Read Online Gravenhunger by Richard; Harriet; Allen Goodwin - Free Book Online

working itself up into a frenzy.
    Rose sat up. She might just as well get out of bed and have a look. Anything to take her mind off those creepy words.
    She padded over to the window and pulled back the curtains, then blinked.
    Zigzagging across the garden was the beam of a torch…
    Squinting down, she watched the narrow shaft of light sweep in silent strokes over the drenched grass.
    What was Phoenix playing at? What on earth could be so important that he needed to go out there in the dead of night?
    The torchbeam circled the pair of swings at the far end of the garden before moving off once more. There was the occasional morse-like flash as her cousin picked his way through the trees on the outskirts of the forest … and then he was swallowed up into the beckoning arms of the pines, and all she could see was darkness.

    Whatever he did, he mustn’t give up.
    True, he’d nearly reached the end of the forest and hadn’t found the silver angel yet. But there was still the last bit of woodland left to check … and then the undergrowth on either side of the river and the stretch of land beyond.
    Phoenix paused for a moment, rubbing his eyes.
    It wouldn’t be such a bad idea to look over the mound again either. Shine his torch right inside that burrow. There was always the chance he had missed something earlier.
    He stared out through the trees, his skin creeping as he remembered the strange silhouette he had glimpsed that morning.
    Was it possible he had seen a ghost of some kind? He’d never believed in such things before, but the outline of the shape had definitely been human, and there was no point pretending otherwise.
    If it was a ghost, then what was it doing on the mound? Could it really and truly have sensed his presence? And what if it was still there … waiting for him?
    He hesitated.
    It would be so easy to turn back now. In less than five minutes he could be inside the house and safe under the covers again. But that was hardly going to find his mother’s angel, was it?
    Pointing his torch back towards the forest floor, he trudged on in the direction of the roaring river.
    He needed to get a grip on himself – and fast.
    It was the memory of his mother that mattered. Not some stupid thing that probably didn’t even exist.

    Rose reached behind her and dragged the quilt off the bed.
    The house was growing colder by the minute and outside the rain seemed to have turned to sleet. What was wrong with this place? It was supposed to be summer.
    Wrapping the quilt round her shoulders, she knelt down beside the window and checked her cousin’s progress.
    It had seemed like an age before he had finally emerged from the forest. She had even begun towonder whether he had got lost amongst the army of pines, and when at last a tiny light had appeared on the other side of the river, a surge of something that felt very much like relief had coursed through her.
    She watched as the beam of light advanced up the side of the mound, cutting through the sleet in the same sweeping, scouring motion.
    It stilled at the place Phoenix had lingered beside that morning, then disappeared completely, as if it was being focused right down inside the earth.
    Shifting slightly, she knelt up to get a better look, then jerked back.
    The floorboard she was kneeling on felt warm…
    Rose moved to one side and ran her hand over its woodwormy surface. The board was loose at one end.
    She bent down beside it, her pulse quickening … and sliding the tips of her fingers under its free edge, levered it towards her.

    Phoenix shone his torch into the burrow.
    There was definitely something down there.
    Whether or not it was the silver angel he couldn’t be sure – it was a long way down and almost totally covered in sandy soil. But it certainly looked about the right size and glinted in the torchlight if he got the angle just so.
    He pressed himself flat against the wet ground and reached into the hole with his free hand. The air inside was warm,