Read Online Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Anthony Horowitz
Ads: Link
very much left. By then, Matt had returned to the flat in York, joining a shocked Richard, who had already heard the first reports on the midday news.
The school did their best to keep Matt out of the newspapers — and fortunately, nobody yet knew the iden-tity of the madwoman who had been driving the petrol tanker. But there had been too many witnesses, too many boys willing to talk. And by the following morning, all the headlines were screaming the same impossible story: Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star BOY FORESEES
SCHOOL
CATASTROPHE
PRECOGNITION
BOY SAVES
SCHOOL DID
FORREST HILL
BOY SEE
FUTURE?
At least nobody had a photograph of Matt apart from one muddy, almost unrecognizable image that had been taken on a cell phone.
By the time the first editions came out, Richard and Matt were already gone. Richard had spo-ken with Susan Ashwood on the phone and she had arranged a "safe house" for them in Leeds — an empty flat where they had stayed overnight. While they were there, Matt had agreed to travel to London to meet the Nexus, just as they had asked. Looking back, it seemed to him that there had been something inevitable about it.
"It was meant to happen. It was planned. ..."
Susan Ashwood had said that, too. She had been talk-ing about the discovery of the Spanish monk's diary. But she could just as easily have been talking about him. It was beginning to seem to Matt that his every move was being dictated for him. It didn't matter what he wanted. Some-one, somewhere, had other ideas.
"Maybe it'll work out okay," Richard said. "All you've got to do is meet this guy, William Morton. Get him to hand over the diary and then you and I can go back to York or somewhere and start over Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star again."
“You really think it will be as easy as that?" Matt asked.
Richard shrugged. "Nothing's ever easy where you're concerned," he said. "But at the end of the day, Matt, you're still in control.
Whatever they ask, you only have to say no."
• • •
A taxi had been sent to meet them at the station and took them to a hotel in Farringdon. Matt hardly knew London. The first time he had been here, he had been under police escort, whisked in and out of an office with barely enough time to smell the air. Farringdon was an old part of the city which seemed to slip further back in time as the evening drew on. There were dark alleyways and cob-bled streets and even, in places, gas lamps. If an air raid siren had suddenly split the air, Matt wouldn't have been surprised. It was the London he had seen in films that took place during World War II.
The hotel was small and so discreet that it didn't even have a name on the front door. Richard and Matt both had rooms on the third floor — paid for, of course, by the Nexus. After they'd unpacked, they took the tiny, rickety elevator back to the ground floor and had an early supper together in the dining room. They were still eating when Mr. Fabian appeared, this time in a dark suit with black, brightly polished shoes.
"Good evening," he said. "I have been asked to take you to the meeting. But you must finish your meal first. We have plenty of time. Do you mind if I join you?"
He drew up a chair and sat down.
Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star
"Is it far from here?" Richard asked.
"No. A short walk." Fabian was in a good mood. He seemed to have forgotten the way their last meeting had ended.
"Can I ask you something?" Richard asked.
"Please. Go ahead."
"I know nothing about you. I mean, you once told me you lived in Lima. .
"In fact I live in Barranco. It's a suburb of Lima."
"But what do you do? How did you get chosen by the Nexus? Do you have a wife or any children?"
Fabian had raised a finger to his lips at the mention of the Nexus, but there was nobody else in the room and he relaxed. "I will answer your questions," he said. "No, I am not married. Not yet, anyway. As to my work, I'm a writer.
The school did their best to keep Matt out of the newspapers — and fortunately, nobody yet knew the iden-tity of the madwoman who had been driving the petrol tanker. But there had been too many witnesses, too many boys willing to talk. And by the following morning, all the headlines were screaming the same impossible story: Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star BOY FORESEES
SCHOOL
CATASTROPHE
PRECOGNITION
BOY SAVES
SCHOOL DID
FORREST HILL
BOY SEE
FUTURE?
At least nobody had a photograph of Matt apart from one muddy, almost unrecognizable image that had been taken on a cell phone.
By the time the first editions came out, Richard and Matt were already gone. Richard had spo-ken with Susan Ashwood on the phone and she had arranged a "safe house" for them in Leeds — an empty flat where they had stayed overnight. While they were there, Matt had agreed to travel to London to meet the Nexus, just as they had asked. Looking back, it seemed to him that there had been something inevitable about it.
"It was meant to happen. It was planned. ..."
Susan Ashwood had said that, too. She had been talk-ing about the discovery of the Spanish monk's diary. But she could just as easily have been talking about him. It was beginning to seem to Matt that his every move was being dictated for him. It didn't matter what he wanted. Some-one, somewhere, had other ideas.
"Maybe it'll work out okay," Richard said. "All you've got to do is meet this guy, William Morton. Get him to hand over the diary and then you and I can go back to York or somewhere and start over Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star again."
“You really think it will be as easy as that?" Matt asked.
Richard shrugged. "Nothing's ever easy where you're concerned," he said. "But at the end of the day, Matt, you're still in control.
Whatever they ask, you only have to say no."
• • •
A taxi had been sent to meet them at the station and took them to a hotel in Farringdon. Matt hardly knew London. The first time he had been here, he had been under police escort, whisked in and out of an office with barely enough time to smell the air. Farringdon was an old part of the city which seemed to slip further back in time as the evening drew on. There were dark alleyways and cob-bled streets and even, in places, gas lamps. If an air raid siren had suddenly split the air, Matt wouldn't have been surprised. It was the London he had seen in films that took place during World War II.
The hotel was small and so discreet that it didn't even have a name on the front door. Richard and Matt both had rooms on the third floor — paid for, of course, by the Nexus. After they'd unpacked, they took the tiny, rickety elevator back to the ground floor and had an early supper together in the dining room. They were still eating when Mr. Fabian appeared, this time in a dark suit with black, brightly polished shoes.
"Good evening," he said. "I have been asked to take you to the meeting. But you must finish your meal first. We have plenty of time. Do you mind if I join you?"
He drew up a chair and sat down.
Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star
"Is it far from here?" Richard asked.
"No. A short walk." Fabian was in a good mood. He seemed to have forgotten the way their last meeting had ended.
"Can I ask you something?" Richard asked.
"Please. Go ahead."
"I know nothing about you. I mean, you once told me you lived in Lima. .
"In fact I live in Barranco. It's a suburb of Lima."
"But what do you do? How did you get chosen by the Nexus? Do you have a wife or any children?"
Fabian had raised a finger to his lips at the mention of the Nexus, but there was nobody else in the room and he relaxed. "I will answer your questions," he said. "No, I am not married. Not yet, anyway. As to my work, I'm a writer.
Similar Books
