The Hanging Hill Read Online Free Page B

The Hanging Hill
Book: The Hanging Hill Read Online Free
Author: Chris Grabenstein
Tags: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Young Adult
Pages:
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Grimes.
    A nervous young showgirl in black tights and sparkling bat wings stepped forward half an inch. The beautiful and talented Kelly Fagan was trembling so much her sequins were shimmering. Her frightened little toes tappity-taptapped against the hard tile floor.
    Well, well, well .
    Hadn’t it been just last weekend that this same young woman had refused Reginald Grimes’s invitation to dinner? Oh, yes, she had smiled when, quite politely, she said, “I’m already dating someone,” but Grimes was certain he had registered the slightest hint of revulsion crossing her pretty face as she contemplated the prospect of being seen in public with a gimp.
    Fine. Tonight he would extend her another invitation: to kindly go home.
    “You were late for your entrance, Miss Fagan.”
    “I know,” she said, her voice a frightened bird twitter. “We had some trouble making the costume change.”
    “You were late.”
    “Right. The bat wings wouldn’t…”
    “You. Were. Late.”
    “I just missed my entrance by a beat or two …”
    “No, Ms. Fagan. You missed it by a full measure. Four counts.” He tapped his right hand against his stiff left arm. “Five, six, seven, eight! You see, Ms. Fagan, unlike some members of my cast, I pay very strict attention to the conductor waving his baton up and down in the orchestra pit.”
    “But, I …”
    “You’re fired.”
    “What?”
    “Your services are no longer required. I am terminating your contract, effective immediately.”
    “But…”
    He turned to the others in the cast. “Let this be a warning to you all. I will not tolerate unprofessional behavior!”
    “But… my parents,” Fagan sniffled, “my parents were in the audience tonight.”
    “Really?” said Grimes. “How nice. They were able to see your final performance at the Hanging Hill Playhouse!”
    Feeling better than he had in weeks, Grimes climbed a winding staircase to the second floor and entered his office.
    There was a swarthy man waiting for him.
    “Mr. Grimes?”
    “Yes?”
    “Mr. Reginald Grimes?”
    “Yes.”
    “The orphan child?”
    Grimes’s pale skin blanched even whiter. “Who. Are. You?”
    “My name is Hakeem. We have much to discuss.”

11
    It was eleven p.m. when Zack, Judy, and Zipper finally pulled off the interstate at the exit for Chatham and the Hanging Hill Playhouse.
    The theater was listed on the reflective green sign! Zack was impressed. That meant it was famous. A landmark.
    “You know why they call it the Hanging Hill Playhouse?” Judy asked as the Saab eased down the ramp.
    Zack had no idea, so he made one up: “Um, it’s on top of a hill that sort of hangs out over the river?”
    Judy laughed. “No. It used to be a tavern. A place for weary travelers to eat and drink and sleep. A man named Justus Willowmeier built the original Hanging Hill Publick House back in 1854. It was a combination bar, restaurant, hotel, and all-purpose gathering place.”
    “Have you been talking to Mrs. Emerson again?”
    “Yep,” said Judy. “She knows everything. She even knows what she doesn’t know. The unknown, she looks up.”
    Mrs. Jeanette Emerson was the librarian back in North Chester and one of Judy’s best friends. The two of them could talk about anything and nothing for hours.
    They reached a main boulevard and Judy guided the car into the right-hand lane. Zipper, sensing that they must be getting close to wherever they were going, sprang up in the backseat and leaned his front paws against the window ledge to check out the scenery. Well, it was too dark to see much. So he mostly sniffed.
    “We should be able to catch Bats in Her Belfry sometime this week. That’s the show they’re doing on the main stage while we rehearse. It was originally staged at the Hanging Hill, then moved down to New York, where it was extremely successful on Broadway back in 1955. Made Kathleen Williams a star. She sang ‘Bitten and Smitten.’ Became a top ten hit.”
    “Cool.”
    Judy
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