Kingdoms Away 1: Jorian Cluster Archives Read Online Free PDF Page B

for some misdeed. Silly thing; she
had told him to be careful. Jo was good at evading the adults, but
Benny was a bit slow. It was just her and Mr. Pollocks.
    A while later, back in her room, she dropped
Mr. Pollocks on her bed. Her dad surprised her by coming in. His
dark brown hair was disheveled. He’d been exercising. He knelt down
next to her, leaning a sweaty arm on her bed. He smelt.
    “Hello, Feena, Mr. Pollocks. What have you
been up to today?”
    “We’ve been investigating. But Mr. Pollocks
said he was tired so I am putting him to bed.”
    “Poor tired teddy bear.”
    Feena looked at her father with big golden
eyes. “He’s not a teddy bear, dad. He’s a black sloth bear from the
tropical mountains of Agrafe.”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Pollocks.” He looked
from the big white-nosed bear to his daughter. “I won’t be
late.”
    Relieved that he was going, she decided to
check out the eighth deck. Not wanting to be on her own, she
grabbed up Mr. Pollocks. “That’s enough sleep for you.” She hugged
his long shaggy coat close to her body.
    Much to her continued disappointment, many of
the doors and lifts required permission to access them. She didn’t
feel like crawling through the ducts today. She went back to her
family quarters disgusted. As Feena wandered back through the wide
passageways, people who recognized her greeted her and Mr.
Pollocks, knowing that to ignore the bear would be met with
disapproval.
    Her shrewd mind scanned the passageway,
noting duct entrances, ready for her next day’s mission. Most of
the wiring and pipes were under, above or in the walls behind
panels for easy access. The floors in the corridors had a
short-haired, rough, carpeted surface of blue. Dim lighting came
from above to simulate nighttime. Benny wanted it to go really dark
so they could go around with torches but they compensated by going
down to the cargo area, which was often dark to save power.
    As Feena reached the grey portal to her
family quarters her mum, Robin, picked her up from behind and gave
her a big kiss on the neck. Feena presented Mr. Pollocks and her
curly-haired mum kissed him too. Feena watched Robin place her hand
in the identification slot. The little rectangular light just above
the slot went from red to green and the door slid open.
    Feena’s dad had come back from his errand and
after kissing him, now fresh smelling, she went to her room. She
sat at her pale grey desk and looked over the paper her teacher had
given for homework. It was about history and the Third Hostility.
There was a test the next day. She groaned. She hated tests.
    During dinner, her dad asked her what she was
doing at school.
    “Studying the Third Hostility.”
    “That’s interesting; would you like some help
after dinner with your study?”
    “Na, I mean, no thanks, ah, no thank you.”
She popped a large piece of potato in her mouth without cutting it
up.
    “Do you have all the information you need?”
Robin glanced over at her with the potato bulging out from her pale
cheek.
    “Yep.” Feena swallowed some of the chewed
potato. “Most of it’s on the excerpts anyway.” She looked to the
ceiling briefly and then back at her plate, pushing the squash away
with her fork. "…and when the Elysians command Animalia shall
strike with all its might to render the Enemy a deadly blow, and
the ARTHODPODA shall have its part in tearing down the Enemy: the
Insecta shall act as distraction, causing the Enemy to become
frustrated and down of heart, and the Arachnids shall smote down
the Enemy with their terrible poisons …" I know most of it by
heart.”
    Her dad looked amused at her monotone
recital.
    Feena didn’t mean for it to come out that
way. The potato was getting in the way.
    They finished dinner and Feena did her chores
before relaxing with her parents playing a board game. She yawned
loudly and William directed her to her room. She crawled into bed
with Mr. Pollocks and brushed his black coat and the