Read Online The Second Forever by Colin Thompson - Free Book Online Page A

said Peter. ‘Why would he want to stop us fixing the drought and the flood?’
    â€˜Revenge,’ said the old man.
    â€˜Revenge?’

    â€˜Yes, I think knowing he can never die and livingwith the guilt of what he created has worn away at his heart and destroyed his soul, and now he hates everything,’ said the old man. ‘I believe he thinks that if he can’t find peace and die, then he wants to make the rest of mankind suffer as much as he can. Thousands will drown and those in our world will die of drought. Eventually, there will only be him and the Ancient Child left on earth.’
    â€˜But he was the one who made the book in the first place,’ said Festival. ‘He can’t blame everyone else.’
    â€˜No, but he does.’
    The old man explained that the Ancient Child had been born with a terrible incurable disease that meant he would slowly waste away in excruciating pain by the time he was ten years old. Every day of those ten years would be unrelenting suffering, no days or even hours of respite, no relief with any known treatment.
    â€˜That was why Darkwood created the book, to save the life of his child,’ said Peter’s grandfather. ‘And who could blame him? What parent wouldn’t have done the same thing if they could? Of course his child was a baby when all this happened, so he knew nothing about it until years later.’
    â€˜But how will we get back without the bat?’ said Peter.
    â€˜Through the wall,’ said the old man.

    â€˜Wall?’
    â€˜Oh, come on. Did you really think I didn’t know about the space behind the wall in the cat mummy’s room?’ said Peter’s grandfather. ‘Archimedes told me. He was Darkwood’s cat.’
    The old man continued, ‘Archimedes was sitting on Darkwood’s lap when he read his baby son the book, but unlike the Ancient Child, when you destroyed the book, he was freed. Still, he left another to look out for you. You have met her, haven’t you?’
    â€˜Yes,’ said Festival. ‘Peter has called her Syracuse.’
    â€˜Of course,’ said the old man. ‘That’s her name.’
    â€˜ Her name?’ asked Peter. ‘I thought . . .’

    â€˜. . . Syracuse was a boy,’ finished Festival.
    â€˜Why did you think that?’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Peter. ‘I just kind of assumed.’
    â€˜No, Syracuse is most definitely not a boy,’ said the old man with a grin.
    As they walked back to the museum, he made it clear that Peter and Festival had to leave that very night. They knew he was right, but the thought of climbing through the hole in the wall was frightening.
    â€˜It will be fine,’ said the old man to Peter. ‘You will carry the book.
    â€˜And you will carry Syracuse,’ he added, turning to Festival.
    â€˜But . . .’ Peter began.
    â€˜There is no but. You have no choice,’ said his grandfather. ‘Now, we must not talk about it anymore. I will meet you in the little room at eleven o’clock, when your parents are asleep. I will bring the book and Syracuse. We will not speak a single word.’
    â€˜Eleven o’clock?’ said Festival. ‘Why then?’
    â€˜Extra insurance,’ said the old man. ‘I suspect that Darkwood will have people watching in case you somehow arrive before the full moon, and secret journeys traditionally happen at midnight. If you go an hour earlier, you will have time to get to safety.’
    â€˜People watching?’ said Peter. ‘Has Darkwood got spies?’

    â€˜Of course. People like him always do,’ said hisgrandfather. ‘Even people as solitary and evil as Darkwood can find someone to serve them, but whoever and wherever they are, he keeps them well hidden.’ The old man stopped opposite the museum gates and, before crossing the road, he put a hand on each child’s shoulder.