The Secret of Skull Island Read Online Free PDF Page A

there?” rasped a voice. They knew it wasn’t one of the guests.
    â€œWho’s there?” the voice asked again. Thud, thud, thud, thud. The footsteps came closer.
    Neither Cody nor Otis was able to move. Their legs felt like jelly. They both stood still as the footsteps thudded closer.
    â€œI’m looking for my treasure,” the voice whispered. “ Ahhhhhh …”
    The sound faded away. The twins waited, their hearts beating fast, but there were no more footsteps. After several minutes they turned and walked slowly back to bed. Neither one dared to say a word.

[Chapter Six]
    T he next morning was sunny and clear. A gentle breeze was blowing. As the twins looked out their window, they saw the landscape was a riot of color. There were green trees and rainbows of flowers as far as the eye could see. Colorful birds flew through the air. The creepy feeling the place had held the night before had vanished.
    â€œDid we really hear that ghost last night?” Cody asked Otis.
    Otis nodded slowly. “I think so, but I’m just not sure I wasn’t dreaming. All that talk about it at the table might have played a trick on my mind. Maybe you were dreaming, too.”
    Cody considered what he said. Sometimes he and his brother had the same dream—it was the kind of thing that sometimes happened to twins. “Maybe,” he said.
    There was a rapping on the door. “Come on, you guys, get going.” It was Rae’s voice.
    The twins hurried to get dressed, then they ran downstairs with Rae.
    In the dining room they found Maxim wearing a kitchen apron. He had laid out a buffet of fresh fruit and muffins, coffee, tea, and juice.
    He smiled when he saw them. “This is more like it,” he said, gesturing at the buffet. “People can eat like they’re on a Caribbean island instead of stranded in a bad cafeteria.”
    He motioned Rae and the twins aside. “I had a talk with your aunt Edith. I’ll be in charge of the kitchen until she can hire someone,” he said. “Meanwhile, I don’t want you talking to her about what happened last night. She’s upset enough as it is.”
    The three of them nodded. “Where’s Dad?” asked Cody.
    â€œHe ate early, packed up his gear, and went out to paint,” Maxim told them. “He took a sleeping bag with him and said he might stay out overnight—or nights . You know how he is.”
    Rae and the twins were used to Mr. Carson’s ways. Sometimes he would spend days doing nothing but painting, barely stopping to eat or sleep.
    Aunt Edith breezed in from the kitchen. She didn’t look like the same person who had been scared out of her wits the night before.
    â€œYou youngsters should go down to the beach,” she said. “It looks like a spectacular day for swimming and snorkeling. There is a big chest with some gear right out back.”
    â€œSounds like a plan.” Rae grinned. She loved to swim.
    â€œSure does,” Cody and Otis agreed. They exchanged glances. The night before, Cody had convinced Otis to help him look for the buried treasure.
    â€œHey, Rae,” Cody asked as they were putting together plates of fresh fruit and glasses of juice, “did you hear any weird noises last night?”
    â€œNo way,” she said, helping herself to a muffin. “I was practically asleep before my head hit the pillow.”
    They took a seat at the table, where most of the guests were drinking coffee. Steve Cordell was telling everyone how he maintained his great tan.
    â€œI never let it fade. It’s as perfect as it is now twenty-four-seven, three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. Want to know my secret? When I travel for work, if it isn’t sunny out, I go to a tanning parlor. Plus, I have my own tanning bed.”
    The twins both stifled a giggle. It struck them as funny that this man would be so obsessed with tanning that he bought a tanning bed.