The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell

Author:Jennifer Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448194995
Publisher: RHCP

Chapter Twenty-one

Ivy scrambled back into the study, tripping over the thick carpet. She grabbed Seb’s sweatshirt with one hand and tore open the uncommon envelope with the other. The room spun. Mahogany bookcases and silvery milk jugs disappeared – until the murky hallway of the Wrench Mansion zoomed around them.

Ivy bent forward, heaving air into her lungs. That had been way too close. Whatever was down there, it had almost caught them. She looked up into the gloom of the hallway, surprisingly relieved to be back there. She and Seb had reappeared at the foot of the stairs. Valian was nowhere to be seen. Ivy wondered what he’d been getting up to.

For a moment she stood there while she tried to think. She and Seb were still panting for breath. It was the only noise breaking the silence until—

‘I’d bet my claws you thought I couldn’t follow you here, didn’t you?’ asked a voice.

Ivy spun round.

Standing on the other side of the hall was a giant wolf. Its pelt was shiny black with flecks of silver, and there was a diamond-encrusted pet collar hanging loosely around its neck. Ivy stiffened. The beast’s eyes were blood-red with a small white pupil, like that of some demon robot.

‘Now, isn’t this interesting,’ the wolf purred. It curled thick, leathery lips around each word. ‘I wonder what you’re both doing back in your ancestral home . . .’

A prickle ran between Ivy’s shoulder blades. It can talk. The wolf can talk.

‘Have you hidden it here? I wonder.’ The wolf’s voice was expressive but hoarse, like a Shakespearean actor with a sore throat.

Ivy forced her shaking hands into fists. ‘L-leave us alone,’ she stammered.

Seb lunged in front of her. ‘Shoo! Get out of here! Go on – go!’

The wolf raised a tufty eyebrow. ‘Shoo?’ It threw back its head and opened its considerable jaws, laughing. Ivy couldn’t help but notice the rows of razor-sharp teeth.

‘Ivy—’ Seb stumbled on the carpet.

She looked frantically around the hall. There was no way out. The wolf was standing between them and the front door. Their only option was to run up the stairs and hope it wasn’t fast enough to catch them.

It swished its long tail. ‘I’ll ask you once more, little children.’ It lowered its head and its voice deepened. ‘Where have you hidden it?’

Ivy cried out. She couldn’t help it. The creature was monstrous; whatever she’d been expecting to find here, it wasn’t this.

The wolf’s ears pricked up like great hairy antennae. ‘Oh dear, are you crying because the big bad wolf asked you a question? How does the story go . . . ?’ it asked, chuckling. ‘The big bad wolf will blow your house down if—?’ It shook its head. ‘No, no, that’s not the one. How about: the big bad wolf will eat your grandma if—? Nope, that’s not it. Ah, yes, I know. What about: the big bad wolf will skin you alive if you don’t tell him where you’ve hidden his mistress’s property?’ It bared more teeth.

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