Emily's Penny Dreadful Read Online Free

magazine. It looks
like a newspaper, but it isn’t. It’s called a Penny Dreadful but
it’s worth a lot of money, not just one penny.”
      “ I’ve never heard of
one. I’ve never seen one either. What’s in it?”
    “ A dreadful story,” said
Emily. “He told me about it in advance, in case it gave me
nightmares. It’s a horror story about a hairdresser who murders
people. The main character is called a Barber Surgeon. Except he’s
supposed to be some sort of doctor as well. He has all the doctor
tools and at night he uses them to cut up ...”
      “ Enough already!”
Sibbie interrupted.
      “ Anyway, I said I really wanted to read it so I was allowed to
borrow the Penny Dreadful,” said Emily. “As long as I was super
careful with it. I’ve read the story twice already. It was dreadful, but in a
very
    exciting sort of way.”
      “ Rather you than
me,” said Sibbie. “I’m amazed that Uncle Raymond lent it to you. I
didn’t think he’d ever
    lend anybody anything. I bet you pestered
and pestered
    him until he handed it over, just to get rid
of you.”
      Emily shook her
head. “No, I just asked.”
      She reached under
her bed and pulled out the Penny Dreadful. Uncle Raymond had put it
into a plastic freezer-storage bag to protect it. She opened the
bag and handed the Penny Dreadful to Sibbie. “You could ask him if
I’m allowed to lend it to you.”
      “ I wouldn’t ask him
even if I did want to read it, which I don’t,” said Sibbie. “I’m
keeping well out of Uncle Raymond’s way. I managed to play my drums
in the garage yesterday, just for a few seconds, and he practically
screamed at me to stop. You should never have pestered him about
his magazine or asked about the fire.”
      “ Why
not?”
      “ Because now he’s
even more grumpy than ever. I’m sure he didn’t want to talk about
the fire. Who would?”
      “ I would,” said
Emily.
      “ Bet you wouldn’t if
you were him,” said Sibbie,
    knowingly.
      Emily shrugged.
There was no point arguing with
    Sibbie. Sibbie always won. “They’ve been
here a
    whole week already,” she said again.
      “ I know,” said
Sibbie. “But like I told you, it won’t be forever.”
      But even Sibbie
sounded less sure of herself than before.
      “ Sibbie . . . ?”
began Emily.
      “ What?”
      “ How long do you think a piece of string should be?”
      Sibbie didn’t
understand Emily’s question so she ignored it. She glanced at the
Penny Dreadful instead. She read the first sentence.
      “ Ha!” she
exclaimed.
      “ Awesome, isn’t it?”
said Emily.
    “ That’s not why I said
‘ha!’,” said Sibbie, triumphantly. “Your first sentence isn’t your
first sentence at all! You’ve stolen it from Uncle Raymond’s Penny
Horrible.”
      “ Penny Dreadful ,” Emily corrected.
      “ You’ve stolen someone else’s words,” said Sibbie. “You’re
a thief .”
      “ All writers are
thieves and liars, that’s what Uncle Raymond says. And like I told
you, I don’t want you
    looking over my shoulder.”
    Emily scrunched up her left shoulder, hard,
and hunched forward. That way she could better conceal the exercise
book she was writing in. She scrunched and hunched until Sibbie
moved away. But Sibbie was stubborn. It took her a long time to
move. When Emily was finally able to straighten up, her shoulder
blade
    hurt.
      “ Ouch!”
      “ What’s the matter
now?”
      Emily shook her
head  “Nothing.” She’d learnt stubbornness from her older
sister. As a distraction from the hurt, she went back to Sibbie’s
first accusation.
      “ I’d only be a
proper thief if I’d put a ‘m’ between the ‘r’ and the ‘y’,” she
said. “Only if I’d made it ‘stormy’, not ‘story’. Otherwise it
isn’t stolen at all. It’s original. Just the way I planned
it.”
      “ I
don’t believe you!” said Sibbie. “You left the ‘m’ out by accident.
‘A story night’ makes