Always October Read Free Page A

desk, is a picture of the three fates weaving the destiny of all mankind.
    The storm had broken and rain was pounding against the windows. Mom worked on her tapestry. I pretended to work on my math. Everything was very cozy.
    Actually, I didn’t plan to pretend about the math. I really did want to get the work done. But my mind kept wandering, distracted partly by the pleasure of watching my mother’s slim, quick fingers manipulate the bright strands of yarn, partly by the howling of the wind. I was trying to force my attention back to my own work when a rumble of thunder shook the house.
    As it tapered off, we heard a loud thump from the porch.
    Mom looked up. “Go see if the wind blew something over, would you, Jake?”
    I sighed, but mostly for effect, stepped into the front parlor, and turned on the light. (With money so tight, we don’t leave on lights we aren’t using.) Even with the light the room was gloomy, since it’s covered with dark-brown wallpaper. Every time I saw that paper, I felt a twinge. Dad had always said he was going to take it down someday. Now every time I saw it I wondered if “someday” would ever come—if he was dead, or had simply gone missing like his own father. If so, might he improve on his father and actually come back to us?
    At the front door I was touching the knob for the third time when another bolt of lightning split the sky, this one so close I could hear the crackle of the electricity. The thunder followed almost immediately, shaking the house.
    I waited for it to fade, then pulled the door open.
    A small cry at my feet caused me to look down.
    I let out a yelp of surprise.

3
(Lily)

OUT OF THE BLUE
    M ost of what happened that first night went down at Jake’s house. Even so, I need to put in something about what I did, since it turned out to be really important.
    So … after supper and homework I decided to go back out to the cemetery. I love being there when the rain is pounding down and the sky is exploding with lightning.
    Grampa was napping on the couch, which made things easy. I slipped on my raincoat and boots, grabbed a big umbrella, and headed for the door. The wind was strong, and I had to be careful not to let it blow the umbrella inside out. I headed for our library. It’s incredibly cool to sit inside that mausoleum and read scary stories while a huge storm is shaking the world.
    As I got close to the building, someone—someone really big—came running out. I ducked behind the Crawford family tombstone so I wouldn’t be spotted, but I was madder than the Phantom of the Opera listening to a bad soprano. Who else would be in the cemetery at this time of night? More important, what was he—I assumed it was a he, because of the size—doing inside our mausoleum?
    The books! I thought suddenly. Someone is trying to steal our books!
    That might sound silly, but even though they were only paperbacks, I knew some of the books Jake had brought were collector’s items. I also knew they meant a lot to him. I was so upset at the thought of losing them that it didn’t occur to me it was unlikely anyone else even knew they were there.
    Once the intruder was out of sight, I ran to the door. It was wide open. Well, that wasn’t so strange. The thief probably didn’t care about closing up after himself.
    What was strange was the blue light coming from inside.
    Cautiously, I peered around the door frame.
    The entire back wall of the mausoleum, the one where Jake and I had heard scratching earlier that day, was glowing.
    Irresistible.
    I walked toward it.
    It wasn’t so strong that it hurt my eyes, and I couldn’t feel any heat coming from it, so I reached out to touch it. The instant I made contact, the beautiful glow died. Everything went black.
    From the other side of the wall came a howl of rage.
    I turned and ran.

4
(Jacob)

LITTLE DUMPLING
    T he reason I yelped was that directly at my feet