The Daughters Daring (The Daughters Daring & The Enchanted Forest Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

Highcynder’s most famous hero!
         “Yes, Daughters Daring,” Randolph answered. “Your suspicions are correct. We have been watching you today.”
         “And you helped us at the gate?” Elizabeth asked.
         “Yes, that was our doing.” Randolph said.
         “Why?”
         Randolph hesitated a moment and scratched his little white beard. Emily thought he looked quite distinguished for such a peculiar little fellow.
         “We need your help, Daughters Daring,” He answered. “We thought at first your people had taken all the sweetberries and left none for ourselves. We see now that we were wrong.”
         “When we saw your plight,” Randolph continued, “we realized it was something worse.”
         “You mean the goblins?” Emily asked.
         “Yes, and no,” he said. “We discovered the goblins took the sweetberries, but they are not acting alone. They have a plan, which they couldn’t have come up with by themselves.”
         “Who then?” Elizabeth asked.
         “The ogre king,” Randolph said.
         Several gnomes gasped at the name. Emily and Elizabeth had heard of him, as well, through their father’s stories. The fiercest and meanest of all the ogres, he was said to be as tall as two men, and ate horses for snacks. He had been banished to the Craggy Mountains, almost a decade before, by Duke Daring and a band of adventurous knights.
         “Why would the ogre king take our sweetberries?” Emily asked. “He must know we will find him out and our king will send more knights to defeat him.”
    “This time, he is aided by a witch,” Randolph said. “Our scouts have not seen her, but we have recognized her dark presence. Sweetberries add a certain potency to any magical concoction they are mixed with, especially sleeping potions. That would make them valuable to her.”
         “How would sweetberries play any part in a sleeping potion?” Elizabeth asked.
         Emily stood quietly thinking it over. She had set her backpack down to relax her shoulders. “Well, Liz, are you sure it’s impossible? It does seem like every time I eat sweetberry pie I am sleepy afterward. Maybe the witch is magnifying their ability to make you relaxed and sleepy.”
         Elizabeth looked surprised, as if this was the last thing she expected Emily to say.
         “Don't look at me that way, Elizabeth! I can be just as smart as you are.”
         “I didn't say anything!” Elizabeth said defensively. “Any way, of course you know everything that has to do with food.” She snickered at her own retort, while Emily stuck out her tongue in response.
         Meanwhile, Randolph was standing with crossed arms and was impatiently tapping his foot. Several other gnomes had started exploring their surroundings, picking up rocks and examining flowers. Two of them were in an argument about how many goblins it would take to light a candle. This joke seemed very strange to Elizabeth, as she had not heard it before. It was apparent to her that gnomes were very easily distracted.
         “This is wasting time!” Randolph growled. 
         “All right," Emily responded, "if the ogre king has the sweetberries, where do we find him so we can get them back?"
         “It won't be so easy,” Randolph said. “You may have your father's courage, but the ogre king is a fierce creature! Knights have fallen before him."
         “Hmmm,” Emily considered. “Perhaps we should go to Father and—."
         “Fierce creature my boot!” Elizabeth interrupted boldly. “He has yet to cross paths with the Daughters Daring! Besides, we're not going to confront him openly, anyway.”
         “We're not?” Emily asked, not quite getting the whole idea, but she could tell her sister was up to something.
         “Of course not,” answered Elizabeth, glad to have everyone’s attention. “Ogres may be fierce, but they're not the