Daisy Madigan's Paradise by Suzy Turner Read Free Book Online Page A

they were referring to. Someone had drifted into their circle.
Almost like he was under a spell. It was Jack
    Daisy held her
breath as she watched him hover in between them.
    'Jack,' she
mouthed silently.
    'Well, what do
we have here?' said the man called Drake.
    'Its the boy
again. I touched him a few days ago,' said the brunette who now
stood with her hands on her hips. She licked her lips and held out
her hand towards the spirit.
    As her hand
found his centre, Jack seemed to convulse.
    But he was a
ghost, how could he be affected, thought Daisy.
    She wanted to
help but knew there was nothing she could do. These were dangerous
people. At least Jack was already dead, she thought guiltily.
    Instead she
just sat motionless and helpless, watching from above as Jack was
pulled and prodded by the young woman.
    'Hello Jack,'
she said to him. 'Its good to see you again.'
    Jack hovered,
his feet barely touching the ground with his head drooped
forward.
    'Well, aren't
you going to say hello?' she asked as she prodded him again,
causing his head to flick upwards.
    'H...h...he...llo,' he whispered.
    'Hello what?'
she probed.
    'H..ello
Bea...trice.'
    The woman
laughed and clapped her hands together. 'Aw, you remembered. How
sweet. Now tell me, what have you been up to?'
    Jack said
nothing.
    'What's the
matter, don't you remember?' laughed the dread-locked girl who sat
on the ground with her arm around the man who'd earlier transformed
from a wolf.
    'Come on,
Jack, I only played with parts of your memory. Tell me what you've
done since you last saw me?'
    Jack looked up
at her and opened his mouth, 'I...I... went to see Daisy. She...
she told me I was dead,' he stuttered.
    Daisy held her
breath.
    'Daisy? Who is
this Daisy?'
    Oh no, please
don't tell them about me, thought Daisy.
    'Daisy's my
girl. She lives in the park.'
    Momentarily
forgetting about everything that surrounded her, Daisy's heart did
a little jump. He called me his girl.
    'She lives in
the park? What? You mean this park? Abney Park?'
    Jack nodded
and Daisy was brought back to reality with a bang.
    'Well, well,
well... looks like we've got a runaway in our midst,' said
Drake.
    'She sounds
like fun, Drake,' said the dread-locked girl, 'can we find her? Can
we... play... with her?'
    Drake knocked
his head backwards and laughed with his eyes closed.
    'If you need
another plaything to keep you occupied Darcey, sure.'
    Oh My God...
they're going to kill me.
     
     

CHAPTER
13
     
    Fortunately
for Daisy, the group hadn't found her and they hadn't killed her.
Not yet anyway. She'd stayed up there in that sturdy tree all night
and just before dawn, they'd finally gathered their things and left
the park. Jack had been allowed to leave hours before but Daisy had
no idea where he'd gone.
    When she knew
it was safe, she expertly climbed down the tree and rushed to her
hiding place inside the catacombs. Snuggling down into the sleeping
bag, she closed her eyes and slept for as long as she could. Well,
for as long as the nightmares would allow anyway.
    Giant wolves
chased her through the forest until she reached the tunnels beneath
ground, escaping just moments before their deadly sharp claws tore
at her skin. Breathing deeply, Daisy scurried through the darkness
but she wasn't alone. She could feel their breath on her skin,
ghosts followed her. At every move, another one appeared until
there were so many underground with her that she couldn't breathe.
Her lungs felt tight and she spluttered, gagging for breath,
wheezing and coughing until she awoke with a start, covered in a
light film of sweat.
    Moments later,
when she realised she was safe, Daisy laid back down and breathed
in and out, in and out, calming her breath until it was finally
back to normal.
    It was just a
dream, she thought, just a really bad dream.
    'Daisy?' said
a woman's voice out of nowhere.
    'Ah,' she
gasped.
    'Oh, sorry,'
said Charlotte, one of the ghosts from the other night who appeared
in front of her. 'I didn't