Jack Gregson & the Forgotten Portal Read Online Free PDF

closed
her eyes and took some deep breathes. Suddenly her eyes snapped
open again, a quizzical look coming over her face. “It seems you
don’t know much of what you should Jack Gregson. Where then did you
learn of the Attic?”
    “From ‘The Gregson Estate’ book, Ms
Curator.” Jack replied, using her title in hope it would calm her
down. He walked over to Rosie as she was pulling it from her bag.
“We found it in the library and it has a full chapter on every room
of the house, including the attic, and clues on how we could get
here.” He took it from Rosie and handed it over to her.
    “It told us you like lilies and ponds.”
David added.
    “I’ve never heard of such a book,” the
Curator replied as she began flipping the pages.
    “Curator you say I should know things, but
from where? Who was supposed to teach me of the Wardens and the
Attic?” Jack asked
    “Every owner of the Estate must hand down
their knowledge to the heir of the property. Once your father…left,
you became heir.” She closed the book and handed it back to Jack.
“Your grandmother knows this and should have started your teachings
from a much earlier age.”
    “Grandma? But Great Uncle Peter is the one
who knows more than anyone about the house.” David asked
confused.
    “Ha! That old man has been trying to sniff
out the secrets of this house for years. Oh he knows more than the
rest of the family, but what he knows only scratches the surface.
Getting you kids to use dynamite on the door in the Western
Gardens. Madness! No your Grandmother is the eldest child of her
generation and she should have passed on her knowledge to
Jack.”
    “If it’s all such a secret then why are you
telling us this?” Rosie asked. “Shouldn’t you just be telling
Jack?”
    “Because of that!” the Curator replied as
she pointed at the dark statue on the model. “A black soldier now
stands in place of the Warden in the rear garden. If the blue
emerald has been stolen that means some bad people will be trying
to overtake the manor. If they do and they are successful there
will be no more secrets to keep. You must go down to the Rear
Gardens and see what has become of the blue emerald.”
    “What does the emerald do?” David asked
    “We don’t have time for a history lesson
right now, boy. There will be time for that later, but suffice it
to say if the emerald is gone we’re in serious trouble. You need to
get down there now!”
    Jack looked back to the model and shivered.
The mist had nearly covered the entire garden, clinging to the base
of the statues, trees and gravestones. As he moved around the
table, the eyes of the black statue seemed to follow him. And she
wanted them to go down there? Suddenly he had a thought and raced
off towards the rear of the attic.
    “Where are you going?” David yelled after
him.
    Jack didn’t respond but continued his way to
the glass wall at the end of the room. He looked down at the actual
rear garden and saw that the black statue was there too. Seeing it
life size and in one of the gardens he had grown up in sent a chill
down his spine. He gripped the ring on his finger, held his breath
and pulled it off. Suddenly the black statue and mist were gone.
Not only that, but the twisted trees had returned to their upright
state. The foliage seconds ago dead now drifted slowly in the mild
winters breeze.
    “It’s gone!” Jack said calling back to the
others.
    Rosie and David caught up to Jack and looked
down on the garden in disgust and fear, “It’s an illusion. Take off
your rings, and it’ll all go away.” Jack urged. They both took them
off and they too saw the garden return to normal. “Maybe it’s the
rings, causing us to see things,” Jack said hopefully, not truly
believing it himself. He put his ring back on and turned to the
curator who was slowly approaching where they stood. “What do these
rings do? How come we can only see you when we wear them? Why does
the backyard look normal without