Ticket to Faerie Read Online Free Page B

through the woods. She jumped up and kicked
dirt onto the fire until the glowing embers disappeared. If someone
or something was stalking her, the fire would make her easier to
find.
    Alyssa huddled, shivering, against the back wall of the
shelter until dawn tinged the edge of the sky with orange and pink.
When the screeches and howls finally gave way to bird songs, Max
sprang to his feet. Somehow, Lilse managed to stay on his back. With
a sigh of relief, Alyssa stuck another energy bar in her pocket,
shouldered her pack, and lugged the jug down to where she had left
the cart. She hoped they wouldn't need to spend another night
outdoors. For that matter, she really didn't want to spend another
night in Faerie.
    The cart sat where Alyssa had left it, but the wheels had
disappeared. She sat down in front of it with her head in her hands
and wept. All that time building the stupid thing and now
someone's taken it apart. I can't possibly carry this horrid jug around
all day again. Max rested his muzzle on his paws until she took a
deep breath and stood up again. Crying wouldn't bring the wheels
back. She put on her pack, slung the leash attached to the jug over
her shoulder, and trudged down the road.
    "Wrong way." Max turned in the other direction.
    "But that's going back where we came from." Alyssa
suppressed another sob.
    "Yesterday it's where we came from, today it's where we're
going." Lilse sat on Max's back, near his tail, clutching his fur in her
paws. "Cheer up, love, if we make it past the gatekeeper, we should
get to the coach stop by noon."
    "Gatekeeper?" When the animals didn't answer, Alyssa
turned and followed Max. Although he still limped, he did put some
weight on his injured paw. At least Mom wouldn't yell at her for
hurting her dog.
    By the time she finished nibbling on the energy bar, they
had reached a crossroad she hadn't seen the day before. A rocky path
led off to one to side, into a dense woods where all the foliage was
aquamarine.
    Max looked back. "Watch me carefully. Only step on the
rocks that I do. The others aren't real."
    Lisle had crawled up to Max's head and whispered in his ear.
He jumped to a flat stone and reached his front paws out to another.
Alyssa put one foot on the first rock and, when Max moved forward,
her other foot on the second. Rock by rock, they worked their way
through the trees. The jug weighed on Alyssa's shoulder. The air
became oppressively hot. She wanted to take off her hoodie, but
none of the rocks had room for her to set down the pack and the jug.
She found it difficult to concentrate on which stones Max had
stepped on.
    "Watch it, love!" Lilse shouted.
    Alyssa paused with her foot in the air poised to step on the
next rock. Confused, she pulled her foot back and the stone
disappeared into the muck.
    "That one, to your left." The mouse pointed with one paw,
while holding onto Max's ear with the other.
    Alyssa stepped where instructed and tried to stay more
alert. But the heavy air made her drowsy. Sweat trickled down her
back and between her breasts and dampened the sweatshirt under
her pits. Great, as if I didn't stink bad enough . She saw several
spots off the path that looked inviting and safe where she could curl
up and take a nap.
    "Don't give up now, love," the mouse called. "We're so close.
Honest."
    After pulling her hoodie up from the waist over her chest,
Alyssa switched the jug to her other shoulder and followed Max from
stone to stone. With a final leap, he left the rocks behind and sat in
front of a stone arch spanning the path. As soon as Alyssa's feet
touched the dirt of the road, a giant with mottled red and blue skin
emerged from under the arch. He stood even taller than her dad and
his arms were the size of small trees. Bushy blue eyebrows stretched
above red eyes that glowered at her. "Watcha want?"
    Alyssa swallowed. At least he hadn't tried to eat her. "You
must be the gatekeeper, sir. We're looking for the coach stop."
    The giant growled. He looked at