The Fire King Read Online Free PDF

only a few steps up from begging themselves. They didn’t have anything to give.
    Corrigan hopped across from William’s shoulder. “Notice anything?” he said in a low voice.
    Emily took another look. No sign of Black Annis or Jenny Greenteeth. No sign of those hideous hounds. Or the knights. It all looked perfectly normal. She shook her head.
    â€œLook,” said Corrigan. “What’s missing here?”
    Emily took another look, trying to see what it was Corrigan was talking about. A moment later it struck her. She couldn’t see any of the fey. Not a one. Back in her time, there would be brownies hitching rides on the passersby; the fey would be wandering between the humans, going about their own business. But here there was none of that.
    â€œWhere are the fey?” she asked softly.
    â€œMaybe we should ask your new friend,” replied Corrigan.
    â€œCome on,” said Katerina, apparently satisfied that they had managed to shake off pursuit. “We’ve still got a ways to go.”

    Katerina led them on for another hour or so, keeping to the stinking back alleys as much as possible. That was another thing that was similar to Emily’s London. There were a lot of warrens and courts, twisting lanes and mews that snaked around and behind the main streets, leading to hidden courtyards and forgotten houses. It seemed that London had always been like that, the passing years only adding to the confusion and mystery.
    They finally stopped before a stout brick wall with thick, flowering bushes growing at its base.
    â€œWhere are we?” asked Jack.
    â€œBonehill cemetery,” said Katerina. She got down to her knees and stuck her head inside the bushes, wriggling forward until only her legs remained in view. A moment later, they, too, were gone.
    Emily crouched down and peered through the leaves. Katerina’s face stared back at her from the other side of a large hole in the wall.
    â€œWhat are you waiting for?” she whispered fiercely. “Get in here. Unless you want Black Annis to catch you.”
    Emily straightened up and turned to Will. “In you go,” she said. William frowned, folding his arms across his chest.
    â€œWhy do I have to go first? Do you think I’m going to run off and get into trouble if I’m out of your sight for a couple of seconds?”
    â€œCome on, Will,” said Jack. “Smallest first. In case I get stuck.”
    Will hesitated, then nodded at Jack. He got down onto his stomach, pointedly ignoring Emily, and squirmed through the hole.
    Emily frowned but didn’t say anything. What was the point? Any time she tried, Will took what she said the wrong way. It was like he wanted to fight with her.
    Emily went next. Branches snagged her clothing and hair, scraping against her skin, but she managed to pull herself through to the other side without too much difficulty.
    She stood up and surveyed their surroundings. Everywhere she looked she saw weathered headstones and small, stone crypts, some of them topped by statues of angels. Off to their right, nestling amidst the dry, brittle grass, stood a small church. Some distance away were long rows of freshly turned earth.
    â€œWhat are those for?” she asked, nodding at the long piles of earth.
    Katerina looked at Emily strangely. “The plague,” she said.
    Emily nodded thoughtfully, even though she didn’t really understand Katerina’s response. Katerina must have sensed Emily was none the wiser.
    â€œLast year? That spot of bother we had where thousands of people died? There wasn’t any more room for single graves, so they had to use those. How could you not know that?”
    Emily was spared having to answer Katerina’s question when Jack pulled himself through the hole and stood up. Katerina threw a suspicious look at Emily, then set off across the grass, heading deeper into the graveyard. After a few minutes, she stopped before a