Time out of Time Book Two: The Telling Stone

Time out of Time Book Two: The Telling Stone — page 9
mAurEEN dOYLE mcQuErrY dropping Sarah The ermine squirmed A man’s voice boomed fol lowed by a steady stream of curses Jessica’s fingers tightened around the ermine’s narrow body She could feel the rapid heartbeat the small bones beneath the silken fur The animal twisted in her hands and Jes sica loosened her grip just a little She didn’t want to get bitten again I’m sorry but I don’t know what else to do It felt ridiculous apologizing to an ermine even when that ermine had once been one of her friends Jessica shoved the still-squirming Sarah into a burlap sack The bag bulged and wiggled Claws scrabbled at the fabric She eyed the thumb her friend had bitten when she’d grabbed her from the cage In no time at all Sarah would chew or claw her way through the sack Jessica needed a safe place to hide her friend and fast The shouting subsided Sarah stopped thrashing and the bag on Jessica’s lap lay still Jessica brushed a curly strand of hair from her eyes and took slow deep breaths She needed to put some distance between herself and the scene of the crime Peering out from behind the apple cart she considered her next move Any minute now the Animal Tamer might find her and then what would happen Her memory replayed the Animal Tamer’s laugh as he turned Sarah into an ermine and locked her away Their friend Peter had tried to save Sarah He’d caused a distraction so Jessica could get to the cage And it had worked But distraction hadn’t worked so well for Peter The last Jessica had seen of him was as a slinking brown ferret She shuddered 4