The Lightning Catcher Read Online Free Page B

may.” She gave him a faint smile, which looked rather forced and unnatural. “Have your parents sent you any letters through the mail lately?”
    Angus twitched in his chair, the cogs turning slowly inside his befuddled brain. There had been the letter from his mum . . . and he remembered that he’d stuffed it into the jeans he’d packed before leaving the Windmill. His bag was now lying on the floor, next to the principal’s desk. Angus looked away from it swiftly. There had been nothing remotely unusual or interesting about the letter. Plus it had been addressed to him, not Principal Dark-Angel. Who had yet to explain why he’d been dragged from his bed in the middle of the night. Or what his mum and dad had to do with any of it.
    â€œThey—they haven’t sent me anything in ages,” he lied, swallowing guiltily.
    â€œAnd you are quite sure of that?” The principal’s gaze settled upon him like an extremely bright searchlight, making the hair on the back of his neck tingle. “They haven’t sent you any messages or maps of any kind? Perhaps you have accidentally opened an envelope meant for your uncle? Think carefully, Angus. It is most important that you remember.”
    Angus concentrated hard on the principal’s left earlobe, then shook his head, hoping that his face wouldn’t give him away.
    â€œI see.” Principal Dark-Angel deflated like a punctured balloon. “That is a great pity. I’ve been expecting something important from your parents, but it seems to have gotten lost in the mail. It had occurred to me that they may have sent it to the Windmill by mistake. But please, forget I even mentioned it,” she said, waving the matter aside. “We have far more important things to discuss now that you have arrived here safely.”
    Angus got the distinct impression that there was nothing the principal wished to discuss more. He shifted uneasily in his chair.
    â€œArrived where, exactly?” he asked. “Are my mum and dad here? Can I see them now?”
    â€œWe will come to the matter of your parents shortly, Angus. But to answer your other question, you have been brought to the Isle of Imbur.” She opened a large map and spread it across her entire desk.
    The map showed an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was shaped like a kidney bean, with a sandy shoreline and a long range of snow-capped mountains to the west.

    Angus frowned. The only thing in the middle of the Atlantic on his uncle’s maps back at the Windmill was some dead flies. He’d definitely never heard of any island called Imbur before.
    â€œImbur is extremely unusual,” the principal continued. “You will not find it marked on any normal map of the world. Indeed, few people have even heard of it, and that is exactly the way we wish to keep it. For almost three hundred and fifty years, we have allowed the rest of the world to believe that our precious little island sank into the ocean after a terrible storm, and was lost forever. But as you can clearly see, that is not so.”
    Angus swallowed. An island that was supposed to have sunk into the sea—no wonder he’d never heard of it before!
    â€œThe history of our island is long and complicated, but I will try and explain it to you as best I can.” Principal Dark-Angel paused for a moment as if gathering her thoughts. “I am sure that you must have heard of the Great Fire of London?”
    â€œEr.” Angus floundered, wondering what the Great Fire of London had to do with anything.
    â€œIt occurred in the year 1666, of course, and swept right across the city, destroying thousands of homes and other grand buildings in its path. You have also been told, no doubt, that this fire was started accidentally in a bakery on Pudding Lane, by a man called Thomas Farynor. But this is not true.”
    Angus gulped and stared at the principal.
    â€œThe Great Fire