A New Fear Read Online Free PDF Page B

enough to fight every man on the ship—if that is what it took to save her son.
    She lifted the man into the air. And hurled him against the wall with all her might.
    Thunk!
    A wooden clothes-peg burst through his chest.
    Hot, sticky blood sprayed across Nora’s face.
    The man howled in agony as he hung suspended from the peg.
    “Look what she did to Samuel,” someone screamed.
    Nora turned toward the voice.
    Three men stared back at her.
    “She is evil!” one of the men declared. “Pure evil.”
    “That’s right! I am evil!” Nora screamed. “Stay back! Stay back or I will kill you as well.”
    She stroked the amulet. Its heat flowed through her fingers.
    The men hesitated. Nora could tell they were frightened. Frightened and angry.
    “I have the power. I will use it. Run from me while you can!” She meant every word of her threat. She would kill them. She would kill them all to protect Nicholas.
    Nora rushed at the men. “Run while you can!”
    The men scrambled over one another as they bolted from the room.
    Crack!
    Nora heard the sharp sound above the storm.
    Water began seeping through the walls of the cabin. The sides of the ship are splintering, Nora realized.
    She rushed to Nicholas. The trunk was made of solid wood, but would it float? Or sink to the bottom of the sea?
    She spotted a coiled rope on the floor. She snatched it up and tied one end securely around her small waist. She kissed the tips of her fingers, then pressed her fingers to her son’s cheek. “Keep safe.”
    She closed the lid on the trunk and ran her hand over the finely polished wood grain. “Keep safe, my baby.”
    The ship lurched and rolled. Water poured into the room faster and faster.
    Nora wrapped the rope securely around the trunk.Over and under. Knot. Knot. Around. Another knot. Beneath and over. Another knot.
    The cold seawater circled her calves. The chest rose slowly with the rising level of water in the cabin. Nora tied another knot.
    “We will be all right, Nicholas,” Nora murmured as the water crept higher and higher.
    The wooden planks of the ship creaked and moaned.
    Nora watched in horror as the planks buckled. They are not going to hold, she realized.
    The planks caved in. A huge wave crashed down on Nora. It filled the cabin with water.
    The icy saltwater surrounded her. It burned her mouth and nose. It stung her eyes.
    Nora struggled to the hole in the cabin wall. She had to get out. She needed air. Her lungs burned.
    She pulled herself through the hole, tugging Nicholas’s trunk behind her.
    Then she swam as hard as she could. Up, up, up. She had to reach the surface.
    The trunk bumped into her side, into her shoulder, against her head. Pain shot through her. Dots of light burst before her eyes.
    Nora shot up to the surface. She sucked in a huge gulp of air.
    The gale lashed at her unmercifully. It flung the trunk away from her—but the rope held.
    Nora coughed and gagged. Her water-soaked clothes weighed her down.
    She pulled the trunk back to her and clung to it. Ithelped her stay afloat as the waves crashed around her.
    Nora heard the men scream as they were thrown into the sea. They struggled to keep their heads above the churning water.
    As Nora watched, the ship slowly sank beneath the water. Down, down, down.
    Then the wind stopped.
    The sea calmed.
    The screams stopped.
    What happened to the men? Nora thought. She searched the ocean around her for survivors.
    But the dark waters had become as still as a glass mirror.
    Nicholas’s trunk bobbed up and down. Nothing else stirred.
    Not one of the men lived.
    A deadly peace spread its cloak over them.
    Nora felt exhausted. Every muscle and bone in her body ached.
    I just want to sleep, she thought to herself. But I must not. I have to save Nicholas. I have to find the shore. I have to find safety.
    She slipped off the trunk and into the cold water. With great effort, she began swimming, pulling the trunk behind her.
    She tasted blood on her lips. Blood