Scarlet and the Keepers of Light Read Online Free PDF Page A

They had so much power, she could feel it, and she was just an ordinary dog.
    “Who were those men?” Scarlet asked. “And what was the dark . . . smoke stuff? Was it magic?”
    “That is best for Dakota to answer. We have to move. We not safe until we reach land where Tounder live,” Cricket implored. She felt as if time itself were an enemy, hunting them down as surely as the Mortada.
    “What are the Tounder?” Scarlet asked, sounding much more curious than scared. “The name seems familiar, but I can’t think why.”
    Cricket wasn’t sure how to answer. She certainly had never seen these beings, and the description Dakota had given of them made little sense to her. “Not sure. Just know Dakota said we safe once we reach their land.” Her hackles had begun to rise involuntarily, and she shifted uneasily. “To me, sound like little bird people in books you talk to Melody.”
    Scarlet frowned. “Little bird people? What in the world?” Then she smiled. “Fairies. You mean fairies. Like the Tinker Bell books.”
    “Yes, those. Tinker Bells.”
    ***
    Scarlet wanted to laugh at the absurdity of this surreal night. Fairies? As if talking dogs, evil men, and mystical forests weren’t ridiculous enough, now fairies? But now, with Cricket trembling under her fingers, her warmth and the texture of her fur much too real to belong to a dream, humor was giving way to fear.
    “Mr. Hopewell!” Cricket’s bark had the ring of panic. “We have to move. We not safe here.”
    Scarlet looked over at her parents. Her dad was sitting with his back against a tree trunk, still cradling the sleeping Melody in his arms. Her mom had been sitting next to him, resting her head against his chest, but now she straightened up, looked at Scarlet and Cricket, and spoke for the first time since they’d run out of the house. “Where are we going, Cricket? What is all this?” She sounded puzzled, and a little annoyed.
    She still thinks it’s a dream.
    Cricket whimpered a little in frustration. “I not best to ask. Dakota or Tounder will answer questions. We have to move.” The longer they waited, the more panicky Cricket looked, and now she was shifting her feet, barely able to keep still, as if she were waiting to run after a ball.
    Scarlet’s father began to climb to his feet, but her mom stopped him, placing a hand firmly on his chest.
    “Cricket,” she said firmly, “I don’t know if you can understand how crazy this all is to us. We can’t just go chasing after a talking dog in the middle of the night. Someone broke into our home. We have to call the police.”
    But Cricket wasn’t listening. She sniffed the air frantically, turning one way and the next, as if searching for a scent. “Please. We need to go.”
    “We’re not running into the middle of nowhere like this anymore. We need to reach the police.” Scarlet’s mother had crossed her arms. She looked as unmovable as a boulder.
    “Maybe we should just go with it,” Scarlet’s father suggested. “Whatever those things were, I’m not even sure the police could help.”
    Scarlet’s mom shot him a be-quiet-and-let-me-speak look. “What are those things?” she demanded. It was plain she wouldn’t be budged.
    ***
    Cricket whined. It was too late. Whatever she’d heard rustling in the brush was close. No, it was here. They wouldn’t be able to escape. She had failed.
    “We have to try and hide. Hurry!”
    But now there was a great rustling in the trees from the direction of the house. There wouldn’t be time to hide. Cricket planted herself firmly between the danger and her family, steeling herself against whatever might burst through the trees. She would give it the fight of her life. However little good it might do, she would die protecting them.
    The undergrowth parted, and Dakota emerged from the thick green shadows, panting heavily and bleeding from his shoulder. He slid to a sudden halt in front of Cricket, looking at her and the family with