Fairy Metal Thunder (Songs of Magic, #1) Read Free Page A

of a road just outside town. It was atop a small hill,
surrounded by huge old trees whose limbs gnarled together to form a
dark canopy. The weeds under the trees were thick as
cornstalks.
    Jason rode his bike up the short length of
driveway and stopped at the gate. A high brick wall, thick with
moss and mold, blocked most of Mrs. Dullahan’s lawn from view. He
could see one wooden turret of her house beyond it, with its single
narrow window shuttered tight.
    The gate itself was a massive pair of wooden
doors, inscribed with strange floral and geometric designs, and
these were full of moss, too. The whole area around her house felt
chilly, though the rest of the town was warmed nicely by the May
sunlight. It was nearly summer.
    A rusty metal box, with little speaker holes
and a single unmarked button, was built into the brick wall by the
gate. Jason felt uneasy as he pushed the button.
    He stood there for a minute, waiting.
Apparently, she wasn’t going to answer, and that was a relief. He
turned his bike around.
    “Who’s there?” a raspy voice clicked out from
the rusty box.
    “Oh!” Jason said. “Um, hi, Mrs. Dullahan. My
name is Jason Becker. My mom and the Lutheran Ladies sent me over
here.” The lady didn’t say anything, so he added, “Yeah…They said
I should help you with yard work or something.”
    “Go away,” the lady’s voice replied.
    “Okay,” Jason said. “Should I just leave the
muffin basket by the gate, or….?”
    “Go away!”
    “All right, sorry!” Jason started to put the
muffin basket down, but then reconsidered. If the old lady didn’t
want it, he could bring it to band practice for everybody to eat.
Maybe Erin would like that.
    He pedaled to Mitch’s house with the muffin
basket dangling from his handlebar. Dred’s van was in the driveway,
and the garage door was wide open, but no music was roaring
out.
    “What’s wrong?” Jason asked as he parked his
bike just outside the garage. He set the muffin basket on the
workbench. “Can’t play without me?”
    Mitch, Dred and Erin were in the garage, but
they weren’t touching their instruments. Instead, they were moving
boxes aside and looking carefully at the floor, searching for
something.
    “I lost my necklace,” Erin said. “The gold
one with the little emeralds on the pendant? Have you seen it
anywhere, Jason?”
    “No, sorry. You lost it here?”
    “I don’t know. I’ve been looking everywhere.”
Erin’s eyes were glistening like she was wanted to cry, but she was
holding it back. “I’ve searched at home, at school, at The
Creamery…”
    “We’ll find it,” Mitch said. He looked around
the base of the drum kit.
    “I already checked there,” Dred said.
    “I’ll help.” Jason knelt and peered under the
workbench on one side of the garage. He knew the necklace Erin was
talking about. She wore it almost every day. It matched her green
eyes. “When was the last time you saw it?”
    “A couple days ago. I don’t really
remember.”
    “We’ve been looking for fifteen minutes. I’m
pretty sure it’s not here,” Dred said.
    Erin frowned and turned her face away from
everyone. She crossed her arms. “Never mind. I’m sorry for wasting
everybody’s time. Thanks for trying.”
    “I’ll check out in the yard.” Jason walked
outside to look over the driveway and the grass.
    In the garage, Dred tapped impatiently on her
drums.
    “Thanks, anyway, Jason,” Erin said. “Let’s
just play.”
    “You sure?” Jason asked. “I can keep
looking.”
    “Nah, it’s cool.” Erin shook her head and
tucked a lock of green hair behind her ear. “Forget I said
anything, okay? We have to practice for the audition.”
    Jason took his guitar out of the case, which
he’d left in Mitch’s garage the previous night. “I meant to tell
you guys, I can’t come tomorrow night, either. I have to babysit
Katie.”
    “That’s two days in a row,” Mitch said. “The
audition is next week, Jason. I told you when you