Read The Ghost Roads (Ring of Five) for Free Online

corner of his eye. He hesitated a fraction of a second too long. Daisy’s eyes widened in alarm, and he hit the ground with a crash that drove the breath from his body.
    When he opened his eyes, Daisy was gingerly picking herself up and Danny was standing over him—a different Danny from the one he remembered. The uncertain, clever boy who had first come to Wilsons was gone. This boy looked hard-eyed and sure of himself, and there was a hint of impatience in the way he was looking down at Gabriel. Painfully Gabriel clambered to his feet as Daisy hobbled toward him.
    “Danny.” Gabriel held out his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Danny shook his hand distractedly.
    “I need your help,” the boy said.
    “Of course,” Gabriel said, “what can I do?” He knew that the boy was the Fifth and that he had extraordinary powers. Other Messengers often muttered that Danny was too dangerous to have around. “Nonsense,” Gabriel told them, “we need to harness that power to defend ourselves. We should be helping him. I’m going to help him, anyway.”
    Now Gabriel had the feeling that he was going to have to live up to that promise.
    “I have to get to the Upper World,” Danny said, “and you’re going to take me.”
    Gabriel stared at him. He had not flown to the Upper World for many years. He did not even know if his wings would carry him. He was too old and weak.
    “Well, Gabriel?” Daisy was half smiling at him.
    “I’ll … I’ll do it,” Gabriel said, “if I can!” Danny nodded curtly. Daisy clapped her hands.
    “I’ll need you as well, Daisy,” Danny said. “Here’s what I want you to do.”
    Daisy’s expression changed when Danny stood close, murmuring into her ear.
    “I can’t,” she said, “I can’t! I’ll have to leave Wilsons if they find out!”
    “They won’t find out,” Danny said. “I have a plan.”
    “But why?” Daisy protested.
    “Because I need to. You don’t have to know anything more. Are you with me?” Daisy bowed her head.
    “I will help you,” she said in a small voice.
    “Let’s go.”

    N ala had slept. The long pursuit had left him fatigued in body and mind. As he slept, he dreamed of Brunholm. The man was banging nails into his arms, snarling, “How many in the Cherb army? How many? How many?”
    “No, stop!” Nala moaned, but the sound of the nails would not stop. Bang. Bang. Bang. Nala rolled over, holding his head, then sat up. The noise was not in his dream; it was real. They were coming for him. He squeezed into the corner of his bunk, his fists raised, then realized that the noise wasn’t coming from the door but from the window. Impossible! He had looked out the window earlier. It was many floors from the ground, set into smooth rock. But still the sound went on, and as Nala stared, a pane of glass flickered and then was gone.
    “Nala!” He heard a familiar voice. “Come to the window!”
    Nala crept closer and peered out. Danny!
    “Help me get rid of the rest of this glass. Use this.” Danny handed him a rubber sucker and a glass cutter. Nala knew what to do with the sucker and cutter, but how was Danny managing to hover outside the window?
    Quickly Nala worked at the glass, using the sucker to hold the pane while he cut around the edges, then carefully lifted the glass and put it on the floor of the cell. He stuck his head through the window. Danny was sitting on a male Messenger’s back; a female Messenger hovered a few feet away.
    “That’s the last pane,” Danny gasped. “Can you squeeze through, Nala?”
    Nala saw the female Messenger move into position underneath the window. She looked old and frail; a gust of wind pushed her sideways and she had difficulty in getting back into position. Nala hesitated, but his dream of torture came back to him. Wriggling like an eel, he squirmed through the small opening and climbed onto the Messenger’s back. She sank in the air a little, but then, with strong beats of her wings, she rose