The Opal Quest Read Free

fetch me as much timber as you can.’
    The sledge wasn’t too heavy and Tia pulled it along the pathway and up into the trees quite easily. But instead of starting to collect wood she left the sledge and went back to the town to look round.

    Now the miners had gone the town was busier: servants in the grand houses hung bedding out of windows to air and others scrubbed away at stone doorsteps. Well-dressed people went in and out of the shops, chatting happily and buying all sorts ofgoods. The fine shops had wonderful things for sale: jewellery and beautiful clothes and more kinds of cheese and pastries than Tia had known existed.
    The most fascinating places were the crystal-shapers’ workshops. Their windows had displays of uncut crystal that looked like jagged stones encrusted with blue frost. Amongst them were shaped crystals of different sizes, from tiny to several inches across. All were rectangular and as clear as polished glass.
    As Tia stared through one of the windows a man carefully placed a crystal, mounted like a little mirror on a gold stand, in the middle of the display. He smiled at Tia and beckoned her in. Curious, she went inside.
    â€˜Hello, Trader girl,’ the man said cheerfully. ‘I’m Hannes – what’s your name?’
    â€˜Nadya,’ Tia said.
    â€˜What are you doing on your own? I wasn’t expecting your people to arrive just yet.’
    Her heart beat fast in excitement. If Traders were arriving she might be able to see her friends Kizzy and Florian. She explained her story to the crystal shaper.
    â€˜Ah, you got lost on the grasslands – so you’re a land Trader. We’re expecting the Water Traders.’
    Tia was disappointed that she wasn’t going to seeher friends but still excited at the thought of meeting Water Traders for the first time; they travelled the rivers of Tulay and over great seas to other lands. ‘When are they arriving?’ she asked Hannes.
    â€˜In a few days, we hope; that’s why we shapers are all busy displaying our best sunstones.’
    â€˜What are sunstones?’
    â€˜What do they teach you young people?’ Hannes said. ‘Water Traders and seafarers use them to find their way. Even in cloudy weather the sunstones gather hidden light and point sailors in the right direction. He reached towards the big crystal. ‘Look.’ He swivelled it so that the sun shone directly on it and brilliant beams of light instantly radiated from its core.
    â€˜Oh, it’s beautiful!’ Tia said.
    The crystal shaper looked proud. ‘This is my best one,’ he said. ‘I hope the Traders will give me a good price for it.’
    Tia wondered if the price of little children working the dangerous mines was too high. She decided she’d seen enough of the beautiful crystals. She said goodbye to Hannes, went back to the sledge and pulled it all the way to the top of the valley.

Chapter Four

Yordis
    Tia found Finn in the hollow, lying on his back and warming himself in the sunshine.
    â€˜I came as fast as I could,’ she said. She explained about Halla, Yordis and the miners. ‘You were so brave, helping to free Magnus,’ she added. ‘It must’ve been very hard to keep yourself safe from the spell
and
lift the boulder.’
    â€˜Yes, it was, though it’s easier to disguise myself now I’ve practised,’ he said.
    Tia patted his snout. ‘Now we’ve just got to decide how to get that opal back and save all the children from the mines! What do you think the High Witch does to frighten people so much?’
    â€˜The opal lets her change into whatever she wants. Perhaps she becomes a monster?’ he guessed. ‘A really horrible one.’
    Tia shuddered. ‘She must keep the opal in the castle. I’ll have to get in there somehow.’
    â€˜Be careful,’ Finn said anxiously.
    â€˜I will.’ Tia jumped up. ‘I have to go –