The Castle Read Online Free PDF

lips.
    â€˜You’re going to be late, young lady.’
    I swallowed. ‘Granny, can you look out of the window?’ She did. ‘Is there a dark car parked opposite? With someone inside?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜I think . . . someone might be watching me.’
    She came and sat next to me. Her face looked tired and wrinkled.
    â€˜Oh, Peta.’
    â€˜This car stopped me yesterday on the way home from school. Then someone called me . . .’
    â€˜Really, dear. What would your mother say?’
    â€˜I’m not paranoid, Granny. It’s—’
    â€˜Is it someone at school? Are you being bullied? Is that why you don’t want to go? Or are you missing Isabelle? Let her enjoy the honeymoon. She deserves her special time, you know.’
    â€˜No! It’s not that!’
    Granny closed her eyes and did her patiently listening to rubbish face, which Mum had inherited so exactly.
    â€˜Tell me again.’
    â€˜That phone call in church was a warning. I got another one last night. I think it was from Dad. I—’
    â€˜Peta! Stop! Listen to yourself! The man is scattered in St Thomas’s graveyard. I watched your mother do it and . . . I know he was a difficult man, but it broke my heart.’
    Dad, difficult? But I didn’t have time to argue. Someone was trying to kidnap me. How to convince her? I thought madly. I couldn’t go outside with the Wicked Queen waiting for me.
    â€˜I don’t feel well,’ I moaned, with a bit of a pathetic cough.
    â€˜Oh, for goodness’ sake! Stop play-acting and give your poor mother some peace!’
    â€˜I mean it! I hardly slept last night.’ I hardly needed to act – I felt terrible.
    Granny peered at my face and her expression softened a little.
    â€˜Well, you do look a bit . . . Those purple circles under your eyes . . . Promise me you’ll stop playing those silly games till all hours.’
    She meant Jelly Flop. It was the new craze at school and I was on Level 73. Yeah, I looked like this because I’d been squashing virtual jelly beans on my phone all night. Obviously.
    â€˜I’ll give you one day,’ she decided. ‘One day only. No games, and lots of sleep. Promise me?’
    â€˜I promise. Thanks, Granny.’
    One day. It was a start. As soon as she left me to get on with her chores, I sneaked downstairs and found Luke alone in his room, playing on his computer. I told him everything, including Granny’s reaction.
    â€˜So? Why don’t you just call that boy again?’ he suggested. ‘Get him to talk to her.’
    â€˜Because he sounded really frightened when he told me not to. I just . . . he’s the only one who seems to know what’s going on. I think I should do what he says.’
    Plus Granny probably wouldn’t believe him anyway. I mean, who would?
    â€˜OK,’ Luke agreed reluctantly. ‘And he’s going to contact you later? By Interface?’
    â€˜That’s what he said.’
    â€˜What are you going to do now?’
    â€˜Sleep.’ Granny was right that I needed some. Luke had planned to get on with homework anyway, so I left him to it.
    Back in my room, I checked out of my window again. No estate car now. But that didn’t mean they weren’t watching me somehow.
    It was strange to be ‘hiding’ in one of the most famous landmarks in town. However, I felt safe enough here, with staff in all the corridors and Grandad working on admin tasksjust outside my door. He looked like a friendly old hotel manager, which is what he was now, but he’d also spent thirty years in the army before he bought the Smugglers’ Inn. He could do things with his Parker pen that would make your eyes pop. Literally. And I didn’t fancy anybody’s chances against him if he got hold of the heavy brass model of a smugglers’ lamp that he used as a