November Read Online Free

now we know where the Caesar shift isn’t, ’ offered Winter.
    ‘Exactly,’ agreed Boges.
    ‘Super!’ I said, sarcastically. ‘So it’s been used in the missing last two lines or not at all—that doesn’t sound like the bright side to me. We need to start making serious plans. We have to decide on how we’re going to get to Ireland, and it looks like we’ll have to make do with the help of our copy of the Ormond Riddle and the drawings of the Jewel. In the meantime, I also need another place to live. I just heard on the news that the cops have narrowed my position down to the south-east of the city. I need to get out of here.’
    ‘I can sniff around for something,’ said Boges.
    ‘I’ve already thought of a possible place,’ I said. ‘Do you remember our treehouse?’
    Boges and Winter both looked at me like I was speaking another language.
    ‘At Luke Lovett’s place,’ I added.
    ‘Oh, yeah, I remember,’ said Boges, nodding. ‘The awesome one we built in his parents’ backyard .’
    ‘That’s the one,’ I said.
    ‘Aren’t you a bit old for cubby houses?’ joked Winter.
    ‘These are desperate times,’ I said with a shrug.
    ‘Probably not a bad idea, actually,’ said Boges. ‘It’s at least a couple of hundred metres or so from the house, and has great coverage—that’s if all those other trees are still surrounding it. And that’s if they haven’t pulled it down—but why would they? It’s a breathtaking example of modern architecture!’
    ‘It was pretty awesome,’ I agreed, remembering how hard the three of us had worked to have it finished over one weekend in our school holidays. ‘We built it mostly out of wooden panels that we’d collected in wheelbarrows from an old barn that was being torn down nearby,’ I explained to Winter . ‘We even found this long seat from a train carriage, abandoned by the side of a road, and dragged it back to the tree.’
    ‘Yeah, do you remember how long it took us to get that thing up the tree?’ Boges asked me. ‘Took us forever to pulley it up—it was so heavy and awkward. But once we got it up there andpositioned it against the back wall, we stretched out on it and couldn’t stop smiling.’
    ‘Sounds unreal,’ said Winter. ‘I always wanted a treehouse.’
    ‘We thought it was the coolest treehouse we’d ever seen,’ I said. ‘Especially after we added a rope ladder and a swing.’
    Boges nodded. ‘Cal, no-one would even know you’re up there—if you’re careful—but that doesn’t mean you can sit back on that awesome bench and relax, exactly.’
    ‘Boges, I’m always careful and I’m never fully relaxed. That’s how I’ve survived so long. Anyway ,’ I said, smelling something delicious wafting out of his bag. ‘Those pies in your bag aren’t going to eat themselves. Get ’em out already!’
    Boges pulled out a big paper bag with meat pies inside, while Winter jumped up to fetch some tomato sauce for us from her cupboard.
    As we silently ploughed into the food, I tried to remember the last time I’d felt entirely carefree . I had to cast my mind back to way before Dad died. Maybe it was during that last summer we all had together at Treachery Bay. Mum sitting under the beach umbrella with a pile of books, me, Dad and Gab mucking around in the boat. All of us heading into the tiny township for hot chips to go with our catch of the day.
    ‘Boges, you said you had something for me,’ I said. ‘I’m guessing you weren’t talking about pies.’
    ‘Hmm, just a sec,’ he said with a mouthful. Boges put down his pie, licked his greasy fingers and dived into his school bag again. ‘I want you to wear this,’ he said, pulling out a small, padded envelope. ‘Inside is a failsafe GPS transmitter. You can use it as a distress signal, but they don’t come cheap, so it’s for emergencies only.’
    ‘In case the Ormond Angel doesn’t show up to save me,’ I joked, opening the package.
    ‘You can put it under