The Monster of Shiversands Cove Read Free Page A

but I was just hitting my stride.
    â€˜Then, there are werewolves,’ I said. ‘Watch out for werewolves. They’re normal humans most of the time – your teacher or the postman – but at full moon they change. They grow into big hairy monsters, like giant wild wolf men.
They
eat kids too,
especially
little boys. And it’s full moon
very
soon so watch out.’
    Magnus’s bottom lip was trembling now, although he was still silent, still staring. Did I care? No. I was
so
fed up.
    Then I had a thought.
    â€˜And you know what?’ I said. ‘That painting downstairs, of that sea monster? It was probably painted from
life
. It’s probably a painting of a sea monster that lives around here. So keep your eyes open. Small boys are the very
first choice
of dinner for a sea monster!’
    You know how you say something and you instantly regret it?
    I did then.
    Magnus was quaking and quivering. He was too scared even to call for Dad. One fat little tear rolled down each of his small chubby cheeks.
    I felt bad. I felt grumpy and ashamed. I knew I had gone too far. ‘Just joking,’ I said. ‘There
are
no monsters.’
    I stomped over to the window to draw the curtains and shut out the big bright moon.
    I gaped. There it was, out there in the bay, just by the island.
Again
. Something
huge
was leaping out of the water.
    And this time, I saw it more clearly. It had a long neck, a snout and some weird frilly thing, flapping all around its head.
    I couldn’t help it.
    I shrieked.
    I shrieked and I shrieked and I shrieked.
    Â 
    Chapter Four
    Shocks in Store
    Dad came running in. He saw me, shrieking at the window about something being out there. Something bigger than a whale, with a long neck, a sharp snout, a frilly thing round its head . . .
    He saw Magnus, quivering and quaking, whimpering about how I was scaring him by talking about monsters.
    Then, with a glare in my direction, Dad whisked Magnus away.
    I could hear the two of them talking. Magnus, tucked up in Captain’s Cabin, telling Dad all the things I had said. Dad telling Magnus that Fairy Fenella was right and that all the monsters were gone.
    Dad stuck his head round the door once Magnus was asleep, and Dad was
not
happy. ‘Stan,’ he said. ‘NO MORE TALK about monsters.’
    Then, he stomped off downstairs.
    Well, I was not happy either. What a
horrible
coincidence. Me scaring Magnus about monsters and then seeing the big whale thing leaping out there. The big whale thing that looked, well, a bit like the painting: the one in the sitting room, the painting of a sea monster.
    No. No, no, no.
    The whale thing was
not
a sea monster. Whatever it was, it was definitely
not
a sea monster. Of course it wasn’t. Monsters weren’t real, any more than fairies were.
    All the same, I lay awake. So . . . what sort of whale
was
it then? What kind of whale had a huge long neck and a big snout and something frilly all round its head?
    There was not one single whale like that as far as I knew. Whales didn’t have long necks: none of them.
    I had a thought. Maybe it was a new species. Maybe I had just made an astonishing discovery. Maybe it could be named after its discoverer. Me, Stanley Gubbins. The Gubbins whale.
    Then, I had another thought.
Was
it even a whale or was it something else? Perhaps it was some kind of crossbreed: a mix, like some dogs are. Like dalmadoodles are part dalmation and part poodle, or like chugs are part chihuahua and part pug. Or like Bagel, who is a mix of . . . well, Rory isn’t quite sure what. Whatever mix makes a dog with short legs, a long body, floppy ears and a curly golden coat.
    Was that it? Was this a crossbreed? A mix of . . . what? Eel and whale? Part fish, part mammal, maybe even part lizard too? Because there’s a lizard that has a frilly thing round its head, a big flapping frill that it spreads right out when