Deltora Quest #2: The Lake of Tears Read Online Free PDF Page B

at himself. Then he held out his hand to Jasmine and Barda and said their names as well.
    With each introduction, Nij and Doj bowed and smiled. Then they pointed to the little white house, mimed washing and drinking, and looked at the three companions questioningly.
    “Certainly,” beamed Barda, nodding vigorously. “Thank you. You are kind.”
    “Yrgnuh era ew,” said Doj, patting him on the back. He and Nij both roared with laughter as if at some great joke, and began walking together towards the house.
    “Are you forgetting the Ralad man?” asked Jasmine in a low voice, as the three companions followed. “He will wake and find us gone. He may look for us. What if he falls into the quicksand, too?”
    Barda shrugged. “I doubt that he will try to find us,” he said comfortably. “He will be too eager to make his way home again. Though Ralads have alwaystraveled to do their building work, they hate to be away from Raladin for too long.”
    As the girl lingered, looking back over her shoulder, his voice sharpened. “Come along, Jasmine!” he complained. “Anyone would think that you enjoyed being wet and covered in slime!”
    Lief was hardly listening. His feet were quickening as he approached the little white house with the smoking chimney and the flower gardens. Home , his heart was telling him. Friends. Here you can rest. Here you will be safe.
    Barda strode beside him, as eager as Lief was to reach the welcoming house and to enjoy the comforts inside.
    Jasmine trailed behind, with Filli nestled against her hair. She was still frowning. If either Lief or Barda had paid attention to her, had listened to her doubts and suspicions, they might have slowed their steps.
    But neither of them did. And they did not realize their mistake until long after the green door had shut behind them.

N ij and Doj led the three companions into a large, bright kitchen with a stone floor. Polished pots and pans hung from hooks above the big fuel stove and a large table stood in the center of the room. It reminded Lief of the kitchen in the forge, and he would have been happy to stay there — especially as, like Barda and Jasmine, he was wet and muddy.
    But Nij and Doj seemed shocked at the idea of their guests sitting in the kitchen, and bustled them into a cosy sitting room beyond. Here an open fire burned, and there were comfortable-looking easy chairs and a woven carpet on the floor.
    With many nods and smiles, Nij gave Jasmine, Lief, and Barda rugs to wrap themselves in, and made them sit by the fire. Then she and Doj rushed away again, making signs to say they would return.
    Soon Lief could hear clattering and murmuring in the kitchen. He guessed that the two old people were heating water for baths and perhaps preparing a meal. “Retaw liob,” Nij was saying busily. And Doj was laughing as he worked. “Noos taem hserf! Noos taem hserf!” he was chanting in a singsong voice.
    Lief’s heart warmed. Whatever these people had, they would give to help the strangers in trouble.
    “They are very kind,” he said lazily. He felt relaxed for the first time in days. The fire was cheery, and the rug around his shoulders was comforting. The room, too, made him feel at home. There was a jug of yellow daisies on the mantelpiece — daisies exactly like the ones that grew wild by the forge gate. Over the fireplace hung a framed piece of embroidery, no doubt made by Nij’s own hands.

    “Yes, they are very good,” murmured Barda. “It is for people such as these that we wish to save Deltora.”
    Jasmine sniffed. Lief glanced at her and wondered at the restless look on her face. Then he realized that, of course, she had never been inside a house like this, nevermet ordinary people like Nij and Doj before. She had spent her life in the Forests, among trees, under the sky. No wonder she felt uncomfortable here, instead of at peace as he and Barda did.
    Filli was hunched on Jasmine’s shoulder with his paws over his eyes. He was not