13 Curses Read Online Free PDF Page B

on shook to a halt. She had been dreaming of fairies again. Not the cozy, friendly type portrayed in picture books, but the other type. Ones that did more than pilfer and pinch, and trick and lie. She had been dreaming of fairies that stole away human children, never to be seen again.
Real fairies.
    Tanya shook herself and wiped a thin layer of perspiration from her upper lip. She knew better than most that few people believed in fairies these days. Of those who did, even fewer had the ability to see them.
    Tanya knew this because she was one of them.
    Outside the window the sign on the shabby little platform read T ICKEY E ND . At her feet, her brown Doberman, Oberon, yawned and scratched, then stood up, sensing that their journey was at an end. Tanyagot up and grabbed her luggage from the rack, then hauled it to the carriage door. As the train emptied of its last few passengers, she squinted through the sunshine, feeling the cool October air hit her warm cheeks, and stepped onto the platform. Oberon followed, eagerly sniffing the air.
    “I’ll take that for you, love.”
    Tanya allowed the portly attendant to heave her bag from the train, correctly guessing that it wasn’t often he saw thirteen-year-old girls traveling alone from London to Essex. Indeed, this was the first time Tanya had ever traveled alone. Normally, her mother would have driven her, but as their car was in the garage being fixed, Tanya had persisted in being allowed to take the train.
    “Back for the holidays?” the attendant asked.
    Tanya shook her head. “Just visiting,” she said. “I’m staying with my grandmother for half-term.”
    “Where’s that then, nearby?”
    “Elvesden Manor,” Tanya replied.
    The man’s smile froze on his lips. “Take care, now.” He gave a polite nod, and moved away to help someone else.
    Tanya watched him go wordlessly. His reaction was not unexpected. Everyone who lived in Tickey End had heard the stories surrounding Elvesden Manor. Stories of how the wife of the original owner had died in a lunatic asylum, followed by the disappearance just over fifty years ago of a local girl whom many believed to have been killed by the manor’s groundskeeper at the time.
    The house was shrouded in mystery, a never-ending source of tittle-tattle. But gossip was damaging. The accusations regarding the missing girl had tarnished the former groundskeeper’s life, and now the old man was a recluse, never venturing from the second floor of the house.
    However, the problem with the true version of events—which Tanya had had a hand in unraveling in the summer—was that the majority of people would not believe them. For the truth was that the missing girl had been trapped in the fairy realm for half a century, unable to leave unless somebody else took her place. Her attempt to return to the mortal world had almost resulted in Tanya exchanging places with her and becoming trapped instead. But Tanya had been lucky. Someone had saved her… by taking her place in the exchange. Her stomach formed a tight knot as she remembered that dreadful night.
    She sat down on a nearby bench and waited, the autumn breeze blowing her long, dark hair around her face. Through the diminishing throng of the last passengers a lone figure was striding toward her. As the man approached, Tanya could see the lines in his weather-worn face. As always, his dark hair, graying at the temples, was fastened back into a careless ponytail. His name was Warwick, and he was the groundskeeper of Elvesden Manor. He looked older than she remembered. He stopped before her and gave a slight nod.
    “Good journey?”
    Tanya shrugged and smiled. “It was all right.”
    Warwick gave Oberon a heavy pat on the head before easily hoisting Tanya’s bag up onto his shoulder. Together they walked toward the parking lot. As they passed the ticket office, Tanya saw unfriendly eyes aimed at her companion. She stole a tentative glance at Warwick. His eyes were fixed straight