Obsidian Pebble Read Online Free Page A

and she reached into her pocket for her mobile. “We totally should. I’ve got three megapixels on my camera phone. We’d make loads of money if we got a picture of it.”
    â€œWait a minute,” Ruff said. “If it isn’t someone trying to scare us, then maybe it’s burglars.”
    â€œWhat’s there to burgle?” Oz said with a scornful laugh.
    â€œOkay, but we don’t know, do we?” Ruff pressed on. “I don’t think it’s a brilliant idea to just barge in like a cow in a crystal maze.”
    Ellie frowned.
    Oz explained. “He means bull in a china shop.”
    â€œIt could be really dangerous,” Ruff went on. “In Spirit World Three , there’s this ghoul and…”
    â€œXbox games again, Ruff?” Ellie said, her head tilted in a scathing glare.
    â€œLoads of these games are based on real legends,” Ruff said defensively.
    â€œI’m sure they are,” Ellie said, “just as I’m sure that you’re just a little bit scared.”
    â€œDon’t tell me you’re not a bit scared, too.” Ruff glared back.
    Ellie just smiled at him.
    Ruff shook his head. “All I’m saying is that we ought to be really careful. Maybe I should stay outside on watch, just in case.”
    â€œOkay, fair point,” Oz said. “But there are three of us. What could possibly happen to the three—”
    The muted thud of more footsteps filtered up from somewhere beneath them once again and Oz never finished his sentence.
    â€œSo how do we get in?” Ellie whispered, her eyes glinting with anticipation.
    Oz grinned. He took a couple of steps back the way he’d come before turning back to the other two, who were staring at him questioningly. “I know where the key to the padlock is,” he said. “Stay here.”

Chapter 2
The Ghostly Footsteps
    The key was on a key ring hanging behind the door of the cupboard under the sink in the laundry room. Oz met Ellie and Ruff on the stairs outside the padlocked door on the orphanage’s first floor landing.
    â€œSo, what’s the plan?” Oz whispered.
    Ellie shrugged and sent Ruff a disparaging glance. “If we’re doing this we’re doing it together, according to him.”
    â€œBut I thought—”
    Ellie shook her head. “Ruff’s too stubborn to stay outside even though I pointed out that I’m the one that does martial arts if anything does happen—”
    â€œYeah, but it was never my idea to go looking anyway—”
    â€œOkay, okay,” Oz said. “We’ll all go.”
    As quietly as he could, Oz slid the key into the padlock and felt the mechanism click smoothly open. In seconds, he had the chain on the floor in a serpentine loop.
    â€œThis door is bound to creak,” Ellie whispered a warning.
    But it didn’t. Instead, it opened smoothly and silently and a draft of stale, dank, freezing air wafted over their faces. It was like stepping into a cave. Four doors led off the corridor. They were all shut.
    â€œOh, sugar,” Ellie whispered.
    â€œWhich door were the footsteps coming from?” Ruff asked, his voice a nervous hiss.
    â€œNot sure,” Oz whispered back. “Let’s wait to see if we hear it again.”
    The door swung silently shut behind them, plunging them into darkness. But Oz didn’t flick on his torch, worried in case it gave them away. In pitch-blackness and with Oz in the lead, they crept forward with Ellie clutching Oz’s jumper and Ruff at the rear hanging on to hers. Nothing happened for three long minutes. Oz’s mind was churning. Was what was in one of these rooms a lost soul? Or could it be that waiting for them was something dark and horrible, intent on doing them real harm, like in Ruff’s Spirit World Three ? He wanted to ask Ellie and Ruff if they were thinking the same thing, but common sense told him to keep quiet. He