The Children's Crusade Read Online Free PDF Page B

sad and a little bit angry.
    â€œDid you say that Kerwyn will be choosing the next missionary?” Marya asked.
    â€œAny time now,” Daniel said. Was she hoping that he would go, go away? She wanted to be rid of him, didn’t she? He couldn’t bear to look at her in case that was what she was thinking.
    Marya stood, clutching the statue. “Thank you for the dance,” she said to the Shimmers. “And for my present,” she said to Daniel. And then she ran off, leaving him alone.

Chapter Three
    T IM STARED, TRYING to grasp the implications of what he was seeing.
    Titania stood there, clear as day, on the sidewalk in a run-down section of London. She looked wildly out of place—her pale green skin was only one of the attributes that made her stand out.
    For another thing, she was spectacularly beautiful. Even her weird green skin didn’t detract from her beauty. Tim could not have said exactly what it was that made her more beautiful than anyone he’d ever seen. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was filled with magic.
    Her long hair was dark green, and today it was woven through with tiny flowers. She wore a flowing silver gown that shimmered whenever she moved. Her long sleeves were pale, transparent blue—the color of twilight. She had large, almond-shaped eyes that changed color with hermood. They were a deep purple now, and Tim felt their furious glare as if she were actually touching him. He took several steps backward.
    â€œHow dare you?” she shrieked. “You terrible, foolish child.”
    Tim clenched his jaw. “How dare I what? Risk my life to save your world? I suppose a thank-you is too much to ask for.”
    Titania took a step toward him and Tim forced himself to stay put. He felt a cold draft emanating from her and he shivered.
    â€œYou are insolent,” she growled. “No one speaks to me in that manner.”
    Tim’s brown eyes never wavered from hers. After all, what he had said was true: He had saved Faerie and it had cost him plenty. She ought to be thanking him, not shouting at him. But he had discovered that adults didn’t always behave in any normal or rational way.
    Titania made a slow circle around Tim, as if she were studying a specimen. Tim took the opportunity to glance around. No one on the street seemed to have noticed her. Do they think I’m speaking to myself? he wondered. Or has she cloaked us both in some invisibility spell? She could probably do something like that easily enough.
    Titania stopped in front of him again. “It was not only love he spurned for your sake but life aswell. You have been the death of your father.”
    Tim’s head snapped back as if she had struck him. The words stung. “Don’t you think I know that?” he shouted. “I live with that every minute of the day.”
    A nasty smile spread across Titania’s face. “Well, at least you suffer,” she said.
    â€œDid you ever think maybe he sacrificed himself so he wouldn’t have to be trapped in a world with you any longer?” Tim retorted.
    Now Titania looked wounded, as if Tim’s words had the prick of truth in them. She quickly recovered. “You do your father no honor, changeling,” she spat at him. “Had you an ounce of skill, you would not have needed such a sacrifice from him. You walked blindly into that lair. You know nothing, and your ignorance is your curse. You are not just a fool, you are dangerous.”
    Tim was not going to let this horrid woman get the best of him. “Are you quite finished yelling at me? I really have to be going now.”
    â€œGo where you will, Timothy Hunter,” Titania said, her voice nearly a growl. “Prowl these gray and dingy streets or sink all the way to Hell. But go knowing what you are: a cursed fool.”
    Fury and pain made Timothy brave—or at least bold. “Oh, I know what I am all right, yourroyal