A Bridge to the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

crack in the door when
the light goes out. There are some creaking noises from
the bed, then all is quiet. He waits for a bit longer before
getting dressed. He knows there is a loose floorboard in
the kitchen but even so he treads in the wrong place and
makes a creaking noise.
    He holds his breath and listens hard in the darkness.
    Samuel hasn't heard anything.
    Joel carefully opens the front door with his boots and
jacket in his hand, and sneaks out into the vestibule. He
laces up his boots, buttons up his jacket and pulls his
woolly hat down over his ears. He's ready now. The
secret society THESEFOTHEDOTHFAS has embarked
on its journey out into the unknown . . .
    When he emerges into the open it's cold and totally
still. The weak streetlamps cast a yellow glow over the
piled-up snow. He cautiously makes his way out through
the gate and looks round. He can hear a car in the
distance. He stands absolutely still until the engine noise
has died away.
    Then he starts walking through the deserted little
town. For no special reason he finds himself taking the
route he usually follows when going to school. But
everything is different at night.
    He has the feeling that the black houses, the shuttered
windows, are looking at him, not the other way round.
And his boots are making a very loud crunching noise in
the cold snow. He stops outside the Grand Hotel and
watches a cat climbing over the fence to Franzen's garage.
But there is no sign of any people. Not until he's passing
Hultman's shoe shop does he hear some people laughing
from behind a lit-up window on the second floor.
    It feels comforting to know that he's not entirely on
his own.
    He allows the laughing people to become members of
his secret society.
    They'll never know anything about it, but they can't
stop me letting them join it.
    He walks back through the town, down towards the
river and the railway bridge with its enormous iron
arches. He walks along one of the rails until he's in the
middle of the bridge. He leans over the parapet and
looks down at the ice below. Then he looks up at the sky.
There are no clouds and he can see the stars glimmering
like candles up above him.
    If I were to climb up one of the arches, I'd get closer
to them, he thinks.
    He decides to introduce a hero's rule. Nobody can be
a full member of the secret society, not even he, until
they've climbed over one of the arches.
    He's starting to feel cold and tired. He hasn't even
thought about looking for the dog. But he has plenty of
nights ahead of him. Besides, it will soon be spring, and
the nights will get warmer and lighter.
    He finds a stone by the railway track and throws it
over the parapet and onto the ice down below. Then he
goes home.
    This first night he's only done a bit of reconnoitring.
Tomorrow night is when he'll start looking for the dog,
start out on the great adventure.
    He tiptoes up the stairs, unlaces his boots and
carefully opens the flat door. If Samuel has woken up,
Joel has no idea how he's going to explain away his
nocturnal wandering.
    He listens outside the door, but all is quiet. Dad's
asleep.
    He quickly gets undressed, creeps into bed and curls up
in order to get warm. He thinks about what to write in the
logbook tomorrow. 'The first night Joel Gustafson
completed his reconnaissance mission to everyone's
complete satisfaction. The adventure has begun. The dog
has not yet been tracked down.'
    Then he falls asleep and when he wakes up next
morning he doesn't feel tired at all. Hurrying to school
and thinking about how he'd gone the same way in the
middle of the night is really a big deal.
    Tonight, he thinks. Tonight I shall find the dog that's
heading for a star . . .
    *
    The next night when Joel sets off on his adventure, everything
starts to go wrong. In the dark kitchen he trips up
over his own boots and knocks a saucepan off the stove
as he falls. He thinks it sounds as if the ceiling had come
crashing down when the saucepan hits the floor. He
rushes back into his