"18 - Attack of the Giant Crabs (Attack of the Killer Crabs)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pike Christopher)

Christopher Pike: Spooksville #18 Ч Attack of the Giant Crabs


One

The gang was down at the beach. They were all there: Adam Freeman; Sally Wilcox; Cindy Makey; Watch; Bryce Poole; George Sanders; Tira Jones. Of course George and Tira were relatively new to the group, but the others were beginning to spend more time with them. They had done ever since George and Tira had helped them with The Thing In the Closet Ч those wicked Shadow creatures from Zeta's realm.
Tira was a true delight to be around, with her great beauty and sweet personality. Not to mention her occasional intuitive insights. George was also good company, considering he was a newcomer to Spooksville. He was literally afraid of everything. Sally had a lot of fun with him. Sally had been looking for a new target ever since Cindy had got wise to her.
'George, you have to be careful down here,' Sally said as they walked along the beach. The day was sunny but cold. A stiff breeze blew from the north, causing the tips of the waves to foam with icy froth. It was a Friday evening; the sun would set in a couple of hours. Sally walked beside George as she spoke; she was a full head taller than him. The others trailed behind. Sally pointed to the choppy water. 'These waters are full of great white sharks. A lot of kids have lost limbs swimming here.'
George looked suitably frightened but tried to put on a brave front.
'I don't have to worry about sharks,' he said. 'I never go into the water. I can't swim.'
Sally smiled. 'Do you have PE at school?'
'Of course. We all do.'
'Well in PE they make you learn to swim. In fact, they make you swim down here. Last year in my class alone we lost three students and four legs and two arms.'
George shook his head. 'I don't believe that.'
'It's true,' Sally said. 'You're going to learn to swim whether you want to or not. Either that or you drown. But don't worry Ч I know a way to avoid the sharks.'
Now George was interested.
'How?' he asked.
'Just smear yourself with cat fur before you get in the water. All fish Ч big and small Ч are afraid of cats. It's instinctive. I can sell you some fur if you don't have any. I run a cat-shaving business on the side, you know.'
George frowned. 'How much is it?'
'You have to buy it by the kilogram. If you're hoping to drive off a great white, you should have at least two kilograms on you.' Sally paused. 'That will be fifty bucks.'
George was worried. 'I don't have that much.'
'It doesn't matter. You're a friend. I can work out a payment plan.'
'When do the swimming lessons start at school?'
'The teachers never tell you. One day they just drive you down here and throw you in the water.' Sally pointed to the nearby pier. 'Sometimes they dump you off the pier.'
'That sounds cruel,' George said.
'It works. You either sink or swim. Hey, I think I can give you the cat fur for forty bucks. Do you have that much?'
George hesitated. 'Maybe. But why is it so much?'
'Because forty bucks just happens to be exactly how much Sally needs to buy that new dress she saw in the store window an hour ago,' Cindy said from behind them, with a laugh. George turned to look at her. Cindy had blonde hair and blue eyes and was always trying to protect others from Sally.
'Is Sally pulling my leg again?' he asked.
'Not as hard as those sharks will,' Sally said.
Adam smiled. 'Of course she is, George. Think Ч how is cat fur going to protect you from a great white shark? The idea is ridiculous. You are just too gullible.' Adam had only moved to Spooksville the previous summer but he was the unquestioned leader of the group. He was brave and resourceful.
George was annoyed with Sally. 'Would you really have taken my money?' he asked.
'Sure, if you were stupid enough to give it to me,' Sally said.
'But I am new here,' George protested. 'I don't know what is real and what isn't. I wouldn't believe any of this stuff you tell me if I hadn't already been attacked by a ghost and an alien.'
'Look on the bright side,' Watch said. 'You are growing up fast.' Watch was the smartest one in the group, and in some ways the most mysterious. He seemed to live by himself and always wore four watches at the same time, each one set to a different U.S. time zone.
'I was only two months old when a werewolf tried to eat me,' Bryce Poole said. Bryce was also resourceful, and handsome, but he had a tendency to show off. Still, the others in the gang trusted him Ч he had helped save their lives a number of times.
'What did you do?' Cindy asked.
'Squirted him with my bottle,' Bryce said.
'I'm surprised that drove the werewolf off,' Sally said.
'It was only a baby werewolf,' Bryce admitted. 'And I think the milk in the bottle was sour.'
'I was only a month old when I was attacked by a vampire,' Sally said.
'How did you scare it off?' Cindy asked. 'Did you show it your cute baby face?'
Sally scowled. 'No, this is a true story. I had to grab a mirror and reflect sunlight in its pale face.' She added, 'I also had to scream really loudly. Vampires can't stand screaming babies. It makes their blood boil.'
'I'm glad I wasn't bom here,' George said miserably.
'But you'll probably die here,' Sally said brightly. 'Not many kids here live to be adults. If a shark doesn't get you, something else will.'
'I think we will all live to old age,' Tira said quietly. Tira was old herself. Although she appeared to be only twelve, she was actually two centuries old. But because she had spent most of that time possessed by an alien spirit Ч about which she could remember nothing nowadays Ч she had not aged beyond twelve years.
'I hope we will,' Adam said, staring at the ocean water. He lifted his arm and pointed to a spot straight out in front of them, a hundred metres offshore. 'Am I imagining it, or is something huge churning the water right there?'
Adam was imagining nothing. There was definitely something large beneath the water. Something moving in such a way that the waves were being distorted on the surface. Yet, because of the salt water and the turbulence, they could not see it clearly. The gang crept closer to the water's edge and peered at it All of them, that is, except George.
'That is strange,' Sally said. 'Could it be a whale?'
Watch peered through his thick glasses. He couldn't see a thing without them. He frowned as he studied the sea water.