Read Online Beyond the Knock Knock Door by Scott Monk - Free Book Online Page B

travelled through it – not over it,’ he told his brother. ‘There must be a tunnel hidden inside that cliff.’
    â€˜Then how are we going to get back up there? It’s at least thirty metres high.’
    â€˜We don’t,’ she said, switching from her right cheek to her left to face them. ‘There’s bound to be a road around here somewhere. We’ll flag down a ranger or driver to help us.’
    The boys looked at her then each other. ‘Er, I don’t think we’re even on Earth,’ Michael said.
    â€˜Don’t be stupid. Where else would we be?’
    He blinked. ‘Somewhere past Jupiter?’
    She rolled over, her whole body hurting, not to mention her head. ‘Dream on. We simply fell into the stormwater drain and this is where it spat us out. End of story.’
    â€˜Are you awake?’ Luke said. ‘We just saw spaceships, planets, flying castles –’
    â€˜C’mon. It’s a dumb movie to frighten kids like us from poking around in that pumphouse.’
    â€˜Then forget about going to the cinema again. That’s the best movie I’ll ever see.’
    â€˜We definitely travelled through something weird,’ Michael said. ‘Look at the sky. It’s morning. When we left the party, it was dark.’
    She slid off the boulder and removed her pirate hat and bandana to wring her long, black hair. ‘That doesn’t mean anything. We could’ve been down in those tunnels for hours and not known it. Or we could have been knocked on the head.’
    â€˜ Now who sounds stupid?’ Luke said.
    â€˜It makes a whole lot more sense than us travelling through space.’
    â€˜But my head doesn’t hurt.’
    â€˜Really?’ She clipped him on the back of the skull.
    â€˜Ow! What did you do that for?’
    â€˜For getting us into this mess.’
    Nursing the sore spot, Luke grabbed his jetpack, stormed to the other side of the rock pool then shouted, ‘You’re the worst sister in the world, you know that? Who needs April Thornleigh to bully us when we’ve got you!’
    He marched away but Samantha made sure she got the last word in. ‘That’ll be nothing compared to the smack Mum’ll give you when we get home!’ she yelled. She shifted the cutlass on her sash, then added, ‘Good riddance, huh?’ But Michael pulled on his helmet without acknowledging her and followed his brother. ‘What? He had it coming. Where do you think you’re going? Michael! Get back here. I’m not kidding! Michael!’
    He easily tracked his brother through the mulchand down a slope towards the stream. The air was crisp and tinged with nectar and decay. Three small, red explosions burst among the canopy and led him to an enormous kapok tree. Luke stood among its roots with a twig in hand. ‘Watch this,’ he said.
    He tapped a plump yellow toadstool and counted to five before – ZING! – its cap whizzed upwards like a spinning top. Pop! Pop! Pop! Bright spore trails fell back down and sprinkled the undergrowth.
    Michael prodded one that bloomed with a blue bang.
    â€˜Or how’s this for weird?’
    Luke annoyed one of the many flat orange fungi spiralling up the tree like a staircase. Within moments, stumpy little legs spread from its base before all the fungi suddenly started crawling up the trunk.
    â€˜What are they?’ Michael asked, stooping closer.
    â€˜Caterpillars with giant orange sails on their backs?’
    Several ferns swayed and snapped at the top of the slope, catching them by surprise. Rather than discovering a new, exotic animal, they heard grumbling as Samantha crashed forward. ‘You’re going the wrong direction,’ she said. ‘The road will be up here, not down there.’
    â€˜We’re following the stream,’ Michael announced over his shoulder as they kept moving. ‘It’s smarter to stick by fresh