On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

see Leeli. His head whipped to and fro, scanning the crowded street.
    â€œWhere’s Leeli?” he cried. “Leeli!”
    Tink tapped him on the shoulder. Janner whirled around to find his brother pointing to the ground at Janner’s feet. Leeli was sitting there scratching Nugget’s belly, looking up at him innocently. He sighed and felt his insides quiver with relief. In the space of a few seconds, he had envisioned Leeli lost or hurt, and he felt a tinge of the painful guilt he’d bear if something ever actually happened to her.
But nothing ever does,
he thought bitterly.
Here we are at the Dragon Day Festival, and I’m a nervous mess since the minute we arrived. Over nothing at all.
    What could possibly happen in just a few seconds?

6
    A Bard at Dunn’s Green
    C ome on,” Janner grumbled, relieved but annoyed at himself for panicking.
    Tink reached down to help Leeli to her feet, but she ignored him and got up with the help of her crutch.
    Suddenly, the blast of a horn pealed through the summer air and the crowd cheered. The games were beginning. All day long, games would be played on Dunn’s Green, the wide lawn on the east side of town. Participants and spectators would stay there for most of the afternoon watching sack races, handyball, 1 Zibzy, and wiggle the chicken. Everyone lay on quilts in the soft grass and watched the sports, nibbling treats purchased in town.
    And that was exactly what Janner had in mind to do, if they could ever get there.
    Janner pulled Leeli along by her free hand and urged Tink to keep up. “Could you two walk any slower?”
    Tink was far more interested in the delicious smells wafting from the kitchens and makeshift stands where merchants were selling baked butter-dough pastries and fire-cooked swisher fins.
    â€œHang on, I want a berry bun.” Tink dug into his pocket with the hand Janner wasn’t tugging.
    Janner was losing his patience. “I’ll buy you a berry dumpling later if you want. Come on,” he grumbled.
    Tink relented, casting a long, regretful glance over his shoulder at a plump man in an apron basting a platter of buns with bright red jam.
    When they finally arrived at Dunn’s Green, the Igiby children sat on the lawn and watched the festivities all morning and into the hot afternoon. When the sun slipped westward and the shadows began to lengthen, the people chattered more and more. At dusk the sea dragons would come, and the people would perch on the cliffs to watch them dance by the light of the moon. Janner could feel the anticipation in the air.
    To his delight, Tink had spotted a merchant selling blueberry gooey-balls just behind them. He had spent the few coins Nia had given him, so Janner had begrudgingly shared some of his own just to quiet Tink’s stomach (and his mouth). Tink had no idea that his face was now smeared with dark purple. Leeli was content to passively watch the games while she tickled Nugget’s belly or threw a stick for him to fetch. The onlookers had tolerated this until she’d accidentally thrown the stick onto the playing field. When Nugget chased it, one of the handyball players (who was rolling awkwardly across the field, careful not to let his feet touch the grass) missed a pass from another player because Nugget got in his way. All eyes had turned angrily toward Leeli, whose cheeks burned as red as Tink’s were purple, but when the onlookers saw Leeli’s crutch, they softened their glares and the game continued. Janner was glad that Leeli was too busy scolding Nugget to notice the crowd’s pity, or she would have been even more upset.
    Janner was as excited about all the unfamiliar faces around him as he was about the games. He wondered where all these people had come from, though the attire gave some folks away. The Torrboro citizens, for example, all dressed alike: The men wore little black hats, coats with long tails (in spite of the summer heat), and