Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation Read Free Book Online

found over there."
    He pointed toward the side of the house. "Wasn’t a bank form and it was all by itself—and it’s got your name on it, so I guess it’s yours."
    "My name?" Bran asked curiously. He hadn’t dropped anything outside that he could remember. Mr. Swinehic dug in his pocket.
    "I kept it just in case," he said, pulling it out. "It’s odd and doesn’t make much sense, either."
    He produced a single slip of paper, torn at the top and the bottom. It was very plain but wrinkled and dirty, and Bran took it and read what was written there:
     
    Meet me at midnight in Dunce to pick up Bran. Since I cannot save him, you must do it for me; and in return
     
    The rest was torn off. Bran blinked at it and ran his fingers along the edge, very confused.
    "See, doesn’t make any sense," Mr. Swinehic said. "Looks like it’s torn off something." Mr. Swinehic pointed to the edge. "Must go on from there, like part of a letter, but I couldn’t find the rest. Sounded important and odd, so I kept it."
    "Th-thank you," Bran stammered, unsure of what to say. He turned the page over, but there was nothing on the back except some dirt stains. He looked up to ask more, but Mr. Swinehic had already started back for his house. Bran stood there dumbfounded for a minute, and he turned to look where Mr. Swinehic had said he found the paper.
    That’s where I ran into the burglar last night… Bran thought, remembering when Shambles had knocked him off his feet. For some reason, the paper made him think of something familiar. He had seen the same style so many times before that in a second he almost felt he recognized it.
    "Looks a lot like the paper with my name…" he thought aloud, but he stopped himself and gave a small laugh. It couldn’t be. There was no way it could have anything to do with something Mr. Swinehic found in the grass— his paper was eight years old!
    Still, he was very curious, and started back for the house. It would be a wonderful coincidence if the papers matched. He went upstairs and almost to the end of the hall, to the ladder against the side and out of the way. It went straight up toward a hole in the ceiling. Sunlight shone on his face as his head popped through, and he drew the bag out and held his paper up to the sunlight. He looked from it to the one Mr. Swinehic had found, and smiled.
    So I was right, he thought. It is the same type of paper!
    He looked from one to the other. The one with his name was written on a torn scrap of yellow notepaper, with soft blue lines for writing on. Some of the lines had been blotted and blurred, but the handwriting was still crisp and black. The one from Mr. Swinehic was the same, and Bran held the two pieces close together, comparing them. The handwriting looked exactly the same. His heart began to pound faster, his grin disappearing. "This is incredible…" He shook his head. "Mr. Swinehic found a paper just like—"
    Bran froze. He saw something he hadn’t noticed before. When he moved the paper with his name to the top of the other, the edges fit along the tear.
    He held both pieces still, though his hands shook as he studied it. He could do nothing but stare at the edges that fit so perfectly.
    "I don’t believe it…" he told himself, but it was right before his eyes. Where the blue lines at the bottom of his paper ended, they continued onto the second slip of paper. He read the page:
     
    Bran Hambric, born June 17
    To: Clarence
    Meet me at midnight in Dunce to pick up Bran. Since I cannot save him, you must do it for me; and in return
     
    The rest was torn off there. Bran shook his head with disbelief. How did the paper get outside their house? He remembered again how Shambles had run into him— he had dropped it!
    Questions raced through Bran’s mind. He told himself over and over it didn’t mean anything, but as he looked at the edges of the paper and the handwriting, he knew something strange was happening. He ran his finger along the bottom.
    "How