The Nine Pound Hammer Read Online Free PDF Page B

and monkshood, rolled them in damp cloth, and placed them in one of the sacks tied to his wide belt.
    The girl followed him into the glade and settled against the trunk of a willow. “Why are you picking those yellowones?” she asked. “Nel didn’t say anything about any yellow flowers.”
    “They’re pretty,” the giant said.
    The girl rolled her eyes and placed her hands behind her head.
    “You remember what that root was Nel told us to get?” the giant called after a moment of contemplation.
    “Of course not, he told you what to get, not me. I don’t know why I keep going with you on these expeditions.”
    The giant caught her teasing smile from the corner of his eye. “Because I’d never find the train again.”
    “Why don’t you write down what herbs Nel wants gathered?” the girl asked.
    “I hate making lists. Puts too much pressure on me. I don’t like being anxious.”
    “But see, you get to have the satisfaction of checking off your progress as—Hey! What’s that?”
    There was a roar and a snapping of underbrush and shrubs. The girl leaped to her feet, whipping the bowie knife from her belt as the she-bear burst into the clearing. The enormity of the beast alone would have given them pause, but what shocked them most was the boy riding on her back like a rodeo cowboy. The bear-rider was straddling her tightly with his knees and held thick folds of loose fur with both his hands.
    The giant toppled out of the way. The bear turned and charged again, but the girl jumped between it and herfriend, raising her knife. The she-bear reared back on her hind legs, her claws ready to rake into the small girl.
    The giant lunged, bracing his head low and plowing into the bear’s stomach with his massive shoulders. The bear tumbled over several times, quickly clambered back to her feet. The rider was thrown into the air, his head striking the trunk of the willow where the girl had been sitting moments before. He collapsed.
    The she-bear hesitated before the giant. She sidled around in an arc, baring her teeth and growling. The giant reached up and broke a stout limb from a tree, taking a few swings to measure the weight of his club. The girl eased around to the side of the bear, ready to leap, ready with her knife. The she-bear turned her head back and forth between the two.
    From the roots of the willow, the rider lifted his head and extended an arm. “Don’t … she’s just protecting her cubs.”
    The girl and the giant looked at one another and then at the strange rider.
    “Is she yours?” the girl called. “Are you one of those gypsy bear-tamers?”
    The rider’s eyes were drifting as he fought to stay conscious. “Just … protecting her cubs. … ” Blood trickled from below his cap across his brow.
    The giant lowered the club and backed up a few steps. The girl looked less comfortable with lowering her defenses, but when the giant waved her back, she did so. The she-bear snorted a few times, watching the three. Then sheturned and loped toward the rider. She stopped above him and gave his forehead a lick before galloping off into the thickets.
    Ray drifted in and out of consciousness. His skull felt inches too thick and pulsed painfully. The world seemed muted and hazy. He forced an eyelid open and saw the forest floor bouncing below him. He closed his eye and tried not to be sick.
    “… and I don’t think we should be taking him with us,” someone said.
    “He’s hurt. We have to.” Ray could feel the rumble of the voice reverberate through his body. He was being carried over someone’s shoulder, and whoever it was must have been huge because the ground looked a long ways down. The other voice sounded like a girl, but Ray felt too nauseated to turn his head and check.
    “But Nel sent us to collect herbs. He didn’t say anything—”
    “He’d say the same as me. The boy’s hurt. He needs help.”
    “Pirates?” Ray whispered.
    “What did he say?” the girl asked.
    “Not