Myles and the Monster Outside Read online

  While his mother tried to find “Go Home Highway” on the map, Myles struggled not to look down the dirt road again. He didn’t want to see what was down at the end of the creepy road, but he couldn’t help it. His imagination was running wild, which was much worse than not looking. He finally peeked.

  No red eyes.

  But the end of the road was swirling with mist, and the farmhouse looked really spooky and abandoned. The windows were all broken, and the front door swung and creaked in the rain.

  Go Home Highway, what a joke! Myles thought. More like Go Away Highway. Who would live here? Or ever want to?

  Suddenly he wondered what his old house looked like, now that no one lived in it. The house still wasn’t sold when they left. Did it already look like this place, deserted and forgotten? How long did it take for a house to look unloved and unlived in, anyway?

  And more than a little creepy?

  And what was their new house like? What if it was terrible and lonesome, like this place?

  Myles shuddered and peeked again at the abandoned farmhouse. The bushes along the dirt road definitely moved this time.

  Something ran back across the road, closer to the car.

  It looked right at Myles. RED EYES peered at him from the bushes!

  He gulped.

  “Mom! Get us out of here!” Myles whispered.

  “What’s gotten into you, Myles? Okay, you’re right, ‘Go Home Highway’ was just a joke. It’s not on the map. A big joke on me. I must want to get to Nobleville so badly that I wasn’t paying attention.” Myles’s mother pulled the car around. Turning Victor-the-Volvo around wasn’t easy. Victor was heavy and didn’t exactly turn on a dime.

  Myles’s mother slowly turned the car, backed up, pulled forward, tried to miss the bushes at either side of the road …

  … then disaster. Victor-the-enormous got stuck in the mud!

  “Great,” their mother sighed. She got out of the car and looked at the back wheel. She whistled. Myles peeked over the back seat at her.

  Please, please don’t ask us to …

  “Get out of the car, you two! We aren’t too stuck, I think we can get out of this mud with a little push.”

  Myles gulped. His heart started to pound. The thing with red eyes was out there!

  Myles started to shake his head, but Bea teased him.

  “Geesh, Myles, you look scared! Come on, the scariest thing out here is that crow, see?” She pointed at a giant crow above them in the trees. It was staring at them.

  Myles dropped his gaze since he had the strangest feeling the crow wanted him to go away.

  Nothing scared Bea, though. She pushed her glasses up her nose, put her precious book on the front seat, and left the car. Myles took a deep breath, opened his door, and stepped onto the pebbly, muddy dirt road. Light rain spattered down onto his head. It smelled like spring fields outside the car. The air was fresh and clean, a nice change from the inside of Victor.

  But still. Myles’s heart was pounding so hard, it hurt. He willed himself not to look down the road. At the farmhouse. Or at the bushes.

  Stare at your feet! There’s nothing out there!

  He didn’t want to see the door hanging on its hinges. The broken windows.

  The thing from the island.

  The huge black crow sat in the tree overhead, staring at them. Every now and then it ruffled its feathers.

  “You both push hard, when I say. Okay?” His mother sounded so normal that Myles squeezed his eyes shut and nodded.

  Bea put her back against the car and dug her feet into the dirt road. Myles put his hands on Victor’s bumper, ready to push. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

  “Ready?” their mother called from inside the car.

  “Yes!” Bea shouted back, but Myles was mute.

  “NOW!” their mother yelled. Victor roared. The back tire spun in the mud.

  Bea and Myles pushed as hard as they could. Myles was SO glad his sister was there with him. There was no way he would be brave enough to stand in that creepy dirt road by himself. When Victor roared, the old crow in the tree let out a huge CAW! CAW!

  It sounded like “Caught! Caught!” to Myles.

  Bea and Myles pushed. The back tire spun, mud flew up at them, pebbles whipped past.

  They pushed … and pushed … until Myles thought his arms were going to break. But suddenly the old car swerved back onto the gravel and out of the mud.

  “Did it!” Bea said proudly.

  But Myles couldn’t rejoice. He couldn’t speak. Behind her a pair of RED EYES stared out of the bushes.

  A long, misty finger reached across the pebbly ground.

  Myles tore into the car.

  “Lock the doors! Come on, Mom! Let’s go!”

  “What’s the matter with you, Myles? Would you mind if we wait until your sister gets into the car before we drive away?” she said calmly.

  Bea strolled to the car. Slowly, far, far too slowly.

  Myles couldn’t yell at her to run. He was frozen. He wanted to scream at her to hurry up, but instead he squeezed his eyes shut and tucked his head into his collar.

  Bea would have run if she’d seen the thing floating silently behind her along the road.

  Long, misty grey arms reached out for her. A wispy grey face with a round, dark mouth opened wide. Red eyes danced and burned. The monster from the island drifted just behind her, sniffing the air and catching her scent.

  Myles squeezed into a ball in the back seat beside sleeping Norman.

  Bea settled into the front seat and shut the door. As his mother drove Victor-the-Volvo carefully down the lane back toward the highway, Myles had to look. It was much better to look than not to know. He peeked in the rear-view mirror, just for a second.

  A sleek fox appeared in the lane behind the car. It stopped and stared at Myles in the gloom.

  It has red eyes! Myles thought. It was just a fox!

  “Hey, there’s a fox!” he called, but it darted away into the ditch.

  “Where? Where?” Bea asked, turning to see. “Sure … a fox, right, Myles. Good one,” she said, settling back into her seat, annoyed.

  Myles was going to say, No! It was really there! but the words died in his throat. The fox was gone.

  But it hardly mattered.

  Because the monster from the island stood at the end of the road. It rose taller than the abandoned farmhouse. Two long grey arms stretched along the laneway toward Myles and the escaping car. The monster sniffed the air and two bright red eyes stared out of the gloom.

  A dark, twisted mouth opened in the mist, and a whispery voice filled the air:

  … I see you, Myles….

  CHAPTER 5

  DOG GONE WEIRD

  Myles stared straight ahead.

  That wasn’t a fox!

  It was the THING, and I heard it! It spoke to me!

  Myles watched the back of his mother’s head as she drove. He saw the little light shining on Bea’s open book. He heard rain on the car roof and the heavy wipers thunk-thunking across the windshield. Norman snored gently in his car seat.

  Inside the car everything seemed normal.

  But outside?

  Myles gulped and stayed low in his seat. They were completely alone on the highway; all the other cars from the ferry were long gone. And it was raining harder now. They were going the right way again, but Myles had a terrible knot in his stomach.

  The monster followed him from the ferry. It hitched a ride.

  It spoke to him!

  … I see you, Myles….

  Myles could hear the horrible whispery voice perfectly. There was no doubt about it: the monster was outside the car. It had their scent. It was following them through the rainy fields.

  Myles took four deep breaths, then two short breaths, then four deep ones again. He counted to ten, forward and backward. It helped, a little. But not enough. Not nearly enough.

  He should tell someone.

  “Mom?”

/>   “Yes, Myles?” He bit his lip and looked outside. The fields were getting darker and darker. He wished he were brave.

  Life would be so easy if he were brave. Like Bea. Or even Norman. He sighed.

  “Mom? It’s almost midnight. When are we going to get there?” The rain splutted against the windshield then fell just a little harder.

  “Just go to sleep, Myles. Look, Norman’s asleep. Bea is quietly reading. If you go to sleep, we’ll be at our new house when you wake up. Dad will make us pancakes for breakfast. He can’t wait to see us. And he’s got a surprise for you, remember? Shhh.”

  But he should know I hate surprises!

  Myles fidgeted and stared out the front window. He didn’t want to turn his head a fraction. The white line of the highway darted past in the headlights, slick with rain. He needed to talk.

  “When was the last time you slept, Mom? Like for real, a whole night, not just sitting upright on the ferry?”

  His mother sighed. “I slept okay last night in the hotel.”

  Myles knew that was a lie. His mom had hardly slept at all since they left home. But he stayed silent. He thought about his dad making them pancakes, and about surprises. He thought about their new house.

  What if our new house has broken windows and the front door is hanging off the hinges?

  Myles scowled.

  Bea sighed and said, “Look, Myles, just don’t worry. I know you’re worrying. Just relax.”

  Myles didn’t answer them. They didn’t know.

  There was a monster outside.

  Shapes moved along beside the car, the bushes and long grass beside the highway rustled with the wind. The rain made everything blurry. Myles closed his eyes. He tried to let the thunk-thunk of the wipers calm him. He talked to himself, trying to be brave.

  There’s nothing out there. You are too scared of everything. Mom is braver than you. Your sister is braver than you. Even your little brother is braver than you. Can’t you be brave for once, too?

  He took a deep breath and looked out the window.

  And somehow didn’t scream.

  A huge grey figure strode across the muddy wet field. It loomed in the night sky, darker than the fields, drier than the rain. A creature of fog and air, mist and fear. Monster feet stomped across the cold April mud, keeping stride with the car. Blazing red eyes burned out of the darkness. Long, wispy arms reached out.…

  … I see you, Myles....

  Myles gasped and clenched his eyes shut.

  You’re not there! You’re not there!

  “What’s wrong?” his mother asked.

  “Uh … uh … n … nothing.” He squeezed his eyes tighter.

  There’s nothing out there!

  “Mom, could you lock the doors?” he whispered.

  Click. Click. Click. Click. The automatic “click” of four doors locking did nothing to calm him.

  “You’re awfully jumpy, Myles. You haven’t been yourself since we left the ferry. What’s wrong?” his mother asked quietly.

  There’s nothing out there.

  Myles opened his eyes. He turned his head a fraction. Be brave, Myles! The field was empty.

  See, nothing there. Maybe I should just tell her? he thought. His mother was always good at helping him feel calmer. But what would he say? I saw a monster, Mom! He was struggling to decide if he should tell her …

  … when something jumped out of the ditch!

  “MOM, WATCH OUT!” Myles shouted. It was a dog!

  “There’s a dog back there!”

  Myles’s mother slowed the car. “A dog? Where? Where, Myles?” she asked, slowing the car.

  A large golden dog ran to Myles’s side of the car. It might have been the reflection of the headlights, but the dog had a gentle glow about it. It looked at him then wagged its tail. It sniffed the air. The dog pricked up its ears at something in the field. Then it looked at Myles one last time and ran off into the darkness.

  Myles turned in his seat to watch the dog through the rain. It was gone as quickly as it had arrived.

  “I don’t see a dog! Is this like the fox back there that no one else could see, Myles?” Bea snorted, twisting in her seat.

  “I don’t see it either, Myles, sorry,” his mother said. “Are you sure you saw it? Are you sure it was a dog?”

  “Yes, Mom. It was a big golden dog,” Myles said, a little mad. Why hadn’t his mother and sister seen the dog, too?

  “Are you sure you didn’t see it, Mom? It was right there!”

  “No, I really didn’t see it, Myles.”

  “There was no dog, was there, Myles?” Bea said flatly. She never had much patience for Myles’s imagination. Or his worries.

  “But it really was there, I didn’t make it up!” Myles was getting upset. The dog was real. It sure seemed real. It had wagged its tail and pricked up its ears. It looked right at him then out into the field. But what if … what if it wasn’t really there?

  No one saw the … thing … or the fox either. And now an invisible dog? Great, what if I’m cracking up?

  Myles bit his lip. He didn’t like the way this night was going at all. He closed his eyes and leaned back.

  “Mom, can you please lock the doors?”

  “They’re locked, Myles.”

  “Can you please unlock them, and lock them again?”

  Click. Click. Click. Click.

  They were in the middle of absolutely nowhere, in the pitch black in the pouring rain.

  Where had the dog come from? It had really seemed like it was trying to tell Myles something. It ran toward him and stared straight at him. Then it wagged its tail, sniffed the air. Then it ran away. He wished his mother and Bea had seen it, too. That would definitely make him feel just a little better.

  If you see that monster with the red eyes out there, dog, I hope you’re braver than me!

  CHAPTER 6

  COURAGE

  Now Myles had more to worry about.

  The monster was out there, calling his name. But a golden dog was out there, too. How did it get there? There were no farmhouses around. It was funny, but thinking about the dog helped Myles take his mind off the monster.

  Bea put her book away, turned off her little book light, and closed her eyes. Their mother found a radio station and turned it down low. Although he didn’t want it to, the whispery sound of country music lulled Myles. The thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk of the wipers made his eyes heavy.

  He put his head against the window, determined not to sleep … and woke with a start.

  He’d had a dream about the dog. It was running along beside the car, trying to tell him something. He sat up straight and wiped a little drool off his cheek.

  Gross.

  “Try to go back to sleep,” his mother whispered. Myles sat up and looked at the clock on the dash. One forty-five. In the morning. He’d slept for almost an hour.

  “Mom, can you turn up the heat? It’s freezing in here.” Cold rain pounded on the windshield. His mother turned the heat up high. Bea’s head lolled gently against the window. He peeked over at Norman, who was snoring under his Spiderman sleeping bag. Norman’s teddy bear stared at Myles with black plastic eyes.

  Thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk.

  The road stretched out ahead. Rain darted into the headlights.

  Nothing. There is nothing out there. Just a dog.

  And then …

  … a man in a long coat loomed out of the darkness at the side of the road. He looked right at Myles.

  “MOM! STOP! MOM!” His mother screeched on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road.

  “What! What is it now, Myles? Is it the dog again?” she asked, looking out the back window.

  “There’s a man over there.” Myles pointed. His finger shook. There WAS a man standing at the side of the road, no denying it this time. He was bathed in an eerie glow from the red lights of the car.

  “You see him, right?” Myles asked, suddenly worried.

  “Yes, I see him,
” his mother said. She peered out the back window a moment longer then moved to open the door.

  “Mom! No!” Myles tried to stop her. Don’t go outside! The monster is out there!

  “Whuss going on?” Bea asked, mumbly from sleep.

  “There’s a man over there!” Myles pointed.

  Bea rubbed her eyes and adjusted her glasses. “Is this another of your fantasies, Myles?”

  “NO! He’s right there!” Myles said loudly. Please see him, Bea!

  His mom went to open the door again, and Myles leaned over and grabbed her arm.

  “Mom! Don’t go out there! Please!”

  “Myles, what’s gotten in to you? A lost dog that no one but you saw is one thing, a person lost out here in the rain and the dark is another.” His mother opened the door and stepped onto the road. The cold air and rain blew into the car like a cloud.

  Myles looked at Bea and shook his head.

  “Don’t go out there!” he pleaded, but Bea just laughed.

  “Gee, little brother, it’s just a guy. Come on, if you’re so worried, you can help protect us.” Bea opened her door and stepped out into the darkness.

  Myles took a peek at Norman, who was fast asleep. He had no choice but to follow his mother and sister outside. He opened his door and cautiously walked to the back of the car. He DID NOT look toward the fields all around them; instead he kept his eyes down. Rain spluttered onto their uncovered heads while Victor roared and chugged behind them.

  There’s nothing out there! Just look at your feet!

  The man stood, half-hidden in darkness beside the black fields. He wore a long, dark coat and a bright red scarf. The rain fell onto his peaked hat.

  “Hello, sir?” Myles’s mother called. Bea and Myles stood beside her. It was raining harder and a little windy now, so Myles wasn’t sure if the man heard them.

  But he did. Very slowly the man turned and smiled at them. He was elderly, with a white moustache.

  He started to walk toward them. It was weird, but Myles thought he looked almost like he was … floating. He wondered if the man was a ballet dancer when he was younger. He was the most graceful old person he’d ever seen.