Read Online Troubletwisters by Garth Nix, Sean Williams - Free Book Online

gone for good slowly ebbed, but the memory of that sharp stab of fear remained. He was her brother . Sure, he annoyed her sometimes – but what would she do without him?
    A sudden gust of wind made the window rattle like a drum, and both twins twisted around, startled by the noise.
    ‘I think that’s enough bouncing for now,’ said Grandma X, helping Jack up.
    ‘Are you sure you’re all right, Jack?’ asked Jaide.
    Jack glanced at the mirror and saw himself, perfectly visible again, as he should have been. But he was distracted by a sound from outside, something rising above the sounds of the rain and wind.
    ‘What’s that noise?’ he asked. ‘Is that someone shouting?’
    Jaide squinted through the rainswept glass and gasped. There was a man being blown like a leaf up the drive, his feet never quite touching the ground, his mouth open and bellowing.
    ‘Oh, dear,’ said Grandma X. ‘That isn’t right.’

T HE TWINS FOLLOWED GRANDMA X as she rushed to the front door, threw it open, and ran outside. The wind howled and roared almost loudly enough to drown out the shouts of the man who was caught in its grip. He was in his fifties, heavily moustachioed. He wore jeans and cowboy boots very similar to Grandma X’s, and was waving an umbrella around and around his head.
    He spun and tumbled toward them, somehow managing to always get back upright despite the intensity of the wind around him. It swept him right up to the front door, spun him around in a tight circle, and dumped him in the gravel by the steps. He landed on his bottom with his legs in the air, but he was still waving his umbrella.
    ‘Yee-ha!’ yelled the man, and only then did the twins realise that his shouts were of excitement, not fear.
    The small tornado rushed back toward him, whipping up a cloud of wet gravel as it came. But before it could get hold of the man again, Grandma X stepped out and raised an admonishing finger.
    ‘Stop this at once!’ she commanded.
    The hair on the backs of both the twins’ necks stood up at the whipcrack of her voice, and they felt a strong compulsion to stay completely still.
    The wind must have felt it, too, for the tornado fell apart. The gravel dropped straight down, and the air was suddenly quiet and still, apart from the rain, which continued to fall in a steady stream.
    The man picked up a handful of stones and threw them over his head like confetti.
    ‘That was great!’ he cried. ‘Just delightful!’
    ‘Are you okay?’ Jack asked, hesitating only slightly before rushing forward to help him up, with Jaide a step behind him.
    ‘Better than all right, young fellow, young lady – why, thank you. I feel quite enthused, as a matter of fact. That doesn’t happen every day.’
    ‘It shouldn’t happen at all,’ said Grandma X in a warning tone, coming up beside the twins with her arms folded. ‘How did it start?’
    ‘Well, I’d just ducked out of the shop to see where Kleo had got to when the wind snatched me up. I’ve never felt anything quite like it. A most amazing ride!’
    ‘Weren’t you frightened?’ asked Jaide, gazing up at his ruddy, beaming face.
    ‘Not at all. Why would I be?’
    Because it isn’t normal , she wanted to say, but the words died on her lips. Very little about Grandma X, her home, and now her friends struck Jaide as remotely normal. That they seemed to like it that way only made them weirder.
    The man thrust out his hand to her.
    ‘David Smeaton’s the name, but you can call me Rodeo Dave.’
    He shook hands with both of the twins as they introduced themselves in turn. His hand was calloused and very strong, and his good mood infectious. Jack, who was normally reticent around strangers, found himself laughing at a slightly off-colour joke about wind.
    ‘You’re obviously all right, then, David,’ said Grandma X, not quite smiling. ‘Kleo is here, so the wind brought you to exactly the right place. Shall I call her?’
    ‘She’ll come home when she wants to, I