Deltora Quest #3: City of the Rats Read Online Free PDF Page A

flapping above them.
    “Remember!” Tom’s voice called after them. “Keep tight reins! Be sure to take the left path!”
    Lief would have liked to wave, to show that he had heard, but he did not dare lift a hand. Noodle was picking up speed, her floppy ears blowing backwards in the breeze, her powerful legs bounding forward.
    Lief had never been to sea, for before he was born, the Shadow Lord had forbidden the coast to the citizens of Del. But he imagined that clinging to a lively muddlet must be very like sailing a boat in stormy weather. It required all his attention.

    After about ten minutes, the muddlets’ excitement wore off and they slowed to a steady, lolloping pace. Noodle began to remind Lief of a rocking horse he had had as a child, rather than making him think of a pitching boat.
    This is not so hard, he thought. In fact, it is easy! He was filled with pride and satisfaction. What would his friends say, if they could see him now?
    The road was wide, and the companions were able to ride beside one another. Lulled by the rocking movement, Filli settled down to sleep inside Jasmine’s jacket, and now that he was sure that all was well, Kree flew ahead, dipping now and then to catch an insect. Jasmine herself rode silently, her eyes thoughtful. Barda and Lief talked.
    “We are making very good time,” said Barda with satisfaction. “These muddlets are certainly excellent steeds.I am surprised that we have not heard of them before. I never saw one in Del.”
    “Tom said they were hard to get,” answered Lief. “The people in this part of Deltora keep them to themselves, no doubt. And Del has had little news from the countryside since long before the Shadow Lord came.”
    Jasmine glanced at him, and seemed about to speak, but then she closed her mouth firmly, and said nothing. Her brows were knitted in a frown.
    They rode on without speaking for a moment, and then, at last, Jasmine opened her lips.
    “This place we are to go — the City of the Rats. We know nothing of it, do we?”
    “Only that it is walled, appears deserted, and stands alone in the bend of a river called the Broad,” said Barda. “It has been seen by travellers from afar, but I have heard not a whisper of anyone who has been inside its walls.”
    “Perhaps no one who has been inside has lived to tell the tale,” said Jasmine grimly. “Have you considered that?”

B arda shrugged. “The City of the Rats has an evil reputation, and an Ak-Baba was seen in the skies above it on the morning the Shadow Lord invaded. We can be almost sure that one of the Belt’s gems has been hidden there.”
    “So,” said Jasmine, still in that hard voice, “we must go to the place, but we know little of what we will find there. We cannot prepare or plan.”
    “We could not prepare or plan for the Lake of Tears or the Forests of Silence,” Lief put in stoutly. “But still we succeeded in both. As we will succeed in this.”
    Jasmine tossed her head. “Brave words!” she retorted. “Perhaps you have forgotten that in the Forests you had me to help you, and at the Lake of Tears we had Manus to guide our way. This time, it is different. We are alone, without advice or help.”
    Her plain speaking irritated Lief, and he could see that it irritated Barda also. Perhaps she was right in what she said, but why lower their spirits?
    He turned away from her and stared straight ahead. They rode on in silence.
    Shortly afterwards the road ahead of them split into two, as Tom had told them it would. There was a signpost in the middle of the fork, one arm pointing to the left, the other to the right.

    “Broad River!” exclaimed Lief. “That is the river on which the City of the Rats stands! Why, what a piece of good fortune!”
    Excitedly, he began turning Noodle’s head to the right.
    “Lief, what are you doing?” protested Jasmine. “We must take the left-hand path. Remember what the man Tom said.”
    “Don’t you see, Jasmine? Tom would never