Read North! Or Be Eaten for Free Online

bloodstained bandages.
    “I don’t know how you’re alive, Mister Reteep, but I’m glad,” Janner said.
    Podo descended the ladder from Peet’s castle with a bundle on his back, while Nia and Leeli gathered food supplies and shoved them into various packs. Tink dropped Peet’s leather-bound journals one at a time from a tree house window; Peet caught them and piled them atop a rectangle of coarse fabric spread out on the ground.
    “That’s all of them, Uncle Peet!” Tink called.
    Peet nodded, folded the canvas over the books, and heaved the pile into the hole he had dug.
    “Oskar! How much time do we have?” Podo barked.
    “Oh dear.” Oskar brushed himself off. “Not more than a few minutes. I tried to sneak away, but they saw me, and there are hundreds of them. Hundreds!”
    A new sound drifted through the woods. A horrible sound, like nothing Janner had ever heard. Part moan, part growl, it was clear it came from something large. Even Nugget whined. He bounded to Leeli and pressed his great furry body against her, whether to protect her or to be protected, Janner wasn’t sure.
    “And that’s the other thing,” Oskar said gravely.
    “Eh?” Podo heaved a supply-laden pack over his shoulder. “What’s the other thing?”
    “Trolls.” Oskar shuddered and wrinkled his nose.
    Trolls?
A shiver of fear coursed through Janner. He had never seen a troll, though Pembrick’s
Creaturepedia
depicted several troll races, all of which were formidable and ghastly to behold.
    His heart skipped a beat at the look of worry that flashed over Nia’s face. She was serene in the worst of circumstances, able to grow icy cold even as the heat of danger rose. But when the troll’s growl-moan sounded again, closer than before, her face wrinkled in a way that made her look old and tired, though only for a moment.
    Podo looked hard at Oskar, then nodded. “Well, whether it’s trolls or Fangs or me Great-Granny Olaraye comin’, we’re getting out of here fast. Janner, get that donkey over here and tie what ye can to the saddle. Tink!”
    “Yes sir,” Tink said from behind Podo.
    “Help yer sister with her things, then have yer bow and arrow ready. You ride on Nugget with her and shoot at anything you’re sure you can hit. Be
sure
, understand? Arrows are precious.”
    “Yes,” said a papery voice just above them. “Arrows are precious. But they’ll do the Igibys no good, I’m afraid.”
    Zouzab Koit perched high in the overstory and looked down on them with anexpressionless face. Oskar sputtered, so enraged that he could think of no one to quote.
    “You!” shouted Podo, his face already reddening for the torrent of curses about to burst from his mouth.
    But before he could say a word, Peet the Sock Man screeched and leapt impossibly high, swinging himself into the boughs where Zouzab crouched. Zouzab skittered away, blowing his high-pitched whistle as Peet pursued. In a flurry of whirling branches and falling leaves, the Sock Man and the ridgerunner were out of sight, leaving Podo and Oskar trembling and speechless. Their anger was interrupted by another troll call, then another whistle blow, not far away.
    “No time! Move!” Podo said.
    While Janner pulled the tired donkey to its feet, Nia pushed the dirt into the hole where Peet had stashed his precious journals. She threw a pile of leaves atop the fresh dirt and spread them around to conceal it.
    “Papa, where will we go?” Nia cried as Podo rushed up the ladder to the tree house.
    “Don’t know, lass! North, I reckon,” he called over his shoulder. “We can’t go south now, like we planned.”
    “But—but there’s nothing north but the river. We’ll be trapped!”
    “Ah!” Oskar said. “There’s a bridge. A way across…” He doubled over and coughed. Janner rushed to his side to steady him.
    Podo climbed down the ladder in a blur, carrying an armful of dried meat, which he shoved into his pack. “We’re fools to stay here a toot longer.