Mystery At Riddle Gully by Jen Banyard Read Free Book Online Page B

crookedly. ‘Not exactly. She died when I was six, before Aunty Giulia and Uncle Pete talked Dad into moving here. But she was a fierce journalist. She won an award. Dad’s kept all her articles for me.’
    â€˜That’s good. No, I don’t mean ... not good, but...’ Will stared at his toes, his head thumping. This girl didn’t have enough parents and he had too many. Where was the sense in that?
    â€˜Don’t worry, she’s still around somehow,’ said Pollo. ‘So!’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘You know as much about me now as I do about you,’ she said. ‘We’re square.’
    If only, thought Will. He licked his finger and dabbed at a prickle scratch. ‘You haven’t told me what your big Page One story is.’
    Pollo peered up and down the track and into the dim forest behind them. ‘It’s this man. A stranger here in Riddle Gully. He’s staying out at the old ranger’s hut,’ she whispered. ‘He’s one of them, I’m pretty sure. I think he’s planning to take my friend Sherri and make her one of the Living Dead.’ Her voice resumed normal volume. ‘Do you know Sherri? She runs the second-hand shop but she used to be a singer on—’
    â€˜Hang on,’ said Will. ‘Back up a bit. Make your friend Sherri one of the what?’
    â€˜The Living Dead,’ said Pollo out of the corner of her mouth. ‘You know...’ She leaned close to Will’s ear. ‘Vampires!’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Vampires!’ said Pollo, looking around. ‘I think this man is one of them. I’m almost certain anyway—and I know heaps about them. I’ve read just about every vampire book there is. You should see the way he dresses and talks, and he hangs around in graveyards and likes bats and doesn’t come out till dusk. And—get this—his name is Viktor von Albericht! Nearly exactly the same as the vampire in the book I’m reading right this minute!’
    â€˜No way!’ said Will. ‘He sure sounds like one.’
    Pollo began pacing up and down the path, then turned to face Will. ‘He has to be! That’s why we’ve got to track him down tonight and find out everything we can. Sherri’s life could depend on it.’
    â€˜Did you say “we”?’
    â€˜Maybe ... It just slipped out.’
    â€˜But you’re the one chasing the story,’ said Will. ‘I don’t even know Sherri! I’m not going to—’
    â€˜Listen, it’s none of my business, I know, but aren’t your mum and stepdad due home soon? Seems to me like we should quit chatting and get on with it.’
    â€˜Get on with what?’ asked Will.
    â€˜Making a hole in the fence, of course! You can go and get an axe for starters.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    Saturday 19:30
    â€˜Step back!’ said Pollo, hefting the axe onto her shoulder.
    Will’s eyes widened in horror. ‘Stop! We can’t just cut a hole with an axe! My stepfather would suspect something straight away.’
    â€˜It’s a lot better than trying to beat the fence unconscious like you were doing!’
    â€˜I wasn’t trying to beat the...’ Will huffed. ‘I tried to prise off some pickets by leaning the plank against them and jumping on it, only I wasn’t heavy enough.’ He looked sideways at Pollo. ‘But you’re here now.’
    Pollo looked doubtful. Clutching the axe handle, she jiggled her shoulders around, very much like someone who wanted nothing more than to swing an axe. Eventually she lowered it. ‘Okay then,’ she said. ‘Convince me.’
    â€˜See here?’ said Will, pointing towards the base of the fence, about half a metre above the ground. ‘On each panel the pickets are nailed to this bit of wood going across. So if we wedge the plank against the pickets about here—’ Will jammed one