The Second Forever Read Online Free PDF Page A

place.
    â€˜My grandfather calls it the Paradise Garden because he says that the word “paradise” is an old Iranian word that means a walled garden and that’s exactly what it is,’ Peter added.
    While he had agreed to go there with her, it still didn’t feel right taking Festival outside the museum. Peter knew it made no sense, but nevertheless he felt uneasy about it. He would take her, but only after they had exhausted all the possibilities of getting back to her world before the next full moon.
    â€˜After all,’ he said, ‘I didn’t go to your world on the bat. I fell through a wall. I think we should see if we can go that way. Then we won’t have to wait.’
    They went to the tiny room with the mummified cat, where Peter had fallen into Festival’s world.
    â€˜There you are,’ said Peter, picking up his old cat Archimedes, who was sitting in front of the display case staring at the mummy. ‘Guess who has come to see us? It’s Festival.’
    The girl reached out and tickled the cat behindthe ear. ‘He looks exactly the same as he did when I met him five years go,’ she said.
    â€˜I know, he hardly seems to get any older,’ said Peter. ‘He’s amazing. He’s always been the same ever since I can remember. Though he does seem a bit lazier than before. He used to spend most of the day asleep on my bed, but often he’s there all night too. I thought it meant he had seen all there was to see, but I suppose it’s old age.’
    In the dimly lit room, the cat did look the same, but out in bright light you could see that Archimedes was actually beginning to age. Fur that had once been the colour of gold was turning white, and old whiskers that broke now took longer to replace or did not regrow at all.
    â€˜Maybe he read the book,’ Festival joked.
    â€˜Or he was on someone’s lap when they read it,’ said Peter.
    Peter’s grandfather had pushed the display case across the room so it covered the part of the wall where Peter had been sitting when he fell through to the other world. While Festival kept watch in the doorway, Peter pushed the case aside again. The wall looked no different from those in all the other rooms – dark wooden panelling that had the same slightly hollow sound no matter where he tapped it.
    â€˜There must be a hidden door,’ he said, ‘but I can’tsee any trace of it.’
    â€˜I’m sure if it was a simple as that,’ said Festival, ‘someone would have found it before and would know where it was.’
    â€˜But you can’t just fall through a solid wall,’ Peter said. ‘Not unless you’re having a dream. There’s no other explanation. Remember how I pinched your arm the first time we met? I thought it was all a dream . . .’
    â€˜Yes, but it wasn’t.’
    â€˜No. So there must be a door of some sort. I just can’t see it.’
    â€˜Well, if you could see it,’ Festival said, ‘it wouldn’t be hidden then, would it?’
    â€˜No, but I’ve always been really good at sensing the museum’s secret doors,’ said Peter. ‘It’s kind of like a second sight. I can find them without fail.’
    â€˜You can’t say that for sure. There could be lots of secret panels you’ve never found.’
    â€˜I suppose, but I don’t think so.’
    That night when everyone else was asleep, the two of them went down to the workshops at the back of the museum and borrowed some tools. Then they returned to the side room and Peter forced a chisel into the edge of the main panel, creating a small gap. He used a crowbar to push back the opening until the panel split.
    Archimedes, who had joined them, backed away around the side of the cabinet. His eyes grew wild and the fur on his neck rose, and although he could have run away, he didn’t. He stood fixed to the spot.
    â€˜Can you