The Serpents of Arakesh Read Online Free Page B

his thick specs to check I was still with him. I nodded — I’d heard guys talking about it. All the kids in the class seemed to have computers and be really into that kind of stuff. And who could blame them? It must be like having a whole different world in your back yard. What wouldn’t I give for that?
    â€˜Anyhow,’ Cameron was explaining, ‘the guy who developed the Quest series is the most awesome computer-game wizard in the history of the universe. He’s called Quentin Quested — a total genius, but a major recluse. He lives in some huge, isolated mansion, hidden away at the back of beyond, and he has the biggest library of computer games in the world.’
    He tucked the card back into his book, and slipped it into his bag.
    â€˜The competition winners get to go there for two days and test drive his latest game — and take home a free computer. It tells you all about it on the website. It sounds pretty cool,’ he hooked his bag over his shoulder, ‘but I reckon the chances of winning wouldn’t be great — practically the whole world will enter. And even if I did win, I couldn’t go these holidays, because I’m going away with my family.’ He shrugged, and gave me a grin.‘But the entry form makes a great bookmark.’
    â€˜You’re not going to enter?’
    â€˜Nah,’ he said casually, pushing his chair in under his desk.
    Suddenly a thought hit him.
    â€˜Hey, do you want it?’ Quickly, he took the book out again, pulled out the card and handed it to me. ‘Good luck,’ he grinned, ‘but don’t hold your breath.’
    â€˜Page two-hundred and eight, page two-hundred and eight,’ I could hear him muttering as he headed for the door.

A house of leaves
    After school I went straight back to Highgate, dumped my bag and my lunchbox, and headed for my secret hide-out. The worst thing about living somewhere like Highgate is that there are people watching every single thing you do. Most of the time it doesn’t matter, and you get used to it, especially when you’ve lived with it all your life.
    But sometimes it can be pretty annoying. Like when you get a really, really bad mark for your homework, and next thing you know someone’s peering over your shoulder and sniggering. Or when you just need some space to think things through and be alone. Or when you’ve got something private to do. Like today.
    No one knew about my hide-out. It had been my special place for years, and my biggest fear was that someone would find it and take it over, or tell Matron.
    It was right in the middle of the shrubbery at the side of the house. To get to it, you had to burrow through the middle of a huge old flax bush, the secret entrance to akind of tunnel I’d made by pushing through over the years. It twisted and turned through dense leaves and between thick, woody trunks till all of a sudden you were through — right up against the brick wall of the house, completely hidden by the shrubs in front and on both sides and overhead. The clearing had grown bigger over the years, same as the tunnel … same as me, I guess. It was big enough so I could sit leaning against the wall with my legs stretched out in any direction. I could even lie down if I curled my legs up a bit.
    It was awesome. Being in there was like being in a totally private, completely secret little room — a house of leaves. It had a damp, earthy smell and the light was greenish and dim, like in a jungle. It was always cool, even in the middle of summer, and in winter it was freezing.
    I’d often thought about moving the special things from my bedside cabinet to my hide-out for safekeeping. But I was afraid they’d get wrecked when it rained, and anyhow, I needed them close at night.
    As I crawled through the tunnel, I realised I still had an apple from my lunch in my pocket. Suddenly I was ravenous. Even though the apple was softish in