Read Online The Snowy Tower by Belinda Murrell - Free Book Online
Authors: Belinda Murrell
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hidden in there.’
There were murmurs of appreciation as Sniffer handed out Cookie’s precious food rations. There was the sound of smashing glass as Sniffer tossed Lily’s precious tinctures and ointments onto the fire. Clothes and horse rugs, ropes and candles, mugs and pans were searched and tossed on the floor.
Sniffer found a bundle of maps and papers, which he glanced at briefly then tucked away.
‘By mighty Krad, there’s nothing here,’ swore Sniffer angrily. ‘We’ll search the brats in the morning.’
In the darkness of the storeroom, Lily and Ethan could see no window, just the crack of firelightunder the door. At last, they stopped struggling. Lily felt tears welling up in her eyes. She fought them down. Be strong, be strong , she thought to herself.
‘We should save our energy and our wits,’ Ethan whispered, nudging Lily with his shoulder to comfort her. ‘We will need them tomorrow.’
As the night grew colder, Lily and Ethan had to huddle together to keep warm. Both were bleeding and battered and cramped and desperately afraid. They whispered to each other to keep their spirits up, telling stories of other times that had been frightening, which had somehow turned out well. Ethan told silly jokes that still made Lily giggle, and they talked about Roana and Saxon and wondered where they might be sleeping in the forest, with no blankets and no food, but at least they were free and safe.
At last they fell into an uncomfortable doze, twitching and tossing, waking each other up with every startled move. They were awake long before dawn – cold, starving, stiff and uncomfortable. Both were too anxious to whisper, their stomachs knotted with fear, their mouths and throats parched, their fingers numb from lack of circulation.
At last a trickle of cold grey light spilled through the crack under the door.
Sounds of stirring came through the wall as the soldiers woke, chatted, found bread and wandered outside to water a tree.
Still no-one came near them. About half an hour later there was a commotion outside, with the sound of several horses cantering. Hope blossomed in Lily and Ethan’s hearts. They began yelling and screaming for help, leaning as close to the outside wall as they could. In a moment, an extremely annoyed Sedah guard threw open the door, holding his cutlass aloft.
‘Shut your mouths right now, or that young laddie will be feeling the curve of my cutlass,’ he hissed, before slamming the door shut again. Lily and Ethan stopped shouting at once.
From outside they could hear the sound of voices, then the sound of boots approaching the front door. Perhaps the passers-by had heard them and were coming to investigate?
More voices, this time from inside the cabin. The door opened once more and the guard returned, dragging Lily roughly to her feet. He untied the knots that bound her hands and feet, then untied Ethan’s feet.
Through the open door, they could now hear two familiar voices talking. The hope unfurling in Lilyand Ethan’s hearts immediately withered. The visitors were not here to rescue them.
‘Well, you certainly covered some ground yesterday, Sniffer,’ congratulated Captain Malish. ‘We had trouble catching up with you.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Sniffer replied. ‘I wanted to follow any tiny lead that might help me track down the princess, and as you will see it paid off. We captured one of the lads as well.’
The guard prodded Lily forward. Lily took a deep breath, then pulled herself up as tall as she could, unconsciously mimicking Roana’s regal deportment, before she walked into the next room, Ethan following behind. Her attempt at dignity was a little spoiled by the blood circulation that had been cut off from her feet for so many hours. Instead of striding bravely through the door, she had to hobble and stumble.
Standing in front of the cabin fire stood three men. Sniffer smiled proudly, his chest puffed out, like a bantam rooster in the farmyard, surveying
There were murmurs of appreciation as Sniffer handed out Cookie’s precious food rations. There was the sound of smashing glass as Sniffer tossed Lily’s precious tinctures and ointments onto the fire. Clothes and horse rugs, ropes and candles, mugs and pans were searched and tossed on the floor.
Sniffer found a bundle of maps and papers, which he glanced at briefly then tucked away.
‘By mighty Krad, there’s nothing here,’ swore Sniffer angrily. ‘We’ll search the brats in the morning.’
In the darkness of the storeroom, Lily and Ethan could see no window, just the crack of firelightunder the door. At last, they stopped struggling. Lily felt tears welling up in her eyes. She fought them down. Be strong, be strong , she thought to herself.
‘We should save our energy and our wits,’ Ethan whispered, nudging Lily with his shoulder to comfort her. ‘We will need them tomorrow.’
As the night grew colder, Lily and Ethan had to huddle together to keep warm. Both were bleeding and battered and cramped and desperately afraid. They whispered to each other to keep their spirits up, telling stories of other times that had been frightening, which had somehow turned out well. Ethan told silly jokes that still made Lily giggle, and they talked about Roana and Saxon and wondered where they might be sleeping in the forest, with no blankets and no food, but at least they were free and safe.
At last they fell into an uncomfortable doze, twitching and tossing, waking each other up with every startled move. They were awake long before dawn – cold, starving, stiff and uncomfortable. Both were too anxious to whisper, their stomachs knotted with fear, their mouths and throats parched, their fingers numb from lack of circulation.
At last a trickle of cold grey light spilled through the crack under the door.
Sounds of stirring came through the wall as the soldiers woke, chatted, found bread and wandered outside to water a tree.
Still no-one came near them. About half an hour later there was a commotion outside, with the sound of several horses cantering. Hope blossomed in Lily and Ethan’s hearts. They began yelling and screaming for help, leaning as close to the outside wall as they could. In a moment, an extremely annoyed Sedah guard threw open the door, holding his cutlass aloft.
‘Shut your mouths right now, or that young laddie will be feeling the curve of my cutlass,’ he hissed, before slamming the door shut again. Lily and Ethan stopped shouting at once.
From outside they could hear the sound of voices, then the sound of boots approaching the front door. Perhaps the passers-by had heard them and were coming to investigate?
More voices, this time from inside the cabin. The door opened once more and the guard returned, dragging Lily roughly to her feet. He untied the knots that bound her hands and feet, then untied Ethan’s feet.
Through the open door, they could now hear two familiar voices talking. The hope unfurling in Lilyand Ethan’s hearts immediately withered. The visitors were not here to rescue them.
‘Well, you certainly covered some ground yesterday, Sniffer,’ congratulated Captain Malish. ‘We had trouble catching up with you.’
‘Yes, sir,’ Sniffer replied. ‘I wanted to follow any tiny lead that might help me track down the princess, and as you will see it paid off. We captured one of the lads as well.’
The guard prodded Lily forward. Lily took a deep breath, then pulled herself up as tall as she could, unconsciously mimicking Roana’s regal deportment, before she walked into the next room, Ethan following behind. Her attempt at dignity was a little spoiled by the blood circulation that had been cut off from her feet for so many hours. Instead of striding bravely through the door, she had to hobble and stumble.
Standing in front of the cabin fire stood three men. Sniffer smiled proudly, his chest puffed out, like a bantam rooster in the farmyard, surveying
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