Page 28 (1/2)
Want to see o quivered, hooks jingling, but re her lower lip, she grabbed both arms just below the shoulders, unhooked therown puppet chasing her as she raced to the edge of the pond and hurled the wooden ar clipped Kendra’s shoulder and sent her spinning to the ground A crushing force pressed against her back, pinning her down She could hardly breathe
Craning her neck, she saw Mendigo loo his foot to hold her in place How could a creature that looked so fli deep-it would certainly bruise
Kendra reached for his other leg, hoping to unhook the shin, but the puppet danced out of reach For a o appeared indecisive Kendra prepared to roll away in case he charged and tried to kick her again If she could just unhook a leg!
Instead, Mendigo hurried onto the pier Both of his ar on the water One had alo crouched, balancing carefully on one foot, and stretched out a leg toward the nearest arm
Just as his toes made contact, a white hand shot out of the water and seized Mendigo by the ankle, yanking hi her breath as she watched The limberjack did not resurface
She dashed back to the steps and picked up the bowl
Kendra dared not run while holding the tears Instead she walked swiftly, careful not to waste any of her precious cargo She walked across the lawn, through the arch, down the path, and onto the road
Stars continued to fade in the eastern sky Kendra hurried along the road She was pretty sure her sheltered status was at an end But, if mischief had to be done, at least it had felt hile She had a feeling it would not be her final ht
Bahuray dominated the eastern horizon Her journey from the pond had been uneventful Not a drop had spilled from the silver bowl She went around to the little door Seth had kicked open and ducked inside
The titanic cow stoodhay from the loft
Every time Kendra saw Viola, she marveled anew at her enormity The cow’s udder was bloated, nearly as badly as the first time they had milked her
Kendra had the tears Now she neededmentally, Kendra trusted her first impressions The milk would have to be Viola’s And the blood? Her own? The cow’s?
Probably both to be safe Maybe both were required But first the milk
Kendra set the silver bowl in a protected corner and retrieved one of the ladders She intended to steal only a few squirts There was no ti
Kendra had never tried to collect Viola’spressure for the cow and letting it spill all over the floor There were plenty of barrels, but trying to dump a barrel into a little silver bowl see down a teat to getin the barrel herself
Chapter Twenty-Four
She located a large pie tin, the kind Dale used to leaveenough to catch all the milk she would need She positioned the tin under the teat, trying to estimate where the milk would squirt
Kendra cliushed to the floor Only a little splashed into the tin She adjusted the tin, cliain This ti the tin aled to keep her feet on the landing
Kendra brought the tin over to the silver bowl She poured milk until the boas three-quarters of the way full Only blood re herto moo louder than that, Kendra muttered under her breath
How much blood would she need? The Fairy Queen had not specified quantities Kendra went through the closets looking for tools She ended up with a weed digger and another pie tin Getting enough blood to pour fro, but she was scared that if she tried to put blood fro everything
Viola! Kendra called I don’t know if you can understand me I need soht sting a little, so try to be brave
The cow gave no sign of co It was the one area not protected by fur, so she figured it would be the best place to harvest some blood
She climbed the ladder only a couple of steps She wanted to stab the teat low, so it would drip If she had found a knife, she would have tried to er were the points at the end, so she would have to go with a puncture wound
Up close, as she conte it, the pink teat looked alien She needed to stab hard On an ani, the skin would be pretty thick She told herself it would just feel like a thorn to the enor a thorn into her? The coould probably get upset
Kendra raised the weed digger, holding the pie tin in her other hand Sorry, Viola! she yelled, plunging the weed digger into the spongy flesh The tool sank almost to the handle, and Violainto Kendra, slaer, wrenching it free of the wound as she fell The ladder clattered to the floor beside her
Viola sidestepped and tossed her head, bellowing again
The barn shook, and Kendra heard ti The roof shuddered The walls swayed and cracked Kendra covered her head Gigantic hooves thu, plaintive moo Then the cow settled down
Kendra looked up Dust and hay floated down fro from the tip
Since Viola had cal freely, Kendra cast aside the pie tin and retrieved the silver bowl Standing under the teat, she started catching drops of blood She had toured a cave with her fa from a stalactite
Soon the mixture in the bowl turned from white to pink The flow of blood slowed The lower side and tip of the teat were stained red Kendra supposed it was enough
She went and sat by the little door Now for her blood
Maybe she could just try the cow blood and see if that worked No, haste was essential Hoould she get blood out? No as she using the weed digger unless she could sterilize it
Leaving the bowl, she hunted through the closets again She noticed a safety pin on a pair of coveralls She unpinned it and ran back to the bowl
Holding her hand over the bowl, she hesitated Kendra had always hated needles, the idea of being fully aware that so to endure it cal her teeth, she stuck her thumb with the pin and then squeezed two drops of blood into the mixture That would have to do
Kendra looked at the pie tin She should probably drink so
She took a sip Then she realized that her family would need milk as hen she found them