The Warriors of Brin-Hask Read Online Free

said Mr Snavely. ‘Apart from the caretaker?’
    ‘And Charlie’s mum, Mary Floros,’ said Dad. ‘Our housekeeper. I put it all in the
paperwork I sent you.’
    ‘Yes …’ Mr Snavely opened his briefcase and took out a sheaf of papers. ‘This is
what you sent us originally, before the placement began. But already containment
has been breached. And with the first guest under your care! What I want to know
is –’
    ‘How the kitchen looks!’ Dad blurted. ‘I know, it’s the obvious place to start your
inspection, isn’t it!’
    Dad led him down the hallway.
    Mr Snavely slunk into the kitchen.
    ‘What a freak!’ Charlie whispered to Amelia.
    Mary came down the stairs from the guests’ wing, an enormous laundry basket in her
arms. ‘Oh, hello! You all here to help me with the curtains?’
    ‘Err, no, Mary,’ said Mum. ‘Scott’s just taken the Health Inspector to the kitchen.’
    ‘Oh.’ Mary bit her lip. ‘Well, I suppose … well … how bad can it be? We’ve only just
opened. It was only one complaint. There can’t be –’
    Mary’s attempt to look on the bright side was cut off by a high, warbling scream,
and then a heavy clang, as though a saucepan had been thrown. It sounded a lot like
Mr Snavely had a complaint of his own.
    ‘Oh, no,’ Amelia muttered. ‘I bet it’s all that seaweed we collected this morning.
We just dumped it on the bench.’
    But seaweed didn’t explain the sound of more pots and pans being thrown, or why Dad
was now shouting along with Mr Snavely.
    Amelia and Charlie ran to the door, aware of both mums calling them back, but unable
to resist the noise. They had to know what was going on. Charlie flung open the door,
and Amelia saw Mr Snavely standing in the sink, holding his briefcase in both hands,
his face utterly white.
    She couldn’t blame him. It seemed Dad had finally discovered where all those rats
were hiding. For some reason, the Health Inspector must have been poking around those
couple of dodgy floorboards in the corner of the kitchen, next to the oven. Amelia
could see a carving knife wedged between two planks, as though about to prise one
up. And next to that …
    She gulped.
    Dad was standing a metre from the oven, a broom held defensively in his hands, staring
at a hole in the floor. Two or three floorboards had been pushed up and out of the
way, and in the cavity below, dozens of tiny red lights twinkled. No, flashed on
and off. No, she realised in horror – they blinked . She was looking not at dozens
of tiny red lights, but dozens of pairs of tiny red eyes. The space under the floor
was filled with rats whose eyes glowed in the dark.
    ‘This is outrageous!’ Mr Snavely said shrilly. ‘This isn’t a containment breach any
longer. We’re talking illegal entries! Harbouring! Total border-security failure!’
    ‘Adrian,’ Dad said through his teeth. ‘Not now.’
    ‘Forget about losing the hotel, Walker. I’ll see you jailed for this! Jailed, you
hear me?’
    ‘You can’t jail people for rats!’ Charlie shouted.
    Mr Snavely was turning purple by now. ‘This is chaos, Walker. I knew you’d fail,
but not this quickly!’
    ‘It’s just rats!’ Charlie cried, which was very loyal of him, but totally untrue.
Anyone could see these were anything but just rats.
    Mr Snavely shrieked again, and Amelia saw the rats had begun to creep out of their
nest. Six of them had inched forward, and now their heads and shoulders were out
of the hole, their front paws all resting on the edge of the floor. They were massive,
hulking things, almost as big as cats, only more solid and far more threatening.
Dad stared at them warily, and when he didn’t move or try to push them back with
his broom, the six hopped up in unison, landing in perfect formation.

    They crept forward, and Amelia saw another six line up behind to take their place.
And behind them, another twelve eyes glowed in the dark. How many more rats were
down there, all lined up in sixes and