Gem Stone Read Online Free PDF Page A

something. She sensed whatever she'd seen going on, had been important.
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    "Gem? Let's go back now. It's late. I've been in enough trouble lately." Worry crept into Misty's voice.
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    She was right again. "Fine. Let's go back the way we came."
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    They hadn't made it twenty feet toward the wall when they heard a loud crash that brought them to a dead halt. Misty snugged up close against Gem.
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    "What was that?" she asked.
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    " Sshh? I don't know," Gem whispered.
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    Crouched low they stared at each other. Only the whites of their eyes showed in the dark.
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    Without warning, a bright light flashed on, then its beam circled through the woods around them, shining light where there shouldn't have been any.
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    "Come on. Let's make a run for it." Gem stood up and at a dead run, bolted for the opening in the stone wall behind the center.
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    They were almost there, with Misty crashing behind Gem, when the searchlight swung toward them from the right.
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    Pouring power into her muscles, Gem ran faster. Realizing the light was going to catch them, she snagged Misty and pulled her to the ground.
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    " Shit. Shit. Shit," Gem whispered softly, turning to stare at Misty sprawled in wide-eyed panic while the light panned above their heads.
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    "What do we do now?" hissed Misty.
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    "We keep our heads down, wait a few seconds longer for the light to move off, then we run. It's not far. Let's bail through the wall into the backyard and run around to your bedroom. One, two three… Go!"
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    The one good thing about Misty was she understood and took orders well. Jumping to her feet, she sprinted the short distance, her legs pumping as hard as they could. Gem's longer legs easily caught up and passed her. At the wall, Gem dove through, grunting at the hard landing on rocks and gravel on the other side. She'd be covered in bruises tomorrow.
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    "Hurry up," she whispered to her friend. "Come on!"
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    After Misty clambered through, Gem quickly replaced two of the rocks in the wall. She needed it to look like nobody had gone through.
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    At her side, Misty gasped for breath and held her side. "Damn, that was close."
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    "I don't think we're out of trouble yet," Gem warned. They both hunkered down at the edge of the wall and watched the brilliant beam of light bounce toward them through the cracks and holes in the wall.
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    "Are they chasing us?" Misty's horrified voice had risen to a high-pitched squeak.
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    "Shhh!" Gem pulled Misty back down to the ground when she tried to stand for a better look.
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    "We didn't do anything wrong." Misty said it in a normal voice, as if she didn't understand what this was all about.
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    "Doesn't matter. Hush. " Gem's heart stopped at the crunch of footsteps coming toward them from beyond the fence. Her heart slammed against her chest.
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    Reflexively, Gem slapped a hand over Misty's mouth as Misty tried to speak again.
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    Neither moved. They stared at each other in frozen horror.
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    "I thought they went over here?" shouted a deep male voice. "Could they have jumped the wall?"
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    "Don't think so. There's no sign of them anywhere."
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    "Damn it."
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    Gem closed her eyes and shuddered with relief as the footsteps retreated, the voice fading slightly as it called out, "Let's check the woods on the left."
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    She waited another long minute. Then removed her hand from Misty's mouth. "Come on. Let's get back inside."
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    Moving quietly, they headed around to Misty's bedroom window. Giving Misty her knee as a step up, they both almost fell back in shock as Mark's shadowed face appeared in Misty's window. He grabbed Misty's arms and hauled her up.
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    "Get in here before you're seen," he hissed. Gem jumped up to where she could pull herself in and found Mark's strong arms reaching around her and dragging her inside…just ahead of the searchlight's cycling beam. The two stood locked in place behind the curtain as the