100 Summers by Ali Sparkes

Author:Ali Sparkes [Sparkes, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ISBN:, 978-1-913432-84-3
Publisher: Stairwell Books

Chapter 22

There was no screaming when he awoke that night. It was just as well, because if he had heard that terrifying shrieking out in the dark, Dante might never have found the courage to leave his bed, let alone the house.

Throughout the afternoon and evening he had been twitching with frustration. He desperately wanted to get away from everyone else and sneak off to that old coach house and its clock with the candles in it.

But there was no chance of that – not when he was already on a warning after the fight with Blake. Even after tea, he didn’t dare. It was still light outside and he couldn’t risk being seen, hanging around the coach house. People would want to know what he was doing and he wasn’t ready to share Bea’s quest with anyone else. It would be kind of disloyal. She hadn’t intended her journal and her clever ciphers and challenges to be shared around with just anyone.

There was another reason, too, to go in and eat tea and then join everyone for the next film. He didn’t want Blake and Kieran to think they were stopping him spending time with the group. Laurie was right about that – he shouldn’t let them prevent him from doing anything.

So he had shown up and sat through Matilda with everyone else, snacking on popcorn and trying hard to look like he was having fun. Ben had come over and sat next to him, which was a relief because for a moment it had looked like Laurie might take the nearest seat. He felt guilty about it, but he really didn’t want Laurie near him. It would make things with Blake and Kieran so, so much worse.

The film was good – he’d seen it before and loved it – but he couldn’t concentrate. As soon as it was over, he ran upstairs, did his bathroom stuff and flopped onto his bed. He knew he had to wait until everyone was asleep. Even the adults. In the meantime he picked up Bea’s journal and read the next bit, where she told him a bit about her dad, who was distant and always away. And that her mum had died. Bea only remembered little bits of her… like them both hopping over the stepping stones across the stream. He shivered as he realised he’d done the same thing that very afternoon. The stones looked like they’d been there forever, so Bea had certainly stepped on them.

It was sad that Bea remembered so little about her mum. He realised he was lucky. His dad was a waste of time, but his mum was a good mum. Definitely there for him. He wondered what Bea would make of Mum – whether she’d like her. Yes. He thought she would. The way in which she wrote about things was curious and open-minded, and Mum was always telling him to be curious and open-minded. She was like that herself – always telling him about plants and nature, and getting him to look things up whenever either of them had a question.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.