Read Online The Coming of Hoole by Kathryn Lasky - Free Book Online Page A

The two birds lifted off the island and set their beaks for the island in the Bitter Sea where the half-hags had tracked Siv.
    Siv herself had begun to have odd sensations in her gizzard as she was approaching the Bitter Sea. She was not sure what it was but she felt in some way that she was being followed. The Bitter Sea’s westernmost edge lapped the shores of what was called the Nameless, and she decided to fetch up there for a while on a high cliff. The cliffs were notched with deep crevices that were perfect for observing without being observed. She was surprised, however, when she lighted down on the cliff to see an immense Snowy stick her head out from one of these niches. Few birds ever came to the Nameless. It was considered inhospitable and there was a dearth of game. And this was not just any Snowy, but the Snow Rose, the gadfeather she had seen at the gathering at the mouth of the firthkin a few nights before. She was certain she would have noticed a gadfeather passing her inflight, especially this one who wore a strand of red berries woven through her feathers along with silvery tufts of reindeer moss and a dazzling blue plume of a bird she herself had never before seen. The plume was stuck in at a jaunty angle in her head feathers. This was not a bird one could miss.
    “Beg your pardon,” the Snow Rose asked, “but didn’t I see you at the gathering for gadfeathers at the firthkin?”
    “Yes, and I heard you sing. Your voice is lovely.”
    “Oh, thank you.”
    “I could never forget it. I have never heard such a voice.”
    “How kind of you to remember.” The Snow Rose blinked. This Spotted Owl seems different from most gadfeathers, she thought. She had a kind of elegance that went beyond the moss and various feathers she had tucked into her plumage. Indeed, her gadfeather costume, or gaddis as it was called, was not very special at all. No, there was something else that suggested a deeper elegance, an indefinable grace. “You wouldn’t mind, would you…” The Snow Rose hesitated for a moment.
    “Mind what?” Siv asked.
    “If…if…”
    “Yes?”
    “If I joined you for a bit on your wanderings?”
    Siv truly did not know how to answer. Yes, she would mind, but the Snow Rose was so nice and lovely she hated to appear unfriendly. She had hoped to have some time alone with her son but maybe that was not even a very good idea. She would not be tempted to reveal her identity as his mother with another owl around. She cocked her head and looked at the Snow Rose. “Yes, how nice. I am heading to the island where I understand the Glauxian Brothers have a retreat.”
    “Do you plan to visit them?”
    “Oh…” Siv hesitated. “Perhaps. They keep to themselves, you know. Vows of silence and all that. Rather studious, I think.”
    “Yes, but I once sang for them.”
    “You did?” Siv was shocked.
    “Oh, yes. They enjoy music very much, you know.”
    “No…no, I didn’t know,” Siv answered.
    “And they be quite welcoming to visitors.”
    Perhaps, Siv thought to herself, this is not a bad idea at all. If we are with the Glauxian Brothers for a few days it might be easier for me to get away from the Snow Rose to see my son. But might the Glauxian Brothers remember her from the times they visited in court even disguised as she was?
    But I have changed so much, she thought somewhat wistfully. She had been young then, her plumage a rich dark brown with the whitest of spots, not to mention whole wings. No, they would never realize that this dull brown bird with moss and feathers tucked in here and there as if trying to disguise her shabbiness, was in fact Queen Siv, mate of King H’rath.
    So at First Black, the two owls rose in the air on a heading for the island in the middle of the Bitter Sea. It was a moonless night and the stars shone brighter because of it as they reached the island. Perhaps if it had not been moonless, Siv would not have spotted the curls of smoke that smudged the deep