Quest for the Secret Keeper by Victoria Laurie Page B

was shaken awake. “Ian?”
    Ian opened his lids to find Argos peering down at him. “Are you awake?”
    Ian nodded groggily and sat up, yawning. Argos was attempting to quietly wake Carl, but Ian knew he wouldn’t have much luck. Carl was a deep and sound sleeper. “You’ll need to hold his nose,” Ian whispered. “It’s the only way to wake him.”
    Argos looked doubtfully at him and continued to gently shake Carl, who, in turn, continued to slumber. Finally, Ian got up, walked over to his friend’s cot, and held his nose between his fingers. Carl jerked awake within three seconds. “What’s happening?” he gasped, and Jaaved woke up with a start too.
    “It’s time to go,” Ian told them, returning to his cot to get dressed.
    After putting on his clothes, he hurried down the stairsand knocked on what used to be the nursery door. Theo opened it, looking sleepy. “Is it time?”
    “Yes,” he said. “We’ll need to hurry if we’re to make it to the castle in the next twenty minutes.” Theo nodded while yawning and closed her door. Ian then went back up the tower steps to check his satchel and make sure he had everything.
    “Do you have the sundial?” Carl whispered.
    “Yes,” Ian said.
    “Prophecy?”
    “Yes.”
    “Vial?”
    Ian sighed, his patience low. “Yes, Carl, I have all of it. Worry about your own things, would you?”
    Carl said nothing for a few moments, but then he asked, “Some nibbles for the boat?”
    “You won’t want to eat on the boat, Carl,” Jaaved told him, pointing to the window. “It’s quite windy out this morning. The channel’s going to be very rough.”
    “If you’re implying that I might get seasick, I can assure you I won’t,” Carl said stubbornly. Then he turned to Ian and said, “Really, Ian, did you get us some nibbles for the trip?”
    Outside, it was still very dark, and Ian made sure to pack an extra sweater, because out on the water it was likely to be chilly.
    Once they were all certain they had everything they needed—save Carl’s nibbles, of course—they made theirway down the spiral staircase, pausing to collect Theo, and continued down the main stairs on tiptoe.
    Luck was with them, and they managed to leave the keep without waking a single injured soldier.
    Without speaking, the group hurried along the dark road to Castle Dover, and Ian could see the earl waiting for them on the front steps. “Good morning,” he said to them quietly.
    “Good morning, my lord,” they all answered.
    “Are we ready for our voyage?”
    As one they nodded, and the earl motioned for them to follow him. Winding their way through the earl’s residence in a somewhat circuitous path, they avoided the sections of the castle that either had been ruined by fire or were currently occupied by soldiers. Eventually, they found their way to the back of the castle and out into the earl’s garden.
    Ian winced when he realized that much of the earl’s beloved hedge maze had been burned to a crisp, but the earl hardly seemed to glance at it as they walked to the back garden gate.
    Ian felt a tinge of déjá vu; the last time he’d gone through the garden gate in the wee hours of the morning, he’d been running for his life from one of Magus the Black’s hellhounds. He’d barely escaped, and his arm still held the scar from the bite that awful creature had inflicted on him.
    He attempted to put the memory out of his mind and moved silently with the others down the winding path, past the small patch of woods where the portal was hidden, to the road leading to the harbor.
    They arrived at the earl’s boat shortly thereafter, and the earl lowered the ladder so that they could all climb aboard. Ian marveled at the beauty of the earl’s ship as he helped Theo up the rungs.
    Once they were aboard, there wasn’t much for Ian, Theo, and Carl to do, save concentrate very hard on not being sick and look out for any signs of trouble, of course.
    Luck was on their side that day,