Whisper Read Online Free PDF Page A

if you think about it, full of ups and downs. First we are up, so full of joy and happiness, and then we are down, sometimes into the very depths of sadness. Up…down…it’s really quite profound. Up…down…up…down.”
    Once more Carly turned to Dearra, hoping for a response, it was then that she noticed Dearra had turned the most fascinating shade of green. Carly realized too late that Dearra’s tight-lipped lack of response had been an effort to contain her breakfast.
    She was unsuccessful.
    “Oh, Dearra!” Carly said. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She stroked Dearra’s back as she half leaned, half hung over the side of the ship. “Daniel!” Carly called out. “Daniel, come quickly! Dearra’s sick!”
    No one noticed Darius lose his grip high up in the sails. He fell no more than a few feet before he was able to catch himself on one of the many ropes that hung around him. He had heard Carly call out to Daniel, tried to locate Dearra, and had simply let go. Rather than pausing to consider how close he had come to falling to the deck below after gaining purchase, Darius continued his search for Dearra, his heart pounding. His pulse slowed when he found her and heard Daniel’s laughter drift up to him on the breeze.
    “Well, Dearra, haven’t quite found your sea legs I see,” Daniel said. He scooped Dearra into his arms while Carly hovered alongside them.
    “Shut up and let me die,” Dearra moaned.
    “Oh, come now. It’s not that bad. I’ll take you to your cabin, and Carly can tend to your angry stomach.”
    “You’re bringing Carly?” Dearra asked, opening one eye.
    “Of course, dearest,” Carly said.
    “Forget it, Daniel. I’m safer here.”
    Daniel laughed, ignored her protests, and carried Dearra to the cabin she and Carly would share.
    Darius breathed a sigh of relief, now that he was assured Dearra’s ailment was nothing more than sea sickness, and he carefully lowered himself to the relative safety of the deck.

Chapter 5
    Phillip
     
    Zusia brought me some bread yesterday. I haven’t been able to steal much for a while, and I was getting pretty hungry. She slipped into my room and handed me the bread. I had eaten almost all of it before they caught us.
    She should have left right after she gave me the bread, but she wanted to stay and talk. I told her that was just stupid, because we talk all of the time. She made such a big deal about it that I didn’t have the heart to argue with her. She reminds me a little of Dearra, so I knew it wouldn’t do me any good to fight with her. Anyway, after she makes this big deal about wanting to talk, she just sits there and watches me eat. I will never understand girls.
    I have to tell you, Father, the Breken are a strange people. They know we steal, and they seem completely fine with it, unless they catch us…then it’s a whole different story.
    The lady who is responsible for me is beautiful. Her skin is dark brown, and her hair is black, and hangs in a thousand braids down her back. She wears jewels and beads wound into her hair that are prettier than any crown worn by any princess. Her eyes are the same black as her kinsmen, but they are large, and she rims them with coal to make them stand out even more. She is tall, really, really tall. As beautiful as she is, she is ten times as mean. She seems to wait for me to do something wrong so she will have the chance to punish me. Her favorite way to punish me is to punish someone else in my place.
    When I first came here, I made friends with a dog that roamed around the compound I stay in. One day, I snapped back at the mistress here. She was furious with me, and she turned to whip me, but the dog stood in front of me and growled at the lady, and she had him killed. When she saw my tears of grief over the loss of the dog, she seemed almost shocked by my reaction. Now she randomly chooses a slave to receive my beatings, I think as much to see my reaction as to punish me.
    So, anyway, when the lady