Fablehaven: The Complete Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

wooden puppet about nine inches high. It looked primitive, made entirely of dark wood, with no clothes or painted features. Just a basic human figure with tiny gold hooks serving as joints. The puppet had a stick in its back. The woman set a paddle on her lap. She began making the puppet dance by bobbing the stick and tapping the paddle. There was a musical regularity to the rhythm.
     
    “What is that thing?” Seth asked.
     
    “A limberjack,” she replied.
     
    “Where’s his ax?”
     
    “Not a lumberjack, a limberjack. A clog doll. A jigger. Dancing Dan. Shuffling Sam. I call him Mendigo. He keeps me company. Come inside and I’ll let you give it a try.”
     
    “I better not,” he said again. “I don’t see how you could live out here like this and not be crazy.”
     
    “Sometimes good people grow weary of society.” She sounded a little annoyed. “You happened upon me by accident? Out exploring?”
     
    “Actually, I’m selling candy bars for my soccer team. It’s a good cause.”
     
    She stared at him.
     
    “I have my best luck in the rich neighborhoods.”
     
    She kept staring.
     
    “That was a joke. I’m kidding.”
     
    Her voice became stern. “You are an impudent young man.”
     
    “And you live with a tree stump.”
     
    She gave him a measuring glare. “Very well, my arrogant young adventurer. Why not test your courage? Every explorer deserves a chance to prove his mettle.” The old woman withdrew into the shack and crouched behind the stump again. She returned to the doorway holding a crude, narrow box made of splintered wood, wire, and long, jutting nails.
     
    “What’s that?”
     
    “Place your hand inside the box to prove your valor and earn a reward.”
     
    “I’d rather play with the creepy puppet.”
     
    “Just reach inside and touch the back of the box.” She shook it, and it rattled a bit. The box was long enough that he would have to reach in to his elbow in order to touch the back.
     
    “Are you a witch?”
     
    “A man with a brave tongue should support his words with courageous actions.”
     
    “This seems like something a witch would do.”
     
    “Stand by your loose words, young man, or you may not have a pleasant journey home.”
     
    Seth backed away, watching her closely. “I better get going. Have fun eating your rope.”
     
    She clucked her tongue. “Such insolence.” Her voice remained soothing and calm, but now held a menacing undertone. “Why not step inside and have some tea?”
     
    “Next time.” Seth moved around the shack, not taking his eyes from the ragged woman in the doorway. She made no move to pursue him. Before he moved out of her sight, the woman raised an arthritic hand with the middle fingers crossed and the others bent awkwardly. Eyes half-shut, she appeared to be murmuring something. Then she was out of view.
     
    On the far side of the shack, Seth plunged through the tangled undergrowth back to the path, glancing over his shoulder all the way. The woman was not chasing him. Just looking back at the ivy-covered shack made him shiver. The old hag looked so wretched and smelled so foul. There was no way he was sticking his hand in her weird box. After she had offered the challenge, all he could think about was learning in school how shark teeth angled inward so fish could swim in but not out. He imagined the homemade box was probably full of nails or broken glass set at cruel angles for a similar purpose.
     
    Even though the woman was not following him, Seth felt unsafe. Compass in hand, he hurried along the path toward home. Without warning, something struck him on the ear, barely hard enough to sting. A pebble the size of a thimble dropped to the path at his feet.
     
    Seth whirled. Somebody had thrown the little stone at him, but he saw nobody. Could the old woman be stealthily following him? She probably knew the woods really well.
     
    Another small object bounced off the back of his neck. It was not as hard or