Spring-Heeled Jack Read Online Free Page B

stress piled on his shoulders.
    Students decided to call it “Hangman’s
Tree” almost as if it was some sightseeing attraction; it was like
they saw Mike’s death as just some urban legend or ghost story to
tell around Halloween.
    Riddles littered Atticus’ head. He
still had so many that he wanted to share, but he knew the rules:
he had to solve Mike’s first before it was his turn, and Mike left
him with a doozy this time around. Not that it mattered much
anyway. Atticus would never get a chance to tell him any that he’d
thought up or kept on backlog:
    “ What word becomes shorter
when you add letters to it? Short!”
    “ What occurs once in a
minute, twice in a moment, but not once in a thousand years? The
letter M!”
    “ A man leaves his house and
turns left three times only to come back home greeted by two men
wearing masks. Why are these men? A catcher and an
umpire!”
    Despite being taken away; Atticus
could still see Mike’s body dangling from the tree. The image
wouldn’t go away. His stomach churned and a lump formed in his
throat, but Atticus wasn’t going to chicken out. Now, more than
ever, he had to be focused. If he really wanted to be a detective,
he knew he’d have to face even worse situations. He couldn’t let
his emotions and fears get the better of him. He had to stay
strong.
    Brock’s voice broke the
silence.
    “ Hey, you forgot
something.”
    Atticus jumped before turning around
and seeing his friend standing behind him, Atticus’ school bag in
his hand.
    He smiled and took it, placing it
gently by his side on the bench. “Thanks.”
    Brock could feel that Atticus wanted
to be alone. He knew that he wanted to skip class, but Brock wasn’t
going to sit idly by and watch his friend beat himself
up.
    Brock sat down next to him. “Atticus,
why do you want to be a detective?”
    Atticus shook his head. “I want to
help people. I want to help when it seems like there aren’t any
answers.”
    “ Like with Mike,” Brock
said. “Or your parents?”
    Atticus nodded.
    “ I believe in you,” Brock
said. “Together, we can solve this mystery.”
    “ Together?”
    Brock smiled and said, “Of course!
I’ll help you any way I can.”
    Atticus smiled back. It felt as if a
tremendous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He looked up
at the tree and it finally seemed that he could see it without
Mike’s body.
    Rock got up and prepared to leave for
class, but before he could get anywhere, Atticus stopped
him.
    “ You asked me, so now I get
to ask you,” he said, “why do you study psychology?”
    “ Brock was silent for a
moment.
    “ I guess; the same reason
you want to be a detective.” He smiled, but Atticus could see, for
just a second, a tinge of sorrow in Brock’s eyes.
    “ What happened?”
    “ My mom,” he said. “She went
off the deep end a few years ago. No one could help. But, I’d like
to help others like her before it’s too late.”
    Atticus smiled. Brock smiled back and
continued his way to class.
     
    Atticus sat, staring at the tree for a
while longer before hearing the eight o’clock bell. Class was
starting, but he wouldn’t be attending today. He needed to clear
his head and listening to teachers’ lecture wouldn’t help him at
all. However, sitting around wouldn’t either. Atticus picked up his
school bag and decided to go on a little walk around
campus.
    By the time the nine o’clock bell
rang, Atticus had made his way from the west park to the east side
of campus where all the tech labs were located. Walking in their
shadow, Atticus felt envious of the students who understood all of
the technical mumbo jumbo they were taught. He had no idea how to
design perpetual clockwork mechanisms nor did he have any clue on
who the laws of plasma conductivity worked. To him, it was all
Greek. His parents were brilliant minds in their fields, but sadly
he didn’t inherit any of their brains.
    The ten o’clock bell rang and Atticus
had travelled from