Hercufleas Read Online Free PDF Page B

greatest warriors in all Avalon,’ Stickler said quickly. ‘Happily Ever Afters only offers them, you understand, for the riskiest, most perilous of quests… I do not think they have been awoken in decades.’
    Greta came back to the counter. ‘What are their names?’ she said eagerly.
    â€˜Prince Xin,’ said Mr Stickler. ‘And Ugor the Barbarian.’
    â€˜Prince Who?’ said Min.
    â€˜Ugor the What?’ said Pin.
    â€˜Never heard of them,’ they said together.
    Hercufleas frowned. Mr Stickler was hiding something he was ashamed of… maybe even afraid of, too. Being a flea, to whom keeping out of sight was second nature, Hercufleas could sense it. But what could it be? He looked at Min, but she just shrugged.
    â€˜We’ve never hired them out before,’ she murmured.
    Greta narrowed her eyes at Mr Stickler, obviously suspicious too. He avoided her gaze and took off his glasses to polish them.
    â€˜Are you trying to swindle me?’
    â€˜Swindle you? No, no! Of course not! I give you my one-hundred-per-cent money-back guarantee.’
    Hercufleas believed him. If Mr Stickler
was
trying to swindle Greta, surely that would ruin his reputation just as much as if he’d refused to help her. But what was he up to, then? Hercufleas couldn’t work it out.
    Neither could Greta. She scrutinised Mr Stickler, then rolled her eyes and gave up. ‘Have Prince Xin and Ugor got experience slaying giants? I don’t need them strong, I don’t need them to have enchanted swords, I just need
giant-slayers.
Understand?’
    â€˜Oh yes!’ Stickler nodded furiously, the house-hat wobbling on his head. ‘Of course. Now, there are certain… risks… attached to Prince Xin and Ugor… And the fee to hire such legendary warriors is, of course, considerable…’

    Greta leaned down and fiddled with a clog. Three enormous gold coins flicked up into the air. Hercufleas leaped clear as they clattered onto the counter.
    Stickler leaned forward to gaze at the florins. Their reflections glittered in his scopical glasses. The muscles in his jaw twitched. ‘That should be… more than sufficient,’ he said. ‘Now all you have to do to seal the deal is sign the contract. Where are the rest of my employfleas?’

    â€˜Here, Mr Stickler!’ The rest of the fleamily exploded out of the house-hat like miniature cannonballs, from the door and the windows and even the chimney. They landed in a drawer that Stickler pulled open. First they lugged an enormous blank sheet of paper out onto the counter. Next they rolled a black bottle of ink out beside it. Finally they gathered pairs of strange iron boots, which they tied tightly to their feet. Hercufleas looked on in bewilderment.

    â€˜Pin and I are Mr Stickler’s librarians,’ Min explained, seeing his confusion. ‘The rest of you have a different job.’
    â€˜Wear these,’ Itch called to him, tossing Hercufleas two iron shoes. ‘You can be X and Q today – they’re the easiest.’
    Hercufleas looked at the large letters stamped on the soles. He slipped the shoes on and hopped over to the inkpot, where his brothers and sisters sat on the rim, dipping their feet into the black liquid.
    â€˜Don’t worry.’ Burp grinned. ‘Just watch and learn.’
    He held up his feet for Hercufleas to see. He had the letters A and S. Looking around, Hercufleas saw they had almost the whole alphabet between them.
    With a small jump, he realised that his brothers and sisters were Mr Stickler’s typewriter.
    Stickler turned to the fleamily and spoke to them in what sounded to Hercufleas like a foreign language. He heard the phrases
P23 hero-hire contract, money-back-guarantee coupon
and
discretionary peril insurance form.
He had no idea what any of it meant, but everyone else seemed to understand completely.
    â€˜Ready?’ yelled Speck, over by