Polaris Read Online Free PDF

in school?”
    “Um, no. I don’t remember anything about necklace-wearing birds,” Parker whispered. “Let’s go in through the back door.”
    They eased around to the side of the house, and the falcons turned their heads to follow them. As soon as the boys neared the rear of the house, they darted the rest of the way and through the back door.
    The house was eerily quiet as they entered.
    “Mom? Dad?” Parker called out as he darted around the house. “No one’s here.”
    Aaron sighed. “Maybe she took my mom to the doctor.” He picked up their house phone and slammed it down on the countertop after hearing silence.
    Parker grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. “Let’s see if anyone else has seen that thing.”
    The TV screen came on with a strange hieroglyphic symbol flashing across the screen, and a low screeching sound filled the living room. An image began to form on the screen as the boys moved closer.
    An image of Nakal appeared on the screen, causing the boys to jump. The image was so real that Nakal’s eyes seemed to shift and follow the boys’ movements.
    “What’s going on?” Aaron’s voice cracked. His eyes shifted back and forth between the TV and the door. Part of him wanted to flee, while the other part was curious as to how Nakal got on TV. Aaron eased closer to the screen. Nakal’s gaze rose up to meet his.
    “Aaron,” Nakal began, “why did you run? There are no time-outs in this game. You gotta follow the rules.”
    Aaron’s breath seemed to catch deep inside his chest, and his heart pulsated in his ears. He pressed his lips together, then swished his tongue around his dry mouth as he attempted to force words to come out.
    Aaron screamed at the TV before running out of the house with Parker right on his heels.
    “Wait,” yelled Parker. “Let’s take the truck and go into town to get some help.”
    “You don’t know how to drive.”
    Parker ran over to the garage and disappeared inside the door, leaving Aaron alone with the falcons intently staring. Moments later the garage door lifted, and Parker, behind the steering wheel of his father’s dilapidated nineteen fifty-five Chevy truck, pulled up beside Aaron.
    Aaron looked around at the falcons once again before reluctantly climbing inside the truck. After securely fastening his seat belt, he closed his eyes.
    “I repeat. You don’t know how to drive.”
    Parker fastened his seat belt and revved up the engine. “Sure I do. It’s just like driving a tractor. Let’s go.” He pulled the truck out of park, lifted his foot off the brake, and then pressed the gas. The engine revved up again, but the truck only rocked forward and back.
    Aaron leaned over and looked at the dash. “Uh, Mr. It’s-just-like-driving-a-tractor, I think you have it in neutral.”
    “Oh, yeah.” Parker replied with a nervous chuckle. Placing his foot on the brake again, he shifted to drive, eased his foot off the brake, and sighed with relief when the truck slowly moved forward.
    “I wonder if they’ll follow us.” Aaron eyed the falcons. “There is definitely some what the heck stuff going on in Bixie.”

Chapter 4

     
     
    Aaron sat without talking as Parker maneuvered the truck down the street and onto the main road into town. The tail of the truck swerved from the left as he rapidly turned the wheel in the opposite direction. It then swerved to the right. He turned the wheel as quickly as he could the other way. The lines in the road were covered in snow. Going a slow easy pace, Parker tried his best to keep the truck in the center of the road. Aaron strained his eyes to see through the foggy windows caused by a faulty window defogger and bad window wipers that screeched with every pass.
    He gripped the armrest tighter and realized that if he pressed any harder on the imaginary brakes beneath his feet, he would push through the floorboards.
    “I thought you said you could drive this thing,” Aaron said as he reached over and tried to