North! Or Be Eaten Read Online Free PDF Page B

happened. Janner could see it in his own eyes: a look of gravity, amaturity that he hoped might someday become wisdom. He handed the mirror to Tink, wondering if his little brother would notice the same thing of himself.
    Instead Tink immediately made the goofiest, ugliest face he could muster and burst into laughter. Leeli encouraged it with laughter of her own, and Tink went on for several minutes, inventing silly faces and laughing until he couldn’t breathe. Hard as he tried, Janner couldn’t help grinning at his brother’s antics, and he noticed their mother smiling too.
    Behold
, Janner thought,
the High King of Anniera. Maker help us
.
    His thoughts were interrupted by a strange sound in the forest.
    Janner peered into the trees, wondering if it was his imagination. After weeks in Glipwood Forest, he had come to recognize the shriek of the cave blat, the gribbit of the bumpy digtoad, the horrible moo of the toothy cow, and the wail of the horned hound. Peet had even taught Janner and his siblings about the various birds that sang in the boughs and how to tell which ones were hostile, which were mischievous, and which were singing dirges for fellow birds that had been gobbled by a gulpswallow.
    But this sound was different. It was almost human. Janner took quick stock of his family to be sure everyone was present, and to his increasing alarm, all were.
    “Shh!”
Janner clamped a hand over Tink’s mouth. “Hear that?”
    “Mmmf,” Tink replied.
    The sound got louder, now accompanied by the faint
kshhh-kshhh
of snapping twigs and brush trampled underfoot. Podo and Nia heard it too. They all stood, heads turned, listening. Nugget whined and paced back and forth until Leeli hushed him.
    Finally, the voice echoing through the timbers grew near enough that the words became clear.
    “I N THE WORDS OF U BINIOUS THE W HOONED , ‘R UN , I GIBYS ! I F YOU’RE OUT THERE , RUN ! T HEY’RE COMING !’”

5
A Traitor in the Trees
    O skar Noss Reteep bounced and jiggled atop the bewildered donkey like jelly in an earthquake. He held the reins high in the air and had long since lost any hope of his feet finding the stirrups. His spectacles dangled from one ear, and a magnificent swath of white hair, attached just above his ear, lifted from where he had pressed it to his head and flew behind him like a flag of surrender.
    Janner nearly came out of his skin when he recognized his old employer. The last time he had seen Oskar, the old fellow lay dying on the floor of Books and Crannies, urging him to flee. On that last, awful night in the Glipwood Township, amidst the horror of the Fang battle, Zouzab’s betrayal, and the family’s escape to Anklejelly Manor, Janner had assumed Oskar was dead. To see him alive came as a shock, but it turned quickly to joy. Janner smiled as Reteep bounded toward him, making such a racket that flocks of wrenchies perched in the trees cawed and flapped away.
    “Janner!” Podo’s voice found its way through the thoughts in Janner’s head. “ BOY !”
    Janner snapped out of his daze and realized that of all the Igibys, he was the only one standing still. He gasped when he finally realized what Oskar was bellowing.
    “R UN , I GIBYS ! I N THE WORDS OF —”
    Before he could finish, the poor donkey—whether from fatigue or because he could no longer bear the indignity of such a jiggly rider—went down. Oskar’s eyes bulged as he soared through the air toward the clearing where Janner stood. He flew with a surprising grace, hair trailing behind, spectacles dangling, his mouth forming a perfect O as the reins, still firmly in his grip, snapped taut and flipped the round man over to land on his back at Janner’s feet.
    The donkey brayed.
    Oskar lay on the ground, blinking, surprised he wasn’t dead.
    “Janner! My boy, I’m glad to see you. I came as fast as I could.” Oskar winced and placed a hand on his side as Janner helped him to his feet. The old man’s middle was wrapped with