Bone Hollow by Kim Ventrella

Author:Kim Ventrella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

“That’s about enough!” cried a voice from somewhere in the maelstrom. Just like that, the wind stopped, the man-thing snapped back into the shadows, more like a rubber band than a person, and a hand closed around Gabe’s shoulder.

“I see you met our resident spook,” said Wynne, offering him a tired smile. “Or at least, one of them. I thought I told you to keep to the path.”

“What was that thing?” Gabe spluttered.

“I’ll explain inside,” Wynne said, ruffling Ollie’s hair with a sigh. His poor mutt was shaking something awful. “Come on, and this time don’t go running off.”

No sooner had they all three sat down on the sofa than Wynne produced a steaming mug of hot chocolate from behind Gabe’s left ear. “Drink up, it’ll help with the shock.”

Not surprised to find that he, too, was shaking, Gabe took a sip of steaming hot chocolate. It tasted just like the kind Gramps used to make, with dark chocolate and caramel and a hint of paprika. Warmth oozed down his spine into each of his limbs. Even Ollie, who was sitting in his lap, stopped shivering.

“But what was that thing?” Gabe said again, after downing half of his mug.

“Oh, that,” Wynne said, her eyes looking more tired than ever. “You see, Bone Hollow isn’t like other places. The world is different here. More … wobbly.”

“Wobbly?”

“Exactly, and sometimes things get through.”

“From where?”

Wynne shrugged, like getting attacked by stretchy ghosts with birds in their mouths was no big deal and Gabe should just get over it. “Not sure. Over there, I suppose. You know, the other side or whatever people call it. But don’t worry, they can’t hurt you.”

“Wait a minute here, the other side? Like h-e-l-l other side?”

“Not exactly.” Wynne nudged Gabe’s mug closer to his mouth. “Have another sip, it’ll make you feel better.”

“Well, if it’s not h-e-l-l, then what do you call it?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never really given it a name.”

“What about the Dead Place?” Gabe said, an old memory bobbing suddenly to the surface of his mind.

“What’s that?” Wynne smiled, amused.

“Nothing, really. It’s just this place Gramps made up that was full of goblins and ghasts and people with giant wings like crows. He used to tell me all sorts of stories about it when I was little.”

“The Dead Place, huh? I suppose it’s something like that, but like I said, they can’t hurt you.”

“Are you sure?” Gabe remembered the pain of that pointy leg piercing his skin, but when he looked, there was no mark, not even a single red spot.

“They’re not really here, you know? It’s more like they’re peeking, slipping through the cracks a little, but they can’t actually do any harm.”

“If you say so,” Gabe said, downing the rest of his hot chocolate in a single gulp. He had to admit it did make him feel better, like his whole body was wrapped in a fuzzy winter sweater.

They sat in silence while Wynne sipped quietly on her hot chocolate. After a bit, she

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