Read Online The Beast of Blackslope by Tracy Barrett - Free Book Online

to check it out again.
    â€œIt’s hard to picture a creature hiding out in those woods,” she said to Xander. “They’re so pretty, not the kind of place where a wild animal would live.”
    â€œI guess,” Xander said. The problem was, he could picture a wild creature hiding just about anywhere. What if they found it—and it went after him or Xena? How could they possibly fight a monster like that?
    â€œWow!” Xena said as the magnificent old house came into view. The car turned into a drive that went down a gentle slope and then rose again to the house in a huge circular sweep. Lofty columns ran along the front of the graceful stone building, and many of the large windows were open in the warm morning, showing white curtains that flapped in the breeze.
    â€œCan’t you just imagine carriages coming up to this door for a ball?” she asked.
    â€œOr people getting ready to go out on a fox hunt?” Xander said.
    â€œYuck,” said Xena. “Poor little fox.”
    â€œPoor little fox, nothing,” their father said
from the front seat. “They carry disease and they kill people’s pets. They even have them in London now.”
    A dozen or so cars were already parked by the house. Hand-lettered signs reading PREVIEW THIS WAY pointed left.
    â€œYou kids coming?” their mother asked as she got out.
    Xander started after her but Xena pulled him back and asked hastily, “Can we go exploring?” Their mother looked doubtful, so Xena added, “It’s such a nice day.” Xander started to object but changed his mind. This was a regular old country house with sheep and probably with dogs. No wild animals were likely to be around.
    â€œAll right,” their father said. “Just keep out of mischief, okay?”
    They followed the flagstone walkway to the right, around to the back of the house. “Can you imagine living in a place like this?” Xena asked.
    Xander shook his head, craning his neck to gaze at the upper stories. “You could spend weeks exploring. They must have lots of servants.”
    Xena stumbled on a broken flagstone and said, “Well, I hope they take better care of the house than the garden. Look at this place.”
    They stopped and surveyed the lawn. It was
a mess, with uncut grass and overgrown shrubbery. Wildflowers and weeds competed for space with plants that looked as if they had been carefully chosen long ago. A rusty rake and a broken watering can leaned against a bush.
    â€œYou can tell that used to be a maze.” Xander pointed at ragged hedges that still preserved some of the angles and openings that must have once made a puzzle. “And look at this building.” He climbed the steps of a forlorn gazebo whose roof gaped with holes and whose floor had moss creeping over it. He sat down on a bench and hastily stood up again when it creaked as though it was about to break.
    â€œWhat is it, a hexagon?” Xena put her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling. She counted the sides. “No, an octagon. Must have been pretty once.” She looked at the faded paint that could have been yellow years ago.
    â€œDid you say octagon?” Xander asked. Xena nodded and started down the steps. “Wait a sec, Zee. Let me see the notebook.”
    Xena stopped and pulled the straps of her backpack off her shoulders, and then rummaged around in it. She handed the book to her brother.
    Xander leafed through it. “Aha!” He was triumphant. “Check it out!”

    â€œWhoa!” she said. “A drawing of an octagon! I didn’t even notice that before. Do you think it’s this building?”
    â€œCould be.” Xander was starting to get excited. “Look! It is! This big rectangle with lots of lines in it is this house. It looks just like those architectural drawings that contractor guy made when Mom and Dad were talking about putting an addition on the kitchen