Wilderness Read Online Free Page B

Still no
     dog. He put the boys’ bags on the ground.
    â€œHey, mister,” said Johnny. “Where’s the dog?”
    â€œDog?”
    â€œThe dog you put in at the airport.”
    â€œGot out in town,” said the driver. “Met a lady dog.”
    He laughed, and handed Sandra her bag, and, she
     thought, he winked.
    â€œCome on, lads,” she said.
    The boys were up to their knees in snow, wondering
     where to start.
    â€œLater,” said Sandra. “Let’s see what the room’s
    like.”
    â€œAh.”
    They went inside, to the reception desk.
    â€œCoo-il,” said Tom.
    There were knives for sale, in a glass cabinet
    behind the counter. Their granddad used to show
    them the blades on his Swiss army knife when they
    went to his house on Sundays. But these knives were
    different. They were shining steel, nothing hiding the
    blades – they were dangerous even to look at.
    â€œCan we’ve a knife?”
    â€œEach?”
    â€œNo.”
    Sandra was filling in a form for the woman behind
    the counter.
    â€œWe’ll pay with our own money,” said Johnny.
    â€œNo.”
    They tried to see the prices on the knives. There
    were little tags attached to the handles with pieces of
    string. They leaned across the counter, but Johnny
    could get further because he was taller than Tom, and
    his body and jacket pushed Tom back. And, suddenly,
    Tom was angry. Tom was growing too, but he could
    never catch up with Johnny, and this always
     happened – he ended up in second place, in the back seat, with the smaller potato, the broken toy. He could
     feel tears climbing to the eyes, and that wasn’t fair
     either, because Johnny would start laughing at him.
    He hit Johnny. He slapped his back. His hand
     bounced off Johnny’s jacket; it couldn’t have hurt him.
     But the noise was like an explosion, and it made
     Sandra jump. The pen she was holding skipped across
     the paper. She had to get between Johnny and Tom
     before the fight got going.
    â€œStop that! Now!”
    She was embarrassed, and that made her angry –
     because she hated being embarrassed, and she hated
     herself for being embarrassed.
    â€œDo you want to get us thrown out?” she said.
     “Before we even get in? Well?”
    â€œNo,” said Tom.
    â€œWell?”
    â€œNo,” said Johnny.
    â€œSo, stop.”
    â€œSorry.”
    â€œYes, well.”
    She got the key to their room and led the way. The
    floor was stone; the doors they passed were big and
    wooden. The corridor was nicely dark. There were
    lights, but they couldn’t see them. Sandra stopped at
    a door, and they saw now that the key was huge, like
    a key from a film with pirates or prisons in it. She
    unlocked the door, and then a strange thing – the door opened outwards. They had to step back, and then go
    into the room.
    â€œWow!” said Sandra.
    She loved the room. It was huge, and almost dark.
    The main bed was as wide as a field. And the bunk
    beds were even bigger. There was space for the boys
    and every friend they’d ever had. The whole place was
    wood, just nicely warm and—
    â€œHey!”
    Johnny found it, beside the toilet. A sauna.
    â€œGod,” said Sandra.
    She sat on the bed, and lay back – the most
    comfortable, warmest, coolest bed she’d ever been on.
    She closed her eyes. This was all she’d wanted.
    â€œWant to go out and play, lads?”
    They were already getting into their blue thermal
    underwear, the leggings and the long-sleeved vests.
    They were dressed again, and gone.
    â€œSeeyeh,” said Johnny.
    Sandra sat up, got her boots off, and lay back on the
    bed.
    The boys legged it down the corridor, past the
    reception and the knives – the woman behind the
    counter smiled – out the front door, and into the
    darkness and snow. Johnny grabbed a handful and
    made a ball. Tom did the same. They faced each
    other, laughed,