"Leslie What & Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Chain of Command" - читать интересную книгу автора (What Leslie)

"I'm really sorry to report," she said with an expression so flat I could have used it as a mouse pad, "we
think your daughter did it. She and the troll are missing."



I jumped up from my bed of skins and pulled on my light mail nightie and some sandals. I preferred
sleeping au nature; because of the chafing factor. I lit a torch and rushed out to search the Jeep first, then
climbed up to the tree house, then checked the arts and crafts lean-to. Empty.



I decided to look for her in the cave and headed down the pathway into the forest. The guard stomped
along behind me. A breeze wavered our torches, but other than an occasional owl call and the mutter of
leaves and pine needles in the trees above, the night was quiet.
The cave was too low for me to stand up straight in it. I crouched over and shone my light in the crevices
as I explored. Mud caked on the knees of my nightie. The guard waited at the cave entrance, maybe to
spare me embarrassment.



I caught sight of the tip of Kayla's eco-green sleeping bag, peeking out from under a rock overhang. I
made my way toward her and crouched down until I could see beneath the overhang.



It was Kayla, all rightтАФher Flower Power scent brought tears to my eyesтАФbut there was something
else, something dank, sour, and wild. I saw then that there were two bumps covered by the sleeping bag.
One of them moved and I saw a hairy tuft and agate black eyes as a horrid little troll lifted its head and
stared into my light.



My daughter was sleeping with the enemy.



I reacted instinctively and went for my weapon. For a wild moment, I wasn't sure who I wanted to slice
up more, and I did my best to convince myself this was all something much more innocent than it
appeared.



My hand groped for my knife, but I didn't have a knife sheath on my chain-mail nightie, which was strictly
for trips to the latrine. All I had on my hip was an entrenching tool. I unhooked it and shook it in the air,
making an unrecognizable screeching sound and knocking down a few nearby stalactites.