Read Online Without Looking Back by Tabitha Suzuma - Free Book Online

wanted him on his team and the two of them did their best to outplay Dad and Millie, who were both prone to bending the rules. Millie liked to engage in rugby-type tackles, throwing herself round the legs of her opponent and knocking him to the ground, and at one point there was a real rugby scrum, with them all piling on top of Dad. When they were too out of breath to run any more, they decided to have a penalty shoot-out. Louis went in goal, and while Dad and Millie were arguing over who was going to take the ball, he did a couple of backflips. He felt happier than he had in days. Perhaps this holiday was going to be a success after all.
    Back in the car, Millie soon fell asleep again, grazes and grass stains covering her elbows and knees. Dad had the French radio on very low and Max was plugged into his iPod again . . .
    After a while Louis realized he must have dozed off, because quite suddenly the sun was high, blazing down from a massive stretch of blue sky. He sat up groggily to look out of the window and saw that they were surrounded by the most extraordinary scenery – green and brown mountains and, in the distance, the shimmering water of a vast lake.
    â€˜Where are we?’ he asked Dad.
    â€˜This is the Lake District,’ Dad replied. ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Louis replied. He could scarcely believe they were still in England. ‘Is this where we’re going to be staying?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Dad replied.
    â€˜With another one of your friends?’
    â€˜No, we’re renting a little farmhouse,’ Dad said. ‘It’ll just be the four of us.’
    Louis smiled.
    Sometime later, they turned off the road and onto a long bumpy dirt track that snaked its way across rough grassy hillside towards a small farmhouse, set half a mile back from the road. As they approached it in the juddering car, Louis saw that it was two storeys high, built of grey stone with a slate roof.
    â€˜The house is a hundred years old,’ Dad explained, finally switching off the engine and getting out of the car. He took a deep breath and gazed around. ‘These two acres of land belong to it. Crikey, just look at all this space.’
    As they followed him out, the air was very still, broken only by the faint twitter of birdsong. Max dug his hands into his jeans pockets and gave a low whistle.
    â€˜Wow,’ Millie breathed softly. ‘Beautiful.’
    Behind the farmhouse, the grassland rose gradually towards a towering peak. On the other side, several miles away, more green peaks pointed up towards a brilliant blue sky. Below them, a huge, inky-blue lake stretched out like a sheet of glass. A cluster of houses in the distance suggested a village. A cool wind lifted Louis’ hair and stroked his bare arms. He shivered. They had arrived in the middle of nowhere.
    They quickly began to explore the premises, Millie running about in excitement. To the left of the house, a corrugated-iron door led to a vast barn, empty save for a few bales of hay and some bits of broken machinery. Inside the farmhouse, the small kitchen was dark and damp, all the surfaces were covered with dust, and there was an evil smell coming from the fridge. The narrow corridor was dark and cold and the brown carpet was in dire need of vacuuming. The living room was not much better: an old, disused fireplace and a sagging brown couch. A steep flight of stairs led up to a manky green bathroom with cracked tiles; then came a small study, followed by two decent-sized bedrooms, one containing a single bed, the other a double.
    â€˜So I don’t get my own room,’ Millie realized, doing the maths.
    Max shrugged, clearly unimpressed by the inside of the house. ‘Looks like only one of us gets their own
bed
.’
    There was the sound of Dad’s feet on the stairs and he appeared, slightly breathless, carrying some bags. ‘Now don’t look so disheartened. The house has potential.