Wondrous Strange Read Online Free PDF Page A

extraordinary silver-gray eyes. His face was regal. High cheekbones. Straight, firm mouth. Unsmiling, but not harsh—although Kelley had a sense that his expression could turn that way, easily.
    “Oh, come on!” Kelley said aloud. “How ridiculous can you get? You saw the guy for all of twelve seconds!” Walking south, she skirted the edge of the Ramble until she got to the northern shore of the Lake, opposite the rocky outcropping of Hernshead.
    Somehow, it had become dusk. Kelley had never really felt unsafe in Central Park—but on the other hand, she’d never gone traipsing about in it after dark. Nervously, she squinted up into a sky that had gone from deep blue to indigo with startling swiftness. It was eerily still in the park, she realized. Utterly silent. A thin veil of ground mist swirled, sweeping across the path in front of her. Kelley quickened her pace almost to a jog.
    The surface of the Lake on her right was like a vast blackpool of oil and so still that it reflected everything like a perfect mirror. She planned to skirt along the shore until she came to the eastern edge, near to where she could cross over and exit the park around Seventy-second Street. Then it was only about a ten-minute walk to home.
    She hadn’t gotten very far when the sounds of screaming split the night air.
    The raw noise shattered the stillness, chilling and horrific. Kelley froze, listening to the high-pitched cries. They sounded as if they were coming from the middle of the Lake.
    “Hey!” Kelley called, frightened. “Hey! Do you need help?”
    A cacophony of frantic splashing reached her ears as if in answer. Kelley started running toward the source of the sound. Mingling with the horrid screams that had first caught her attention was a deeper huffing sound, punctuated by the frenzied splashing—as though someone was flailing around in a panic. Drowning.
    Make that some thing . Kelley stopped at the edge of the Lake, realizing with a start that there was a distinctly nonhuman quality to the noise. She squinted and could only just make out where the water in the middle of the Lake frothed white. Suddenly something rose from the center of the disturbance, bucking and rearing violently. Heart pounding, Kelley saw a horse’s head thrashing in the darkness.
    The animal’s front hooves churned at the water, as though it was trying to climb the air. Then it sank deeper. The water closed over the drowning creature’s head again, choking offthe sounds of its panicked whinnying. Kelley glanced around frantically.
    “Help!” she called, but her voice sounded flat and small in the night. There wasn’t anyone around to hear her.
    She turned back to the Lake desperately and saw the horse breach the surface again, floundering, losing strength.
    The thought of an animal drowning while she stood there watching was more than Kelley could bear. She dropped her bag, shrugged out of her jacket, and kicked off her shoes. Then she dove into the Lake in a shallow arc.
    The chill in the October air was nothing compared to the temperature of the pond. As she hit the water, Kelley thought for a brief, horrible moment that her heart would stop beating in shock. When she surfaced seconds later, she gasped painfully and faltered.
    The horse whinnied again, sounding much weaker. Kelley pushed the needle-sharp cold from her thoughts and began swimming with strong, purposeful strokes. Six feet from the panicked creature, she treaded water, wary of the flailing, deadly hammers of its hooves.
    “Shh, shhh.” Kelley tried to keep her teeth from chattering as she gentled it with her voice. “Nice horsie…good horse…easy there, fella.”
    The animal bobbed its head wildly, its dark eyes rolling white at the edges and its nostrils flaring wide.
    “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Kelley reached out a hand as she moved a little closer, treading water that was so cold it almostfelt slushy. If she couldn’t succeed in helping the poor creature out of the