The Gravity Keeper Read Online Free

I couldn’t help myself.”
    â€œIt’s not your fault,” Ralfagon said. “Something disrupted our circle.”
    Everyone looked at Mermon Veenie, who shook his head. “I didn’t do anything! I swear!”
    Loisana pointed into the distance. “Look at the path!”
    There was a jagged tear across the trail a few hundred yards from the clearing; the chasm was at least forty feet across.
    â€œIt’s fine,” Ralfagon said, but he frowned. “We never enter on that side of the clearing. Besides, Dunkerhook Woods takes care of itself. By the time we resume our meetings, the damage will probably be gone.”
    The Order members milled about; they discussed possible vacation plans and bemoaned now-useless supplies of cotton swabs. They all lived in town, so they’d see plenty of one another, but there was still an air of sadness.
    Mermon stood apart. He glowered briefly at Ralfagon and then stared off into the clearing, as if searching for something…or someone.
    Eventually, the Order members zipped up their raincoats, tugged on their hoods, and marched down the trail toward the border of Van Silas Way. Ralfagon was still frowning and looking vaguely puzzled. The rain started again on the street, the Gateway reappeared, and one by one, the Order members filed through and went on home.
    Nobody noticed that Mermon Veenie lingered in the woods, standing off to the side behind a tree. “Sir? Are you there?” he said once the others had left.
    â€œVeenie, you moron.” A toneless, echoing voice boomed out of the empty air, as if somebody was shouting into a large, invisible bucket. “What if they notice you didn’t leave? If one of them came back, they’d hear and thus be able to see me.”
    As the words rang out, the speaker became visible—it was the hooded figure. He was completely covered by a black coat; his hood covered his head like a huge, shadowed cave. There was no sign of a face.
    For the second time that day, Mermon had to apologize. “I’m sorry, sir. I was worried. Won’t the Order disbanding ruin our plans?”
    The hooded head shook from side to side. “Exactly the opposite. This is all part of my plan. In a few more days, we will strike. Then we will have the power, and I will have my revenge. But no more nonsense like threatening Ralfagon. Control your bad judgment from now on and await my signal. Now go.”
    Mermon Veenie nodded and left through the waiting Gateway. The hooded figure disappeared. Soon after, the Gateway vanished, the rain stopped, and all was quiet in the woods once again.

CHAPTER 4
A M ATTER OF P RINCIPAL
    The next day was Monday, and that meant school for Simon. He daydreamed as he walked the few blocks between home and Martin Van Buren Elementary, heading for the back entrance. He passed through the school’s large, fenced-in playground where children in the lower grades frolicked.
    He paid little mind to the joyous screams and laughs made by younger kids climbing on the large metal jungle gym or playing with the swings, seesaws, and rings. He glanced at the rings: those five-foot-high, four-foot-wide concrete tubes always made Simon think of giant toilet paper rolls turned on their sides, except these were concrete, embedded in the ground, and had no toilet paper on them.
    Simon went through the double doors and into the hallway, noting the change in sound. While the playground was alive with squeals of childish pleasure, the school halls were filled with a steady beat of noise. The boys were mostly roughhousing or shouting to one another while many of the girls stood around in clumps, chatting about clothes, television shows, and even boys.
    Simon concentrated on shutting himself off from all that activity, tuning out the sights and sounds. He pressed through the mass of moving kids and squeezed free to his locker, where he started absently emptying his backpack into his locker. A tap