Inside the Worm Read Online Free PDF Page B

What d’you say?’
    â€˜I say yes!’ cried Lisa, eyes shining.
    â€˜OK,’ said Trot, ‘only don’t step on the tail or it’ll rip off and all my brill tacking will go to waste.’ He turned to Fliss. ‘Will you do the tapes?’
    Fliss shrugged. ‘Sure, but don’t be too long, OK? I was supposed to be home for half-nine.’
    The four stood in line and lowered the frame over their heads while Fliss held the skin to stop it sliding off the hoops. Yells and laughs came from inside the worm as Fliss knelt, pulling down on the tapes and tying them. ‘Hey, it’s dark in here!’ complained Ellie-May. ‘I can’t see where I’m going.’
    I can see for all of us,’ said Gary from the front. ‘Put your hands on Trot’s shoulders, Ellie-May, and go where he goes. Trot puts his on Lisa’s and Lisa has hers on mine. Easy-peasy.’
    It wasn’t easy. Not at first, within the confines of the Trotter family’s garage. Peering through the eye-holes on the worm’s neck, Gary went off at a slow walk, twisting and turning to avoid walls, worktops and obstructions on the floor. The others followed as best they could, with frequent exclamations and much giggling. Fliss leaned against the workbench and watched. She wished they’d stop now so she could undo the tapes and go home, but they didn’t.
    At twenty to ten, Gary broke into a slow trot and the others followed suit. The worm danced sinuously through the darkening garage, its greathead swaying and bobbing. Now and then its reflector eyes would catch light from somewhere and flash red. Fliss was amazed at the dexterity of her friends; their co-ordination. The way their dancing feet avoided the great train of fabric they trailed, which slid, hissing, across the dusty concrete. The ease with which they seemed to have mastered the technique. Their shouts of laughter grew louder as Gary increased his speed, but there were no disasters – nobody stumbled. Fliss watched as though mesmerized, and when she remembered to look at her watch it was ten to ten.
    â€˜Hey!’ Their exultant laughter drowned her voice. ‘Hey, you guys. It’s almost ten. I’ve got to go.’
    Nobody heard. Gary shifted up another gear and they came whooping in his wake, precisely, like a well-drilled squad. Fliss moved over to the wall switch and snapped on the lights. At once and in unison the dancers broke into a rhythmic chant of ‘Off, off, off!’
    Fliss shook her head. ‘No – it’s ten o’clock.’
    â€˜You what?’ cried Gary, and the others took it up: ‘You what, you what, you what?’
    â€˜I have to go.’ She was close to tears.
    â€˜Go, go, go!’
    â€˜Lisa?’ Surely her best friend would respond – break step so that the dance could end in red-faced, panting laughter?
    â€˜Lisa?’ they mimicked, and her voice was amongthem. ‘Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa—’ The worm was coming at her now, eyes burning, jaws agape.
    She turned and fled.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    â€˜CERIDWEN, CERIDWEN.’ MOCKERY in their eyes, their voices.
    â€˜The worm. Terrific skin.’
    â€˜Triffic, triffic, triffic.’
    â€˜Tied with tapes.’
    â€˜Tape-worm, then. Heeee!’
    â€˜People inside, see?’
    â€˜Room for another though.’
    â€˜Room for one inside.’
    â€˜You, Ceridwen. Room for you.’
    â€˜I’m not Ceridwen!’ she screamed. ‘I’m Fliss.’
    â€˜Fliss!’ they cried. ‘Flass, Fluss, Floss.’ Pressing in, crowding her so that she was forced to move out to where the worm danced. There it was. Its red, madeyes and pinky, fang-crammed maw. It saw her and came slithering on a zig-zag path towards her. She tried to throw herself back, but they caught her and flung her forward again. The worm was close now. So close she could smell the putrid stench of