The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

lips, then pointed at Lucky.
    They pretended not to see Lucky when she cautiously stuck her head out, then snatched it back in.
    Audrey saw the twitching pack and stole away from Cat, still preoccupied with her pack’s contents. Creeping closer to Kassie’s bag, she dropped to her belly and carefully began her commando crawl toward it.
    Sian looked up and spotted her, then tossed a pebble at Cat who looked up in surprise. Sian nodded at the dog. They both watched as she reached her target.
    Audrey gave the pack a gentle poke with her nose and it jerked away from her. She froze in shock, even her tail stayed stiff and straight. The dog crept up to it again. This time she sat next to it, head cocked to one side, then lifted her paw and placed it on top of the pack. They heard an angry growl and Audrey’s tail started to wag. The pack lunged, grabbed her paw and apparently bit it as the dog yelped and shot back to where Cat was, hiding behind her legs and peered accusingly at it.
    All the girls laughed and at that point Lucky burrowed out of the pack then sauntered about the clearing looking smug, her tail straight up in the air. Audrey rushed over to her friend and snuffled her all over, then did a big whoosh of air straight up her backside. Lucky yeooowed and ran back to Kassie.
    Smiling at Audi and Lucky’s antics, I returned my attention to my pack and placed the items back inside. Then it hit me. Why would we need these at home?
    'I have this idea that we aren’t on Earth anymore,' I bit my lip as I looked at the others, feeling butterflies in my stomach.
    Kassie frowned, 'What makes you say that?'
    'This doesn’t look like anything we’d need on Earth, not in our time anyway.'
    Loi interrupted me.
    'Ever seen anything like that on Earth?'
    We turned and stared at where she pointed.
    A bird about the size of a pigeon made its way down the vine on a tree. The bird was a deep fire engine red. I couldn’t ever remember seeing a bird that color before. When it turned to feed on an insect we gasped.
    The bird’s tail was made up of long feathers that were tipped with jewel colored ‘eyes’ like a peacock. Citrine, ruby, emerald, and amethyst, this was one stunning bird. It flittered about the tree hunting more insects, unconcerned at our presence, then made a pretty trilling noise and launched off the tree, flying past us further into the forest until it was out of sight.
    Well .
    'Probably not Earth,' I concluded.
    The others just stared at me.
    Kassie sank to the ground.
    'What are we supposed to do? How do we get home? What about our families? Are we stuck?'
    Her voice rose with each question.
    'How did this happen? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW?'
    The three of us winced at the noise level and Audi cowered behind my legs. Loi looked at Sian.
    'Why don’t I feel bothered by this?' she seemed perplexed. 'I should be terrified right?'
    I nodded in agreement. I had just wondered that.
    Not that I’m not upset, but I’m not having a mini melt-down like Kassie.
    Sian walked over to Kassie and sat down, wrapping her arms around her.
    'It’s likely you’re in shock,' she said, ever practical. 'Your body is designed to run on auto-pilot in a situation like this. Give it a few days before really considering it.'
    A few days, Loi flinched at that thought. What next then?
    She spoke up, 'Then let’s focus just on us for the moment. I think we should make a meal, food helps shock right? And then we should think about a shelter.'
    Sian agreed.
    'Yep, food will help and a shelter’s going to be necessary.'
    We grabbed our packs and pulled out our food. I was surprised to see we had different foods. Kassie had some vegetables instead of the bread I had, Sian some dried beans and Loi had a water bag, made out of an animal’s stomach. The four of us stared at it. Loi prodded it gently with one finger and we watched it jiggle.
    'Is anyone else mildly grossed out by that?' I queried.
    The other three gave tiny