Read Hangman's Curse for Free Online Page A

might be feeling and thinking, or what they might be capable of. Having a school full of wallpaper kids can be more scary than having a few Ian Snyders around.”
    Carrillo had to chew on that for a long moment. “So we don’t know who these witches are.”
    â€œNo,” Gessner answered. “After all, just what is a witch supposed to look like?”
    â€œWell, who have the jocks been picking on?”
    â€œWe have to find out.”
    Carrillo was getting impatient. “Well, we sure don’t know a whole lot, do we?”
    â€œOnly that three athletes are in the hospital under very strange circumstances and we need to know something .” Gessner looked at Nate. “And that’s where you come in, Mr. Springfield. We need you and your family to fill in all these blanks. We need you to be here and blend in, to see and hear things, to get a feel for what might be happening—from your unique perspective.”
    Nate took one more look at the sinister symbol on the locker, thought for a moment, then replied, “We can start tomorrow—if that’s okay with Officer Carrillo.”
    Carrillo asked, “Well, just what do you intend to do?”
    Nate smiled. “Blend in, I suppose. Just be ourselves. I’ll go on staff, my kids will enroll as students, my wife will do research in the background.”
    They started back toward Gessner’s office.
    â€œOkay,” said Carrillo, “I’ll go along with it as long as you understand you’re answering to me—and Ms. Wyrthen, the principal.”
    â€œSounds fine to me.”
    â€œMs. Wyrthen’s all right. She’s all business, but she’s got a good heart for the kids. You should get along all right.”
    Sarah, Elijah, and Elisha met Nate the moment he came out the front door.
    â€œWe’re on the case,” he told them as they walked toward their car. “Got the site layout?”
    Elijah held up the site plan, now marked and modified with a red pen. “You were right. The building and grounds don’t line up with the plan the county has on file.”
    â€œThe woods are closer than the plans show, and there are lots of hiding places,” Elisha pointed out.
    â€œThe security’s pretty good, though,” said Sarah. “The doors and windows are sound, with good locks and good alarms.”
    â€œAnybody get a student roster?” Nate asked.
    â€œGot that from the office, along with all the class schedules. It’s a lot of material to go through.”
    â€œWell, let’s do the easy stuff first. And let’s get Mr. Maxwell going. There should be something to smell around here.”
    â€œSo when do we have to enroll?” Elijah asked, actually cringing.
    â€œYou’re enrolled now,” Nate said with a smile. “Mr. Gessner and I took care of it. You start tomorrow.”
    An ominous sign was posted outside the door to the hospital ward: QUARANTINE AREA: AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. Two mothers and one father were just coming out of the room. All three were in tears.
    Since the school district and the local police had authorized them, the Springfields were admitted, but only when accompanied by the physician in charge, and only after donning hospital masks and gowns. They walked in slowly, taking in the details and trying to understand the horror of what they were seeing. It was a clean and sterile hospital room, and yet they couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d entered a compartment in hell, a prison for tortured souls filled with garbled sounds, sickening smells, frightening visions.
    There were four beds in the room. Three were occupied.
    Dr. Stuart, a gentle, gray-haired man, spoke through his surgical mask as he stopped at the first bed. “This is Tod Kramer.”
    Tod was once a handsome, red-haired youth, but not now. He lay there motionless, his eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling, his skin like thin yellow