Troubletwisters by Garth Nix, Sean Williams Page B

morning.’
    ‘But —’ Jack stopped again as Ari came out from under the kitchen table and Kleo appeared at the door. Jack despaired of finding anywhere he could talk unheard.
    ‘Jack, I really need you and your sister to —’
    A chattering bell in the background of the call drowned out whatever his mother was saying, and Jack heard someone shouting, ‘Sue! We’re rolling!’
    ‘I have to go now,’ said Susan very quickly. ‘Lots of love to you and your sister.’
    ‘No, don’t —’ shouted Jack.
    But it was too late. There was only the dial tone in answer. Despondently, Jack took the phone back to his grandmother, who returned it to its cradle.
    ‘How nice to hear from your mother,’ she said. ‘Now, it’s getting late. There’s time to read in bed, if you like.’
    ‘Late?’ said Jaide. ‘It’s not even eight-thirty.’
    ‘It’s a school night, and you’ve had a long day. I have some work to do. If you go to your room, I’ll come and turn the light out in half an hour.’
    For a moment, Jaide thought about refusing to obey, just flat out rebelling against her grandmother. But there was something in the old woman’s gaze that said this would be a very big mistake.
    The twins had no choice but to trudge up the stairs and do as they were told. They both had reading lamps on flexible metal arms that snaked out from behind their beds, lamps that cast misshapen shadows across the walls and ceiling when they were switched on. Jack settled back to an adventure novel with a plot he had trouble paying attention to, while Jaide picked up her illustrated book on whales. She was very interested in marine life, but now, with the events of that day turning over and over in her mind, and the thought of school on top of all that, she could barely concentrate.
    The strange sounds coming from the ground floor didn’t help. There were clicking footsteps, doors opening and shutting, and clanks and clunks, as if Grandma X was moving furniture back and forth. Whatever she was up to, it kept her so busy, she didn’t come to say goodnight until almost ten o’clock.
    Jaide was already asleep, and Jack wasn’t far off. He closed the book he hadn’t really been reading and switched out the light. Grandma X stood in the doorway for a moment, her face hidden. He thought she might be about to say something, but then she left and pulled the door shut behind her.
    It was very dark in Portland compared to the city, but after a minute or two his eyes adjusted, and Jack found that he could see pretty well. He looked out his window and counted the regular flashes of the lighthouse’s beacon, warning ships away from the perils of Dagger Reef. Twenty-three was the last number he remembered before he slipped into a dream about giant spiders swarming out of the cactus garden and tying a dog up in their webs. He twitched restlessly, but didn’t wake up.
    Jaide was dreaming about spiders, too, only she was the one in danger from them. She had been flying and had blundered into a giant web. The sticky strands wrapped themselves around her face and hands. No matter how she tugged she couldn’t get free, and she couldn’t call for help because her mouth was glued shut. At the far edge of the web, something dark and red-eyed moved closer . . .
    A roaring sound woke both twins at precisely the same moment. Their beds were shaking and their sheets were whipping around them. It sounded like a storm had burst through the windows and was turning the room inside out, but there was no rain, just wind. Jaide fumbled for the switch of her reading light. It didn’t come on the way it was supposed to. The filament glowed feebly, as though something was sucking the light out of the wire.
    By the faint, flickering glow, Jack saw a whirling funnel of dusty air spinning in the centre of the room, sucking up all their clothes and books and whipping the chandelier around in tight circles. The wind was so strong that he had to hang on with both