Crandalls' Castle Read Online Free Page B

Sophia?”
    I said, “Fourteen.”
    â€œWell, then, no,” he said. “I teach juniors and seniors, and by the time you’re that old …”
    What was he going to say? By the time I’m a junior I won’t be living in Mount Pleasant? Probably. It doesn’t really matter, because the moment I saw him I wanted to run out the door and never come back.
    Will Crandall means trouble. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. I know it, as sure as I know his glasses were on crooked and he needs a haircut. He’s a dangerous person, not cruel or wicked, but dangerous just the same.
    I felt as if I should warn somebody right then, maybe warn him , but of course I didn’t. I just stood there looking stupid and wondering where I can go when the Crandalls find out how weird I am. Where else is there?

Chapter Five
    CHARLI
    â€œWhat’s she like?” Charli demanded. She had rushed through breakfast so she could be outside when Dan left for his shift at The Best Yet Burger. Now she was running to keep up with his long strides. His expression, closed off and grim, was so different from his usual look that she guessed the new girl must be awful.
    â€œTell me,” she repeated. “I won’t tell anyone what you say. I just want to know.”
    Dan walked faster. “She’s okay,” he said gruffly. “Her name is Sophia Weyer and she doesn’t talk much. She went to bed almost as soon as she got here. That’s all.”
    â€œNo, it isn’t,” Charli insisted. “I can tell by your face. Something’s wrong!”
    They had reached the corner when, unexpectedly, Dan stopped. “Okay, so something’s wrong,” he admitted. “You’ll hear about it soon enough. My dad’s heading to your house as soon as he finishes breakfast. And believe me, it has nothing to do with Sophia the Silent.” With that, he strode off down the street.
    â€œWhat’s ‘it’?” she called after him forlornly, but he didn’t answer.
    When she turned back, Uncle Will and Aunt Lilly were climbing the front steps of her house. Without the kids, Charli marveled. That was odd. Aunt Lilly never went anywhere without the twins and Mickey if Dan wasn’t there to look after them. Sophia Weyer must be the baby-sitter this morning. She walked faster at the thought that whatever the Crandalls wanted to talk about was important enough to make them leave the children with an almost-stranger.
    â€œYou’re just in time, Charli!” Uncle Will called from the kitchen when she opened the front door. “You know, I told you yesterday I couldn’t talk about my big surprise for a while? Well, I got it all straightened out in my head last night and set up the paperwork. We’re ready to go.” He smiled at Aunt Lilly, who smiled back. “I told the boys about it at breakfast this morning.”
    Charli pulled the tall kitchen stool up to the table and helped herself to a doughnut.
    â€œI’ve just made the biggest decision of my life,” Uncle Will said grandly. “ Our lives. You know the new water park that’s going to be built on the lake road next year?”
    Charli nodded. Everyone in Mount Pleasant had heard about the water park.
    â€œWell, there’s going to be a lot of people coming to town for vacations once that’s built,” Uncle Will went on. “And they’re going to need rooms to stay in. That’s where we come in. I’m grabbing the one perfect place in town to fix up for a bed-and-breakfast. It’s beautiful and it’s close to where the park will be, and we’re going to make a fortune with it!”
    â€œA bed-and-breakfast?” Charli’s mother repeated. “You, Will?”
    â€œAll of us.” Uncle Will waved his arms. “I know Lilly has too much to do at home to be the housekeeper, but she’ll be able to help out once in a while, and we