The Dark Secret of Weatherend Read Online Free PDF Page A

smoldering mass of half-melted metal. Wild winds uprooted trees and flung them across roads, and loud peals of thunder boomed and reverberated in the hills. Even the older people in the area could not remember a storm that was quite so violent or bizarre. Then came the tornadoes. On October 5 a violent electrical storm hit the Hoosac area. There were high winds, and at least five tornadoes were sighted. One of them roared through a graveyard near La Crosse and gouged deep, raw gashes in the earth. It reopened old graves and threw rotten coffin wood and bones all over the cemetery. And again there was vivid colored lightning, with red and blue fireballs rolling down roads and across fields.
    In the city of Hoosac there was something like a panic. Frightened people kept calling up the Police Department, City Hall, and the Weather Bureau. Some were convinced that atomic testing had thrown the world's weather out of whack. Others said that God was angry at the world because of its sinfulness. But most were simply worried and upset. At the Hoosac Public Library all the talk was about the weather. Miss Pratt, the assistant librarian, was firmly convinced that sunspots were the cause of it all. Other people had their own ideas, and they argued a lot about who was right. However, as the days passed, and the weather returned to normal, the talk and the panic died down. People decided that their worries were foolish, and they began to fuss about other things.
    Anthony Monday had his own ideas about the strange weather and what was causing it. These ideas took shape in his head over a period of several days, and when it suddenly occurred to him what nonsense it was, he almost laughed. But then he thought some more, and he began to wonder if maybe there was something to his odd thoughts after all. One evening, when he and his parents were sitting in the living room watching television, he decided that he would bring the subject up. Nervously he glanced at the two people who were sitting in the darkness near him. How would they react to his strange notions? He had a pretty good idea of what his mother would say: she was a sarcastic, skeptical kind of person, and she would probably doubt him. Anthony decided that he would rather talk to his dad alone.
    Patiently Anthony waited for the right moment. At last the phone rang, and Mrs. Monday got up to answer it. She went out to the front hall, and presently Anthony heard her pulling the sliding door shut. Great! It was probably one of her friends, and they would be yakking for hours.
    When a commercial came on Anthony cleared his throat. "Uh... Dad?"
    Mr. Monday was a placid, potbellied man. He ran a saloon, and normally, on a weekday evening like this one, he would have been hard at work. But his hired bartender was running the place tonight, and Mr. Monday was taking a well-deserved night off. He was in a good mood.
    "Yeah, what is it, Tony?"
    "Uh, well, whaddaya think about all the weird weather we've been havin'?"
    Mr. Monday shrugged. "I dunno. I don't really understand about that kinda stuff, but anyways I'm glad it's over. I betcha the atomic bombs had somethin' to do with it, though. The government don't tell us a darned thing about what they're doin', but someday it'll all come out, you mark my words." He shifted uneasily in his chair.
    Anthony coughed again. He was having trouble finding words for what he wanted to say. "But, Dad," he said in a strained voice, "what... I mean, what if somebody could use, like, magic to... kind of make bad weather happen? I read in a story once where a witch—"
    Mr. Monday snorted. "Witch? Good God, Tony, is that the kinda stuff they're teachin' you down at the high school? Nobody believes in witches anymore! Are you kiddin' me or what?"
    Anthony wanted to say something more, but the commercial was over, the program was coming on again, and he knew his dad hated to be interrupted while he was watching something good. So that was the end of that.
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