The Spider Truces by Tim Connolly Read Free Book Online

Christmas presents and you’d get nothing.”
    Ellis thought this through. She had a point. He stamped his boots on and threw on his coat. He felt braver with boots on.
    “You don’t like doing stuff with me,” he concluded. “That’s what I’m getting at. I like you but you’re not much fun.”
    On the bookshelves in the dining room Ellis found a large hardback volume of Jane’s Fighting Ships . An idea had come to him as he was putting on his boots. He hadn’t decided on the idea exactly, nor advanced it once it had appeared in his head. He simply realised that he was going to do this certain thing and that it was better for him not to stop and think about it.
    From halfway up the stairs, he leant out between the stairwell beams and dropped the book on to the floor below. Then he went outside to play and the voices of accusation and denial began in his head.
    Mafi used a damp cloth to remove the carcass of the spider from the book cover. When she kissed Ellis goodnight, she whispered, “If you want to live and thrive, let a spider run alive.”
     
     
    Ellis woke with itchy nipples. This was happening more and more. He knelt up on the bed and resolved to speak to Mafi about his harsh polyester pyjamas, the purple ones with gold trim. He yawned and stretched, and as he thought of breakfast Chrissie glided past and, without breaking stride, pointed under Ellis’s bed in horror.
    “Jesus, Ellis! Under your bed! Three huge tarantulas!”
    She screamed, a cheesy horror-movie scream, and ran downstairs.
    When his dad found him, half an hour later, Ellis was marching on the spot on his mattress. Denny stepped forward to hold his son but Ellis became hysterical.
    “They’ll kill you, Dad! They’ll bite you and kill you!”
    Denny rocked him and soothed him with whispers. “You’ve got to do something about this,” Denny said.
    “About what?”
    Chrissie appeared at the doorway, holding a volume of her encyclopaedia. “I’m sorry, Ellis,” she said.
    Denny pointed an accusing finger at her. “We’ll talk about this later.” He looked his son in the eye. “Come on, Ellis, you’ve got to get over this.”
    Chrissie found the page she was looking for and read from it with mock seriousness. “The tarantula lives in a burrow and darts out to catch passing prey. It can inflict a painful bite if molested but, despite the legends surrounding it, it is not a dangerous spider.”
    “I don’t care if they’re dangerous, they freak me out!”
    “Only trying to help.” Chrissie slammed the book shut, put it under her arm and swung one-handed on the doorframe. “It also says the only place in the world you could live and be sure not to see a single spider at all is Antarctica.”
    Ellis tapped his dad on the arm. “Can we move to Antarctica?”
    “It’s very cold, Ellis. Me and your sister wouldn’t fancy it at all and it would probably kill Mafi instantly.”
    “Please.”
    “Too cold.”
    Ellis crossed his arms defiantly. “Well, I’m not staying here with them.”
    “We could send Ellis to Antarctica on his own,” Chrissie offered. “I’d chip in if it were a matter of the fare.”
    “Chrissie, shut up!” Denny snapped.
    Ellis began to shiver. Tears streamed down his face.
    “They keep appearing out of nowhere and scaring me. I call out that I’m coming in and give them time to get out first but they don’t. It’s not fair. It’s our house and we were here first.”
    “Well, that’s not strictly true, I’d imagine, Ellis,” his dad said. “You don’t mind the glow-worms and things like that though, do you? Up at the bonfire?”
    “No, they’re amazing,” Ellis said.
    “Well …” Denny sighed, “just try to think of spiders the same way. You’ve really got to snap out of this.” He lifted Ellis off the bed.
    “Don’t put my feet down!” Ellis cried.
    “Come on, Ellis! This isn’t like you.”
    “It is like me! It’s exactly like me. We have to move house!”
    “Well,