Nightmare Mountain Read Online Free Page A

a wide circle, she saw only meadow grass and trees.
    The sound came again—a sharp, abrupt noise, like a braying donkey with hiccups. This time she could tell it came from the barn. Merrylegs. She didn’t know llamas made any sound except the happy hum, but what she heard was definitely an animal noise. Maybe the baby
was
coming.
    She walked faster, wondering how long it would takethe ambulance to reach the hospital, wondering if Aunt Karen would be all right.
    She reached the gate, lifted the metal rod, and began to push the gate shut. As she did, an engine started behind her. Startled, Molly turned to look back. As she squinted into the darkness, a truck with no headlights on roared down the lane. For an instant Molly stood still, paralyzed with shock. Her eyes widened in terror as the truck rushed forward out of the darkness, straight toward her.
    It was almost on her before she could react. At the last second, she leaped out of the way, flinging the gate open again and twisting her ankle as she stumbled into the pasture. She fell to her knees, tearing her jeans. Pebbles flew up from the truck’s tires and landed like hailstones in Molly’s hair.
    “Hey!” she yelled, but the driver either didn’t hear her or didn’t choose to stop.
    She watched the truck turn off the lane and head toward town; it was nearly out of her sight when the driver finally turned on the headlights.
    She was shaking with anger. She might have been killed by that stupid driver, going around with no lights on in the middle of the night.
    She yanked the gate shut and started to run. All she wanted to do now was get safely back to the house.
    She didn’t know who had been in the barn or why they would drive away without any lights. She’d been so startled when the truck came up behind her, and so anxious to get out of the way, that she hadn’t noticed who was driving. Maybe it was a veterinarian. Whoever it was, he’d better learn how to drive before he killed somebody.
    By the time Molly reached the house, her breath came in short gasps and her twisted ankle throbbed.
    Buckie wagged his tail happily when she came inside. She reached down to pet him and he licked her hand.
    She thought about what Glendon had said.
A dog howls like that when his owner dies.
She hoped Glendon was wrong. Wearily, she locked the door and then climbed the stairs, with Buckie at her side. It would be comforting to have him sleep on the rug beside her bed for the rest of the night.
    When she passed Glendon’s closed bedroom door, she hesitated. The way Glendon acted, she didn’t want to talk to him any more than necessary. Still, she was shaken by what had happened just now and needed to find out who was responsible. She knocked.
    “Glendon?” she said. “Who was out in the barn tonight?”
    Glendon didn’t answer.

Four

    Where was she?
    Blinking, Molly struggled to wake up. It had taken her a long time to get back to sleep and now she was so groggy, it took a moment for her to recognize her surroundings.
    Aunt Karen’s house. She was at Aunt Karen’s house only Aunt Karen was in the hospital and . . . someone was pounding on the front door.
    Molly jumped out of bed, fully awake now. Last night’s events all came back to her as she pulled on her blue bathrobe and slid her feet into her fuzzy yellow slippers.
    Buckie was already downstairs, barking, and Glendon must be up, too, because she heard a radio playing. Molly hurried out of her room. As she started down the steps, she heard the front door open.
    “Are you Glendon?” a man’s voice said. “I’m Sheriff Donley. Did your dad call and tell you I was coming?”
    “Yes,” Glendon said. “I just talked to him.”
    Molly crossed the hall and saw a man in uniform, letting Buckie sniff his fingers. Through the open door she saw a white car with a gold star on the side and blue lights on the roof.
    “You must be Molly,” the sheriff said. “Phil said you’d be here, too.” He held a card out