The Serpents of Arakesh Read Online Free PDF Page B

boosted myself up onto the window ledge and hopped through. I was over to the table like lightning, rifling through the letters with hands that shook, looking for the one addressed to me.
    It jumped out at me — Master Adam Equinox — on a fancy envelope with the same Quest logo as the reply card.
    I put the other letters back. Vaulted back over the windowsill, and in less time than it takes to blink I was crouching in my hide-out again, the precious letter in my hand. I burned to open it but there was no time. I laid it carefully on the ground at the edge of the clearing and covered it over with dry leaves. I prayed it wouldn’t rain.
    I slithered back through the tunnel and raced across the lawn towards the house, my heart hammering as if I’d run a million miles.

    Of course, there was a price to pay. It didn’t take long for Matron to discover the letter was missing, and you can guess who was the number one suspect.
    There was a search of all the dormitories. All the beds were stripped, and the mattresses turned upside down. Our school bags were tipped out, and the rec room and the homework room turned inside out.
    I had a two-hour grilling in Matron’s office, ending with being sentenced to my toughest punishment ever: no dessert or TV for a month, with a strapping thrown in for good measure. But I didn’t care. All I was worriedabout was whether Matron would connect the open window with the letter’s disappearance, put two and two together, and discover my hide-out. I waited with a feeling of doom — but it didn’t happen.
    What did happen was that Matron found Quest Incorporated’s phone number from Directory Enquiries. She told them I had chicken pox and couldn’t come, and asked if she could send Geoffrey instead. She told me herself, while I stood on the footstool in her office and she tried to get me to admit I’d stolen the letter.
    How can you steal something that belongs to you?
    It was Cookie who told me they’d said no, the place in the finals wasn’t transferable. Especially once Matron had admitted the letter had gone missing under what Cook called mysterious circumstances.
    It was two days before the dust settled enough for me to visit my hide-out again. Two whole days before I was able to retrieve my letter, and at long last read what it said.
    Dear Adam
    Congratulations — you’re a winner!
    Yes, it’s true! You have been chosen from over 40,000 entries as one of the finalists in the Quest Golden Opportunity Competition.
    Only five of the ten finalists will win the ultimate prize — two unforgettable days working with software genius Quentin Quested, and a Nautilus computer system of your very own. But even those who miss out on being one of the final five will win a full Collector’s Set of Quest adventure software, with every title in the award-winning series.
    Here’s what you have to do to take up this amazing opportunity!
    Simply arrive with your parent/s or guardian/s at Quentin Quested’s country retreat (full directions and map on reverse of this letter) between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the afternoon of Saturday 13 July.
    A welcome cocktail party and orientation will be followed by a night in luxurious Quested Court.
    The final selection process will take place during the course of the following day, with the names of the successful five being announced at a celebratory banquet that evening.
    The five unsuccessful finalists will be presented with their consolation prizes, and will be free to return home.
    The chosen five will bid farewell to their guardians, and will remain at Quested Court for the following two days, taking part in a top-secret programme of computer-related activities that will take them to the cutting edge of the adventure-game world, and beyond.
    The two-day workshop will conclude at 6 p.m. the following Tuesday evening.
    Once again, congratulations on being a winner! We look forward to meeting