Odin Blew Up My TV! by Robert J. Harris Read Free Book Online

it like a club.
    The wolflings closed in. Just then a savage “ SCREEOWR! ” from behind halted them in their tracks. Neck fur bristling, they turned to see who was bold enough to challenge them.
    There in the hall doorway, swelling itself up to its largest size, its eyes blazing with malice, stood Evil Cat. Far frombeing afraid of the wolflings, it looked eager to take them on.
    The effect on the wolflings was electrifying. They turned on the cat as one, their yellow eyes flashing, savage growls vibrating in their throats.
    Evil Cat spat defiance at them.
    Prisoners forgotten, the wolflings lunged at their new enemy. With a malevolent hiss Evil Cat turned and fled. The wolflings instinctively gave chase, slashing at the air with their swords. In a pack they pursued Evil Cat out the back door.
    “Wow!” said Greg. “You’d think Loki would have them better trained.”
    “We’d better get out of here before the cat shakes them off and they remember what they came for,” said Susie.
    The three of them ran out the front door and down Bannock Street. In the distance they could hear the wolflings’ howls as they hunted Evil Cat along Lindsay Gardens.
    “Right,” said Greg, “which way to Kinburn Park?”
    “We should keep under cover,” Susie advised, “in case that giant hawk’s out looking for us.”
    “Let’s take the Lade Braes Walk,” suggested Lewis. “There are plenty of trees there to hide us.”
    They hurried down to the Lade Braes and followed the path that ran beside the burn. Tall oaks and beech trees shaded the whole route with their spreading branches. From there they turned up onto Doubledykes Road.
    All along the way they passed people paralysed mid-step, which Lewis found unsettling. “It’s like walking through a huge waxworks,” he murmured.
    “I just hope everybody will wake up again,” said Susie.
    “No worries, Spinny,” said Greg, clapping her on the shoulder. “We woke Lewis up and he’s right as rain. Aren’t you, Lewis?”
    “I guess so,” said Lewis. “Although, now that you mention it, my stomach’s a bit queasy. I think the cheese in those sandwiches was a bit off.”
    “Never mind your stomach!” said Greg. “Here’s the park now.”
    They entered Kinburn Park and followed a paved drive up to the museum. From the outside it looked like a miniature castle. A sign by the door advertised teas and coffees in the café.
    All the lights inside were flickering an eerie green colour. At the reception desk sat a Goth girl in pink glasses, one hand stretched out towards the telephone. Beyond her was the café where several customers were seated, some with cups in their hands, one with a piece of cake on its way into his mouth. The flickering light made the motionless figures look like zombies, just waiting to lurch into unnatural life.
    “I wish the lights would stop doing that,” said Susie with a shudder.
    “Come on, it’s not like the place is haunted,”said Greg.
    An opening to their right led to a room where items from the history of St Andrews were on display. There were photographs of Market Street in Victorian times, a wartime gas mask, a sign from a cinema that shut down in the 1970s, and even some railway timetables from when trains stopped at the town. On the far wall was a screen that usually showed old newsreels.
    “The Viking exhibit is upstairs,” said Lewis.
    “No, come and look at this,” said Susie, beckoning them over to the screen.
    On the screen they saw a lofty mountain with mysterious silver clouds swirling about its craggy summit. As if issuing from the mountain itself, they heard the voice of Odin. Lewis felt the ring on his finger begin to tingle as they pressed in closer to hear. All three of them strained their ears, trying to distinguish Odin’s words from the static interference.
    “Rrrzzzzz… flash… bzzzt… rescue… urrrzzz… gurda…”
    The screen flickered and the face of Odin, one-eyed and white-bearded, superimposed