Read Dragon Keepers #3: The Dragon in the Library for Free Online Page A

said as she watched Sadie Huffington stop before the dog team and reach into a cloth sack slung across her shoulders. "Ugh," she said.
    "What's going on?" Jesse whispered, giving Daisy's legs an impatient squeeze.
    "She's got a bunch of dogs pulling a sled," said Daisy. "And she's got this bloody sack full of raw meat...and she's feeding the meat to the dogs."
    "Hey, do you think those are the dogs that are missing from the pound?" Jesse said.
    "That's exactly what they are," Daisy said. Sadie Huffington was walking among the men now. "Oh, wow! She's feeding the men raw meat, too!" she whispered. "Ick ." As each workman got his bit of bloody raw meat, he chewed it up, not neatly like a man, but sloppily and greedily like a dog. Sadie scratched one of the men behind the ear. Another man scratched his armpit, then shook himself from head to foot.
    "Holy moly," said Daisy. "I think she's done worse than just stolen them from the pound."
    "What?" Jesse and Emmy both whispered fiercely.
    "The men," said Daisy. "I think Sadie might
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    have turned some of the dogs ...into men."
    "Whoa!" Jesse said. "Really?"
    "Well, they're eating raw meat without using their hands or getting grossed out," said Daisy. "And they're panting. If they had tails, I bet they'd be wagging them."
    Jesse's arms started to shake again. "Whoa again," he whispered.
    "She's nothing but a witch," Emmy said. "A wicked, wicked witch."
    Daisy watched as Sadie Huffington bent to examine one of the rock circles. She rose up and, raising her switch, thrashed the nearest worker. No red meat for him! "She just whacked one of the men with that whip of hers," she reported grimly.
    "Witches make very bad Keepers," said Emmy in a loud whisper.
    It saddened Daisy to see any living creature, man or dog, being treated this badly. She looked away and scanned the ramparts, nearly crying out when her gaze fell upon two of the biggest dogs she had ever seen. They were pacing the battlements just outside the large tower.
    "What's the big tower called, Jess?" Daisy whispered.
    "The donjon," Jesse told her.
    "Right, and you said it's where they kept
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    prisoners in olden times?" Daisy asked.
    "Yep," Jesse said. "My arms are getting tired. Are you almost done spying, Daze?"
    "Just a sec," Daisy told him. She couldn't take her eyes off the dogs. Everything about them was huge: their heads, their paws, their blue-black tongues, their eyes. The one nearest Daisy stopped and turned its enormous shaggy head in her direction. Then it opened its jaws and let loose a howl that vibrated the wood beneath her fingers. Daisy reared back and lost her grip on the wall. She teetered so wildly that Jesse lost hold of her, then Emmy let go of Jesse, and all three of them went toppling toward the earth.
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    Chapter 4 CHAPTER FOUR HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP!
    "What's the big idea!" Daisy whispered furiously. She dabbed her tongue on the bottom of her shirt and showed them the dot of blood. "Look! You guys made me bite my tongue!"
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    Emmy, masked again into dog form, whined apologetically.
    Jesse cocked a thumb toward the road. "We've got company."
    The dogcatcher's truck made a slow turn in the cul-de-sac. Ms. Mindy leaned out the window and called to them, "What are you kids doing so far away from home?" She looked a lot less cheerful and considerably more frazzled than she had the morning before at the library.
    "Checking out the blackberry bushes!" Daisy called back to her. "My pop knows we're here."
    Ms. Mindy nodded. "Well, news flash. I've had ten reports of runaway dogs since my shift started this morning. First the break-in and now this. If I were you, I'd take my doggie on home and sit tight till we figure out what's going on."
    "Sure thing!" Daisy told her.
    Jesse and Daisy and Emmy watched as the truck turned around and went slowly back up the road.
    When the dogcatcher was out of sight, Jesse lay back in the weeds and felt the sweat pouring off him. All around, the weeds buzzed with the