Bronze Pen (9781439156650) Read Online Free PDF Page B

slightest shiver of motion among the greenleaves. As if the birds were there, hiding in the ivy but not bothering to fly away.
    She was stepping closer, raising a hand to move a strand of vine, when suddenly she heard it. A series of strange noises were coming from inside the cave. Noises that didn’t contain actual words but, at the same time, managed to sound a lot like an argument. A mixture of squeaks and rasps and squawks that certainly seemed to be saying something accusatory and argumentative. She paused, her mind wavering between concern and curiosity. Curiosity won. Pushing aside the curtain of vine, Audrey went in.
    For a moment, just as before, her eyes were almost useless in the dim light, but her ears were working fine, and what they heard was a hushed moment of silence, followed by an avalanche of other sounds. An angry chorus of rasps and squeaks and squeals that for a moment seemed to come out of nowhere and everywhere. Once again Audrey began to see several pairs of round eyes in heart-shaped white faces, staring at her from a high ledge.
    And then a creaky voice was saying, “Well, well. So you have come back to see us. I’m so glad.”
    And there it was. Sitting, just as before, on the bundle of rugs and blankets was the caped and cloaked figure. Except that now Audrey could see a bit more clearly. Could see a pale oval that might be a face and a pair of round, unblinking black eyes.
    As the noise level in the cave continued to rise, thestrange creature’s face tipped upward and her voice became louder and more demanding. “All right, you rascals. All of you. Stop this nonsense. Be silent.” And suddenly it was.
    â€œThere! You see?” the creaky voice said. “There’s no reason for such a fuss. And you’re upsetting our guest.” And then to Audrey, “They know quite well they’re not allowed to engage in any deviltry in my presence, yet they feel compelled to complain about one another. But they will compose themselves now.”
    Audrey looked up to see the owls’ round faces stop bobbing and quivering, and then farther up where the blanket of bats had become still and silent.
    â€œSo, my dear,” the woman said, gesturing toward the pirate furniture. “Do sit and we can have our little chat.”
    CHAPTER 6
    N O.” AUDREY SHOOK HER HEAD. SHE hadn’t come to chat. “I only came because…” She paused. She couldn’t very well say that she’d come to be sure of what she’d seen, or thought she’d seen, before. “But I could sit for a minute,” she said instead. Pulling up one of the boxes, she sat down. “But I’m not going to—” She stopped. Or something stopped her.
    Taking a deep, shaky breath, she started again, but this time what she said was, “The doctor thinks my father is dying. He had a heart attack almost two years ago and now he has something called angina pectoris. It hurts him a lot, and the doctor wants him just to stay in bed all the time, but he gets up and sits in a chair sometimes. A wheelchair. But he can’t work anymore. He used to be the editor of the newspaper and he taught journalism at Greendale College, but now he just…sits there.”
    Almost without taking another breath, she went on.“We live in this house my grandparents built, and my grandmother lived with us until she died. She always won prizes at the fair for the stuff she grew in her garden. My grandmother loved flowers and birds, especially ducks.”
    â€œEspecially ducks?” The creaky voice had another ripple to it. Almost like a giggle.
    â€œYes, especially ducks,” Audrey said slowly, thinking it was odd she hadn’t thought of that strange coincidence before. “Well, one duck, anyway. A white duck who lived on the farm where my grandmother grew up. The duck was named Lily, and my grandma said it was as smart as most dogs, or even smarter, and whenever