Kneeknock Rise by Natalie Babbitt Read Free Book Online

He paused and looked thoughtfully at Egan and then, in a rush, he said, “Boy, listen to me. There isn’t any Megrimum. Never was. It’s all been just a lot of nothing all these years. Just a lot of—megrimummery, if you will. It’s too bad, that’s what it is. Too bad. Come along. I’ll show you.”

    Close to the top of Kneeknock Rise lay a shallow cave. At the mouth of the cave the mist was very thick and as hot as steam, and the strange, unpleasant smell was almost overwhelming.
    “Phew!” said Egan. “What in the world is in there? It must be something very rotten and dreadful!”
    “No, not at all,” said Uncle Ott. “It’s only a mineral spring. Sulphur. Nasty, but not unnatural.”
    “A spring?” puzzled Egan. “But how could it be a spring? Springs aren’t hot.”
    “Sometimes they are,” said Uncle Ott. “This cliff must have been a volcano long ago. The water boils up to the top through a narrow hole, from far under the earth where it’s very hot. And that makes this steamy mist. Usually the hole lets the steam through quietly, but when rain seeps into the hot places—more pressure, more steam. And the steam makes the whistling, whining, moaning sound as it shoots out the top of the hole. Just like a boiling kettle. The cave echoes and makes the sound even louder, and that, my dear boy, is the long-feared, long-loved Megrimum.”
    Egan stood and stared and then all at once he was very pleased. “I knew this old cliff wasn’t so wonderful,” he said. “Can I go in there and look at the spring?”
    Uncle Ott shook his head. “Too hot,” he said. “And anyway, there’s not much to it. Just a hole in the ground and a lot of hot rocks.” He shook his head again and sighed. “Too bad about that. Just a hole in the ground.”
    They turned away from the cave and walked back to where Annabelle sat waiting for them. “Come down to Instep with me and we’ll tell them about it,” said Egan. “We can both sleep in your room. I’ll sleep on the floor with Annabelle.”
    “No, no, I think I won’t go down to Instep,” said Uncle Ott, running his fingers through his wild white hair. “Now that I’ve got my own dear Annabelle with me—and I do thank you for bringing her up—I guess I’ll just go on down the other side.”
    “Have you been up here all the time?” asked Egan.
    “Yes, as a matter of fact I have. I came up thinking I’d be going right back down again, so I didn’t bring Annabelle along, and anyway, I was afraid she’d have trouble with the climbing. But when I got up here, the air was so wet and hot—well, it just did wonders for my wheezing. Absolute wonders. See? I can breathe perfectly well!” He took several deep breaths to show that it was true. “It’s been a blessing. But now I guess I’ll move along.”
    Egan had a sudden idea. “It was you that night, wasn’t it? Tapping at the window?”
    Uncle Ott looked embarrassed. “That was too bad. I thought I could get Annabelle to come to the window and then I could lift her out and take her away with me. But there was Gertrude all of a sudden, screaming, and I had to go away. I felt very bad about scaring her.”
    “But I don’t see why you didn’t just come into the house,” said Egan. “During the day. And take Annabelle then.”
    “Because,” said Uncle Ott slowly, “I didn’t want to have to explain.”
    Egan was puzzled. “About the Megrimum, you mean?” he asked. “Why not? They’re all scared to death of the Megrimum. They’d be happy to hear there isn’t one after all.”
    “Do you think so?” said Uncle Ott. “I really don’t know about that. I’ve been thinking and thinking about that.” He looked at Egan sadly. “Is it better to be wise if it makes you solemn and practical, or is it better to be foolish so you can go on enjoying yourself?”
    “The king and the fool!” said Egan, suddenly understanding.

    “Exactly,” said Uncle Ott. “Exactly. I see you’ve been reading