now Valerian loomed over them in the deserted street. His eyes burnt through the darkness at Willow, and she began to shake. It was as if she was standing naked in a snowstorm-she felt cold and small and fragile. Valerian held her gaze until she finally pulled her eyes away and stared at the ground.
    “Be quiet, Girl,” he snarled, “or I’ll leave you to rot here.”
    He turned and strode off again.
    “I told you,” said Boy. “I told you. Don’t upset him.”
    He looked at Willow, then saw Valerian about to disappear down yet another shabby alleyway. He looked back at Willow. Her face was drawn and pale.
    Boy put his hand on her shoulder.
    “Come on.”
    “How does he do that?” she asked.
    Valerian had vanished around the corner.
    Boy tugged at her arm. “We’re better off with him.”
    Willow still didn’t move.
    “I know,” he said. “I know what it’s like. But really, it’s best if we keep going. Stay with him.”
    Willow nodded slowly.
    “Where’s he gone now?” he moaned. “Come on, Willow. Please?”
    At last she began to walk. Boy pulled her sleeve to hurry her, but he knew that Valerian would be getting further ahead with every stride.
    Valerian had gone down a small alley on the left, but now they were closer, Boy could see there were three of them leading off into even deeper darknesses, and he had no idea which one his master had taken. He scratched his nose.
    The thought of being alone in the City at night worried him. It brought back memories of things he had half forgotten, of all the years he had lived alone on the streets.
    Boy hesitated, and the longer he hesitated, the further away Valerian would be getting.
    Grabbing Willow by the hand, he ran down the nearest alleyway, his boots plucking at the mud and filth underfoot.
    “Valerian,” he called, but quietly. “Valerian?”
    It was so dark in the passage that he could barely see.
    “Where is he?” Willow asked, still sounding shaken.
    Boy kept running.
    Suddenly they came out into a torchlit square. It was vast and empty. Beautiful old buildings leant inward on all four sides, as if trying to get closer to each other across the cobbles that lay between them. Boy took in the square. Compared to the darkness of the alley, the light from the torches was amazingly bright.
    There!
    There was Valerian, unmistakeable, about to disappear down a street that led off the far corner of the square.
    Boy and Willow raced across the open space, feeling vulnerable and watched as they went. The City was quiet, and there still seemed to be no one else around. The sound of their boots on the cobbles of the square rang out like pistol shots.
    They made it across and turned into the street. Boy noticed its name: the Deadway. Another bad omen.
    Valerian was waiting.
    “You two make more noise than I care to hear,” he said as they arrived, panting heavily, but he waited for them to get their breath back.
    “Right,” he said. “Nearly there. Then our work begins.”
    The look on his face was deadly serious. There was no anger or intimidation this time, none of his tricks of scaring the hearts out of them.
    Just
…, thought Boy,
just… fear?
    Could Valerian be scared? It seemed unlikely.
    Valerian set off.
    Boy looked at Willow.
    “Are you all right now?” he asked as they followed.
    She nodded, forcing a smile.
    “I know,” Boy whispered. “He’s… difficult. But better the devil you know.”
    Though Boy said this quietly, Valerian had heard.
    “What did you say,