Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

hand was one thing; at least she had the illusion of controlling the situation. Having it slither on her feet was a whole new kind of terror.
    Her lungs froze as a vision of the snake biting her ankle flashed through her mind. In that moment, time slowed and her world reduced to the snake on her shoe. She focused on the black and brown stripes coiling like a rope. A masculine hand entered her field of vision. And then, the snake struck.
    It grabbed his thumb and held on. The action unfroze Kelsey. She let out another blast from her lungs and kicked it off her foot, which might have been okay if it hadn’t ripped the snake’s fangs from the side of Austin’s thumb.
    The snake took off across the chicken yard but before it got far, the tip of a shovel pinned it to the ground. The snake wiggled on either side of the spade. Ryan gave the handle a twist digging the tip deeper into the snake. When it quit moving she raised the shovel a couple of feet before she slammed it down on the head and yelled, “Die, you bastard.” Kelsey saw hatred in her sister’s eyes as she slammed the shovel into the serpent a second and third time.
    Her attention was drawn back to Austin as he dropped to his knees and held his hand, blood gushing from the bite.
    “Oh, God, oh God. I’m sorry.” Kelsey knelt next to Austin and yelled at Travis trying to capture the last wayward chicken. “Travis, go get help!”
    Austin sat down with his hand pressed to his chest. Blood ran down his wrist and forearm and soaked into his shirt.
    Kelsey put an arm across his back. “Hang on, we’ll get you to an emergency room.”
    “I’m okay.”
    Not the time to be tough, cowboy. “You got bit by a snake, you’re not okay.”
    “It wasn’t poisonous.” He took a deep breath. “Painful, but not poisonous.”
    Kelsey’s parents rushed through the gate to Austin’s side. Dad spoke first, “What kind of snake, son?” Kelsey stood and let her parents take over.
    “Rat. Not poisonous.” He pointed to where Ryan stood shovel in hand, staring at the headless serpent as if she dared it to move.
    Dad inspected the snake while Mom looked at Austin’s thumb. “Poisonous or not, that’s a nasty cut and I think you’re going to need a couple of stitches. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
    “Thanks, Mrs. Quinn, but I think I just need to wash it up and maybe a Band-Aid.”
    Kelsey looked at Austin. “Seriously, so does cowboy equal tough and stupid? There’s no way a Band Aid is going to fix that.”
    Dad helped Austin to his feet. “She’s right. I think you need to call your parents.”
    “I’m fine.” Austin took a step and then fell to his knees. “I’m just a little woozy.”
    “That’s it.” Mom knelt next to him. “No arguments, you’re going to the emergency room.” She looked at Kelsey. “Go get the car.”
    Kelsey ran for the gate and as she opened it, Austin puked.
    “Grab a kitchen towel. And hurry,” Mom yelled.
    By the time Kelsey pulled up to the gate, Dad and Travis held Austin up between them. They shoved him in the back seat. Dad slid in the front passenger seat while Mom sat next to Austin.
    Kelsey gripped the steering wheel and tore down the dirt road toward the highway. “I don’t know where I’m going!”
    “Turn left. I’ll tell you where to go. Just be careful,” Dad answered.
    Kelsey pulled onto the highway and resisted the urge to floor it to town. Her heart pounded in her chest. She peeked in the rear view at Austin. He rested his head on the back of the seat with his eyes closed. His thumb bled through the towel wrapped around it, and he looked a little pale.
    One day in Texas and she’d witnessed a snakebite. What kind of hellhole had her dad brought them to? If he hadn’t screwed up and gotten fired, if Ryan hadn’t screwed the boss’s son and gotten caught, she’d be hanging out with her friends instead of racing a snake-bitten cowboy to the E.R.
    She pulled up to the patient drop off. Her