The Unseen World of Poppy Malone: A Gaggle of Goblins by Harper Suzanne

Author:Harper, Suzanne [Harper, Suzanne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published: 2011-06-21T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Poppy woke up the next morning in the middle of a confused dream involving a vampire who was chasing a goblin who looked an awful lot like Rolly. She jumped out of bed, determined to tell her parents about her suspicions. Who cared if they called a television station or the local newspaper? One good thing about her parents, unlike many others—they were sure to believe her when she told them their youngest child had been stolen by goblins.

But when she burst into the kitchen, she found that the rest of the family was already there, engrossed in listening to Oliver Asquith. At least, her mother and Franny were apparently enraptured. Mrs. Malone’s eyes were shining with admiration; Franny’s chin was propped on one hand, and her gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Oliver’s face. (Poppy noticed that Franny had apparently decided to wear the contents of her jewelry box in honor of the occasion; she had a sparkly gold barrette in her hair, her favorite necklace, tinselly earrings from last Christmas, and three rings on each hand.) Even Will and Rolly were caught up in what their visitor was saying. Will’s fork had paused halfway to his mouth, and Rolly was listening politely as he neatly cut a sausage into small bites.

Only Mr. Malone was resisting the lure of high drama, artfully told. He had retreated behind the front section of the newspaper and was pretending to read. Only the occasional rustle of paper, caused by his fists clenching, betrayed his true emotions.

“And that was when I realized that I had to flee for my life,” Oliver was saying as Poppy took her place at the table.

“What an amazing story,” Mrs. Malone said breathlessly. “How lucky that you still had that vial of holy water in your coat pocket!”

Most people who had survived a near-death experience and were now dealing with a flock of vampires bent on revenge would have little appetite for breakfast, Poppy thought, but Oliver Asquith was clearly made of stronger stuff. A plate with a few remnants of scrambled eggs and hash browns sat in front of him, and toast crumbs were scattered on the tablecloth. He lifted his cup to his lips, then glanced down as if astonished to find that it was empty.

“I wonder . . .” He gazed vaguely around the kitchen. “I wonder if perhaps there’s any coffee left?”

“I’ll get you some,” said Franny, leaping to her feet. She grabbed the coffeepot and began pouring him another cup.

“Thank you, that’s very kind,” said Professor Asquith, bestowing such a glittering smile on her that she blushed and forgot to stop pouring.

After a brief interlude for flustered apologies and mopping-up operations, Oliver continued his story.

“Anyway, as I was saying . . . I fled, hoping against hope that the vampires would not be able to pick up my trail. I followed all the proper protocols, of course—scattered salt on my footprints, drew crosses on every door I walked through—but they have been far more resourceful than I had anticipated.

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.