The Empire of Gut and Bone Read Online Free

dark. He raced for the back, where the door to the crypt lay.
    Behind him, he heard the great doors open.
    A soldier entered with a torch. In the language of the Thusser, the soldier called out, “Sir? Sir? There’s no one allowed in the cathedral.”
    At once, Sniggleping turned, startled — and one of his plastic bags split. The food tumbled out across the flagstones.
    He turned off his lamp.
    “Sir?”
    The soldier approached, his footsteps echoing in the dark nave. He pulled out his saber. He shone his light around. It picked out faces — angels, devils, saints on bikes, souls smiling as they left behind their bodies. The pool of light from his torch sloshed across cans of dog food and a bundle of celery lying on the cold stone floor. They cast steep shadows across the pews.
    The soldier arrived at the shell of the torn bag. He glanced around nervously, looking for the intruder. No sign. The air itself was white with ancient dust. With his elbow, the soldier adjusted his shako …
    … and was clobbered by a Famished Lad™ Beef Stew.
    Sniggleping stepped from behind a pillar. He had, in his day, been a crackerjack pitcher for the Norumbega team.
    He rushed forward to gather the cans in his remaining bag and descend into the crypt.
    When the guard awoke, there was no sign that anyone had been there at all.

FOUR
    W e changed course while you were sleeping,” Kalgrash told the two boys. “We’re headed for something.”
    The day looked no different than when they had gone to sleep. They were incredibly hungry. They were thirsty. They did not bother to stand up. They stared out the window at the featureless plain.
    Kalgrash went up and tried to make signals to their host. He paid no attention to the troll.
    Down below, Gregory, looking haggard, said to his friend, “I had a dream. The Thusser are everywhere. We’ve lost. Tell me we haven’t already lost.” His voice was husky.
    Brian shook his head solemnly. “I’m telling you,” he said. “The Thusser tried to colonize your dreams back in the suburb. It’s not real, whatever you’re thinking.”
    “You’re sure.”
    “I’m sure.”
    “I remember them. Come on. You must, too. The Thusser were always there, right? They were at my house.One of them used to sit in my room, staring at me all night. It was awful.” He held on to one of his arms with his other hand. He looked weak and pale.
    Brian insisted quietly, “It’s not true, Gregory.”
    “I remember it.”
    Brian wrapped his thick fingers around the padded edge of the seat. “No … you can’t let them fool you. They tried to force their way into your head. You’ve got to stop thinking they’re already in Boston. They’re not. They never have been.”
    Gregory closed his eyes. “I know you’re right. But I can see them. They were everywhere. They directed traffic. They were …” He squeezed his eyes till the lids wrinkled.
    “You’re going to be okay,” Brian said. “They’re not there yet. We can still win. Honest.”
    Gregory stared out at the plain of slime. The two of them watched the dull light and the galloping shuffle of the headless beasts of burden.
    The sleigh mushed past gray outcroppings and into a deeper, thicker mire.
    Kalgrash came down below. He shook his head. Brian watched Gregory toy with the dead appliances.
    In another few hours, they discovered where their host was heading. He was meeting someone. They saw another sleigh approaching. It was larger, with some huge cargo shrouded in burlap tied onto the top, bulging out of the sides.
    The two sleighs pulled up alongside each other. Their host laid a gangplank across the space between them. Hehailed the other captain. He signaled for the boys and the troll to sit tight, and then picked up his bag of nerves — which bristled like coils of thornbush — and clomped across the plank to do business.
    The two captains saluted each other. They both took off their coats and, in some kind of greeting ceremony, inserted