Read Online Moonlight Secrets by R.L. Stine - Free Book Online Page A

“Feels good.” He took another step, and the water rolled over the bottoms of his jeans.
    â€œWhoa!” Shark shouted. “The bottom—it drops straight down. It’s totally deep here.”
    I waded in for a second, but the icy water made my ankles ache. I hobbled back, shaking the pain from one foot, then the other.
    The two girls and I found a sunny, dry spot in the grass. We dropped down and stretched out and raised our faces to the sun.
    Shark splashed along the shore for a while. Then he began picking up stones and heavingthem with all his strength into the river. He tossed one after another, grunting with each throw, his face tight and intense as if he was having some kind of contest with himself.
    Finally Jamie called for him to come and sit down. To my surprise, Shark obeyed. He stretched out between the two girls, pulled up a fat blade of grass, and jammed it between his lips.
    â€œWhat’s your problem, anyway?” Jamie asked him. She was leaning back with her hands in the grass. Her dark eyes caught the light of the sun.
    Shark scratched one shoulder. “Don’t really know.”
    â€œYou looked so intense,” Ada said. “What were you thinking about?”
    He frowned. “Cockroaches.”
    Jamie turned to me. “That was so freaky last night,” she said. “I couldn’t get to sleep, Nate. I kept thinking they were in my bed.”
    Shark chewed on the blade of grass. He kept his eyes down.
    â€œIt’s so gross,” Ada murmured. “I’m so glad I stayed home last night. I mean . . . crawling on your tongue ?”
    â€œStop talking about it,” I said sharply. “I can’t stop thinking about it either. My mouth has been itching all day.”
    I picked a ladybug off the knee of my jeans, dropped it into my other hand, and watched it cross my palm. “Did you see the look on Candy’s face?” I asked. “When I had the cockroaches climbing out of my mouth?”
    Jamie and Shark shook their heads. “Candy is a cockroach,” Shark muttered.
    â€œWell, she was grinning,” I said. “I mean, she had this big grin on her face, like she was so enjoying it.”
    â€œYou’re joking,” Ada murmured.
    â€œCandy is a witch!” Jamie exclaimed. “That explains it. She cast some kind of spell on you, Nate. Then she sat back and watched.”
    Ada laughed.
    â€œThat’s dumb,” Shark said.
    Jamie tossed a clump of dirt at him. It bounced against his T-shirt and crumbled to the grass. “It’s not dumb at all. I’ve read a lot about witches. They really do exist.”
    â€œDumb,” Shark repeated.
    â€œThen what’s your explanation?” Jamie demanded.
    Shark scratched his hair. “You know that story about the girl on a farm who fell asleep in the barn, and a spider crawled into her ear? It’s an urban legend or something?”
    Jamie shook her head. “What about it?”
    â€œThe spider laid eggs in the girl’s ear canal, but she was asleep. She didn’t know it,” Shark continued. “And a few weeks later, she was sitting at dinner, and her ear started to itch. And hundreds of tiny spiders came crawling out of her ear.”
    â€œOh, wow.” Ada made a disgusted face. “Is that a true story?”
    â€œCould be,” Shark said.
    Jamie sat up straight. “And you think Nate swallowed a cockroach sometime, and it laid eggs in his throat or something?”
    â€œIt’s possible, right?” Shark replied. “And they all hatched last night.” He frowned. “That’s better than saying Candy is a witch and cast a spell on him.”
    â€œNo way,” Jamie murmured.
    â€œCandy sure thought it was a riot,” I said. “She was, like, really into it.”
    Shark got this faraway look in his eyes. “I know how to deal with Candy,” he whispered.
    â€œExcuse me?”