Festival of Shadows Read Online Free Page A

him—literally. She had one eye and a peeling X of white tape where the other eye had been. Her entire left arm was wrapped in bandages that looked ratty, as if they had been there for a long time.  
    “That was close. Stratus almost had you.”
    Theo keeled over, unable to speak.
    “What are you doing traveling through the Stratusphere alone?” she asked, floating around him as she spoke. “Are you from the other side? You must be. You look so clean and fresh, how I used to look. I was so beautiful once, too. So plushy.” She laughed to herself and sighed. “And look at me now.”
    “Shut up,” Theo said finally, exhaling. “You ruined it. I could have defeated him.”
    “He almost killed you!”
    Theo leaped up and shook her. “Tell me where Stratus is!”
    She tried to hover away, but Theo held tight. “Quit flying around and tell me where Stratus is, or I’ll—”
    “You’ll what?”
    Theo drew his wooden sword. It was broken from his encounter with Stratus, but he raised it anyway and threatened to stab. “This is your last chance—”
    The purple bear yelled, and blue energy formed on the tips of her paws. She zapped Theo with a ball of blue light that sent him halfway across the field. His sword fell into the grass, and his wooden shield flew up out of his hands and conked him on the head.
    “Ow . . .”
    “That’s what you get. If you try that again, I’ll fire another dream blast at you. I saved your life, you know.”
    “Thanks for nothing,” Theo said, rubbing his head. “Make yourself truly useful and tell me where I can find Grant.”
    The purple bear dropped her hands and the energy on her fingertips faded. “So stubborn and headstrong. We’re definitely related.”
    “We couldn’t possibly be related.”  
    “You’re an Ursabrand, like me. I’m Lucinda,” she said, offering Theo her paw.  
    He stared at her bandaged arm and scoffed. “Some Ursabrand you are.”
    “If you only knew. I’ve been here for so long, I’ve forgotten what it’s like on the other side.” She suddenly looked very nervous. “Oh no. You’re here because Stratus has your owner.”
    Theo nodded.  
    “It happened to me, too,” Lucinda said. “My owner was playing, and then the next thing I knew, Stratus snatched her, and I followed her here.”  
    “Where is your owner?”
    Lucinda hung her head. “It doesn’t matter now. But you should have come sooner.”
    “I was preoccupied with an ogre.”
    She pointed to a clock tower that rose from a huge castle on the horizon. The castle was very far away, yet it seemed to dominate the sky. It had several spires and was made of dull gray stones. “Twelve hours until sunrise.”
    “And?”
    “If you don’t rescue your owner by then, you’ll end up like me—trapped.”
    Theo felt queasy. He was stuck in this strange place with this strange bear, and now she had told him that he had a limited amount of time to rescue Grant. It was too much. Fear sank into his legs and shook them, but he tried not to show it.  
    The sound of wheels in the distance distracted Theo from his thoughts. He turned to see a covered wagon approaching, pulled by toy horses with matted manes and lame legs. A strongman with big, shiny muscles, a black-and-white-striped shirt, and painted-on muttonchops drove the wagon; other strange-looking, maimed toys hung out from the sides, staring at Theo.  
    “Lucinda,” the strongman said with a lilting German accent, “you all right?”
    Lucinda smiled and waved to the caravan. “I rescued him.”
    The wagon came to a stop, and the toys surrounded Theo and Lucinda. The strongman, who kept flexing his muscles as if his inner gears were malfunctioning, stood grinning at Theo. He was joined by a cowgirl wearing jeans, a red button-up shirt, a yellow cowboy hat, and a winsome smile that seemed as if she didn’t care about her appearance, despite the gash across her face. Next to her, a white, wobbly, robotic dachshund with one