Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain by Sean Cullen Read Free Book Online Page A

run.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œRemember your dear mother, Professor.”
    â€œActivating.”
    The cool sensation surrounding his feet and shins suddenly bloomed into white-hot pain. The sensation was bizarre and horrible—as if hundreds, thousands of tiny worms with heads as sharp as pins were burrowing into his flesh. He screamed and opened his eyes, staring down at his feet. They were encased in huge black boots, slick and shiny in the white light beaming down over the operating table where he lay. Two men in grey surgical gowns stood on either side of the table. In place of eyes, black goggles glittered in the harsh light. Between them stood the Professor, his eyes watery, swimming behind thick glasses. The Professor held a small black box in his hands.
    â€œWhy are you doing this to me?” Hamish whimpered. “Why?”
    â€œWhy?” Mr. Sweet tilted his head and looked at the boy on the table. “Why? The world is going to change and you are the instrument, the conduit, and the key! As to why you? Just unlucky I guess.”
    â€œDear God,” the Professor whispered.

    The grey men looked at each other. “Hamish X,” one of them said. The other nodded. “The tenth time’s the charm.” The man reached out, extending a disturbingly long finger, and pressed a button on the Professor’s black box. The pain in Hamish’s legs increased.
    â€œMother!” Hamish X called, terrified. “Mother?” He screamed and screamed.
    â€œ WHAT THE HECK was that?”
    Parveen sat up. “It sounded like Hamish X.”
    In the galley, Mrs. Francis and Mr. Kipling dropped their teacups when the first howl ripped through the airship.
    â€œHamish X!” Mrs. Francis gasped. In an instant, the two adults were hurrying down the corridor to the boy’s cabin. Frightened children, startled from deep sleep, stuck their heads into the corridor. “Stay in your bunks,” Mrs. Francis instructed breathlessly.
    When they reached the cabin they found the room in a shambles. Hamish X was up on the big Captain’s bed. All the other furniture was overturned or smashed to kindling. The bedclothes were torn to tatters. He was turned away from them, facing the wall and kicking it furiously. With every strike of boot against the wooden wall, a crackle of sparks splashed across the tortured planking. Flares of light shot off the footwear, casting a weird blue glow over the room and making Hamish X appear almost demonic. In his hands he clutched the green leather book Great Plumbers and Their Exploits . He turned and glared at the two adults when they rushed into the room, stopping them short with the fevered intensity of his gaze.
    â€œI have to find my MOTHER!”
    â€œYes, Hamish X,” the soothing voice in his head said. “Don’t let anyone stop you. Come to me now.”
    He nodded and gritted his teeth. Summoning up a surge of energy, he drove a boot into the wall. The surface cracked under the furious kick. Boards shattered into slivers. The concussion was deafening in the enclosed space of the cabin. Hamish X looked like a creature possessed. His golden eyes were wild and staring. He pointed at the boots.
    â€œThese! I don’t want them! TAKE THEM OFF!”
    â€œNo, Hamish X,” the Voice said calmly. “You need the boots. They are good.”
    â€œI don’t LIKE THEM. I DON’T LIKE THE MEN!”
    He seemed to be trying to smash the boots as much as smash his way through the wall in the process.
    â€œHamish X!” Mrs. Francis cried. “Stop!”
    His golden eyes blazed with terror and rage. Teeth exposed in a snarl, he shouted, “Where is my mother! WHEEERRRRRRRE?” The howl raised hairs on the back of Mrs. Francis’s neck. There was no recognition in the boy’s eyes, only fear. The gentle if mischievous boy who had first come to Windcity was nowhere to be seen.
    â€œHamish X, please!