Spirit Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page B

Beth, you saw her die before she died.”
    I gasped. How did he know about my mother, about the dream I had that showed me exactly how she’d die the very next day? I hadn’t told anyone, not even my own father. “No, you can’t possibly know that.”
    “Beth, please.”
    I didn’t want to hear anymore. They were lies and trickery and somehow, Ty had found a way into my brain and he was manipulating me. Either that, or I was in denial. Truth was, I’d seen that plane crash in my dream, the night before Dad and I had dropped off Mom at the airport. She’d kissed us goodbye and told us she loved us. Her last words. Thinking back to that painful memory, my heart sank in my chest. I’d never forgiven myself for not telling Mom about my premonition, for not stopping her from getting on that flight. I hated myself now for thinking it was just the dream of a silly girl who was nervous about flying. I should’ve warned my mother.
    The forest roared again, echoing as leaves and branches fell behind us. When Ty whipped his head around to see how close the sound was, I took off as fast as I could toward the pile of dolls on the grass. Recalling Uncle Ernie’s words, I knew I had a window—the portal opened seven hours apart.
    As my watch struck 2:00 p.m. and the alarm sounded, I dove across the dolls and landed on the plush softness of my bed. I sat up, patting my body to make sure I was alive before scanning my room. Panting, I noticed my cell phone on the floor where I had dropped it.
    The first thought that flooded my mind was, Did that really just happen? At the same time, my phone rang.

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    I dove for my phone on the carpet. “Hello?” I said, out of breath.
    “Beth?” Logan sounded concerned. “Where’ve you been? I’ve been trying to call you all morning.”
    I let out a slow deep breath, still trying to calm my racing heart. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
    “Just don’t tell me your aunt and uncle saw me leaving this morning, because I thought you were in some kind of trouble. You left me a message about the windowsill, which made no sense whatsoever.”
    Ignoring his statement, I pressed on. “Logan, listen to this.”
    “What’s up?”
    “So, I went to the top of the mountain, right? But it wasn’t actually the mountain, and my aunt’s dolls were there and—”
    “Whoa, slow down, New York. I have no idea what you’re talking about. Can you meet me at Dana’s Diner in fifteen minutes?”
    “Yeah, okay, sure. I’ll see you there.”
    Tossing my cell phone on my bed, I hurried to my closet and put on an extra shirt, a sweater and a winter jacket with a scarf, hat and gloves. I grabbed my boots with the furry insides to complete my cold-proof outfit. Before taking off, I ran a brush through my messy hair and put on a light amount of makeup. I couldn’t wait to tell Logan about my encounter with Ty.
    After arguing my case as though I was in a courtroom, Aunt Vine gave me a ride to Dana’s Diner, scolding me the entire way that it was too cold for me to be traipsing around town. All I could think about was the plethora of questions I had for her about the house and Ty. I still couldn’t believe that my room was a portal to his world on Spirit Mountain. I replayed flashbacks of the scenes on the mountain in my head, but I knew I needed time to piece everything together and talk to Logan first, so I could line up my questions to my aunt.
    Arriving at Dana’s Diner, I gave Aunt Vine a polite wave goodbye when she dropped me off. “Thanks. I’ll get a ride home from Logan.”
    “All right. Tell him to be careful driving.”
    “I will.”
    As she did a cautious U-turn, and her truck inched down the icy road, I spun around and took a deep breath. With my tablet in hand, I opened the door to the diner and saw Logan sitting in a corner booth. He immediately smiled when he saw me and waved for me to come over. I maneuvered around the empty tables and loud customers