Читать книгу The Lost Gargoyle Series 3-Book Bundle - Philippa Dowding - Страница 14

Near Escape

Several things happened at once.

Katherine’s mother was quicker than Gargoth, and she grabbed him, but only managed to grab him by a wing. This made him angry, and he snatched up his statue twin and started to swing it over his head at her.

Katherine was trying desperately to get the bag back over Gargoth’s head, but with his wing spread out and swinging the other statue with all his might, he was too big and cumbersome to fit.

A teenager wearing a black T-shirt and black lipstick had been watching Katherine and her mother over the nearest comic book rack. Now she was running back toward the counter and the young salesman yelling, “Hey! Come see this!” at the top of her lungs.

A second later, Katherine and her mother saw the store owner running towards them, waving a broom.

“What’s he going to do with that?” Katherine wondered. Before she knew what was happening, her mother grabbed her, the bag, and the struggling gargoyle, who was still clutching the statue, and was pushing them towards the door.

“Drop it! Please, Gargoth, drop the statue!” her mother was pleading, as they ran down the sidewalk, Katherine in the rear. Katherine looked behind her for a moment, then back at her mother just in time to see the gargoyle statue fly into the air—Gargoth had thrown it in his rage. Katherine rushed forward to catch the statue and was nearly knocked over by its weight. She placed it gingerly on the sidewalk before tearing off after her mother.

As they sped off in the car down Queen Street, Katherine saw several employees burst out of the store, with the owner at the head, still brandishing his broom. The young salesman bent to pick up the statue that Katherine had caught and placed, unharmed, on the sidewalk.

“At least we didn’t steal anything,” her mother gasped, breathless, her eyes on the road. “So we didn’t do anything wrong...”

Katherine sank back into her seat, taking time to breathe. Then she looked over at the bag, now containing Gargoth. It was shaking. Expecting him to be cowering and frightened, she looked in the top to say something calming.

There in the bottom of the bag was a strange sight. Gargoth of Tallus was laughing.

And if you’ve ever seen a gargoyle laugh, you know it’s not a pretty sight.