Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane - 2 Read Free Page A

said. He stepped out from the tree, turned in a circle, and felt a jolt of alarm.

    In the brief time he'd been thinking, Boots had vanished.

    ***

CHAPTER 2
    "Boots!" Gregor was beginning to panic. She'd been right here a minute ago. Hadn't she?

    Or had he been so busy thinking, he'd lost track of how much time had passed? "Boots!"

    Where could she have gone? Into the trees? Out onto the street? What if someone had taken her? "Boots!"

    There wasn't even anyone around to ask. The park had emptied out as dark had fallen.
    Struggling to stay calm, Gregor tried to follow the trail of footprints that she'd been making in the snow. But there were so many footprints! And he could barely see!

    Suddenly he heard a dog barking nearby. Maybe it had found Boots, or at least its owner might have seen her. Gregor ran through the trees to a small clearing somewhat illuminated by a nearby light. A feisty little terrier was running in a circle around a stick, barking its head off.
    Intermittently it would grab the stick in its jaws, give it a good shake, and drop it on the ground.
    Then it would begin its frantic barking again.

    A pretty woman, dressed in winter jogging clothes, appeared. "Petey! Petey! What are you doing?" She scooped up the dog and shook her head at Gregor as she walked off. "Sorry, he goes a little crazy sometimes."

    But Gregor didn't respond. He was staring at the stick, or what he'd thought was a stick, that had been driving the dog wild. It was smooth and shiny and black. He picked it up and it bent in two. Not like a broken stick. But like a leg. An insect leg. From a giant roach...

    His head whipped around the area. When they had returned from the Underland that summer, they had come up through a series of tunnels that led to Central Park. They had been near the street, just as he was now.

    There, on the ground. That big slab of rock. It had been moved recently — he could tell by the marks in the snow — and then moved back into place. Something red was trapped under the edge of the rock. He pulled it out. It was Boots's mitten.

    The giant roaches from the Underland had idolized Boots. They'd called her the princess and done some special ritual dance to honor her. And now they'd kidnapped her right out from under his nose.

    "Boots...," he said softly. But he knew she couldn't hear him at this point.

    He pulled out his cell phone. They couldn't afford a cell phone, but after three members of her family had mysteriously disappeared, his mother had insisted they get one, anyway. He dialed home. His dad answered.

    "Dad? It's Gregor. Look, something happened. Something bad. I'm in Central Park, near that place where we came up this summer, and the roaches, you know, the giant ones? They were here and they took Boots. I wasn't watching her close enough, it's my fault and...I have to go back down!" Gregor knew he had to hurry.

    "But...Gregor..." His dad's voice was full of confusion and fear. "You can't —"

    "I have to, Dad. Or we might not ever see her again. You know how crazy the roaches are about her. Look, don't let Mom call the police this time. There's nothing they can do. If I'm not back right away, tell people we've got the flu or something, okay?"

    "Listen, stay there. I'm coming with you. I'll be there as quick as I can," said his dad.
    Gregor could hear him panting as he tried to struggle to his feet.

    "No, Dad! No, you'd never make it. You can't even walk down the block!" said Gregor.

    "But I...but I can't let you..." He could hear his dad beginning to cry.

    "Don't worry. I'll be okay. I mean, I've been down there before. But I got to go, Dad, or they'll get too far." Gregor puffed as he struggled to slide away the slab of rock.

    "Gregor? You have any light?" asked his dad.

    "No!" said Gregor. This was a real problem. "Wait, yes! Yes!" Mrs. Cormaci had given him a mini flashlight in case the lights ever went out when he was on the subway. He had clipped it to his key ring. "I've got a