The Secret Invasion of Port Isabel Read Online Free PDF Page A

few more paces when Flossy yelled ‘Harry!’ and pushed him
roughly aside.
    A lump of
stone as big as a watermelon slammed into the ground exactly where
Harry had been standing. It cracked into two on the cobblestones,
one half bouncing towards Reginald who deftly stepped aside.
    They all moved
a safe distance away from the old building that rose up beside them
and looked up.
    The building
seemed to slump in the middle from weariness. It adjoined the
buildings either side to form the wall of buildings that framed
Town Square. Its doors and windows were owl sized and under its
eaves, three stories up, was a row of carved stone snakeheads with
open mouths from which rainwater poured into the square below. The
lump of stone was one of these, now broken off.
    ‘Oh my. That
was close,’ said Reginald.
    ‘Thanks
Flossy. You saved my life,’ said Harry.
    Flossy had
half drawn her sword. She squinted at the roof line above. ‘I saw
movement up there just before it fell,’ she said.
    ‘Come now. Are
you saying you think someone threw it down deliberately?’ said
Reginald.
    ‘Things fall
off the old buildings sometimes, Flossy. And that one was built by
the owls hundreds of years ago. It’s a wonder it’s still standing,’
said Harry.
    Flossy
frowned. ‘But I did see something.’ There had been a shadowy
shape.
    Sergeant Boar
grunted impatiently, as if he didn’t know why they had stopped, or
didn’t care. ‘The Mayor said to come forthwith, and now,’ he
said.
     
    CHAPTER 4

    TOWN SQUARE
     
    They passed the museum
that had had been destroyed by fire during the riot. Flossy and
Larry hadn’t been inside, as everyone thought. They were asleep,
safe and dry in a secret place Larry knew. There was so much
confusion about pirates she had thought it best to wait until
morning before letting herself be seen. Apparently humans were
feared as much as dogs, and her clothes made everyone think she was
a pirate too.
    One of the
museum’s walls had fallen and large blocks of stone lay scattered
in the Square like giant dice. Harry had called it Reginald’s
museum. He had said that Reginald not only worked there, but that
it was his life’s work. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like
to lose so much. Flossy watched Reginald for some sign of how he
felt but as he was marching ahead of her she couldn’t see his
face.
    In the middle
of the ruins stood a strange silver tower that looked like it
hadn’t been harmed by the fire. It was tall, tubular and had a
pointy top with a spike. It sides were studded with bumps running
in long lines and it seemed to glow in the pale morning light.
    ‘Reginald!’
called out Flossy.
    Reginald
tilted his big head back towards her as he walked.
    What’s that?’
she said, pointing.
    ‘That?’ he
asked, looking up. ‘We call it the Cylinder House.’
    ‘It’s a
house?’
    ‘In truth, we
don’t know what it is or what it’s for,’ he said.
    ‘Who made it
then?’
    ‘We don’t know
that either.’
    ‘Well then,
where did it come from?’
    ‘The owls
brought it here hundreds of years ago. They built the museum around
it. We think they pulled it from the ice. If so, it’s an artefact
from the Machine Age.’
    ‘When was
that?’
    ‘The Machine
Age?’ Reginald asked. ‘Well, it was certainly thousands of years
ago. The House you belong to, and probably the House of Owl, ruled
the world and made marvellous things like the Cylinder House. Then
the ice came, and the war.’
    Out of the
corner of her eye, Flossy noticed a flock of sheep disappear down
one of the alleyways adjoining the Square. One of them seemed to
have a long black tail pointing up. She had never before seen a
sheep with such a tail, but until recently, neither had she seen
talking animals. It must be the way some sheep looked in this part
of the world. Anyway, she’d only caught a glimpse so it might not
have been a tail at all. Perhaps the sheep was carrying something.
But it did look an awful lot like a