Read Online Pete McGee and the Master of Darkness by Adam Wallace - Free Book Online Page B

Fourteen
    Legs get physical
    B ob sat on the ground in the main room. Syra had been alone in the bathroom for some time now, and Bob was getting worried. He was about to slide over and knock on the door when it burst open and Syra Tanooth hopped out … with only one leg.
    â€˜Look at me, Bob,’ he said. ‘Oh, Pete McGee is so special because he can do things with one arm. Well, let’s see him stand up against a one-legged villain.’
    â€˜Pure evil genius, Syra,’ Bob gushed. ‘He will not be able to defeat you. I truly think you are onto something here. In fact, I would like to contribute as well. I believe that you will be even more evil and successful with no legs.’
    And with that Bob reached out a blobby bit, grabbed an axe, and chopped off Syra Tanooth’s other leg. Syra fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
    â€˜You idiot! What are you doing? I didn’t really chop off my leg, I was pretending. Look. It’s here! Now I really do only have one leg. Oh the pain, the pain of it all. Why did you do that?’
    Bob smiled.
    â€˜It’s starting to happen, Syra,’ he said. ‘I think I am starting to become as evil as Mumsy wanted me to be. I knew you were only pretending, and yet all I wanted to do, by gum, was chop off your leg. So I did. Jolly good show, wasn’t it?’
    â€˜No. No it wasn’t. Not one jolly bit! You chopped off my leg! I needed that leg to truly be evil and defeat Pete McGee. You don’t give up an advantage! How can I run? What if I need to run?’
    Bob thought this over and realised Syra was right.
    â€˜It’s okay,’ Bob said. ‘I can fix this. I am an expert at sewing. Mumsy thought it would be a useful skill to have.’
    And with that he dragged Syra Tanooth off to the sewing room (yes, even in an evil villain’s lair there is often a sewing room. It’s just in case they need to make some evil outfits).
    Marloynne and Mrs McGee watched the sharks swimming below them and listened helplessly to the screams coming from the other room. They assumed their evil captors had captured someone else and were torturing them. They hoped they wouldn’t be next.

    Pete McGee sat underneath a tree, the Green Book in his lap. He sat alone and watched the others, trying to work out what to do next. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and soon they would set up camp for the night. According to the Green Book they were still half a day’s march from the cave where the evil blob had been banished. Even when they got there, Pete didn’t know what they would find. He severely doubted his mum and Marloynne were being held there. This Syra Tanooth guy seemed pretty dumb, but he wouldn’t be that dumb. Surely not. Still, you could only hope.
    Pete tried to get his head around Syra, but he couldn’t. He wondered what Syra Tanooth’s goal was. It seemed that he simply wanted to take Pete down, and Pete had no idea why. They’d never even met before. Syra had talked about wanting to face Pete in battle, but then set a test that he thought would kill Pete. It was the worst test ever in terms of killing someone, but that’s not the point. It’s the thought that counts. It was all too weird.
    Pete sighed. He thought about knight training, how rigid it was, and how he wanted to get out. Sometimes though, on journeys like this, being told what to do would come in handy. It would be so much easier than having to come up with the solution himself. Right now, it would just be really good if someone could tell him what to do.
    Pete sighed again and rubbed his eyes. So much had happened in his life. He had been forced to grow up so quickly. It would be nice to be able to just be. But that wasn’t going to happen yet, and besides, in the back of his mind, Pete McGee knew that all he wanted to do was save his mum and Marloynne. After that he could think about all the other