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Ripred Well, no question, if anyone was a killinghis tail at hi, "Well, you can't teach that" Did he already suspect Gregor was a rager? Did Solovet?

"I'or said, and lay down He pulled Boots close for co his lip so he wouldn't cry Yeah If he got back from this alive, he'd better talk to Ripred

Hours passed, and slowly, one by one, everyone awoke, and what approxior had utterly lost track of how long he'd been down here He thought about asking Luxa, but did he really want to know? Every day down here was a day his fa at ho -- his dad's illness worsening, his rand? Did histo take care of his dad and his grando to school and pretend to Mrs Cormaci that he and Boots had the flu? Was it al bad orse at the holidays, he knew that from the years of his dad's absence All around you were people in an extra-happy er Now that his dad was back, Gregor had thought his faain, even if there wasn't a ton of oing to kill a giant white rat and trying to keep his baby sister alive while his family watched the hands crawl around the clock and waited Ho ho ho

Besides that, everyone on board was driving one another crazy It had been an effort for all the different species -- hu in two boats In one boat, it was getting nasty Arguht and left, especially over food A lot of the supplies had been stored in the second boat, so they were lost in the whirlpool Mareth took stock of the re food and put everyone on strict rations But Photos Glo and Zap insisted they receive their sa to happen, they whined incessantly until Twitchtip remarked that she could always eat fireflies Then they siht when they felt like it

"Why do the girl and her flier get our food?" Gregor heard Zap mutter to Photos Glo "They are no or couldn't deny Boots food When lunch was passed around, she gobbled up her bread and cheese in record ti he could do but give her half his food But after eating that and half of Teive her this," Twitchtip said, and scooted a chunk of cheese over to Boots, who gnawed on it happily Everyone gawked at Twitchtip, who snarled "It reeks of humans, I can barely choke it down, anyway!" And everyone looked away But Gregor was pretty sure he had witnessed a first -- a rat giving a human her food

Hoas the least concerned about the food issue "We are surrounded by food, we need only reach in and get it," he said He lowered nets into the water and sent the bats out to dive for fish He was right It didn't take long to asseood-sized pile of seafood Unfortunately, there was no way to cook it This wasn't a problem for anyone but the humans; most of the others preferred their catch that way But, raw fish! Gregor stared at the cold, white flesh with distaste He knew they couldn't waste fuel to cook it It crossed hisit up on Photos Glo's butt, but he didn't like the bug enough to ask

"You should try it It is not as bad as you think," Howard said, popping a big piece into hisit up "Soh it is not done in Regalia"

Gregor nibbled the edge of a chunk and decided it was edible Then he remembered that a lot of people ate sushi; that was raw fish He'd walked by Japanese restaurants with beautiful displays of fish and rice and seaweed assembled in bite-sized pieces It was expensive, too He'd never had it, but his friend Larry had and he'd said it was okay, if you put a bunch of soy sauce on it Gregor closed his eyes, pretended he was at a fancy restaurant, and stuck a whole piece in his mouth He wished he had soet it down, too Gregor could see she didn't like it much better than he did, but since she wasn't supposed to be here, she couldn't really complain Besides, she wouldn't want to look like she couldn't handle eating so her cousins could eat

Boots took a bite and unceremoniously spit it out, then wiped her hand repeatedly over her tongue "No like! No like!" They were still working on getting her to eat breaded fish sticks with ketchup at ho

Twitchtip, who had put down about half a dozen fish in a snap, suddenly lifted her head and began to scrunch her nose around "Land We're co to land"

Mareth pulled out a map and scrutinized it "We should not be, not for several days I hope the whirlpool has not thrown us off course"

Howard consulted a coht direction Can you tell the nature of the land?"

"Perhaps oneher nose

"Around? Oh, then it is an island?" asked Howard He pointed to a spot on the map "I place us here But there is no island recorded in this area Although it has been many years since these waters were charted"

"I believe it's recently formed," said Twitchtip "It has the smell of fresh lava"

"Is there life on it?" asked Mareth

Twitchtip closed her eyes and concentrated "Yes, a great deal No warh It's all insect But I don't have a na Boots up in her life jacket The last ti, they had all almost drowned An island of unfaood

After about another half an hour of sailing, the bats began to raise their heads Now they were picking up the island on their radar, too

"How big are the bugs? Can you tell?" asked Gregor Everything was so oversized here

"Not large," said Ares "Tiny, in fact"

That or feel a little better

Until Aurora added, "But there are nize them, Pandora?" Howard asked The bat shook her head "No, they are most like the mites we encountered on the Island of Shell But these have a different voice"

"What were the or

"Oh, they were harmless As small as the head of a pin, and while they did bite, it was not lasting," said Howard

"And they were very tasty," added Pandora "Not unlike bluebits"

This comment seemed to arouse the interest of all the bats Whatever bluebits were, Gregor had a feeling that, for bats, they beat out raw fish by a et very full, if they are like bluebits," said Pandora

Mareth was reluctant to let her go, but Howard thought it would be okay "If they are o," Temp said, but no one much ever listened to hior "Do you knohat kind of bugs they are?"

Te bad" was all he could say

"There it is!" Luxa said suddenly, and the place eht of a small volcano that slowly bubbled out lava at the center of the island In a couple of places, the lava spilled over and ran into the water, entering it with a hiss A junglelike growth of twisted plants covered areas that were not in the lava's path Gregor guessed they ht of the lava, since there was no other Or maybe they only needed its heat His dad had told his could groithout light if there was heat Well, whatever they used, these plants were doing fine

Then there was that hum The whole place vibrated with life that they couldn't see Gregor didn't like it He knew Temp didn't, either But the other Underlanders seemed curious about the new island

"It seems a shame to pass it by without any exae that will help future voyagers"

And there was no holding Pandora back "Yes, it is our duty to at least ascertain if it would er fliers could ht land here"

It was agreed that Pandora could et a closer look at the place She flew off swiftly and was soon over the island It didn't take her long to circle it and report back to the bats in pitches the others couldn't even hear

"She says it is safe," said Ares "And the mites are even more delicious than bluebits"

"Well, you may as well fill your bellies," said Mareth "But only in pairs I do not like alt of you away from the boat at once You o"

Gregor picked up Boots so she could look, too It wasn't every day you got to see a volcanic island in an underground ocean "May as well check it out, if it's safe and all," thought Gregor

But it wasn't

Ares was almost to the island when it happened A black cloud exploded out of the jungle and engulfed Pandora She had no tiher In less than ten seconds they had stripped the writhing bat down to the bone Her white skeleton hung for an instant in the air, then crashed into the jungle below

Then a puzzled little voice next to Gregor's ear asked, "Where bat?"