The Haunting of Drang Island by Arthur Slade

Author:Arthur Slade [Slade, Arthur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443431422
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2014-06-25T16:00:00+00:00

15

Fiona gasped. I turned to face my attacker, fists up and ready to fight.

It was my father. His jaw muscles were clenched, his eyes narrowed, and he looked about ready to kill me. “What the hell are you doing on this end of the island?”

“I—we—got lost,” I stammered, moving a few steps away.

Dad shook his finger. “Do you know how far you’ve come? I told you to stick close to home.”

“We were but we just . . . uh . . .”

“We found some pretty cool paths,” Fiona finished.

Dad ignored her. He crossed his arms. “Do you know how long I had to argue with your mom to get her to let you come on this trip?”

I clammed up, not sure what to say. I couldn’t believe he was flipping out on me in front of Fiona.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Dad asked.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “We didn’t mean to go this far. We did get lost, honest.”

Dad let out his breath. “Where are your bikes?”

“Back there.” I motioned over my shoulder. “On the other side of those rocks.” I deliberately left out the fact that we’d crawled across the ravine on a tree. And traveled down a bunch of mountain paths.

“Well,” Dad said finally, “you’re here. There’s not much I can do about that now.” Was he cooling down? He stared at me, his face unreadable. Then he uncrossed his arms and his look softened. “I was going to show you this place tomorrow anyway.”

“Why?” I asked, pretending I hadn’t already figured out where we were.

“It’s the remains of the settlement I was talking about.”

“Really?” I said. “That’s cool.” I wondered if he could tell I was trying to get on his good side. “How’d you get here, anyway?”

“I rented a boat.” He gestured towards a tall, finger-shaped cliff. “It’s tied up in a bay over there. This morning I met Harbard and he told me about this place but wasn’t interested in ferrying me here. He said I’d already given him enough bad luck to sink seven ships. Then he warned me to be good and gone from this end of the island before dark, because that’s when all the spirits from the underworld are loosed and Hel herself walks this valley.” Dad shook his head. “I can’t tell if he has a really strange sense of humor, or if he’s just the most superstitious man in the world.”

“Maybe it’s a little of both,” Fiona offered.

“I hope so. Harbard did mention he might come by this way to make sure I didn’t drown. Then he went off, saying he had to work in his garden.” Fiona and I exchanged a glance. We’d seen Harbard in his garden, alright. “Anyway, Drang is exactly the place I needed to see. It should really help me figure out the last story in my book. Harbard was kind enough to tell me a little of the island’s history. All about the Icelanders who settled here and the hardships they encountered.” He paused, then added, “And all the murders that took place.

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