Off the Wall by P. J. Night

Author:P. J. Night
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Spotlight

CHAPTER 6

“This way,” hissed Daria. She grabbed the hands of the other girls and all but dragged them across the floor.

Through the dim light, Jane realized that they were heading to the dinosaur-shaped play equipment. But they couldn’t hide under that. The guard would be able to see right through the ribs!

No, Daria was leading them out through the dinosaur’s ribs and to the other side. She pointed with her chin toward what looked like a pile of rocks. After a second, Jane could see that they had an opening that looked like a cave entrance. That must be where Daria wanted them to hide.

Jane’s leg slammed hard against something. “Ouch,” she said in a loud, normal voice.

“Quiet! Get down!” Daria’s whisper had the intensity of a shriek. She dropped to her knees and began crawling rapidly toward the play cave. Jane and Lucy followed her.

We can’t fit through that, Jane thought in terror. But Daria was scrambling through the entrance with Lucy just behind her. Jane took a breath and crawled in after them. Then, panting, the three of them leaned against the wall of the tiny chamber they had just entered.

It was completely dark. Jane put out a careful hand and touched the wall of the cave. It wasn’t rock—it was something that felt fake. She realized that they must be inside some kind of make-believe cave.

“That was lucky,” said Lucy. “How did you know this was here?”

Daria shrugged. “I just noticed it. I was—”

Then she stopped.

Someone was walking toward them.

The guard! Jane mouthed silently.

The footsteps were slow and steady, as if the walker knew exactly where she was going. Step, step, step . . . right toward the cave.

There’s no door, Jane thought. And without a door, she could see that a light was coming toward them as well. It was swinging back and forth in slow arcs. A flashlight!

Step, step, step. Jane didn’t dare move. But from the corner of her eye, she saw that the light was being trained on the cave.

In a few seconds the guard would find them.

Jane closed her eyes and waited to be caught. She was already imagining how she would try to explain this to Willow and Katherine. Would they be kicked out of the lock-in—and if they were, where could they go? How would she ever explain what happened to her mother?

But now the light was . . . was it moving away? Could it possibly be that the guard hadn’t realized where they were hiding?

She must not have. Because now the light was gone, and the footsteps were walking away.

Still motionless, Jane glanced at the other girls. She could see that they were listening too. A few seconds more, and the sound of the steps was almost gone. Lucy clasped her hands over her head in a silent cheer.

“Wait,” Daria whispered. But she didn’t need to warn them. The girls weren’t going to move until they were absolutely sure the coast was clear.

In her head Jane counted to a hundred.

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.