The Hand of the Necromancer by John Bellairs & Brad Strickland

Author:John Bellairs & Brad Strickland [Bellairs, John & Strickland, Brad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Horror & Ghost Stories
ISBN: 9781497614437
Google: meYoAwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00J84L5OO
Barnesnoble: B00J84L5OO
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2014-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The big showdown came two days later, when Sarah finally persuaded Johnny to confide his worries to her. Johnny had received his last pay envelope in the mail. It wasn't very much money, but it reminded him of the job he had lost, and thinking about Miss Ferrington's accusations depressed him. When Sarah telephoned to chat, Johnny admitted he was unhappy.

Sarah listened with sympathy and then suggested that he teach her how to play chess, something they had talked about before. Maybe it would take Johnny's mind off his troubles for a little while. He didn't really think it would, but then it might be sort of cheerful to play again. He and Fergie always played hard-fought, interesting games of chess, and the professor was usually a good opponent. But with Fergie away and the professor preoccupied, Johnny hadn't touched his chessboard in weeks.

He met Sarah at the public library, and they set up Johnny's chessboard in the Conversation Room on the first floor. Quiet talking was allowed there, and lots of people met there to play chess or checkers. Sometimes spectators even collected in small audiences to watch games and debate each move in whispers. Johnny was glad to see no one was there, because he felt self- conscious about playing chess in front of people. He arranged the pieces on the board. Sarah watched as Johnny explained how each chess piece could move, and then she moved them herself, making sure she understood.

Next Johnny explained what a gambit was—a series of beginning chess moves that could be developed into an attack or a defense. There were lots of standard openings, but they would begin with very simple ones. Then he hid a couple of pawns in his hands, and she chose the hand that held the white one. "Okay," he said. "White always moves first. Now, the first time you move a pawn, it can go either one or two squares. I'd start with the one in front of the queen or the king."

And then as they moved the chessmen, Sarah started in again, asking about Mattheus Mergal and what he had to do with the storm in the park. "I didn't see him, but he really gave you the creeps, didn't he?" she asked.

Trying not to show either annoyance or anxiety, Johnny kept his gaze on the board. "Yeah, I guess he did. He's a peculiar guy."

Sarah stared over the chess pieces, frowning at him. "Weird how? Does he run through the streets in his underwear, playing a banjo and singing 'Hail, Columbia'? Does he turn into a werewolf when the wolfsbane blooms, and the moon is shining bright?"

"Let's just play chess, okay?" Johnny did not feel like talking about Mattheus Mergal. For one thing, he was a mystery, and Johnny did not know all that much. Then too, Johnny had a bad feeling that no matter what he said, Sarah would misunderstand.

But Sarah would not let the matter drop. As they moved their chess pieces, she kept asking questions, and she refused to let Johnny get away with shrugging them off.

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