Slinging his light saddlebag over his shoulders and swallowing his cry of pain at the movement, he pulled his hat low over his forehead and made for the door. He needed his enlistment forms from Shulga’s office; if he could find and destroy them, the army would have no record of him enlisting. Even if he did get caught aer escaping—provided he escaped in the first place—there would be no proof that he was a cadet. 1en all he had to do was reach the stables and get Quicksilver before anyone on the dinner shi noticed what he was doing. Aer that . . . he would find a way out. ere had to be one somewhere. . . . 1 ere were no guards at the door; the barracks 2was down to a skeleton guard for the dinner shi. Aleks silently retraced his steps from earlier in the day, making his way towards Antova’s office. His eyes raced over every door’s nameplate, frowning when none of them was the office he was looking for. He was incredibly short on time; he had to be on Quicksilver and heading for freedom before dinner ended. 2 Finally, he saw it. Lt. Shulga was embossed on a nameplate three doors down from Antova’s. Luckily, the door was unlocked and the room empty; Shulga had obviously gone straight from the time-out room to dinner. e office was decorated in the same way as Antova’s, in blue and dark brown, with a large map of Tellus on the wall instead of the royal crest the commander displayed. Darting across to a metal filing cabinet that took up most of one wall, Aleks wrenched open a drawer at random, ignoring the searing ache in his arms. Again, unlocked. Clearly Shulga was too cocky to think anyone would dare snoop around his office. 3 e drawer was full of neatly filed enlistment forms in alphabetical order; F–J. Aleks’s form would come under V. Shutting the drawer, he reached for the next one, perplexed to find it containing M–P. e drawer aer that didn’t contain enlistment forms at all, but instead held a large stack of account books. Shulga didn’t seem to have any sort of system whatsoever; how did he ever find anything he needed?

Question

Slinging his light saddlebag over his shoulders and swallowing his cry of pain at the movement, he pulled his hat low over his forehead and made for the door. He needed his enlistment forms from Shulga’s office; if he could find and destroy them, the army would have no record of him enlisting. Even if he did get caught aer escaping—provided he escaped in the first place—there would be no proof that he was a cadet. 1en all he had to do was reach the stables and get Quicksilver before anyone on the dinner shi noticed what he was doing. Aer that . . . he would find a way out. ere had to be one somewhere. . . . 1 ere were no guards at the door; the barracks 2was down to a skeleton guard for the dinner shi. Aleks silently retraced his steps from earlier in the day, making his way towards Antova’s office. His eyes raced over every door’s nameplate, frowning when none of them was the office he was looking for. He was incredibly short on time; he had to be on Quicksilver and heading for freedom before dinner ended. 2 Finally, he saw it. Lt. Shulga was embossed on a nameplate three doors down from Antova’s. Luckily, the door was unlocked and the room empty; Shulga had obviously gone straight from the time-out room to dinner. e office was decorated in the same way as Antova’s, in blue and dark brown, with a large map of Tellus on the wall instead of the royal crest the commander displayed. Darting across to a metal filing cabinet that took up most of one wall, Aleks wrenched open a drawer at random, ignoring the searing ache in his arms. Again, unlocked. Clearly Shulga was too cocky to think anyone would dare snoop around his office. 3 e drawer was full of neatly filed enlistment forms in alphabetical order; F–J. Aleks’s form would come under V. Shutting the drawer, he reached for the next one, perplexed to find it containing M–P. e drawer aer that didn’t contain enlistment forms at all, but instead held a large stack of account books. Shulga didn’t seem to have any sort of system whatsoever; how did he ever find anything he needed?

Growling in frustration, Aleks began to open multiple drawers at a time, riځing through stacks of papers and leather-bound books, his desperation growing with every unsuccessful attempt. Digging through a drawer of miscellaneous files and books closest to the desk, his fingers scrabbled at the bottom of the drawer and it tilted a fraction, sending three stacked files slumping against a small metal box. ‘What the . . .͢b+e trailed oٿ, pressing harder on the base of the drawer, watching it dip under his fingers. e drawer had a false bottom! 5 Aleks glanced at the clock; he knew he shouldn’t, but he’d always been the curious type. Emptying the drawer, he dug his nails under one side of the fake bottom, prising it up. e secret compartment was fairly narrow, containing only a thin file of papers and a battered leather journal. It was the journal that caught Aleks’s eye, for it had the Anglyan crest embossed in one corner of the cover. What on Tellus was Shulga doing with an Anglyan journal? . . . 6 A door slamming somewhere in the building startled him out of his horrified trance, and a quick look at the clock nearly gave Aleks a heart attacN��+e barely had ten minutes until the end of dinner! 7 Stuffing the journal in an inner pocket of his coat, he hastily replaced the drawer’s false bottom and contents, shutting it as quietly as he could. Tugging on the two drawers he had yet to check, he swore under his breath. Neither of them contained a V section, and Aleks felt dread creep over him at the realization that his file was likely elsewhere��+e didn’t have the time to search any other rooms. Out of options, he straightened up, shoving all the cabinet drawers shut and sprinting for the door. 8 A quick glance through the glass panel showed the corridor to be empty, so Aleks slipped from the room. 9 Bursting through the door of the building, he turned for the stables, slowing his pace once he hit the cobblestone path, just in case anyone happened to look his way. ere was nothing more suspicious than a lone cadet running. 10 While there was supposed to be at least one stablehand in the building at all times, Aleks couldn’t see a single soul in the stables. PerfecW��+urrying to the tack �room, he easily found Quicksilver’s saddle and bridle, though carrying the heavy items in his current state nearly sent him crumpling to the ځoor. Still, he forced himself to ignore the pain, heing the tack across the room towards Quicksilver’s stall. e horse whinnied when he saw the tack, knowing what it meant. Aleks shushed him, slinging the saddle on the door and slipping inside, easing the bridle on to the horse’s head. Tossing the saddle on Quicksilver’s back, he fastened it tightly and slung the saddlebag over the horse’s rear, buckling it swily. He grabbed the reins, running to press Quicksilver’s nose to his chest for a brief moment. ‘We need to be quiet, boy. No getting excited.’

using this context The saying “Don’t let anything stop you” is an encouragement to pursue and achieve a goal despite obstacles. Find a quotation from the story that reflects this idea.

Answer 1

A quotation from the story that reflects the idea of "Don't let anything stop you" is: "Aer that . . . he would find a way out. ere had to be one somewhere." This quotation shows Aleks's determination to overcome obstacles and find a solution to his predicament.