The Sign of Fear Read Online Free PDF Page A

But I beat him. His face completely disappeared. There is only one thing it can mean. I’m sure of it.”
    â€œYou think it means you are destined to become the new chief,” Brianna said. Her voice was emotionless.
    â€œWell, of course I do,” Fieran said. He stared down into Brianna’s face. What he saw chilled him. Her expression was solemn. Her eyes filled with tears.
    Brianna is an expert in interpreting dreams and visions, he thought. What could have upset her so in his? “Tell me, Brianna,” Fieran urged her. “Am I wrong?”
    Brianna threw her arms around him. She buried her face against his chest. “I am not certain, Fieran.”
    Slowly, Fieran drew her head back. He wiped the tears from her cheeks. He kissed her tenderly.
    â€œIt is all right, Brianna. I am certain,” he said. “I am certain enough for both of us.”
    Brianna pressed her face against his neck. “Oh, Fieran, I pray you will take care. Too often, visions only show us our own desires. We see only what we wish to see.”
    â€œNot this time,” Fieran vowed, holding her closer.“Not this time. You will see. Being the chief of our people is my fate, Brianna.”
    â€œYou are wrong!” a deep voice boomed.
    Fieran and Brianna sprang apart. Conn stood a few feet away from them, his arms folded across his chest. “You are never going to be chief, Fieran!”

Chapter
9

    â€œI am,” said Conn. “ I am going to be the new chief.”
    Rage rose up in Fieran. He didn’t even try to beat it down. “Never!” he cried out. “I will stop you if it takes everything I have.”
    â€œIt might,” Conn replied. He stepped up to Fieran, so close their chests almost touched. “It might—and that still won’t be enough to stop me.”
    â€œStop this bickering at once!” Brianna cried suddenly.
    Conn stared at her with his cold blue eyes. Then he returned his gaze to Fieran. “Which of us do you think Brianna wants to win?”
    â€œWhat do you want here, Conn?” she demanded, her green eyes bright with anger.
    â€œI came to congratulate Fieran on his great victory,” Conn replied innocently.
    Fieran glared at Conn. A victory you wanted foryourself, he thought. You would have happily killed me to have the head and its power.
    He knew Brianna didn’t want them to fight. “What do you want here, Conn?” Fieran asked quietly.
    â€œThe chief is mortally wounded,” Conn said. “He has decided to hold the ceremony tonight. Tonight we will discover which of us is to be the new chief. You are summoned to the sacred glade.”
    It has come at last! Fieran thought. The moment I’ve been waiting for.
    â€œI thought my news would interest you,” Conn said. “Don’t linger here with Brianna too long, Fieran. It would be a shame for you to miss the ceremony and moment when I am declared chief.”
    â™¦Â â™¦Â â™¦
    Fieran and Brianna entered the sacred glade. The trees surrounding the glade grew so close together that no sunlight ever penetrated their branches. The glade was dark and silent, even at midday.
    And now it was night. Many of the people held large torches. The light flickered over the faces carved into the trunks of the trees. Faces of past chiefs.
    They almost appear alive, Fieran thought. He shivered.
    Someday my face will be carved here, Fieran told himself. He felt Brianna touch his arm.
    â€œLook, Fieran,” she said. She pointed to a huge wicker figure in the center of the clearing. Its torso had been lined with wooden bars to form a cage. Pieces of wood had been piled all around it.
    The wicker man, Fieran thought. He did not like to think about that part of the ceremony. The part of the ceremony where the old chief would die, so that his spirit could enter the new chief.
    â€œFieran, look,” Brianna said again. This time she pointed at someone next