Read Online Beware, the Snowman by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online

tried to scare you, Jaclyn. To
keep you from coming up here.”
    So, it was Aunt Greta who whispered up to my room late at night, who warned
me to beware of the snowman!
    Her dark eyes were wild. Her normally pale face was bright red! Her long,
black coat was open and flapped behind her in the wind.
    She raised a large, black book in one hand above her head. “Jaclyn—is this what you’re looking for?” she
demanded shrilly.
    “The poetry book?” I cried.
    My aunt nodded. She held the book high above her.
    “Aunt Greta—is it true?” I asked, glancing back at the huge snowman. “Is he
really my father?”
    My aunt’s face twisted in surprise. “Huh? Your father?” she cried. “What a
lie! Is that what he told you? That he’s your father? It’s a lie. A
horrible lie!”
    “NOOOOOO!” the snowman boomed.
    I jumped. But Aunt Greta ignored the thunderous cry.
    “It’s a lie, Jaclyn,” she repeated, glaring angrily at the snowman. “He isn’t
your father. He’s an evil monster!”
    “NOOOOO!” the snowman bellowed again. The whole mountain shook from his
protest.
    “Your mother and father were sorcerers,” Aunt Greta continued, ignoring him.
“They practiced their magic night and day. But they went too far. They created
him accidentally.”
    Aunt Greta pointed to the snowman, her face bitter. “He’s an evil monster,”
she repeated through gritted teeth. “When your parents saw what they had done,
they were horrified. They froze the monster inside the snowman body. Soon after,
your father disappeared. Your mother and I took you and ran from the village. We ran to be safe from the monster’s
horrible evil!”
    “YOU ARE A LIAR!” the snowman raged. He waved his stick arms wildly in the
air. His scarf blew out at his sides like hawk wings. Wave after wave of cold
shot off his bulging body.
    “Jaclyn, don’t believe her!” the snowman pleaded. “Save me—please! I am
your father.”
    His arms reached out to me. “Please,” he begged. “I know it is hard for you
to believe. But your aunt is the evil one. She is a sorceress. She and your
mother and I—we were all sorcerers. I am not evil. I am not a monster. Please—”
    “Liar!” Aunt Greta shrieked. She gripped the big book angrily in both hands,
as if ready to throw it at him. “I know no magic!” Aunt Greta cried. “I know no
spells! I am not a sorceress!”
    She opened the book and began frantically shuffling through the pages. “I’m
not a sorceress. But I brought this book because I know its secret. I know what
I need to do to make sure you stay frozen in that snowman body forever!”
    The snowman continued to reach out to me. “Jaclyn, save me. Save me now,” he
pleaded.
    I turned from him to my aunt, then back to him.
    Who should I believe?
    Which one was telling the truth?
    Suddenly, I had an idea.

 
 
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    I grabbed the open poetry book from my aunt’s hands.
    “What are you doing ?” she shrieked.
    She moved quickly to wrestle it away from me.
    We both tugged at it. The old pages tore and flew out. The heavy cover
cracked.
    Aunt Greta made a desperate swipe at it.
    But I pulled it away from her. Then I backed up against the wall of the ice
cave.
    Aunt Greta took a step toward me. Then she gazed up at the snowman and
decided not to come that close to him.
    “Jaclyn—you’re making a big mistake!” Aunt Greta warned.
    Leaning against the smooth cave wall, I flipped frantically through the pages
of the old book. “I’m going to find the poem,” I told her. “I’m going to read
the second verse. It’s the only way to know the truth.”
    “THANK YOU, DAUGHTER!” the snowman bellowed.
    Aunt Greta uttered a wail of protest. “I’m telling you the truth, Jaclyn!”
she cried. “I have taken care of you all these years. I would not lie to you.”
    But I’d made up my mind.
    I had to read the second verse. It was the only way I could find out who was
lying and who was telling the