The Second Forever Read Online Free Page A

together they would.
    The book would be re-born as evil and powerful as it had ever been, and if it had a heart, which it did, a dark vicious despairing one at that, it would have learnt from its previous destruction and be re-born stronger than ever. Nothing would be able to destroy it this time, not even a million readings.

Festival had come back into Peter’s world on the full moon and to return to her world, the two of them would have to wait for the next one.

    Downstairs in the main fossil gallery, suspended high up in the rafters, was the giant bat that had brought her. It hung there among the other exhibits, lifelike yet lifeless. Except, unlike everything else in the gallery, its recent journey had blown away its blanket of dust. But on the night of the full moon, it could be woken by the sound of the Journey Bellthat lay locked in the base of one of the display cases.
    It had been several years since Festival had climbed onto the creature’s back and been carried back to her own world. In all that time hardly a week had passed without Peter walking through the gallery and looking up at the sleeping giant, and in all that time it had never moved. Each time he had looked at it, he had felt a touch of sadness that Festival hadn’t returned. He hadn’t really been expecting her to, but it would have been nice to see her again. She had been the closest thing he had ever had to a sister, or a brother come to think of it. But then, this was not her world. Everything she knew – her family, her friends, her whole life – was in the other world in the heart of the library. She had only been in Peter’s world for a couple of hours. Yet Peter hoped she might return one day, and as time had passed, that hope seemed to have grown and not faded as logic said it should.
    Peter’s grandfather carried the key to the case around his neck. When he had retired as the museum’s caretaker and had passed the huge collection of keys onto his son, he had kept the one key that ensured the Journey Bell was locked safely away. As far as Peter knew, only he and his grandfather – and Festival, of course – knew about the key and what it hid. Peterhad thought of asking his grandfather to send him back to Festival’s world, but he knew the old man wouldn’t. As he had missed Festival more over the years, he had even thought of stealing the key while his grandfather slept, but he didn’t.
    But Festival was here now and the giant bat that had brought her hung back under the roof, and was slowly beginning to collect a new layer of dust.
    â€˜It took a while for anyone to connect the book with the flood,’ said Festival. ‘When I got home I didn’t tell anyone about meeting Darkwood or the Ancient Child or reading the book, and I certainly didn’t tell them I’d been here.’
    â€˜So what made them think the book and the flood were connected?’ Peter’s grandfather asked.
    â€˜Well, at first, everyone blamed it on global warming,’ said Festival. ‘They said that your world was killing ours, but it didn’t make sense. And then the penny dropped. I told my dad about what had happened when we’d read the book at the bottom of the waterfall, and he told someone who told someone who told someone else and they all agreed that it must have been that.’
    She said that eventually she had told them about the bat and they had said she had to go and get Peter and re-write the book.
    â€˜A lot of people thought it was a terrible idea,’ shecontinued, ‘especially those who had read the book and been freed when we destroyed it. They knew how evil it was but they were overruled, and I was sent back to fetch you.’
    â€˜Why did you wait so long?’ asked Peter’s grandfather. ‘You could have come at least two years ago.’
    â€˜I know,’ said Festival. ‘I tried to talk them out of it, not the coming-to-see-you