Read Online The Locket by Elise Koepke - Free Book Online Page A

all I am afraid I can tell you.” Once more he started to leave, but Savannah stopped him again.
    “So—so, what, did she used to live here?”
    “I cannot say anything more to the matter.”
    “Why not?”
    Lance took a deep breath. “I just cannot.” While Savannah stood in her place, frustratingly throwing her arms up in the air, he had a chance to take a closer look at her necklace. “By the way, how did you get a valuable trinket such as that? Did you steal it?”
    “I don’t steal,” she answered, offended. When he snorted in response, she yelled, “I don’t!”
    “All right then, how, pray tell, did you obtain such an ornament?” He wondered.
    Savannah glanced aside, not wanting to discuss the past. It was too early to be talking about her mother and feel even remotely comfortable doing so. “She gave it to me.”
    “Gave it to you?” Lance laughed. “Highly doubtful! Gwen would not give up a dimension-traveling device to anyone. And even if she would or did, it would not be to a young girl such as you. It would at least be to an older sibling or an aunt or a—”
    “She didn’t have much choice,” Savannah snarled. Lance gave her a look of interest. “I don’t really want to talk about this, okay?”
    Before he could answer, the sounds of chiming bells saturated the air. It was coming from the town not too far away. “We had better get going; the king will be expecting us.”
    Nodding her head, Savannah began to walk. It was only three seconds before Lance stopped her. “Uh, Savannah,” she turned around. “The town is this way,” he finished, pointing toward the opposite direction.
    “Right.” Changing her route, she ran up next to the little dwarf and headed for the village.
    ***
    The two of them ventured over dozens of small hills, through three or four deep ditches, and into two wide fields. Getting another chance to fully observe the land around her, Savannah admired its true beauty. Everything had been lovely at first glimpse, though now she had the opportunity to enjoy it and recognize how, not only stunning, but large it was. The fields and woods ran as far as the eye could see, most likely even further if a person were able to stand on top of a tower or high tree.
    The kingdom was higher than any of the trees she’d seen thus far. Though the trees were intimidating and large, the kingdom must have stood a good couple yards above them, making it so much more regal.
    Serpentine around the mountain was a dusty and very narrow road that led up to an enormous wooden drawbridge. The tower of the drawbridge stretched out around the kingdom, hugging it safely away from the possible threats of the outside land. It held two small posts, shaped as the tips of a castle, which connected with each other.
    And what is a drawbridge without its moat? Savannah wondered as they reached the top. This one must be about four, maybe five, feet deep. Ew, and by the look of it, it must also carry a lot of garbage and diseases. It’s disgusting! After staring at it for a minute, she was determined to never get too close, even though there most likely would never be a reason to anyway. Gasping, she took a giant step back as she found a second reason to stay away from it—the rather hungry-looking crocodile that had just swum past her.
    Lance, on the other hand, did not take much notice of the moat. He evidently had seen it enough times that it did not occur to him to mind. “Hello there,” came a friendly, masculine voice. “Name ye purpose!” The voice came from a bulky guard with a sword lying atop his left shoulder. He had been pacing back and forth on the connection between the two posts, but paused as the two of them approached.
    When Savannah looked up, she had to shield her eyes from the overwhelming rays of the sun. No wonder why the sky was such a light blue. “Afternoon, Steven! It is I, Lance-a-Lot!” He called with his hand cupped on the side of his mouth.
    “Lance? Oh hey, I did not