Pip and the Wood Witch Curse Read Online Free PDF Page B

he desired more than anything—money. They raided houses at night, ransacked shops in the dark hours, ambushed market traders if they made their way home late at night. And so things grew worse, all because of Mister Jarvis: the man who had secretly spent so much time double-dealing with the creatures of the forest that he had almost become one himself.
    Right now he was keeping warm at the fire. He nursed a tankard of ale and in the flickering shadows he used his hook to spear the food on his plate. Esther stepped out from under his cloak and they whispered under the cracking and spitting of the burning logs.
    Unbeknownst to Jarvis and his crow, Pip and Toad were positioned beneath them in the cellar. A hole in the floorboards revealed the underside of Jarvis’s leather boot. They listened carefully.
    “I want to know where the Duprie child has gone,” said Jarvis. “What news do you have?” He brushed some breadcrumbs under her beak.
    “I have news from Silas, sir. She is on the move. She may be disguised, but we have no idea how.”
    “Do you think I am stupid, Esther? Of course she is on the move. Their home has been ransacked. Of course she’ll be disguised. Tell me something I don’t know and don’t tell me you paid Silas for that information.”
    “She may be using the river to pass up and down the city. There are rumors of a small boat.”

    “What rumors?”
    “A boat was tethered to the Firefly Bridge. It disappeared at the same time the Duprie girl went on the run.”
    Jarvis stared hard back at her. “You know I don’t like water.”
    “Maybe she doesn’t like it either. She may have been forced to row upstream to avoid the city folk.”
    “Esther, if you feel sympathy toward those little rats, don’t ever let it slip in front of me. If I ever lay my hands on that dreadful child she will wish she had perished in that water.”
    Toad looked at Pip and Pip stared back. Jarvis really was the villain that Toad had described. He really did hate children.
    “If she escapes outside the city gates she’ll never make it alive. I’ll bet my shiny hook that she is heading into the heart of the hollow,” said Jarvis. “The day I rid this place of all its children will be a happy one. Ah, if only we could find Captain Dooley,” he sighed, sipping at the froth of his ale. “Then all our troubles would be solved.”
    “No one knows where Captain Dooley is. Not even Silas,” Esther assured him.
    “Captain Dooley?” whispered Pip, staring questioningly at Toad. “Who on earth is Captain Dooley?”
    Toad held his finger to his lips. “Later,” he whispered.
    Just then Esther spilled Jarvis’s drink and ale poured through the floorboards on to Pip and Toad.
    “Uurgh!” said Pip.
    “Sshhh!” hissed Toad. “Come on. We should get up to the annex.”
    But something held them back. As they were about to leave they realized that Jarvis had been joined at his table. Toad pushed his face up to the gap to see who it was.
    “Hector Stubbs!” he whispered to Pip, his eyes wide.
    Pip said nothing, but made a gesture with open arms. Who was Hector Stubbs?
    “He’s another one to look out for,” continued Toad. “If there’s a raid from the authorities in the night, he’ll be the one at the front banging the door down. If there’s a fight with the forest folk he’ll be the first to stick the knife in. He wants every child under his guard with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, to build his army, to take up war against the woods. He wants to protect the city, but to do it he wants to take you to war. And woe betide anyone caught concealing children from him.”
    Pip sneaked a look. The man was stocky and short. He had shoulder-length hair, a broad face, and a downturned mouth. The ornate handle of some kind of weapon was at his waist. His cloak trailed on the floor above them.
    The boys listened intently.
    “Do you have word of anything?” asked Stubbs. His words came slowly and