Gregor the Overlander - 1 by Suzanne Collins Page A

big gray bat murmured something in Luxa's ear. She smiled, looked at Gregor, and nodded.

    "Probably laughing at me saying I'm a warrior," thought Gregor. But that was not it.

    "Euripedes says you're bruising his sides," said Luxa. "He wants me to teach you to ride."

    That bothered Gregor. He thought he'd been doing pretty well for a first timer. "What's he mean, I'm bruising his sides?"

    "You hold on too strongly with your legs. You must trust the bats. They will not drop you," said Luxa. "It is the first lesson we teach the babies."

    "Huh," said Gregor. Luxa had a way of putting him down even when she wasn't trying.

    "It is easier for the babies," said Mareth quickly. "Like your sister, they have not yet learned much fear. We have a saying down here. 'Courage only counts when you can count.' Can you count, Boots?" Mareth held his fingers up before Boots, who was busy trying to tug off Gregor's sandal. "One ... two ... three!"

    Boots grinned and held up her pudgy fingers in imitation. "No, me! One ... two ... free ...
    four seven ten!" she said, and lifted both hands in the air at her accomplishment.

    Henry scooped up Boots and held her at arm's length, the way someone might hold a wet puppy. "Boots has no fear, nor will she when she masters counting. You like to fly, do you not, Boots? Go for a ride on the bat?" he said mischievously.

    "I ride!" said Boots, and wiggled to get out of Henry's uncomfortable hold.

    "Then ride you!" said Henry, and tossed her right off the side of the pillar.

    Gregor gasped as he saw Boots, as if in slow motion, sail out of Henry's hands and into the dark.

    "Henry!" said Mareth, in shock. But Luxa was cracking up.

    Gregor staggered to the side of the pillar and squinted into the darkness. The faint torchlight provided by the bats illuminated only a few yards. Had Henry really thrown Boots to her death? He couldn't believe it. He couldn't --

    A happy squeal came from above his head. "More!"

    Boots! But what was she doing up there? Gregor fumbled with his flashlight. The beam was strong and cut a wide swath of light through the blackness.

    Twenty bats were wheeling around the cave, playing some kind of game of catch with Boots. One would take her up high and flip over, sending the toddler free-falling to the ground.
    But long before she reached it, another bat would scoop her up gently, only to rise and flip her off again. Boots was giggling ecstatically. "More! More!" she ordered the bats each time she landed. And each time they dropped her, Gregor's stomach lurched into his throat.

    "Stop it!" he snapped at the Underlanders. Henry and Luxa looked surprised. Either no one had ever yelled at these royal brats, or they hadn't seen Gregor lose his temper yet. He grabbed Henry by the front of the shirt. "Bring her in now!" Henry could probably cream him, but he didn't care.

    Henry put up his hands in mock surrender. "Take ease, Overlander. She is not in danger,"
    he said, grinning.

    "In truth, Gregor, she is safer with the bats than in human hands," said Luxa. "And she is not afraid."

    "She's two!" screamed Gregor, wheeling on her.

    "She's going to think she can jump off anything and be caught!"

    "She can!" said Luxa, not seeing the problem.

    "Not at home, Luxa! Not in the Overland!" said Gregor. "And I don't plan on staying in this creepy place forever!"

    They may not have known exactly what he meant by "creepy," but it was pretty clear it was an insult.

    Luxa raised her hand, and a bat coasted by lightly flipping Boots into Gregor's arms. He caught her and squeezed her tightly. The Underlanders were no longer laughing.

    "What means this 'creepy'?" said Luxa coolly.

    "Never mind," said Gregor. "It's just something we Overlanders say when we see our baby sisters being tossed around by bats. See, for us, that's creepy."

    "It was meant to be entertaining," said Henry.

    "Oh, yeah. You guys should open a theme park. You'll have a line stretched from here to the surface," said