Josephine shuddered, but her curiosity compelled her to ask, “Where do they come from?”
“Kitchen Maggie had a lot of theories. But Stairway Ruth said they’re creatures from the Dark World and that their kind was used as hunting dogs for King Brokhun, who rules the underground kingdom. And the Brothers were just cubs, still suckling at their mother, when an evil witch found her way to the Dark World and stole them away. They were so sad at being taken away that they became full of vengeance and spite. Now they work for the Master because he promised to take them home to their mother one day.”
Josephine felt chills climb her back when Ida mentioned the Dark World. “Are we really safe from them right now?”
“The fact that we’re sitting here talking to each other is a pretty good sign that we’re safe . . . for the moment.”
“Is there any way to fight them?”
“Well, I think it’s safe to say that a doll won’t do any good.”
“Why do you always make jokes about such serious things?!” Josephine snapped.
Ida looked as though she’d been slapped and said coldly, “I have no idea how to fight them. We just have to hope they don’t see us.” And with that she closed her eyes and turned her back to Josephine.
Josephine scolded herself for snapping at her friend. She had so many more questions to ask! Where were they headed? Who was the Master? Were there only two Brothers, or was there a whole pack, waiting to attack them? She settled against the cold, hard rock and promised herself that she would ask Ida these questions the moment she woke up.
FOURTEEN
Fargus was the first one to wake. He had dreamed he was a pigeon. He was too fat to fit back through the window of the pigeon room, so he had flown all night over the dark plains and purple trees, knowing that soon he would become too tired to flap his wings and would fall into the claws of the Brothers. The dream had left him more exhausted than he’d been before he had slept. He stood up and stretched. Josephine was sleeping soundly with Ida curled into a tight ball against her. Fargus needed to pee.
He walked around the boulder, out of sight of the girls, and while he relieved his bladder, he imagined the cheese and meat waiting for him in their sack. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so hungry. He started to walk back to the cavern when he smelled something sour, like rotten pork growing hot among dead leaves.
He looked around and froze in his tracks. Not twenty yards away, lying underneath a tree, was one of the Brothers. Up close, the creature looked twice as huge and terrible. Fargus waited to see if he had been spotted, but the Brother didn’t move, so Fargus slowly looked over his shoulder, because where there was one Brother, there was always another. He saw nothing but grass and rocks.
On cat feet, he made his way back to the crevice and shook Ida awake. Just as she opened her mouth to admonish him, he covered her lips with his hand. She could see from the look in his eyes that they were in trouble. She grabbed Josephine’s wrist and squeezed.
Josephine awoke with a start and sat up immediately, as if she had been dreaming of this moment all day. Using his hands, Fargus tried to explain what he’d seen. Ida quickly put the food into the sack and signaled for them to follow her outside, away from the Brother. But as Josephine went to put her boots on, Ida shook her head no.
Josephine knew she was right. The noise would give them away. So she nodded and carried the boots in her arms.
They rapidly made their way down the side of the boulders and onto the ground. Josephine had never felt a stronger urge to run, but she knew that for the moment, silence was more important than speed. She felt horribly vulnerable in her bare feet.
Ida motioned for Fargus to keep an eye on the one Brother while she scanned for the other. Ida felt that if they could just make it to the next set of boulders, they would be safe. Her eyes played tricks on her as she searched the horizon. Every shadow and rock became the other Brother.
Their progress was excruciatingly slow, and Josephine felt as if she were walking through glue. Fargus was close behind her, never taking his eyes from the beast under the tree. He was concentrating so deeply that he didn’t watch where he was going and ran right into Josephine, who squeaked in surprise.
They all glanced at the tree. The Brother lifted its head, scratched its ear, readjusted its massive frame, and settled back down. Josephine breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Fargus, who nodded his apology.
Ida had been watching the scene impatiently when, all of a sudden, she sneezed.
Josephine and Fargus whipped around and looked at her in horror. Then Ida sneezed violently two more times—Achoo! Achoo! None of them had to check to see if the Brother had heard as a furious snort filled the air. Josephine felt hot fear boil in her stomach, push up into her throat, and suddenly come out of her mouth in a high-pitched scream. “RUUNNNN!!”
All three of them bolted across the plain in separate directions. Ida had planned to lead them to the next set of boulders, but she hadn’t had a chance to explain her idea. So now she raced for the rocks, while Fargus headed back to the cavern they had just left. And Josephine, all on her own, hurtled into the great wide-open plain.
Josephine ran without direction as fast as her feet would carry her. She sprinted over rocks and coarse grass, her soft feet feeling every sharp edge and harsh blade, but deep down she knew that she could never outrun a Brother.
She dared to look over her shoulder and saw that the hideous creature was not chasing her, but was circling the boulder where they had been sleeping. She slowed down and looked for Ida and Fargus, but to her dismay, she could see only Ida.
The Brother stood on its hind legs and stuck its wet snout into the crevices of the boulder, trying to locate the boy it knew was inside. Fargus pressed himself against the inner wall of the crevice, knowing he didn’t have long before he would be clawed to pieces.
Josephine tried to figure out a way to help him when she heard an ominous snort off to her left. That’s when she saw it.
The other Brother was heading straight for her.
She screamed and took off running again. Her lungs burned and felt as if they might burst, but she willed her legs to be stronger and faster than they’d ever been before. Every second, she anticipated the force of the Brother’s weight on her body, the claws on her flesh. She thought, My father will never know what happened to me, and then, with sorrow, Maybe he won’t even care.
She heard a terrible growl just over her shoulder as the Brother leaped. She tensed and waited to be crushed. But he landed in front of her. She skidded to a stop, nearly impaling herself on the huge thorny body. The Brother reached down with one spiky paw and gave her a light flick, throwing her several feet onto her back.
It was playing with her, like a cat playing with a tiny mouse.
She landed with a thud, but her adrenaline was pumping so hard that she didn’t feel a thing. She popped back up, never taking her eyes off the monster. It glared at her, its yellow eyes narrowed in concentration. A disgusting green liquid oozed from its enormous snout. Josephine thought of Fargus’s lashing stick and cursed herself for not bringing a weapon of her own. She had nothing but her father’s stupid boots. Out of frustration, she took one of the boots in her hand and hurled it at the Brother.
The heel hit it squarely in the eye. With a loud grunt, it reeled back in surprise.
Josephine threw the second boot, careful to aim this one, and managed to hit the other eye this time. The Brother wailed in pain like a bear trying to scream through its nose: Heeeawww! His eyes were closed and leaking some horrible yellow fluid.
Josephine knew this was her only chance. She ran back in the direction she had come from, and as she looked up, she saw Ida standing on a group of boulders, waving madly. Josephine sprinted toward her.
At the sound of the second Brother’s anguish, the first Brother jerked up from the boulder where Fargus was hiding and ran toward the tortured cry. Fargus crawled out of his hiding place and spotted Josephine running toward Ida. He, too, took the opportunity to escape and ran toward where Ida was waving.
Ida reached down and helped both of them up the rocks, saying, “Nice shot, Josephine!”
“But my boots—”
“If you hadn’t got rid of them, I would’ve. I’ve found a fantastic cave that’s too small for them to enter. We should be safe there. And Fargus”—she raised an eyebrow at him—“this time, no wandering off!”
Fargus looked sheepish. He nodded in agreement.
