Stranger in the Woods (eBook)
eBook Download:
EPUB
2015
|
1. Auflage
200 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-68222-700-8 (ISBN)
200 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-68222-700-8 (ISBN)
Devastated by the death of his father, Zach Webster's life gets worse when his mother moves him away from his friends in the big city to Whitmer, a tiny town tucked in the farthest corner of western North Carolina. They settle into the home of his late great-great uncle, an inventor whose secretive laboratory is still in the basement, hidden behind a locked steel door, the key lost somewhere in the old, Victorian house. With little to do for entertainment in the dying town, Zach and his new friends - twin boys and their younger sister - turn to exploring the nearby national forest, where they meet a strange recluse, an enormous man with fantastic, almost supernatural abilities. Amazing things happen when they're with this giant, and together they become entangled in a bizarre mystery that will forever change their lives and those of everyone around them.
Devastated by the death of his father, Zach Webster's life gets worse when his mother moves him away from his friends in the big city to Whitmer, a tiny town tucked in the farthest corner of western North Carolina. They settle into the home of his late great-great uncle, an inventor whose secretive laboratory is still in the basement, hidden behind a locked steel door, the key lost somewhere in the old, Victorian house. With little to do for entertainment in the dying town, Zach and his new friends - twin boys and their younger sister - turn to exploring the nearby national forest, where they meet a strange recluse, an enormous man with fantastic, almost supernatural abilities. Amazing things happen when they're with this giant, and together they become entangled in a bizarre mystery that will forever change their lives and those of everyone around them.
Devastated by the death of his father, Zach Webster's life gets worse when his mother moves him away from his friends in the big city to Whitmer, a tiny town tucked in the farthest corner of western North Carolina. They settle into the home of his late great-great uncle, an inventor whose secretive laboratory is still in the basement, hidden behind a locked steel door, the key lost somewhere in the old, Victorian house. With little to do for entertainment in the dying town, Zach and his new friends - twin boys and their younger sister - turn to exploring the nearby national forest, where they meet a strange recluse, an enormous man with fantastic, almost supernatural abilities. Amazing things happen when they're with this giant, and together they become entangled in a bizarre mystery that will forever change their lives and those of everyone around them.
Chapter 1
So far, it seemed like a normal day.
Zach rode home from school with his mother, just as he normally did.
His mother said what she normally said when the garage door slid up and revealed the black Escalade that was still there. “Looks like your father didn’t go job hunting.”
“Maybe he went, but he got home already. He said he might go out looking today.”
“Honey, he always says that.”
“Maybe he did it online. He said that’s better, anyway. Saves gas.”
His mother didn’t answer as she steered her Honda into the open space next to the big SUV. She switched off the ignition, turned toward Zach and opened her mouth as if she were going to say something, but closed her eyes instead and sighed.
“Really, Mom. That’s what I would do, if it were me.”
“He needs to meet people face-to-face, Zach, so he can look them in the eyes and shake their hand, not sit at home all day in his bathrobe watching television.”
They left the car and went through the door that led to the kitchen. She set her purse on the counter by the sink and called, “John?”
Zach hung his backpack in its normal spot by the window, a hook his father had installed six years ago when Zach started kindergarten.
“Maybe he’s napping on the couch,” his mother said. “I don’t hear the TV.”
He followed her into the family room, which was quiet and dark. “It’s depressing in here.” She went to the nearest window and twisted the long rod that opened the blinds, and light poured in. “That’s better. Now it doesn’t look like a tomb.” She headed toward the hall and called again, “John?”
“Shhh!” Zach hissed. “You’ll wake him up.”
“He needs to be awake. It’s almost five o’clock and it’s a beautiful spring day. He’s still got time to mow the grass before dinner.” She pushed open their bedroom door. “John? Where are you?”
“Maybe he went for a walk.”
“Not hardly. He might walk to the kitchen for a snack, on a good day.”
“Give him a break, Mom. He’s just been tired lately. That’s all.”
“Tired of lazing around the house, more like.” She knocked on the bathroom door and waited a moment. “Maybe he fell asleep in the tub.” She turned the knob and pushed it open.
Then she screamed.
* * *
Liz steered the car off of Interstate 40 onto the westbound two-lane road and read the odometer. “We should be there in about an hour and a half.” Zach didn’t reply, so she glanced at him, sitting beside her with his earbuds in, staring out of the passenger window. She raised her voice and said, “Zach, did you hear me?”
He twisted his head toward her and gave her a narrow-eyed look, then turned back to the scenery and whatever music he was listening to.
“Honey, talk to me, for gosh sakes. You haven’t said two words since we left Raleigh.”
He faced her again and said, “Word, word, word. Are you happy now?”
“Are you trying to be funny?”
He shrugged, barely, and looked away.
“I don’t think—” She bit her lip, forcing calm into her response. “Are you going to sulk all the way to Whitmer?”
He answered with another small shrug.
“Why are you so mad at me?”
He snatched his earbuds out and spun in his seat to fully face her, his jaw tight. “Why are you making me move away from Raleigh?”
“This again?” She let out an exasperated burst of air. “How many times do I have to tell you? I couldn’t afford that house anymore.” She couldn’t bear the thought of going into that bathroom again, either. It had taken Edie, her best friend, most of an afternoon to scour the blood off the tiles around the tub.
“You could’ve bought another house.”
“Not in that neighborhood and not on my salary. We were already two months behind on our mortgage. We were lucky Mrs. Panos was able to sell it for as much as she did. Otherwise we’d be in big trouble.”
“So? We could’ve moved to another neighborhood.”
“Not in your school district. Everything that was available was way out of our price range, so we would’ve ended up somewhere else and you would’ve had to change schools, anyway. Isn’t that what this all about?”
Again, another barely detectable shrug.
“Zach. Arggh!” She squeezed the steering wheel with both hands and fought to keep her tone level as she spoke. “We’re lucky things turned out as well as they did for us. They could be really bad, you know. I found a decent-paying job, we got rid of most our debts, and we have a place to stay for free.”
“Yeah, an old haunted house.”
“It’s not haunted! It’s just that nobody’s lived there for about a year. It’s fine.”
“Bet it’s got spiders and snakes and rats in it.”
“No. It doesn’t.” She measured every word carefully as she said them. “Your grandfather has been looking after it, and he said it’s livable. It’s still got furniture in it, though I don’t how much of it we’ll keep. It belonged to my great uncle, and Aunt Winnie put some of her things in it, too, so it’s probably not my style.”
“So what do we do with our stuff? I like our furniture.”
“We’ll see what’s already there and pick what we want to keep and give the rest to charity or sell it. It’s a big house. There’s plenty of room for everything, according to my Dad. We can store some things in the garage if necessary.”
“What about cable TV and Internet and stuff?”
“I think Aunt Winnie had the house wired for cable, though it won’t be turned on, yet. Neither will the phone. Just electricity and water.”
“How long?”
“Before it’s turned on? A few days, maybe.”
“A few days? What am I supposed to do?”
“You can watch TV at your grandfather’s. It’s only two houses down from ours. Or you can read, or maybe meet some of the neighborhood kids.”
“There aren’t any kids in that neighborhood. It’s nothing but old people.”
“You haven’t been there since you were seven, honey. Somebody’s probably moved in by now.”
“You mean somebody old. Old people, old houses, old everything.”
She glanced at him again and couldn’t help feeling sorry for him when she saw the dejected look on his face. She knew this move was hard on him. Not only did he lose his father, he was losing his friends and everything he was familiar with. “Don’t you want to hear a little more about my job? We haven’t talked about it that much.” He didn’t answer, so she continued anyway, “I’ll be working in the attendance office. That’ll be something new for me. I’m excited about it.”
“I thought you were supposed to be an English teacher.”
“They didn’t have any openings, but they did in the front office. I told you that already.”
“It’s my school?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were working at the high school.”
“They don’t have a separate middle school. Well, they did, but they combined it with the high school when they built the new one.”
“I gotta go to school with high school kids? Mom, they’ll kill me. I’m only gonna be in seventh grade!”
“You’ll be fine.”
He turned toward his window again. She wanted to put her arms around him and tell him everything was going to be all right. They were going to make it. Two months earlier, she wasn’t so sure. “I won’t have time to get the kitchen organized and grocery shop today, so why don’t we get pizza tonight?”
“They have pizza in Whitmer? Wow.” His tone was sarcastic. “They’ve joined the modern age.”
“It’s not as small as you think. It’s not like Raleigh, but it’s got some nice things about it. You’ll see. I ought to know, I grew up there.”
“But I don’t want to grow up there!”
“Zach….” She reached for his hand but he it pulled away and pressed closer to the passenger door. “I’m sorry things worked out like this, but that’s just the way it is and we have to make the best of it. You’ll meet new friends and I’ll be able to support us with this job. Really, we could be doing a lot worse, all things considered.”
She had to focus fully on the road when it began to curve...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 18.11.2015 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Fantasy |
| Literatur ► Fantasy / Science Fiction ► Science Fiction | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-68222-700-6 / 1682227006 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-68222-700-8 / 9781682227008 |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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