Read Online The Secret of Zanzibar by Frances Watts - Free Book Online

to state the obvious,’ said a sharp voice, ‘but they’re not here.’
    â€˜Maybe you did hear them,’ the fourth mouse soothed. ‘But perhaps they’re in a different part of the canyon and it just sounded like their voices were coming from Dead End Gully.’
    â€˜Didn’t we pass the turn-off for Last Chance Gorge a little way back?’ the sharp voice asked. ‘Could the voices have been coming from there, Wilco?’
    â€˜I suppose so, Wilma.’ Wilco sounded deflated.
    The Queen’s Guards turned and filed out of the canyon.
    For several long minutes no one moved; Feast was still frozen in position, wedged between the two rock faces, while Alistair dangled from the rope, his knees scraping the rock. His neck was itchy beneath his scarf but he didn’t dare raise a hand to scratch it.
    When the voices of the Queen’s Guards could no longer be heard, Feast gave a small grunt and resumed his progress up the chimney. Alistair too began to ascend once more as Slippers and Tibby resumed hauling. In no time, Alistair was sitting on the cliff top looking into their worried faces.
    â€˜How are you feeling?’ Tibby asked as she helped him remove his rucksack.
    â€˜Sore,’ Alistair confessed. ‘And a bit dizzy. But I’ll live.’
    There was a groan as Feast heaved himself onto the cliff. He lay panting for a few seconds, his fur damp with sweat. ‘That was close,’ he said, when he could speak again. ‘Tibby Rose, where did you learn to tie a knot like that?’
    â€˜It was just a double bowline,’ said Tibby. ‘Charlotte Tibby used it when one of her friends fell down a crevasse.’
    â€˜If I ever get to Grouch again,’ Feast said, ‘I’m going to put a big bunch of flowers on Charlotte Tibby’s grave.’ Then he added, ‘But I hope I’m not in Grouch anytime soon.’
    â€˜We can probably see Grouch from here,’ Slippers observed.
    Alistair, with Tibby’s help, got to his feet and looked. The Eugenian Range stretched away in all directions, hard bare rocks with sparse vegetation rising and falling in ridges like the creases in a blanket.
    â€˜I can’t see Grouch,’ said Tibby, who had wandered off a little way, ‘but look over there.’
    They all stared in the direction she indicated. In the distance, just visible behind a series of slopes, was a shimmer of deep blue.
    Slippers let out a gasp of delight. ‘It’s Lake Eugenia.’ She looked at the position of the sun. ‘If we walk until dark tonight, then set out again at daybreak, we should reach the lake by tomorrow afternoon.’
    â€˜And then we’re almost to Templeton,’ chimed in Tibby Rose. She sounded excited, Alistair thought.
    After a quick meal of bread and cheese, washed down with water, they set off again.
    Alistair was feeling much better after a rest and, though the afternoon’s walking was hard, with many treacherous ascents and descents, he felt energised by the thought of the mission ahead.
    That night, they camped on top of a high ridge. After an early dinner – more bread and cheese – Alistair and Tibby took first watch.
    â€˜It’s like walking through a maze,’ Tibby observed, looking out at the winding canyons, twisting andturning, some forking, some intersecting and others finishing abruptly in dead ends. ‘Even with a compass it would be impossible to navigate with any accuracy.’
    â€˜If you wanted to see where you’d been you’d have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs, like Hansel and Gretel.’
    Tibby shivered. ‘Didn’t they almost get eaten by a witch?’
    â€˜Yeah.’ Alistair laughed. ‘Do you suppose Queen Eugenia wants to eat us?’ Thinking of the power-hungry Queen, he grew serious. ‘I never thought I’d return to Souris,’ he said. ‘But it’s your home, isn’t it, Tib?