Graveyard Shift Read Online Free PDF Page A

lot, these are the cards I’ve been dealt, this is as good as life’s ever gonna be .”
    â€œThat’s sad. I’d hate that.”
    â€œGood for you, then, because destiny tapped you on the shoulder today. Tapped you right on the shoulder and took you on a ride to see the sights.”
    â€œIs that what this is?”
    â€œIt’s only a start. There’s so much more.”
    â€œWhy me, though?”
    â€œBecause I’ve been in this line of work longer than I care to say, I’ve lost count of the people I’ve seen come and go, and I’ve never seen anyone so right for the task as you. That’s the crux of the report I’m filing with my superiors, anyway.”
    â€œWho are your superiors?” I had to ask.
    â€œThe Overseers,” he said quite seriously. “All you need to know for now is that our work is vitally important. Top secret. Highly classified. Not to toot my own trumpet, but without us the world would be in an even worse state than it is now. The whole thing would come crashing down. The natural order of things would change.”
    â€œWow. Sounds like a big responsibility.”
    â€œYes, it’s huge.”
    â€œI’d be scared to take on something like that.”
    â€œNothing wrong with being scared,” he said. “Nothing worthwhile’s ever achieved without fear. If I’m wrong about you, I’ll throw up my hands and say, ‘Sorry, my mistake.’ But come with me and you’ll have the answers to all your questions, even the ones you haven’t thought of yet. Questionsabout your father and what I was doing last week at Seaborough churchyard.”
    He closed his eyes for a moment. Dappled patterns of brightness and shade played through the oak’s branches above us, falling on the intricate chain of four-leaf clovers and making them appear to squirm between my fingers.
    â€œWell, duty calls,” Mr. October said. “We’ve come a long way together today, young man. We’ve got a lot further to go. I’ll check back with you next week about the trainee position. But now I’ve got work to do.”
    I stood to watch him walk away toward the lake, a tall raggedy man dressed head to toe in darkness. As he neared the water, a frantic scratching behind me drew my attention away. A red squirrel scrambled up the tree trunk, freezing in its tracks when it felt me watching, its bright button eyes staring straight into mine for perhaps a full minute. Then it skirted around the far side of the tree, out of sight.
    There were countless gray squirrels in the park, but I’d never seen a red before. I’d never seen a four-leaf clover for that matter, and here I was holding a string of them in my hand, standing on a green carpet of thousands.
    Magic, I thought. Something like magic. Everything’s alive!
    Folding the chain into my shirt pocket, I scanned the lake-side for Mr. October. There was no sign of him now, and the only movement near the water was that of an urban raven taking flight.
    The bird soared into the air and soon became a dark dot above the trees. The moon had sunk from the sky, and Istared into the hazy blue until I grew dizzy. Then I set off toward home.
    Â 
    The first true breeze of the day wafted down the roadway as I came up from the towpath. I hadn’t seen anything of the sunglasses thief on the way back. Whatever she’d done wrong, I hoped she was safely back on dry land by now. But what had Mr. October meant, she wasn’t what she seemed?
    On London Fields the barbecues were still going strong. The smoke made everything soft and distant. Near the fence along Lansdowne Drive, a black mass of ravens were fighting among themselves over a pile of bread someone had dumped in the park. As I got to the path that crossed the park from Lamb Lane, I saw Mum coming back from work, carrying a shopping bag and jumping aside to avoid a cyclist.
    â€œSummer in the