Curse of the Spider King Read Online Free PDF Page B

Tommy flipped through the pages until he arrived at page 277.
    Cool! The text was in the same calligraphy as the table of contents. It almost looked handwritten. Tommy touched the ornate first letter . . . and something went terribly wrong.
    The lights dimmed. The temperature dropped twenty degrees. And the door blew shut, sending the curtains fluttering. Something on the page poked Tommy’s finger. With a yelp, Tommy jerked back his hand and let the book fall open to the floor. He watched as a dark twig emerged from the book. No, it wasn’t a twig. It was the beginnings of a large tree, rising now as if the pages were a bed of soil, and centuries of growth were happening right before Tommy’s eyes. Red light began to shine out, surging around the trunk of the still-growing tree as if a setting sun hid somewhere in the pages. Tommy’s room filled with the smell of leaves and grass wet with dew.
    Tommy shrank back to his headboard as the tree continued its ascension. Its narrow trunk thickened, and broad boughs strewn with foliage rose up and penetrated the ceiling of Tommy’s bedroom. But rather than cracking the painted drywall and bursting beams of lumber, the tree pushed up the ceiling as if it were a huge tent canvas. Soon there was nothing but night sky, stars, and a red glow to the east.
    More trees spread upward, followed by great grassy hills, and then . . . magnificent castle towers! From the towers, small flag-adorned turrets rose that soon grew beyond the confines of the room. Trees dotted the landscape from near to over the far hills. The castle towers were part of a magnificent fortress that sprawled to the edge of a massive, distant forest. Tommy could see no more of his room. His bed was gone, and now he sat on lush grass with his back against the trunk of a dark tree. But there were other things waiting to escape the pages.
    At first Tommy thought he was watching yet another tree branch emerge from the book, but it was not. A black limb with barbs and a claw came up, grasping until more of its segments became visible. Tommy rolled onto his side and ducked behind the tree just as the first giant spider broke free from the pages. There were more to come. Many more. And on their backs rode creatures Tommy had never seen before: brutish, gray-skinned beasts wearing armor on their barrel chests, thick shoulders, and short, stocky legs. These creatures were armed with all manner of weapons and held the reins of their arachnid steeds in huge, meaty fists.
    Tommy had seen enough. Remembering Mrs. Galdarro’s warning, he dove for the book, slamming it shut.
    Whoosh!
    It was gone. Once more, Tommy was sitting alone on his bed. He was breathing heavily. Curious, he crept out of his room to the foot of the stair. “Mom, Dad? Did you hear anything strange just now?”
    â€œStrange?” Mr. Bowman asked. “An ambulance went by.”
    â€œNo,” Tommy said. “Stranger than that?”
    â€œNot a thing, Tommy,” his mother said. “Are you all right? You sound upset.”
    â€œI’m fine,” Tommy replied. Then more to himself, “I think.” Scratching his head, he wandered back into his room and stared at the book. He hadn’t imagined it all. No way. But there was only one way to find out for sure.
    Tommy opened the book, turned to page 277, and once more put his finger to the text. Again, the entire environment in his room changed as a living world surged up from the pages of the book. Faster and faster—forests, hills, stone walls, and creatures—gushed up like an eruption. Three giant spiders, each one as big as a truck, burst above ground and came right at the hill where Tommy stood. This time Tommy couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. Their burly riders driving them hard, the massive, black eight-legged beasts came upon Tommy. His field of vision filled with hairy mandibles, pincerlike jaws, and eyes—so many blank, staring