Buried Alive! Read Online Free PDF Page A

mind at all looking
up
but I knew exactly what it would feel like looking
down
. I went a bit wobbly just thinking about it.
    â€˜It’s – perfectly – safe,’ said Biscuits, his voice stronger now. He pulled a face at mymum’s back. I hesitated. Then I pulled one too. We both giggled.
    â€˜She doesn’t half flap, your mum,’ Biscuits whispered.
    â€˜Yes, I know. Flap, flap, flap,’ I said.
    It felt such
fun
to whisper about my mum – but my heart had started to thump.
    Biscuits raised his big arms and flapped them. I flapped mine too.
    Mum turned round, hanging on to Dad.
    â€˜What are you two up to?’ she called, looking at our rotating arms.
    â€˜We’re just pretending to fly, Mum, that’s all,’ I said quickly.
    â€˜Come on, let’s peer over,’ said Biscuits.
    â€˜I don’t want to,’ I said.
    â€˜Look,
I
didn’t want to clamber up all those millions and millions of steps so that I practically had a heart attack. But I did. Because you wanted to climb the castle. It’s stupid to get right up here and then not even look out. Come on. I want to. So it’s only fair that you come too.’
    I didn’t want to let him down. I knew he was still miffed at my mum. I didn’t want him to be miffed at me too. So I took his great plump paw and let him drag me towards the edge of the parapet. It came up to my chin but when I glimpsed the ground far below, thecrumbling bricks seemed only ankle height. One small step and I’d be walking into thin air, tumbling down down down to the distant grey slabs below.
    I gave a little gasp and shut my eyes tight.
    â€˜Wow!’ said Biscuits. ‘You can see for Mega-Miles, even in the rain. OK, so there’s the sea. Which little bay is Llanpistyll? And what about Abercoch? Is it that way – or that?’
    â€˜I’m not sure,’ I mumbled, pretending to be peering. I had my hands up near my closed eyes so Biscuits wouldn’t suss anything.
    â€˜And can you see that
other
castle? It’s huge! It’s got
two
towers! And a proper drawbridge and a real moat!’ said Biscuits.
    â€˜Where?’ I said, opening my eyes. I held on to the edge of the parapet so hard my knuckles nearly sprang straight out of my skin. ‘I can’t see any castle!’
    â€˜Funny! Neither can I, now,’ said Biscuits, grinning. ‘Must have been a mirage. Still – got you looking, didn’t it?’
    I stuck my tongue out at him. It wasn’t quite so scary now that I was getting used to looking. I liked seeing all the wiggly wavy edges of the coast, just like the maps you do at school. It was weird having an eagle-eye view of the world. I stared at the mustard and cress forests, the saucer-size lake, the pencilspire of the tiny toy church, the little matchbox caravan sites until my eyes watered.
    I started to enjoy looking across.
    I still wasn’t so keen on looking directly
down
. But old Biscuits was leaning right
over
.
    â€˜Careful, Biscuits!’ I said, grabbing him.
    â€˜I’m OK. Don’t you start flapping now. Here, what’s that jutting out bit with the hole? Is that where they poured boiling oil on the invading army?’
    I bent my head, my blood pounding. I saw what Biscuits was looking at and laughed wildly.
    â€˜No, but it would work almost as well! That’s their toilet! They’d do it and it would splash right down so if you were walking about underneath it could land right on your head.’
    â€˜
Yuck!
’
    We started miming the whole process.
    â€˜What on earth are you two boys up to now?’ Mum called. ‘Why are you rubbing your hair like that, Tim?’
    â€˜Oh, I’m just getting a bit wet, that’s all,’ I said.
    â€˜Well, let’s go back down and get in the car,’ said Mum. ‘I wonder if there are any toilets nearby? Tim? Biscuits? What are you two boys laughing at