Read Online The Wildkin’s Curse by Kate Forsyth - Free Book Online Page A

down, slid his legs into the hole and gingerly squeezed the rest of his body through. His broad shoulders stuck, and he had to twist himself about to jerk them free. At last, though, he too disappeared from view, dragging his satchel after him. Merry gave him a moment, calling Tom-Tit-Tot down to his forearm so he could scratch the scales behind his perky black ears.
    â€˜I think this must be one of Lili’s secret ways into the castle,’ he whispered. ‘Will you come this way with me, or fly?’
    â€˜Let me see, what shall I do, creep like a worm in the dark, or soar through the sky like a lark?’ Tom-Tit-Tot answered sarcastically, then spread his leathery wings and took off into the air.
    Merry reluctantly followed Zed down into the hole. At first there was nothing below him but cold, fetid air, until he was hanging by his fingertips, his shoulder joints complaining. At last the toes of his boots touched earth, and he was able to let himself down, dragging his lute bag and the satchel after him.
    It was so dark he could not see, and so he fumbled slowly forward. The earth pressed close all around him, smelling of worms and decay. Each stumbling step led him deeper, and his outreaching hands slid over slimy walls. Dangling roots brushed his head. It felt much too like being buried alive, and Merry felt a rush of relief as he saw the flicker of light ahead.
    â€˜What took you so long?’ Liliana demanded, her fingers glowing red as she shielded a candle with her hand. She did not wait for a response. ‘Come on. It’s this way. I hope you don’t mind a scramble.’
    The climb up through the cracks and naturally formed tunnels of the mountain was more of a struggle than a scramble, particularly for Zed who was so much taller than the other two and so had to bend almost double. It took them about three hours, and Merry was panting for breath when they finally reached a passageway that had been built by living hands. To enter, Liliana swung aside a section of stone wall that stood on a kind of pivot. Merry could not see the mechanism that opened the wall, but it swung about silently, letting in a blast of icy air.
    â€˜We’re in the cellars now,’ Liliana whispered. As Merry stepped through the doorway, she pushed the stone door back and it shut silently behind him, looking like a stretch of unbroken wall. The light of her candle wavered, showing a paved floor that stretched into darkness ahead. Slowly Zed and Merry followed her through a labyrinth of vast oaken barrels, broken boxes, heaps of empty sacks, and wooden dressers piled high with bowls and tankards and saucepans all wearing furry coats of cobwebs. The only sound was their footsteps, softened by the thick dust underfoot. Not a mouse squeaked, not a spider scuttled. It was eerie.
    Liliana looked back at them, one finger at her lips. Then her dark brows snapped together. ‘Look what you’ve done!’
    The boys looked at each other in surprise. ‘What?’ Zed exclaimed.
    â€˜Look at your footsteps! By the Truth, you’ve got feet as big as a hobhenky’s! It looks like an army has traipsed through here!’
    Looking back, Merry could see they had indeed left a wide pathway of scuffled footprints through the dust. He was about to shrug and say something sarcastic when Liliana did an extraordinary thing. She whistled a few sweet notes, and a soft breeze whirled the dust up and around. It settled softly back to the ground, leaving no trace of any footsteps behind them.
    Merry stared at her in amazement. He had forgotten that she was one of the wildkin and so must have magic of her own. She glared at them. ‘You going to take all day? Come on! And try not to make too much noise with those clodhoppers of yours.’
    â€˜Sorry, my lady,’ Zed said affably. ‘I’ll tiptoe from now on.’ And he rose up on the toes of his boots and minced forward in such a comical way that