Forest Secrets Read Free Page A

twelve years old. He seemed to float out of the darkness like some sort of spirit or apparition until suddenly he was standin’ right there in front of me and Gloria. I didn’t know what to say or what to do, so I just stood there, paralysed … I can tell ya, I was ready to freak out big time. Anyway, the only other thing I remember is that the kid, or ghost, or whatever, was dressed in long khaki pants, braces and a peak cap.’
    â€˜In old-fashioned clothes?’
    â€˜Yeah, sort of. Not too old-fashioned, though. Just a bit behind the times. Anyway, the funny thing was that he just stood there starin’ and not sayin’ anythin’. Not a word. He was as quiet as a … as a snake just before it has a go at ya. It was dead set scary.’
    â€˜What did Gloria do? She must have been terrified.’
    â€˜Nah, she wasn’t frightened at all. For some reason I can’t explain, she didn’t see a thing. The kid was invisible to her. All she saw was me standin’ there lookin’ clueless.’
    â€˜What happened next?’
    â€˜The kid left. He turned on his heel and disappeared back into the night.’
    All through Snook’s story, I’d been watching his eyes; there was a real intensity about them that told me he was dead serious. He wasn’t playing games like he sometimes did. I sat back, thinking about what he’d been telling me, but he hadn’t finished.
    â€˜What happened next was the really upsettin’ bit,’ he continued. ‘It’s probably the reason why Gloria’s talkin’ to Quigley and not to me.’ He paused for a second, and then added, ‘I can’t say I blame her.’
    I was certain Snook’s thinking was a bit off here so I thought I’d better set him straight. ‘It’s the other way round, Snook. From what I saw, you’re the one not talking to her.’
    â€˜Oh? How do you mean?’
    I gave him a condensed version of this afternoon especially the bit about him snubbing Gloria on the bus.
    Snook thought for a while and then said, ‘If all that’s true then what I did after I saw that kid wouldn’t have helped.’
    â€˜Why? What’d you do?’
    Leaning forward and in a low voice, he said, ‘One minute I was talkin’ to Gloria, askin’ her what she made of it all, the vision, and the next I was in a sort of daze, like I didn’t know what I was doin’. I dunno what Gloria thought about me actin’ like that; maybe she thought I’d gone bonkers or somethin’.’
    Trying to picture Gloria’s role in all of this, I asked, ‘What happened then? Did Gloria help you?’
    â€˜That’s it; I dunno if she did or not. All I do know is that I ended up back home … in bed. That’s when somethin’ else happened. It was like I was having a nightmare, but I know now that it wasn’t.’
    Now it was my turn to sit forward. Snook’s story was more than just interesting; it was downright scary. I was getting worried about him too. His eyes, stretched and frantic, were now wandering all over the place, looking like they might go pop at any minute. ‘What then? What did you see then?’ I asked.
    â€˜You won’t believe me if I tell you. I can hardly believe it myself.’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Last night, I saw the asteroid Stormy was talkin’ about today. It came from somewhere behind the stars and it was massive. It was goin’ flat out towards earth!’
    Like a river of fire, Snook’s words burned and tumbled around in my head … asteroid … kid … nightmare, and, for some reason I felt they were trying to tell me something. Sitting on the edge of the chair, I leaned forward and whispered, ‘So you actually saw the asteroid Stormy was telling us about and it wasn’t just a dream.’
    â€˜That’s right. The asteroid Stormy was talkin’ about this