Keeper of the Phoenix Read Free Page B

“You’re not fighting material like me. You’re small and weak and helpless.” Morgan shoved Ash’s shoulder for emphasis. “So different to your big brother.”
    Morgan puffed his chest out, smiling smugly as he nodded to his mates for support.
    Ash would have loved nothing better than to wipe the smug look off Morgan’s face, but he didn’t dare. Ma would be furious if he did.
    “You’re wrong, Morgan,” Ash said.
    “You’re a coward, Manure Face. And we all know it.”
    “Don’t listen to him, Ash,” Taine said. “He’s talking rubbish.”
    “I know that.” Ash struggled to keep his voice steady. “He’s just trying to make me angry. Like he always does.”
    “Hey, I know,” Morgan said, “how about we fight it out? If I win, everyone will know you’re a coward. If you win, I’ll take back what I said. Come on. Show us that you really do have some guts. Right here. Right now.”
    “That’s stupid!” Rhyll steamed. “Fighting doesn’t prove anything.”
    “Oh yes it does,” Morgan said. “It’ll prove who’s stronger. I want this gutless little maggot to fight me, so stay out of it.”
    The boys closed in. Morgan shoved Ash hard in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards. “Come on. Let’s go.”
    Ash’s temper flared as Morgan jostled him. He shoved Morgan back, but the other boy hardly seemed to notice.
    “Give him a thumping! Rip his head off!” Orford and Burke shouted.
    “Leave him alone.” Taine lunged at the boys, but they easily fended him off, knocking him to the ground.
    Ash pulled Taine to his feet. “You all right?” The friends stood shoulder to shoulder, facing their enemies.
    “Fine,” Taine said. “Don’t know why you butted in, really. Anyone could see I was about to take them.”
    Ash smiled.
    “What are you two cowards whispering about?”
    “Nothing,” Ash and Taine said together.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Ash spotted Rhyll grabbing a bucket of slops from a doorstep.
    “Come on, Manure Face. You can have the first shot.” Morgan offered his jaw to Ash.
    “I’m not going to fight you, Morgan. We’re kin. It’s not right.”
    Morgan’s eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. He pounced on Ash, seizing his collar and screwing it painfully tight at his throat. “You can forget about us being family, Rover. I’m better than you and you know it. Now, are you going to fight me or not?”
    Before Ash could answer, Rhyll ran up behind Morgan and his mates and tossed the bucket of slops all over them. At that moment, Trip returned. Seeing Morgan threatening Ash, he rushed at Morgan with bared teeth, knocking him into Orford and Burke. With screams and curses, the three boys toppled backwards into a puddle where they scrabbled and slipped in the mud and filth, all the while trying to evade nips from Trip’s sharp teeth and hefty whacks from Rhyll’s bucket.
    Ash called Trip off and Taine dragged Rhyll away.
    “You filthy rodents won’t get away with this!” Morgan yelled after them.
    “Who are you calling filthy, Fish Breath?” Ash hollered back.
    The three friends turned and fled, Ash stopping only to collect his basket. Angry, but relieved they had escaped unhurt, Ash urged the others to keep running. The trio didn’t slow their pace until they were outside the village walls.
    “I’ve got something amazing to show you,” Ash said once he’d caught his breath. He felt inside his basket for the rock. Ash gasped. He was certain it had wriggled when he touched it.
    “What is it?” Taine asked.
    Rhyll’s face lit with excitement. “Is it magic?”
    “I was hoping you could tell me.” Ash nodded towards an abandoned cottage up ahead. “Let’s go in there so I can show you without anyone seeing. You’re not going to believe what I’ve found.”

3

THE HATCHLING
    “Why all the secrecy?” Taine asked.
    “You’ll see. Sit down and stay out of sight.” Ash motioned to the far corner of the empty cottage. “We’ll be in all