Stolen Magic Read Online Free Page B

dawn.”
    â€œWill you stay to help people off the mountain? Most folks live in the valley or on the lower slopes, but several families built their cottages high, to be with their flocks.” The high brunka clasped her hands in supplication. “Please help them.”
    â€œYou must not. You may be tempted by your unaccountably kind nature and by the direness of people’s need. Resist! I require the answers to my questions if my inquiry is to succeed.”
    His Lordship raised his arms.
    Elodie braced herself. She hated the shifts because His Lordship’s face bore such a look of agony. “High Brunka, it may not hurt as much as it seems to. He doesn’t say.”
    â€œThank you for telling me, lamb.”
    His mouth opened in a silent scream; his eyes became slits; his nose wrinkled; his nostrils flared. His body vibrated, became a shrinking blur overwhelmed by his blue cloak and blue cap. His silver pendant on its golden chain slid off the pile of apparel. The ogre seemed to have disappeared.
    High Brunka Marya breathed, “Where . . .”
    The mound shook, jounced, bounced. Elodie pulled away the yards of cloth to reveal a yellow bird ruffling his feathers. Elodie saw His Lordship’s intelligence shining out of his deeply set eyes.
    â€œWhy doesn’t he go?” High Brunka Marya said.
    Elodie remembered first. “He’s waiting for you to wind your medal around his neck.”
    â€œAh, yes.” She did so, and the swift tolerated her hands. She finished and stood.
    Elodie, who hadn’t stopped watching her friend, saw the thought fade from the bird’s eyes.
    Was he frightened to find himself in a stable, so close to a human, a dragon, a brunka?
    He cheeped a high, whistling chirp and flew out into the night.

CHAPTER FIVE
    T he swift circled the stable once and flew north, his being almost overcome by the burdens the ogre had placed on him: a feeling, two images, and two memories. The feeling: urgency. The images: a volcanic mountain peak that looked like a gaping fish and a building with two chimneys and an attached stable. The memories: a long-haired dog and a girl with big eyes and a wide, expressive mouth.
    The wind had died to a bare breeze. The snowflakes were shimmering sparkles. In his heart, urgency paired with the joy of flight.

CHAPTER SIX
    E lodie missed her friend instantly. With careful fingers, she brushed hay off his beautiful cloak. Fly safely. Hurry back.
    â€œMadam, a few questions before you and Elodie leave me.”
    Leave IT? Of course, for the Oase. She was no use out here.
    â€œWhen was the Replica stolen?” IT asked.
    â€œI’m not sure. Within the last three days, certainly.”
    Three days ? Zertrum might already be about to spew! Lambs and calves! IT should have asked this before His Lordship left! Elodie squeezed his cloak, which filled her arms. What had they sent him into?
    â€œSince then, has anyone departed the Oase?” IT asked.
    â€œNo one. I discovered the theft late this afternoon afterthe storm began. We have guests, which we rarely do this time of year—”
    â€œMmm.”
    ITs Mmm always meant something. Elodie felt sure this one meant that these guests might have come in order to commit the theft.
    â€œPoor Master Robbie—he’s a pup, as young as this lamb—grew bored because of the snow and being confined indoors. He asked to see the Replica again.” She added, “He saw it for the first time right after he arrived.”
    Elodie decided Master Robbie was a boy, not a puppy. Had he really made his request out of boredom? She felt ITs eyes on her. They exchanged glances. Maybe the boy knew it was gone. She wondered why he was poor Master Robbie.
    To the left of the stable door stood a rough cupboard, where she thought she might stow Count Jonty Um’s clothing. She went to it and lifted the wooden latch. What if the thief had hidden the Replica here, a reasonable