Read Online Jake and the Giant Hand by Philippa Dowding - Free Book Online

This is where I saw the white stone at the bottom.”
    â€œOkay, let’s do it!” Kate said, and they hoisted the heavy auger into place. Chris took one handle, Jake and Kate took the other.
    â€œOne, two, THREE!” Chris yelled. They pushed and pulled on three. The auger bit into the fresh dirt.
    â€œOne, two, THREE!” Chris yelled again. It took twenty minutes of hard, back-breaking turning. It definitely took longer with three kids than it had with Jake and his grandpa. But the auger slowly dug a fresh hole, until Jake thought his arms would break. All three friends were in a sweat when the auger finally hit the bottom of the hole.
    The machine made a grinding sound. They pulled the auger out of the hole and laid it on the grass. All three were panting, harder than Gus ever did.
    Jake peered down the hole.
    Dark.
    Chris brought a flashlight and rope from the mini-bike storage box under the seat. He shone the light into the bottom of the hole, and there it was. A glint of white!
    â€œSee! It’s white down there!” Jake shouted.
    â€œYeah, I see it too,” Kate said.
    â€œYeah. Weird. You were right, Jake,” Chris added, scratching his head.
    â€œOkay, so you two tie the rope to my feet. I’m going down there,” Jake said. He peeled off his sweatshirt and tied the rope around his ankles.
    He lowered himself on his stomach and wriggled toward the hole, head first. Chris and Kate slowly lowered the rope. Jake shone the flashlight ahead of him.
    â€œOkay, lower me down. More! A little more! More. Okay, stop! I’m at the bottom.” His voice sounded really far away to Kate and Chris.
    Jake was deep into the hole. It was scary down there, with dirt closing in on him on all sides. He tried hard not to think of graves and coffins. It was a little damp too, and smelled like leaves and ...
    â€¦ swamp!
    He could smell wet earth and rotting worms. His face was a few inches from the bottom. Dirt fell into his mouth, his ears, his eyes. His heart beat harder. It was creepy, quiet, and dark down at the bottom of the hole. He started to feel a little faint. He’d have to work fast.
    He felt a million miles away from the surface. His grandpa was right — someone could really die down there.
    He didn’t have time to be scared. He had to concentrate. He used his left hand to hold the flashlight, and with his right hand he dug at the dirt. He scratched and clawed, and dug until …
    â€¦ there it was, a beautiful white stone. It was dazzling in the gloom at the bottom of the hole. He dug at it with his right hand, trying to get his fingers around it. But it was too big — there were no sides.
    So he scratched at it, and knocked on it, and tried his best to move it, but the white rock wouldn’t budge. The blood rushed to his head, and he was feeling faint.
    â€œHey, pull me out! Pull me up now!”
    Kate and Chris backed up and started pulling him out of the hole, just like Gus had a few days before. Jake’s shirt rode up his back, and dirt and rocks scratched his skin as he travelled upward. When he reached the top, he rolled onto the grass, breathing fresh air in big gulps.
    â€œI’ve never been so happy to see the sky,” Jake whispered.
    Kate knelt down beside him. “Did you get the stone? What is it?”
    â€œNo, I couldn’t dig it out. It’s too big. It’s really stuck down there.”
    Kate and Chris both took a turn. They were lowered into the hole to see if they could dig out the white stone, but no one could budge the rock. Everyone got scratches on their arms and legs and backs.
    They were all exhausted after that. It was almost five o’clock when they finally gave up. Jake didn’t want his grandfather to wake up and find him out in the field playing in post holes again. With Chris and Kate’s help, he refilled the hole with dirt. It was a lot faster and easier to refill a post hole with a shovel