The Curse of Deadman's Forest Read Online Free PDF Page A

window. “Ian,” he gasped. “What’s
that?”
    “I can’t tell,” Ian murmured. “That’s why I need the field glasses.”
    Carl hurried to the fort and rooted around under theblankets and planks of wood. Ian knew the moment Carl found the field glasses, because the shadow on the dial disappeared. “Here you are,” Carl said, giving them to Ian in exchange for the dial.
    Ian focused the field glasses, searching the water for the dark shape. A moment later he had it within his sight and sucked in a breath, nearly dropping the field glasses in shock. “It’s a cyclone!”
    “Let me see!” Carl said, and Ian gave him the binoculars. “I don’t believe it!” Carl said as he caught sight of the funnel cloud moving at an alarming rate across the sea. “I’ve heard of waterspouts before but I’ve never actually seen one!”
    Ian wasn’t really listening to his friend, because at that moment he realized that the funnel cloud was quickly traversing the English Channel, and its course—although slightly sporadic—put Dover right in its path.
    “Carl,” Ian said, a sudden panic making his hands shake, “give me the sundial again, would you?”
    Carl lowered the lenses and handed over the dial.
    “Here,” he said.
    Ian wasn’t sure if the question he had in mind would work, but he had to try. “Where will the cyclone strike?”
    A thick shadow appeared across the face of the dial, pointing directly in front of them and marking the place that the relic had earlier identified as Theo’s location.
“Theo!”
Ian shouted, and whirled around in panic, then dashed toward the stairs.
    “It’s heading straight for the shore!” Carl gasped from behind him. “We’ve got to warn her and Jaaved!”
    Ian reached the landing and launched himself down the stone staircase several steps at a time, mindless of his own safety. There was terror in his heart as he imagined Theo and Jaaved caught within the cyclone’s funnel and whirled out to sea.
    He reached the door in full panic and pulled the handle, but the door refused to open. It was stuck fast. Ian hit the door with his fist in frustration. “Not again!” he shouted. “You hateful spook! Let me out!”
    It was well known by all the children at the keep that the east tower was haunted by a rather unruly ghost who enjoyed trapping wayward children who ventured up to this tower by locking the door from the outside. The ghost didn’t typically bother Ian and Carl, but at that moment, the cantankerous spirit’s prank was the last thing they needed.
    Carl was beside Ian in a moment. “Don’t tell me it won’t open!”
    “It’s that stupid ghost!” Ian growled as he pulled with all his might on the door. “We’ve no time for this! I order you to open this door immediately!”
    Carl joined him by pleading with the ghost. “It’s a matter of life and death! Stop playing pranks and let us out!”
    But the door held fast and Ian could only think about the cyclone swirling ever closer to their shores and how little time they had to reach Theo and Jaaved.
    “Let me try,” Carl insisted as Ian strained again and again on the handle.
    Ian backed away, his arms shaking from his effort, and he watched his much thinner companion pull the knob.“Maybe there’s something in the tower we can use to pry it open,” Ian said in desperation, and he didn’t wait for Carl to agree with him but ran back up the steps to look about for anything they might use.
    But as he crested the landing, he stopped short when he saw that the cyclone was much closer to their shoreline, and he had a sinking sensation when he thought about how quickly it was bearing down on the area where Theo and Jaaved were. Ian knew that the path down to the shore was long, steep, and totally exposed to the sea, so even if Theo and Jaaved saw the waterspout in time to run, they’d be hard-pressed to make it to safety in time.
    “How can I get to Theo?” Ian cried, and just as he said this,