Read Online Spellfall by Katherine Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

life. Despite the circumstances, he couldn’t help being excited by the deep, powerful throb. This was a real car.
    He reclined the passenger seat, feigning casualness. He considered himself rather good at this, having hung out with the Death Heads so long. But Mr Marlins saw through it at once.
    “Put that seat back straight,” he snapped. “Strap yourself in. And don’t touch anything else unless I tell you.”
    “Sorry, Mr Marlins.” He quickly returned the seat to its original position and eyed the fog. It was already dark outside. Street lamps cast misty orange cones, reminding him of the morning Nat had vanished. He shivered.
    Mr Marlins revved the engine, more like a joyrider than a middle-aged dad. Tim felt uneasy. He shifted in his seat and glanced at the door handle. But before he could change his mind and get out, the car leapt forward, wheels spinning sickeningly for a moment before they screeched out of the drive. Tim was thrown against the door as Mr Marlins took a hard right. He fumbled desperately for his seatbelt.
    “Warned you, didn’t I?” Mr Marlins said. By this time, they were hurtling through town, weaving in and out of traffic and swerving dangerously around corners. Somehow, Tim got the seatbelt fastened. He swallowed his stomach.
    “All right?” Mr Marlins asked.
    “Fine,” he managed in a croaky voice. “But where are we going? The pizza place is back that way.”
    “I know.”
    “Are we going to eat somewhere else, then?” Tim’s unease was growing by the second. They had left Millennium Green and were speeding along an unlit country road, black tree trunks looming out of the fog on each side and vanishing behind them. Every time the car squealed round a bend he thought they were going to die.
    “You hungry?” Mr Marlins said, after a few minutes of pure terror.
    “Not really.”
    “Good, because I’ve a better idea. Why don’t we go rescue Nat?”
    Tim sat very still. He eyed his stepfather’s profile.
    “You think I’m still drunk, don’t you?” Mr Marlins said.
    “No.”
    “Yes you do. You’re thinking I wouldn’t be driving like this unless I’d had a few.” They roared into a right-hand bend and Tim’s side of the car glanced off the crash barrier. He shut his eyes as sparks hissed against the passenger window. Mr Marlins smiled grimly. “If I’d been drinking, we’d have been upside-down in that ditch by now. Relax. Enjoy the ride. You told your mother you wanted to help search the woods, didn’t you? Well, now’s your chance.”
    Tim swallowed his stomach once more and considered his stepfather. “Does that mean you know where Nat is?”
    “Let’s say I’ve a very good idea.”
    Anger rose. “Why didn’t you tell Mum? She’s been going frantic!”
    “I have my reasons.”
    Finally, it dawned on Tim what must have happened. “Oh, I get it! Nat’s been kidnapped, hasn’t she? You’ve had a ransom note that warned you not to say anything to the police! That’s why they told us they hadn’t found anything.”
    His fear vanished, replaced by a shivery thrill. At last someone was doing something. Mr Marlins really did seem to know what he was doing with the car. Obviously he wouldn’t have told Julie. This sort of thing was man’s work. Tim felt a glow of pride that his stepfather thought he was grown-up enough to help, and another glow at the news that Nat was still alive. When all this was over, he’d have something really exciting to tell Gaz and the gang, much better than spraying their names on toilet walls. Then he remembered what he’d done to Gaz last time they’d met and his excitement subsided slightly.
    Mr Marlins gave him a sharp look. “Maybe,” he said. “Sit still and do what you’re told.”
    Tim cupped his hands to the cold glass and watched the trees race past. At the speed they were going, in the dark and with all the fog, it was difficult to read the signposts. At some point they left the main road and wove their