hard bottomed
hard bottomed shoes and the creak of new leather from the belt of the scabbard at his side.
Most of the stone houses emitted light, but there was no activity inside any of them. Not even a moth came to flutter about the candles and lamps that burned unattended.
May couldnât shake the feeling that she was being watched.
Sheila said, âWe donât have to stay here too long, do we?â
âI hope not,â said May.
They passed the church and the churchyard. âThere arenât any names on the gravestones,â said Carlisle.
From the corner of Mayâs eye, she saw a shadow move around a buildingâthe quick flash of a dark robe. She looked at Sheila and Carlisle. They hadnât seen it. Another shadowy figure moved to her right around a house. Sheila and Carlisle seemed oblivious to it. I must be imagining things, she thought.
Even as they followed the road out of town into the turquoise hills, the feeling of being watched didnât leave her. She felt exposed and vulnerable.
All at once, the earth trembled under their feet. May, Sheila and Carlisle all stopped and watched the ground. The tremor lasted only a few seconds and then was gone.
âLetâs pick up the pace,â said Carlisle.
Another tremor hit. May bobbled unsteadily on her feet. She had always known that the land floated over a sea of molten rock but she had never had the experience of it. She had come to rely on the dependable solidity of the ground during her fifteen years. That surety was gone in an instant as she felt the land shift like water under her feet.
When the shaking stopped, all three of them started forward immediately, but another quake hit againâthis one larger and more terrifying than the last two. The land wrenched open in front of them, forming a crevasse about three yards across in a matter of an instant. The ground still undulating, May dropped
Most of the stone houses emitted light, but there was no activity inside any of them. Not even a moth came to flutter about the candles and lamps that burned unattended.
May couldnât shake the feeling that she was being watched.
Sheila said, âWe donât have to stay here too long, do we?â
âI hope not,â said May.
They passed the church and the churchyard. âThere arenât any names on the gravestones,â said Carlisle.
From the corner of Mayâs eye, she saw a shadow move around a buildingâthe quick flash of a dark robe. She looked at Sheila and Carlisle. They hadnât seen it. Another shadowy figure moved to her right around a house. Sheila and Carlisle seemed oblivious to it. I must be imagining things, she thought.
Even as they followed the road out of town into the turquoise hills, the feeling of being watched didnât leave her. She felt exposed and vulnerable.
All at once, the earth trembled under their feet. May, Sheila and Carlisle all stopped and watched the ground. The tremor lasted only a few seconds and then was gone.
âLetâs pick up the pace,â said Carlisle.
Another tremor hit. May bobbled unsteadily on her feet. She had always known that the land floated over a sea of molten rock but she had never had the experience of it. She had come to rely on the dependable solidity of the ground during her fifteen years. That surety was gone in an instant as she felt the land shift like water under her feet.
When the shaking stopped, all three of them started forward immediately, but another quake hit againâthis one larger and more terrifying than the last two. The land wrenched open in front of them, forming a crevasse about three yards across in a matter of an instant. The ground still undulating, May dropped