Day of the Shadow Read Online Free PDF

light for him to see the advancing decay. A broken shutter banged back and forth on an upper story. Wind whistled through most of the windows where the glass had been shattered, possibly during some violent pirate battle. In fact, if Jack remembered correctly, at least two of those had been broken courtesy of Teague’s own pistol.
    Chevalle’s family had once been terribly wealthy French aristocrats. No one was quite sure whether Chevalle had turned to piracy because they lost all their money…or whether they’d lost their money after the monarchy punished them for Chevalle’s piracy.
    Either way, Chevalle did not seem troubled by his poverty. He often referred to himself flippantly as “the penniless Frenchman.” The loot he acquired on his piratical excursions was always invested back into his ship instead of his ancestral home. Jack sometimes wondered if Chevalle was expecting the government to take his mansion at any moment, and if that was why he spent no money on it.
    Jack hooked his fingers in the iron gate and started climbing nimbly up the scrollwork. His sword nearly got caught in the decorative black iron skull and crossbones that glared out through the bars, but he disentangled it swiftly, swung himself over the sharp spikes at the top, and jumped lightly down to the ground.
    “Very subtle,” Jack muttered at the skull and crossbones, rolling his eyes.
    Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …
    Jack froze. What was that? A growl in the darkness…his eyes darted around the wild garden that stood between him and the mansion’s front door. Weeds and dandelions and ivy choked the grass that had once been smooth and manicured. The hedges had once been trimmed into fanciful shapes—unicorns and devils and sailing ships—but now they were overgrown tangles of brambles and thorns. Was something hiding behind one of them?
    Was it one of the shadow creatures? Or something worse…something more tangible, with big, unfriendly teeth?
    Jack took a long, cautious step sideways toward the house. Nothing happened. He took another. He tried to look harmless and not in the least noteworthy. “Not going to the mansion,” he said. “No sir, not I. Just happen to be passing through these lovely…er, charming…er, picturesque gardens. Yes indeed…”
    RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR .
    Jack swallowed hard and turned around slowly.
    And then he started to laugh.
    Poised in the semidarkness below one of the hedges was the fluffiest, whitest, tiniest, silliest-looking dog that Jack had ever seen. It was no taller than his knee, and its fur was coiffed into ridiculous puffballs around its head, paws, and rear end. It blinked tiny black eyes at him and growled again.
    “Oh, pardonnez moi, mademoiselle ,” Jack teased, sweeping his hat off his head. “I am so sorry for intruding on your elegant soiree. I had no idea it was a who’s-got-the-most-absurdhaircut party, or I would have brought my first mate, Barbossa.”
    Laughing at his own excellent joke, Jack clapped his hat back on his head and turned to saunter on.
    Suddenly the little dog lunged forward and sank its teeth into Jack’s boot.
    “OOOOOWWWWW!” Jack howled, equal parts outrage and pain. He jumped and shook his foot until the little dog let go and bounced back a step. “Look what you did!” Jack yelled. “Teeth marks! In my boot! How dare you!”
    RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! RUFF! The dog let out a volley of angry barks and then lunged at Jack again. But this time he was prepared.
    This time, he ran.
    He sprinted through the gardens, his arms flailing and his legs pumping madly. The dog nipped at his heels all the way to the front door. Jack didn’t even have time to slam the door in its face. He kept running right into the house and straight down one of the long marble halls. As he reached the end of the hall, he glanced back and saw the dog’s delicate furry paws skidding on the slippery marble. He was just far enough ahead to leap through the nearest door, slam it behind