The Unseen by Zilpha Keatley Snyder Read Free Book Online Page B

of it—gone. And the wounds, the terrible deep wounds, were … She bent to run her hands over her smooth unbitten ankles. And all the blood? It was gone too. “But they bit me,” she said. “It was horrible.” She straightened up to stare at Belinda. “Didn't they bite you?”
    Belinda looked uncertain. “No,” she said. “I don't think they bit me.” She looked down at her legs. “But I could tell what was happening to you.”
    It made no sense. Xandra stared at Belinda angrily. “It can't be real,” she said. “Things don't happen like that. You don't get big holes chewed in you and all that blood, and then it's all healed over in just a minute.”
    “I know,” Belinda said. “I don't understand it.” She paused, frowning and shaking her head. “I'll find out, though. He should have told me what might happen. He should have told me more about what to do.”
    “You mean your grandfather?”
    Belinda's eyes flicked to Xandra's face and then as quickly shifted away. “Never mind,” she said. “But I think I can find out about … about what happened. I can tell you more about it after I have a chance to …” She nodded. “Yes, maybe then. But until I find out, you'd better …” Reaching out, she snatched the feather out of Xandra's hand.
    She turned quickly and started back down the path that led to the back gate. Xandra ran after her. “Wait,” she said. “My feather. Give me back my feather.”
    But Belinda shook her head as she clutched the feather against her chest.
    “No. No, I mustn't. You mustn't. It's too dangerous.”
    “But it's mine.”
    Belinda continued to shake her head. “Promise not to ever do that again. Because next time it might be much worse. Like maybe the Key would stop working, and you wouldn't be able to escape.”
    “Escape? Escape from what? From where?”
    Belinda's eyes widened. “From the Unseen,” she said.
    “The Unseen?” Xandra's voice was a shaky whisper. Somehow it was a frightening, really terrifying thought. “All right,” she said. “I promise. I absolutely promise not to use it again unless you're here to help me. Okay?”
    “Okay,” Belinda repeated as she slowly and reluctantly put the feather back in Xandra's hands. “I guess it will be all right—if you keep your promise.” But then she grabbed Xandra's wrist. Narrowing her eyes, she whispered, “Don't do anything at all until I find out about …” Her voice faded to silence, and turning away, she continued down the path, through the gate and out into the woods. Xandra watched her go before she headed for the house. At the bottom of the back steps she came to a stop. With one hand on the railing she turned to look toward the basement door.
    Firmly closed now, and gleaming white in the rays of the afternoon sun, the basement door looked like …well, like the rest of the Hobsons' house, strong and sleek and sturdily built. But behind the door … Xandra shuddered. Turning quickly, she ran up the steps.

A S SHE HURRIED up the back steps, Xandra was thinking only of getting to a safe place where she could think calmly about what had happened—or at least what seemed to have happened. To where she would be able to figure out what had really been going on—and how it could seem so absolutely real—and why. Something seemed to be telling her that figuring out the
why
of it was going to be very important. The why, and maybe most important of all, how much Belinda had to do with it. Belinda—or maybe the mysterious grandfather she always seemed to be not quite mentioning.
    As she entered the back hallway, Xandra stopped long enough to nod firmly and with a great deal of determination. Yes, she would see Belinda at school and on the bus tomorrow and she would find out what had really happenedin the basement. But in the meantime she would try to come to some sort of understanding of it by herself in the safety and quiet of her own room.
    With the enchanted feather safely back around her