Read Online Carter and the Curious Maze by Philippa Dowding - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Philippa Dowding
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children and animals can see you in the maze? Thatâs always been a nice touch, I think, donât you? Very disturbing not to know who can see you ⦠and who canât. What do you think of time travel, Carter?â Mr. Green peered at Carter and blinked his wooden eyes. He didnât bother hiding his creepy thumb, and no doubt about it this time: leaves slowly sprouted and spiralled around his hand like an emerald green serpent.
âWhat? What do you want with us? I just want to go home. We all just want to go home.â Carter held on to Arthur. Creepy Leaf Girl pointed at the shears now, and then at the fountain of water behind Mr. Green. She was trying to get Carter to do something.
Mr. Green wasnât watching her. He had his eyes very keenly on Carter. His horrible, unblinking wooden eyes.
âHmmm. Yes, no doubt you do want to go home. But thereâs a price. No one leaves the curious maze without paying. Itâs quite a simple price, though. All you have to do is answer these questions truthfully, and Iâll let you go: Are you scared now? Was this afternoon boring ? Or was the curious maze the most interesting ride at the fair?â
Carter frowned. Scared ? No kidding! Boring ? Hardly! Interesting ? Yes!
But there was a stubborn place in Carter that suddenly dug in its heels. He and Arthur had been through so much. Why did Mr. Green get to say when they go home? What gave him the right to scare them? So Carter said, âYou have no right to do this to us. Now send us home!â He hoped he sounded brave, but in the deep forest with creepy Mr. Green standing there ⦠he probably didnât.
Mr. Green stood in a stray shaft of sunlight that filtered down through the trees. It was almost sundown, and soon the forest would be pitch black. The fountain burbled at Mr. Greenâs feet. Behind him, Creepy Leaf Girl gestured wildly at the garden shears.
The old man drew in close to Carter, and there was no doubt about it now: his eyes WERE made of wood. He blinked, and they clicked like marbles. Carter drew back in horror.
The old man laughed, or rather, creaked and moaned.
âYou will wander the curious maze forever, like Clarissa here, until you answer me!â
Clarissa?
The old man closed his eyes and threw his head back to take another drink from the fountain. Leaves sprouted from his hair, his eyebrows, his ears, his hands â¦.
Now, Carter!
Carter lunged forward and grabbed the garden shears.
He tossed them through the air and they flipped end over end over end. With a fantastic leap, Clarissa caught them.
Then she plunged the garden shears deep into the fountain.
SPLOOSH! The water bubbled, burned and rose, higher and higher.
âNo! NO!â the old man screamed. He threw his arms deep into the pool, frantically grasping for the shears hidden in the dark water. Clarissa ran up, pushed with all her might ⦠and Mr. Green toppled and fell into the fountain.
One. Two. Three. Four seconds, and still no Mr. Green. The water bubbled, fumed, and roiled, rising angrily. Five seconds, six ⦠seven, eight ⦠the water rose higher and Carter held his breath.
â¦nine, ten, eleven, twelve â¦
⦠then a figure burst out of the pool. A twig man stepped stiffly out of the water, leafy arms held out.
The boys backed up in horror. The twig man took a few more stiff steps toward them, and then suddenly his leafy right arm jerked toward the sky. Then his left arm followed. The look of surprise froze on the twig manâs face as it turned to tree bark. His feet grew into long roots that dove into the earth. With a huge CRACK, his arms grew and grew, and his chest thickened and lengthened as the tree trunk stretched toward the stars. His knees turned into tree limbs, his shoulders into huge boughs, his hair into leafy branches and twigs.
The figure crashed upward through the other trees, snapping, creaking, and breaking through everything in its
âWhat? What do you want with us? I just want to go home. We all just want to go home.â Carter held on to Arthur. Creepy Leaf Girl pointed at the shears now, and then at the fountain of water behind Mr. Green. She was trying to get Carter to do something.
Mr. Green wasnât watching her. He had his eyes very keenly on Carter. His horrible, unblinking wooden eyes.
âHmmm. Yes, no doubt you do want to go home. But thereâs a price. No one leaves the curious maze without paying. Itâs quite a simple price, though. All you have to do is answer these questions truthfully, and Iâll let you go: Are you scared now? Was this afternoon boring ? Or was the curious maze the most interesting ride at the fair?â
Carter frowned. Scared ? No kidding! Boring ? Hardly! Interesting ? Yes!
But there was a stubborn place in Carter that suddenly dug in its heels. He and Arthur had been through so much. Why did Mr. Green get to say when they go home? What gave him the right to scare them? So Carter said, âYou have no right to do this to us. Now send us home!â He hoped he sounded brave, but in the deep forest with creepy Mr. Green standing there ⦠he probably didnât.
Mr. Green stood in a stray shaft of sunlight that filtered down through the trees. It was almost sundown, and soon the forest would be pitch black. The fountain burbled at Mr. Greenâs feet. Behind him, Creepy Leaf Girl gestured wildly at the garden shears.
The old man drew in close to Carter, and there was no doubt about it now: his eyes WERE made of wood. He blinked, and they clicked like marbles. Carter drew back in horror.
The old man laughed, or rather, creaked and moaned.
âYou will wander the curious maze forever, like Clarissa here, until you answer me!â
Clarissa?
The old man closed his eyes and threw his head back to take another drink from the fountain. Leaves sprouted from his hair, his eyebrows, his ears, his hands â¦.
Now, Carter!
Carter lunged forward and grabbed the garden shears.
He tossed them through the air and they flipped end over end over end. With a fantastic leap, Clarissa caught them.
Then she plunged the garden shears deep into the fountain.
SPLOOSH! The water bubbled, burned and rose, higher and higher.
âNo! NO!â the old man screamed. He threw his arms deep into the pool, frantically grasping for the shears hidden in the dark water. Clarissa ran up, pushed with all her might ⦠and Mr. Green toppled and fell into the fountain.
One. Two. Three. Four seconds, and still no Mr. Green. The water bubbled, fumed, and roiled, rising angrily. Five seconds, six ⦠seven, eight ⦠the water rose higher and Carter held his breath.
â¦nine, ten, eleven, twelve â¦
⦠then a figure burst out of the pool. A twig man stepped stiffly out of the water, leafy arms held out.
The boys backed up in horror. The twig man took a few more stiff steps toward them, and then suddenly his leafy right arm jerked toward the sky. Then his left arm followed. The look of surprise froze on the twig manâs face as it turned to tree bark. His feet grew into long roots that dove into the earth. With a huge CRACK, his arms grew and grew, and his chest thickened and lengthened as the tree trunk stretched toward the stars. His knees turned into tree limbs, his shoulders into huge boughs, his hair into leafy branches and twigs.
The figure crashed upward through the other trees, snapping, creaking, and breaking through everything in its
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