Narrow Escape Read Online Free Page A

dancing its way across my neck and shoulders. I pulled my hat off and frowned at the mass of dust covered cobwebs that festooned the crown. I brushed ineffectually at them and then gave up. Shrugging I pulled it back over my hair, my ears were getting cold.
    Sam and Mortimer arrived back from their walk and I called Sam over to take the wood into the boat. He gave a huge sigh and trudged through the snow toward me. Eventually he made it over to the wood shed and glared up at me from beneath his long fringe. “I don’t see why I should have to …”
    He stared at me and whatever gripe he had been about to make died on his lips. The blood fled his face and his mouth dropped open. He took a step back, his eyes fixed on my shoulder.
    Knowing how my big butch son felt about spiders I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s just cobwebs Sam,” I said. “We haven’t got much wood left and I’ve had to dig about at the back of the shed.”
    Sam shook his head and pointed at my shoulder. “Gah!”
    I looked down and swallowed hard. Now, I’m not particularly bothered by spiders, I can pick them up and put them out. I can brush them calmly off if they’re playing their usual yoyo tricks in the boat and land on my head. But even I jump when I’m taken by surprise and, quite frankly, the size of the one currently sitting happily on my shoulder would have surprised anyone.
    I copied Sam’s example. “Gah!” Convinced that this couldn’t possibly be the only one, I ripped off my coat and, after shaking the spider off, dropped the garment into the snow, moving it around with my foot in an effort to entice out the other suspected hordes of arachnids that were sure to be hidden in the folds.
    â€œMum, that was HUGE!” Sam, once again, employed his wonderful ability to state the flaming obvious.
    I ignored him; I was too busy trying to get the shudders under control. I was convinced that I could feel little hairy feet dancing down my spine and forced myself to leave my other clothes firmly in place. Naked screaming woman in the snow I’d already done once, I wasn’t in any hurry to repeat the experience. Although, I suppose, at least this time I wouldn’t be covered from head to foot in cow poo.
    Sam warily eyed the basket of wood at my feet. “Can I put that on the front deck for a while?” He sidled toward me and picked it up with the least amount of hand contact that he could get away with.
    I nodded. “Good idea.” I watched him carry the basket away and, as quickly as possible, put the tarpaulin back in place. Those things that wanted to live in the dark could stay there.
    At least there shouldn’t be anything living in the coal bag. The irritation with whoever had left precisely seven pieces of coal in the bag got rid of the last of the spider shudders. I sighed as I headed back out into the cold and over the flood defences and down to the car. I heaved the 25kg pack of coal onto my shoulder and then, after only two staggering steps, dropped it back into the snow. Geoff always managed to do this with such ease but he was far stronger than I could ever hope to be. He seemed to be turning into one of those wiry types, all grey hair and stringy muscles that, if pushed, could probably lift a small car without seeming to exert himself at all. I, however, as I got older, seemed to be turning into a small overstuffed cushion.
    I kicked the bag of coal and wondered how on earth I was going to get it up the slippery, icy slope of the flood defences. Well I wasn’t going to let a bag of rocks beat me. So I opted for a sort of drag and push routine. I would take three precarious steps up the hill, dragging the bag of coal behind me, then stop, pull the bag around me and push it ahead. With this sort of strange circling dance, me and my bag of coal made it up the hill. I was almost at the top when I slipped. My only thought as I slid