Emma and the Minotaur by Jon Herrera Read Free Book Online Page B

want to drive you home,” she said. “I don’t think he’ll let you take the bus.”
    “But I like the bus,” he said. “What if I tell him I like to ride it?”
    “Really? No one likes the bus,” she said. “Well, except me.”
    “What if I just leave?”
    “That wouldn’t be polite.”
    Emma leaned against the kitchen counter and stared out the window. There was still a little bit of daylight out but night was quickly approaching. Though she was sure that the thing she had seen in the forest the other night had only been in her imagination, the thought of Jake walking around alone in the dark still scared her. Two people now had disappeared into the forest and she didn’t want Jake to join them.
    “I’ll go with you,” she said. “But tomorrow. Can you come back tomorrow? Why don’t you sleep over? Then we’ll go to the forest in the morning.”
    “Really?” Jake said. Emma nodded.
    “I’ll call my mom,” he said. “Thanks, Emma!”
     
    Jake woke up in the middle of the night. He was disoriented at first, and he was a little frightened because he didn’t know where he was.
    He was lying on a couch and there was a thin blanket on top of him. He pulled the blanket off and stood up. His evaporating sweat cooled him off. A clock that ticked on the wall showed that it was a little past midnight. It took him a moment to remember that he was in the Wilkinses’ living room.
    He spotted the kitchen on the other side of a counter and he walked there and poured himself a glass of water. The kitchen window was open and Jake could hear the night noises that drifted in from the darkness.
    He drank his water and put his glass down but, as he was turning to go back to the couch, he heard hushed voices speaking outside. The first voice belonged to William Wilkins. The other voice was deeper and strangely musical.
    “Does it have to be her?” Mr Wilkins said.
    “You know it does,” said the other voice.
    “She’s only eleven.”
    “I know,” said the voice. “It’s early but he is moving already.”
    From where Jake was standing he couldn’t see either of the speakers. He stood on his toes and tried to look out the window but they were just out of his field of vision.
    “I was hoping it wouldn’t happen,” Mr Wilkins said. “I was hoping to be long dead by the time he returned.”
    “I understand.”
    Jake climbed up on the kitchen counter to get a better look. He could see that there was a veranda just outside and Mr Wilkins was standing at the edge of it, leaning on the railing. Beyond the veranda, to his right, there stood a tree. Under the tree there was a strange figure cloaked in shadow.
    “I want you to leave her alone. Don’t get her involved in this. Don’t go near her.”
    The shadow shifted. “You know that I won’t. She has to come willingly but when she does, I will help her.”
    “Then I’ll make sure she doesn’t come,” Mr Wilkins said.
    “I think you’ll find that there is nothing you can do about it, William,” said the shadow. “Just like before.”
    The shadow shifted, there was a rustle of leaves, and then it simply wasn’t there anymore. With a frown, Jake got down from the counter as quietly as he could. He went back to the couch, lied down, and pretended to be asleep. He heard the back door open, and then heard Mr Wilkins’ footfalls as he moved through the house.
    Jake stayed up a long time, unable to forget the shape of the shadow under the tree. It had looked like a man with horns.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    5
    The Forbidden Forest
     
    Sunday morning came and Emma rose early. She thought that Jake would be eager to get going and she was excited to return to Glenridge Forest. There was a lingering hope that the singing tree had been real.
    When Emma went to the living room, she saw that Jake was still sound asleep. He was sprawled on the couch with his arms pointing out at odd angles. She shook the boy awake and he opened his eyes and blinked in the