The Three Thorns Read Online Free PDF Page A

grinned as he picked out thirty boys from the crowd.
    “Bring me Benjamin Brannon!” he shouted. “You have one hour. Happy hunting, scrappers!”
    Meanwhile, Benjamin and the boys could hear every word loud and clear. When Mr. Jennings shouted out Benjamin’s name, Tommy and his friends looked at the boy, now trembling.
    “I knew you would be a problem,” whispered Tommy.
    George tapped Tommy on the shoulder. “Peter says we should take him with us, remember?”
    “I don’t care what Peter says. He’s not my leader,” Tommy snapped back.
    “Then chase me, one of you. It’s the perfect distraction you need.” Benjamin replied.
    Tommy stood up and pulled Jimmy up onto his feet. “Go with him and pretend to chase him into the kitchen. George and I will meet you at the back gate.”
    Jimmy nodded and ran down the stairs after Benjamin, heading toward the kitchen at the same time Mr. Jennings and Mr. Porter stepped out of the library.
    Benjamin flew in between them like the wind, missing a head-on collision by an inch. Spinning around in a full circle, both teachers gasped in surprise.
    Mr. Jennings screamed hysterically. “I don’t believe it, there he goes! Get that brat! Over here, you fools. That way! That way!”
    As Jennings stepped into the corridor to shout to the crowd of boys, Jimmy couldn’t slow himself, and charged into his principal. Mr. Jennings screamed like a girl when he was shoved to the floor again. He pulled Mr. Porter down with him while Jimmy stumbled over them.
    “Okay, that didn’t go as planned,” Jimmy puffed.
    Crowds of boys spotted Benjamin making his way toward the kitchen. When he reached a double turn, he realized he had forgotten whether to take a right or a left turn in order to reach the dinner hall. Feeling rushed, he took a hesitated guess and headed right.
    Jimmy came to the same double turn Benjamin had, but took a left instead.
    Benjamin reached a dead end. Two black exit doors lay in front of him, which had been padlocked. He remembered the rusty key and tried to unlock the locks with it.
    “Oh no,” he whispered. The key and padlocks were incompatible.
    As the crowd and orderlies continued their pursuit of Benjamin and Jimmy, George and Tommy coolly slipped by everyone and paced toward the front doors of the Gatesville building. Mr. Jennings and Mr. Porter were so caught up in the pandemonium that the boys were able to exit the building undetected.
    Both boys instantly ran to the back gate, fearful they would be spotted cutting through the main playground if they lingered too long.
    Peter stood behind the locked gate, waiting for the group to arrive.
    “How did you get behind the gate?” George asked.
    “I climbed it. Where is Benjamin?” Peter asked, crossing his long skinny arms over his chest.
    “The whole place is rootling for him,” George answered, breathing heavily.
    “You left him behind?” Peter gasped.
    Tommy smirked at Peter without answering his question. “What do you care? We’ve made it, haven’t we?” he panted, bending down to catch his breath. Tommy then grabbed the handle of the gate only to discover it was still locked.
    “Open it,” he ordered.
    “I can’t,” Peter replied calmly.
    Tommy grabbed the rusty bars of the gate door and began to violently shake it in frustration. “You’ll pay for this,” he threatened. Time was of the essence and all Tommy and George could do was wait and hope.
    “Well, we had to wait on Jimmy anyway, Tommy,” George muttered.
    “Shut up!”
    Jimmy rammed the kitchen doors wide open and searched for the exit. He hastily barricaded the doors when he noticed Mr. Jennings leading a mob down the hallway after him. The crowd of thirty boys reached the double doors and started shoving their way through the weak blockade of tables and chairs.
    “Hurry up, you weaklings. Put your back into it!” yelled Mr. Jennings.
    With a mighty force of ten boys pushing together, the kitchen doors flung open. Jimmy