The Lightning Catcher: The Secrets of the Storm Vortex by Anne Cameron Read Free Book Online Page B

bandages, is it? Anyway, I’m not even sure it’s open.”
    Dougal hesitated for a second, then pushed timidly on the door. A small bell tinkled above their heads, making them both jump as they entered. Inside, the shop was dark and gloomy. A narrow walkway disappeared into a twisting labyrinth of shelves and display cabinets. Thick veils of dust and sagging cobwebs covered almost every surface and windowpane. Angusshivered. There was no sign of anything mummified.
    â€œ Urgh! Look at those!” Dougal darted over to a low shelf where a collection of ugly animal-skull table lamps had been arranged.
    Just beyond the lamps was a large display of ornamental spoons, earrings, and necklaces made from cow ribs and rabbits’ feet, as well as a whole gallery of anatomical skeletons dangling limply from long rails and arranged in order of height.
    â€œI wonder who Crevice sells those to,” Angus said, gulping, as they hurried through the forest of milky white bones. He flinched as his hand accidentally brushed against the knuckles of a large skeleton. Its empty eye sockets watched him as he stumbled past.
    There were cabinets full of teacups and saucers made from fine ox-bone china and a vast collection of glass jars containing powdered bone, which they stopped to inspect in more detail.
    â€œAccording to this label, powdered bone is supposed to be good for rheumatism, muscle aches, lumbago, and all sorts of other stuff,” Angus said, studying the contents as they passed each jar.
    â€œYuck!” Dougal wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Talk about dodgy. How do we get out of this place? I think I’ve had enough bones for one day.”
    Angus was feeling just as keen to leave. Dougal led them swiftly back the way they’d just come. After several minutes, however, it was obvious that they’d somehow taken a wrong turning and were now heading even deeper into the choking tangle of shelves and jars. They crept through an eerie alley of animal skeletons, including whole packs of scrawny-looking rats and weasels. There was also something suspiciously dinosaurlike with a long neck and barrel-shaped rib cage that was so enormous Angus and Dougal could have stood upright inside it.
    â€œThis place is like a rabbit warren,” Angus said, staring around. He glanced at his weather watch. But apart from the fact that they were now headed in a northeasterly direction, it could tell him nothing useful about how to find the exit. He was just about to suggest climbing up onto one of the cabinets so he could get his bearings when Dougal suddenly yanked him down behind the skeleton of a shark complete with vicious teeth.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI think I’ve just seen Creepy Crevice, the shop owner!” Dougal whispered.
    Angus peered through the bones. “His first name’s Creepy?”
    â€œOf course it isn’t. That’s just what everyone on the island calls him.”
    A man was standing twenty feet away from them behind a dusty shop counter. Creepy Crevice was white haired and withered, his paper-thin skin as pale as the powdered bone that sat in jars on the shelves behind him. His long fingers, sunken cheeks, and scrawny frame gave him the appearance of a living skeleton, dressed in a faded, old-fashioned suit like the ones Angus had once seen at a Victorian Christmas fair.
    â€œWhy are we hiding?” Angus asked, keeping his voice low.
    â€œBecause Creepy Crevice isn’t exactly friendly,” Dougal whispered. “Dad had an argument with him once about some bone china. I heard them shouting at each other on the front doorstep. Crevice threatened to pickle Dad’s ears.”
    Angus could believe it. Crevice was scowling in a veryunfriendly manner at a customer on the other side of the counter who was dressed in a dark, flared coat that was so long it brushed the ground. It was also bulky enough to hide more lightning cubs than an inflatable emergency