Read Online Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent by Alan Early - Free Book Online Page B

nodded.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Will said.
    â€˜It’s okay.’
    â€˜No. I’m sorry for how I acted.’ He put his hand out to Arthur. ‘Fresh start, Artie?’
    â€˜It’s Arthur.’
    â€˜Fresh start, Arthur?’
    Arthur took Will’s hand and shook it firmly, optimistically. ‘Fresh start, Will.’
    Just then he remembered the pendant. He picked up his soaking trousers from where they’d been lying by his feet and pulled the pendant out of the pocket. It hadn’t been damaged by the flood, but then it had probably spent years under the water anyway, maybe hundreds of years. Even though it was no larger than the palm of his hand, it felt heavy – or rather, heavier than it should have been. Denser, somehow. Will and Ash shuffled their seats in for a closer look.
    â€˜Can I see it?’ Ash put out her hand and Arthur gave it to her. She held it up and scrutinised it.
    â€˜It looks like bronze,’ said Will. Ash offered it to him but he declined. She looked at it again.
    â€˜Well, it’s definitely some kind of pendant for a necklace,’ she said, handing it back to Arthur, ‘but what’s with the rope and the tree?’
    â€˜It’s not a rope,’ Arthur said. ‘Look closer. It’s a snake. See? There’s the mouth and the fangs.’
    â€˜Oh yeah. It kind of gives me the creeps. And it’s weird the way it was stuck down there in the tunnel wall. It looked like it was put there on purpose, but why would anyone do that? And who? The Vikings maybe? Your dad did mention that Vikings used the Poddle years ago.’
    â€˜Could be. But what I’m most curious about is that weird flash that made the grate fall out.’
    â€˜Yeah, what was that?’ exclaimed Will.
    â€˜I thought it was just my imagination. Or that I’d knocked my head,’ Ash said. ‘But it really happened, didn’t it?’
    Just then Joe and Miss Keegan re-entered the room. Arthur quickly hid the pendant in the top pocket of his pyjamas.
    â€˜Let’s go home,’ Joe said.

    Joe had taken a half day from work and now drove Ash and Arthur home. Miss Keegan gave Will a lift; when the three had gone missing, the class had been dismissed early for the day, she’d explained.
    When they reached their estate, Ash ran into her house; only Stace and Max were home this early and both were very confused to see their sister wearing flannel pyjamas and carrying her soaking school uniform in a plastic bag.
    When Arthur got home, he put his uniform straight in the wash and went to go upstairs to change.
    â€˜One second, young man,’ said Joe sternly. Arthur came back to him, shuffling his feet sheepishly. ‘I’m glad you’re safe. But don’t ever do anything stupid like that ever again, do you hear me?’ His face wore a stony, stern expression.
    â€˜I’m sorry, Dad.’
    His face softened. ‘Promise me you won’t do anything like that again. I’ve lost enough this year without losing you too.’ They closed their arms around each other in a tight hug, both grateful that they were still alive to do it.

    As Arthur slept that night, the pendant sat on his bedside table. He turned over in his sleep, groaning. If he’d been awake, he would have seen the pendant start to glow. An eerie green light emanated from the bronze medal. But Arthur was trapped in a nightmare, dreaming of dark tunnels and letters he couldn’t understand and hissing, hidden monsters.

Chapter Eight

    Wednesday morning came and, as usual, Ash was waiting in Arthur’s driveway when he left his house. She held something out to him. He took the gift from her: it was a brown leather shoelace.
    â€˜What’s this for?’
    â€˜For the pendant. I’m guessing you have it with you? It’s so you won’t lose it.’
    He did indeed have the pendant in his pocket. He took it out, threaded the