Read Online Obsidian Pebble by Rhys Jones - Free Book Online Page A

chair. “Thanks a bundle. I’d almost forgotten about him.”
    â€œWish I could,” Oz said. “I just hope he doesn’t pick on me today. He has it in for me, I swear.”
    â€œYou and half the rest of the class.”
    â€œYou mean the bottom half of the rest of the class,” added Oz glumly. “It’s really weird. I used to like maths when I was in junior school. I was even quite good at it.”
    Ellie turned back. Her face was still flushed and angry-looking, but it was obvious that she had to respond to what she was hearing. “Oz, Badger Breath doesn’t have it in for you because you’ve suddenly become a maths idiot,” she said.
    â€œNo,” Ruff agreed, “he has it in for you ’cos he’s a miserable gonk.”
    There was no time for more chat about Boggs. The door to room 33 opened and in breezed Miss Arkwright, 1C’s form tutor. Oz quite liked Miss Arkwright because she was a bit different. She wore smock dresses and gladiator sandals and put “Save the Whales” and rainforest posters up all over room 33. She’d even worn a flower-print headband on a day trip to Techniquest once, and she knew absolutely loads about Xbox games. Okay, so she was a bit dizzy and sometimes forgot to take registration altogether, but 1C could put up with that, no problemo. The one thing that made Oz uncomfortable about Miss Arkwright was how earnest she was. Especially, for some reason, when it came to him.
    This Monday morning, however, Miss Arkwright seemed to be on a mission. She took registration in record time—even before the bell went—and told Jenks to sit down or he’d be spending the morning outside Miss Swinson’s office. That shut Jenks up as Miss Swinson, aka the Volcano, was Seabourne County’s deputy headmistress, and she was not the person you wanted to meet on your first day back, or any day, come to think of it. Finally satisfied at having got everyone’s attention, Miss Arkwright stood in front and smiled at them all.
    â€œNow many of you, I’m sure, will have celebrated Halloween. But I wonder how many of you know its real meaning?”
    â€œAll Hallow’s Eve, miss?” volunteered Marcus Skyrme, whose arm seemed to be permanently held up in the air whenever a teacher asked a question.
    â€œYes, indeed, Marcus.” She wrote the word “Samhain” on the board and pointed at it with her felt pen. “Our Celtic ancestors celebrated Samhain, pronounced ‘sow-ein,’ as their New Year’s Eve on October 31, which was then tidied up into All Hallows’ Eve by the Christian church in the eleventh century—”
    Jenks’ voice piped up from the back. “Do you believe in ghosts, miss?”
    Miss Arkwright frowned. Jenks’ sidetracking tactics were well-known to all the teachers and were usually trodden on unceremoniously, but on this occasion Miss Arkwright decided that it was a fair question.
    â€œI believe that there are more things in the world than can be explained by our common understanding, if that’s what you mean, Lee.”
    â€œYeah, but what about actual ghosts?” Jenks said, and then added theatrically, “You know, woooooooo.”
    Half the class laughed. For one horrible moment, Oz wondered if Jenks knew about what had happened in the orphanage and he glanced warily over at Ellie, who was looking puzzled, too. But then Oz saw Jenks’ mock innocent expression and knew he was simply winding Miss Arkwright up. She cleared her throat to ensure silence before continuing. “Well, literature gives us different interpretations. Some great writers believe that ghosts are the spirits of dead people yet to pass, spirits who are unaware of their deaths. Then there are those who favour the ‘herald’ theory, which suggests that ghosts most often bring messages of comfort to their loved ones to say that they are well and