Spiders on the Case Read Online Free PDF

Bell exclaimed.
    Together they began to walk slowly around the image of the man who lay sprawled in the streets. They had rescued him from a second death. They had saved the memory of Crispus Attucks, the evidence that he died a true patriot for the cause of freedom.

I t was well after midnight when Edith, her children, and Buster returned to the display case. The night raid on the Adams collection had been their most successful yet.
    â€œI’m in a webbish mood!” Edith declared. “Yes, it’s time for a new web. We need one to store all the silverfish we’ve hauled back. Anyone want to help?”
    â€œYour mother certainly is energetic!” Buster whispered.
    â€œI know, and just hours ago she was complaining about old age. But she likes to show off our catch to Tom. That’s why she picked this display case. Hardly anyone ever comes by it. And since we’ve been here, Tom has put it on the No Dust list. He sometimes tidies it up, but he’s always sure not to wipe out our webs.”
    By now, Edith was skibbling around the case. “I think we’ll have the main socializing web in this corner. But next to it, I’ll weave a storage web for the silverfish. We can just dip in as the mood strikes us.” She paused. “You have to admit that despite how loathsome these pests are, they are rather pretty — they seem to glint in the light. Why … why …” Edith’s voice filled with excitement. “It’s almost like Christmas!”
    â€œChristmas in July!” came a voice from the floor.
    â€œFatty!” the Deadlies exclaimed in unison.
    â€œFatty, darling Fatty! What brings you here?” Edith asked.
    â€œI could not take another second of that infernal flamenco,” said the big cat with a delicate shudder. “The constant thumping! Dancing, they call it! I call it clodhopping. Have you ever heard of a cat with a head ache?”

    â€œNo, dear, I haven’t,” Edith said.
    â€œWell, I have one! So I thought I’d take a break and come here for a few days. And it seems it is also Christmas? What was that you were saying, Edith?”
    â€œOh, just a funny little memory of mine.”
    â€œWebtime story! Mom, a webtime story, please!” Julep jumped up and down on all eight legs. “Please! Please! Puleeze!”
    â€œWell, for silk’s sake, let me finish this web first!”
    â€œCan we hear the one about the Place Where Time Has Stopped?”
    â€œOh, Julep, you always ask for that one,” Jo Bell groaned.
    â€œBut we all love the story, Jo Bell. You know we do.”
    It was true. Despite Jo Bell’s groaning, it was their favorite. Jo Bell’s only hesitation was that, although the story never wore thin, the dream of finding a wonderful place where spiders could live with no fear of E-Men seemed as far away as ever. The Boston Public Library was the closest the family had ever come to the Place Where Time Has Stopped, where they believed humans and spiders lived together with no fear. The Smoots were the only dark cloud in this splendid library, and Edith still didn’t know about them.
    Buster had never heard any webtime stories. He was intrigued by the idea of a Place Where Time Has Stopped.
    But now Felix was echoing Jo Bell. “A new story, Mom!”
    â€œAll right! All right! Just let me finish here,” Edith said.
    A few minutes later, the dim golden dusk of the display case was spangled by the silverfish that Edith and her children had woven into the storage web.
    â€œIt reminds me of one Christmas in particular,” Edith marveled. “It’s like tinsel on a Christmas tree!”
    â€œWhich Christmas, Mom?” Julep said. “Come on, tell us.”
    â€œOh, it was so long ago. I hardly remember all the details. I think I was even younger than you, Julep.”
    Julep peered at her mother. It was unimaginable that her mother had ever been that