The Sirens' Feast (2 page)

“Welcome, welcome!” she said, and then turned round to shout back through the door. “Lily! Rose! Come and meet our guests.”

Two young women came out of the house. They both looked just like June. Mr Blood and Edgar stopped still, staring at them.

“Stop staring!” whispered Mary to Edgar. ‘Remember your manners!”

“Triplets!” said the farmer, pointing at his three daughters. “I am a lucky man, aren't I?”

Mary was puzzled. She was thinking about the poor, starving boy who had asked them for food. And the villagers had been starving too. Yet the farmer and his wife were fat, and their daughters looked well-fed.

 

 

Mary wanted to ask Mr Blood what he thought. But when she looked at him, she saw that his eyes were blank. It was as if the three young women had put a spell on him and Edgar. Mary began to feel afraid.

They went into the farmhouse and sat down in the kitchen.

“I have some stew ready and you're welcome to eat with us,” said the farmer's wife. “And we have plenty of beds in the house. You must stay until the storm has passed. Or stay longer,” she added with a smile.

Mary remembered that June had said that, too. “
Some of them stay for a long time.”
It felt like a threat to Mary now.

Mr Blood and Edgar ate the stew but Mary was afraid. She ate a few bites of the stew but that was all. She had no idea what was going on at the farm, but something felt wrong.

 

 

As soon as Edgar and Mr Blood had eaten all their food they both began to yawn. Mary pretended she was tired and she yawned too.

“You must be tired,” said the farmer's wife. June will show you to the guest rooms so you can rest your tired legs.”

June smiled sweetly, and started humming again. She led them upstairs and into three rooms. As soon as June left them, Mary crept out of her room and went to see Edgar. He was asleep on his bed, snoring. Mr Blood was asleep in his room too.

 

 

Mary knew something was very wrong. But she felt tired too. She had to lie down. She crept back to her room, lay down on the bed, and went to sleep.

 

Chapter 3

Sweet Music

When Mary woke she could hear the sweetest music she had ever heard. She lay on her back and listened to the music.

“I wonder if the storm is over?” she thought. And then she remembered the strange family, and how afraid she had felt.

Mary still felt very tired but she knew she must not go back to sleep. She stood up and went over to the window. The sky outside was pitch black. It had stopped raining.

Mary could still hear the music. It was someone singing.

It seemed to be coming from a barn close to the farmhouse. Mary could see that there was light inside the barn. She wanted to go and listen to the singing. She could not think about anything else.

Mary walked out of her room. On her way to the stairs, she looked into Edgar's room. His bed was empty. Mary checked on Mr Blood. His bed was empty too.

She crept downstairs. The farmer's bow and some arrows were leaning against a wall. She picked them up and opened the farmhouse door.

 

 

The singing was louder and Mary had to fight to resist it. She put the bow and arrows under her arm. Then she put her hands over her ears to block the music out, and crept towards the barn.

She walked around to the side of the barn and saw a small slit in the wall. It was too high up for her to see through. She looked around and saw a wooden box.

The box looked strong enough for Mary to stand on. She put down the bow and arrows to lift the box.

But when she took her hands away from her ears, the singing was too loud to resist. It felt as though the sound was pulling her towards the barn door.

“I need to block out the music!” thought Mary. She looked around for something that she could use. At last she saw some sheep's wool on the ground. She rolled up two small balls of wool and stuffed them into her ears.

 

 

Mary pushed the box over to the wall of the barn and climbed onto it. She looked through the slit in the wall, and gasped with horror.

 

Chapter 4

The Barn

Mr Blood and Edgar were standing still. Their eyes were open but they seemed to be in a deep sleep. June and her two sisters faced them. They were singing.

On the other side of the barn, Mary saw the farmer and his wife. They both wore aprons. In their hands they held big, sharp knives.

Mary felt the horror rise inside her. She cried out, and the farmer and his wife looked up. The sisters kept singing. Mr Blood and Edgar didn't move. The farmer gave a wicked smile.

 

 

Mary jumped off the box and ran to the barn door. She shoved it. She kicked it. But she couldn't open it. The only way she could save Edgar and Mr Blood was to stop the sisters singing.