Hide and Seek Read Online Free PDF

overturned sleigh, then leaned the Santa Claus doll up against it. He could watch over her while she slept and make sure no spiders or mice climbed on her while her eyes were closed.
    As soon as she lay down, she felt sleep begin to creep into her. Her body was taking over; it wanted to nap, and it wanted to nap right now. In that last hazy place between wakefulness and sleep, Agatha caught a glimpse of the Santa doll. As her own eyes closed, a porcelain lid slid down over his blue eye, leaving only his clouded green one to watch her sleep.

“Agatha?”
    She heard someone calling her name and felt cool hands on her face. Someone shook her shoulders, softly at first, then with more force.
    “Agatha!”
    She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her body ached; she could feel something hard beneath her. The plank in the attic , she remembered. I fell asleep on it .
    “Agatha, sweetie, are you alright?”
    The last blurry edges of sleep fell away from Agatha’s eyes, and she saw her mother kneeling on the attic floor beside her. Her mother’s forehead was creased with worry, but her eyes softened in relief when Agatha blinked and smiled at her.
    “Hi, Mom,” Agatha said. “What are you doing up here?”
    “What am I doing up here? What are you doing in the attic?” Her mother turned her head and called down the trapdoor. “Frank, she’s okay!”
    “I decorated. For Christmas.” Agatha waved a hand, indicating the strings of Christmas lights that twinkled around them and the scene of Santa and his reindeer on the floor.
    “Yes, I can see that.” Agatha’s mother gathered her into tight hug. “Do you have any idea how much you scared me? We came up here to get the presents, and I saw you on the floor… I thought you’d asphyxiated or something. Frank ran downstairs to call 911.”
    Agatha’s stepfather poked his head through the trapdoor. “Agatha! Thank goodness you’re alright. How did you get up here?”
    “Summer and Rain tricked me into it. They locked me inside.”
    Her mother and stepfather exchanged concerned glances. Her mother pressed her wrist against Agatha’s forehead, but Agatha shook it away.
    “Mom, I’m fine. I just fell asleep, that’s all.”
    “You’re sure? You feel a little warm, and you’re not—”
    “That’s just because it’s so hot up here,” Agatha interrupted, peeling off the Christmas tree sweater. “It’s like a sonar.”
    Her mother’s mouth twitched upward in a smile. “A sauna, sweetie.”
    “Whatever.” Agatha stood and brushed off her jeans. “Let’s go downstairs. I’m starving.”
    Her stepfather helped her back down the ladder, and her mother followed behind. Agatha took a few steps down the hallway and stopped to stretch her arms above her head. She made a mental note to never fall asleep on a plain wooden floor again—it made her feel worse than when Summer and Rain got matching Indiana Jones costumes for Halloween, complete with whips.
    Her mother took her by the hand. “Come on, I’ll make you a grilled cheese.”
    As they went downstairs, her stepfather disappeared back up the ladder to collect the Christmas presents. Agatha felt like she’d missed an incredible opportunity. If she’d been able to find the boxes where the presents were hidden, she could have stomped on the twins’ gifts and snuck a peek at her own. They’d probably been in one of the tall pyramids of boxes that she hadn’t dared to climb. Now she’d have to wait until the morning, and nothing would stop the twins from getting everything they wanted.
    When they reached the kitchen, Agatha saw that the table was covered by her mother’s collection of miniature artificial pine trees, and red cinnamon-scented candles lined the counter.
    “Our decorations are out!” she said, plunking down into a hard wooden chair.
    “Of course they are.” Her mother pulled out a can of tomato soup and emptied it into a saucepan. “It would hardly be Christmas without them.”
    Agatha sat in