Read Online The Nightmare Game by Gillian Cross - Free Book Online Page B

the gateway, the garden was very dark, but he could just make out the shape of the shed at the far end. That was where the bikes were, hidden between the shed and the back fence.
    Emma came up behind him, not realizing that he was still standing there. When she bumped into him, she gave a small, startled squeak.
    â€œSssh!” Robert muttered under his breath.
    â€œIt was your fault,” Emma said indignantly. “You were in the way. If you’d just kept going—”
    â€œ Sssh! ” That was Tom, following behind her. “Get into the garden quickly, before someone comes. And be quiet .”
    Robert couldn’t believe they were being so loud. He’d learned about being quiet in the cavern, when he was small. If he’d gone outside and made the kind of noise they were making, some greedy predator would have come along and eaten him. Tom and Emma wouldn’t have survived for five minutes the way they were behaving now.
    He pulled them into the garden and shut the door, lowering the latch carefully. Then he turned and began to pad down the garden, keeping to the grass and feeling the way with his feet. The others followed, as silently as they could.
    They were halfway to the shed when a window opened behind them.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” said a child’s shrill voice. “Go away, or I’ll call the police.”
    A light came on suddenly, catching all three of them out in the open. There was a girl at one of the upstairs windows and she was pointing a powerful flashlight straight at them. They stopped dead, turning to face her.
    â€œIt’s all right,” Robert said gently. “We’re not doing anything wrong. We’ve just come to fetch something that belongs to us.”
    That didn’t make any impression on the girl. “I’ll call the police now ,” she said, “if you don’t get out of here. I’ve got the phone in my hand. Look.” She turned the flashlight toward herself and they saw her for the first time. She was only about eight. A thin, lanky girl with hanging hair and nervous eyes. Her left hand was gripping a phone and they could see it shaking as the hand trembled.
    â€œYou really don’t need the police.” Emma was trying to sound gentle, too. “We’re not doing anything bad. Why don’t you go and fetch your mom or your dad? Then we can explain.”
    The flashlight whipped back toward the garden, dazzling them all, and the girl gabbled a sentence that sounded as if she’d learned it by heart.
    â€œIt’s not convenient for my mother to speak to you at the moment.”
    As she said it, they heard another sound from behind her. It sounded like a much younger child, whining as if he’d just been woken up. The flashlight wavered again as the girl called back into the house in a sharp voice.
    â€œGet back in bed, Callum. Everything’s all right. I’ll come in a minute.”
    Tom shifted uneasily beside Robert. “Isn’t there anyone else there?” he muttered under his breath.
    â€œDoesn’t sound like it,” Robert muttered back.
    Emma raised her voice and spoke to the girl again. “We’ll only be here for a minute. It’s just that some stupid kids have dumped our bikes behind your shed, and we need to get them back.”
    The girl hesitated for a second. “There’s no bikes in our garden,” she said warily.
    â€œYes there are. Look. We’ll show you.” Emma began to walk in that direction, very slowly, so that the girl could follow her with the flashlight.
    Robert nudged Tom. “Get going, Tosh. What are you waiting for?”
    Tom was staring back at the house. “How could anyone leave her like that?” he whispered fiercely. “She’s terrified.”
    Robert shrugged. “She seems pretty brave to me. And maybe she loves being in charge and bossing her little brother around. We don’t know what