Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Author:Kate Milford
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

nine

The Tale of the Otter and the Eye

“Oh, boy,” Milo said, staring at the house, which had suddenly been reduced to nothing more than a patch of gray.

“Good grief.” Mr. Pine sighed. “I mean, I sort of figured this might happen, but still. Brandon, how about giving me a hand with the generator? And Fenster, you mind going with Milo and helping Nora get some temporary light in there? She’s probably got a couple guests freaking out on her.”

A couple at least. Mrs. Hereward and Dr. Gowervine were guaranteed to be panicking loudly. Milo didn’t wait to hear Fenster’s answer, just hurried as fast as he could toward the house.

He heard shouting before he even got up the porch stairs (remembering at the last moment not to try to take them two at a time because of the ice). Then he opened the front door and all hell broke loose.

“It’s just me!” Milo shouted into the maelstrom of voices that, once he listened for a moment, was really just the excitable pair and Mrs. Caraway and Lizzie trying hard to calm them down. The four stood at the center of the living room where the only remaining light, the glow of the fire, made their faces look monstrous. Mr. Vinge was nowhere to be seen. Georgie was still upstairs, maybe, and Clem and Owen seemed to have left the first floor too.

Mrs. Pine appeared in the light of a candle at Milo’s shoulder, and she was furious. “Once things calm down, I will have some very loud and angry words for you about the way you disappeared like that on a night like this,” she said tightly. “But obviously, they’ll have to wait.” She pressed a long grill lighter, the kind that works with a trigger, into Milo’s hand. “Get to lighting candles. And—” She peered over his shoulder. “Is that Fenster?”

Fenster pulled off his cap. “Yes, ma’am. But incognito.” He gave Mrs. Pine an exaggerated wink. “Just a humble monastery gardener, I.”

She blinked, then sighed. “Fill me in later. Milo, where’s your father?”

“Starting the generator.” Milo beckoned her closer and lowered his voice. “Brandon Levi’s with him.”

“Also incognito,” Fenster added, leaning in to whisper.

“Candles,” Mrs. Pine ordered through gritted teeth. “Now, so maybe these two will stop thinking the world’s coming to an end just because it’s dark. I’m going down to the basement for the lanterns. Actually, Fenster, could you give me a hand with those? And I should probably explain about this story I may have told everyone about you,” she added as the two of them disappeared through the basement door in the kitchen.

Milo made a beeline for the candles his mother had artfully worked into the centerpiece on the dining room table earlier in the day. He squeezed the trigger and touched the flame to the trimmed wicks one by one. Meddy’s face peered at him from the other side of the table through the candle flames. He jumped and heard himself give an involuntary squeak.

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.