The Hero's Tomb Read Online Free

have guessed what he was planning.
    I could have stopped him.
    It wasn’t a pleasant thought. If things got ugly, Joseph wouldn’t even be able to protect himself. Tabitha had seen how handy he was with a cutlass. About as handy as a walrus with a knitting needle.
    ‘What about using magic?’ suggested Frank. ‘Can’t we do a spot of hocus pocus and track him down that way?’
    ‘Sadly not,’ murmured Hal. ‘I’m afraid such a spell simply doesn’t exist.’
    ‘What about that wooden spoon of yours?’ said Paddy. ‘Surely we can use that to—’
    ‘No, that wouldn’t work at all,’ interrupted Hal. For some reason he had gone red in the face.
    Why’s he so touchy about the spoon? Tabitha wondered. It’s like he doesn’t want to talk about it.
    ‘Wooden spoon?’ said Master Gurney, confused.
    ‘Forgive them, Master. It’s not— They don’t really understand what—’
    ‘So what do we do?’ Tabitha demanded, before the conversation could stray off topic.
    ‘Well, my dear,’ said Master Gurney. ‘If I were you, I should stay here tonight. There’s plenty of space in the attic. Then tomorrow morning I can find you some suitable disguises and show you the safest routes through the city.’
    ‘What do you think, Newt?’ asked Frank.
    ‘The harbourmasters will have gone home by now,’ said Paddy.
    ‘I reckon so.’ Newton nodded thoughtfully. ‘We’ll go into the city at the crack of dawn tomorrow, and we’ll find him. Meantime, we should get as much rest as we can.’
    ‘But Joseph is—’ began Tabitha.
    ‘Not now, Tabs,’ said Newton sternly.
    ‘But he’s on his own, and—’
    ‘And he can look after himself,’ said Newton.
    ‘Newt’s right, Tabs,’ said Frank gently. ‘He’s a brightlad. He’ll be smart enough to keep his head down till we get there.’
    ‘I certainly hope so,’ muttered Hal. The blood had drained from his face, and he was looking anxious again.
    Tabitha opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it. She could tell from Newton’s knitted brow that his mind was made up. He never listens. And she just had to put up with it. Newton was all she’d had, ever since she was little. Ever since her parents had died.
    As the others climbed the ladder to Master Gurney’s attic, Tabitha hung back, peering out of the window at the ghostly spires of the House of Light. The thought of Joseph wandering the streets of Azurmouth, where the Duke’s butchers prowled … It made her blood run cold.
    If only he had told her where he was going. She could have come too. Looked after him. Helped him. If only she hadn’t been so horrible.
    I told him I’d be better off without him.
    She winced at the memory. And what she’d said about his father … Well, she should have known better. She was an orphan too, after all.
    Maybe it was her fault he’d snuck away.
    Her fault he’d told no one.
    She thought about what Frank had said, trying to make herself believe it. He’ll be smart enough to keep his head down. It had to be true, didn’t it? After all, he was a mongrel boy, and he was all on his own. He wouldn’t just go charging straight into danger.
    Would he?

Chapter Three
    Joseph leaped into the cabin, brandishing his cutlass.
    Inside it was dark and cramped, with only a small window and candles for light. A hobgoblin lay strapped to a table in the centre of the cabin, at the mercy of a surgeon – a human whose apron was smeared with a disturbing variety of colours. One leg of the hobgoblin’s breeches had been peeled back and his shoe removed to reveal a nasty wound in his grey foot.
    ‘A mongrel boy,’ said the surgeon, lowering his hacksaw. ‘How extraordinary.’
    At the sound of the door banging open, the patienthad propped himself up on his elbows, and was now glaring at Joseph as though a bad day had just got even worse.
    ‘What in all the stinkin’ blue sea are you doin’ here?’ snarled Captain Lortt.
    Joseph slammed the cabin door shut and