Read Jake & The Giant (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 2) for Free Online Page B

encore.
    Aside from that catchy tune, the only thing Jake had learned that night was that he was not a great fan of opera.
    But he was even less fond of pe ople who tried to run him over.
    Furious at the fool, he stepped back into the center of the aisle and glared after him. Then it was his turn to smirk, for those high-wheelers couldn’t make sharp turns.
    His eyes narrowed in satisfaction as he watched the fool tip the giant bicycle over, taking the turn at the end of the aisle too fast.
    The crazed rider lost control, wrecked the tall bicycle into a pillar, and went flying off the side, landing in a heap of pointy knees and sharp elbows.
    But then Jake frowned, for the man got up laughing like a loon-bat, glanced around the Exhibit Hall, and dashed off again, obviously looking for more trouble.
    What the—?
    When the maniac rushed into another aisle full of delicate inventions, Jake frowned in concern.
    Who is this joker?
    He followed the stranger with caution. Trailing him from several yards behind, Jake was mystified and a little alarmed by what he saw.
    The loon-bat certainly did not behave like a scientist. He wasn’t wearing a lab coat, nor did he have particularly crazy hair.
    His hair, in fact, was long and jet-black and rather stringy; his face was long and thin, too—almost goatish with his little goatee beard, a dark triangle on his chin. His tall, skinny frame was clad in elegant black clothes and draped in a long black cloak.
    As Jake warily approached, the man appeared to be having a grand time, laughing to himself with irreverent delight and playing with all the inventions.
    Signs everywhere said DO NOT TOUCH , but he ignored them.
    He examined one item after another as if they were toys, then tossed them aside.
    Jake watched him, taken aback.
    Mad as a hatter, the strange man seemed to be in his own world. Then Jake realized that he must be someone important, for everyone else left him alone to do whatever he liked.
    The loon-bat dared to put on the thick, padded “Super Strength Gloves” and wiggled his fingers, giggling as he inspected them. He crouched down and tapped the floor, cracking the flagstones with two fingers.
    Anoth er hearty chuckle. “Very nice!” Moving on, he paused to try on the “Lie Detector Goggles.” Peering through them, he began scanning the Exhibit Hall, and that was when he noticed Jake trailing him.
    The man snapped his fingers impatiently. “You, boy! Come here at once!”
    “Excuse me?” Jake retorted, offended by the summons.
    “Chop-chop, front and center!”
    “Why?”
    “Because ,” he said. “I want you to lie to me.”
    “What?”

CHAPTER SIX
    A Loon-bat on the Loose
     
    “T ell me a lie,” the odd man commanded. “I want to see if these things work. Go on, hurry. Make it a whopper!”
    Jake was not amused. He folded his arms across his chest and tried to look like his stern idol back in England, the warrior Derek Stone. “You shouldn’t be touching these inventions.”
    “Nonsense.” The man lowered the Lie Detector Goggles, revealing fiery black eyes that brimmed with mischief and mayhem. “I can do whatever I want. Who’s going to stop me? You?”
    “If I have to,” Jake replied rather more bravely than he had cause for.
    The man set the goggles back on the display table. “Boy, you obviously don’t know who I am.”
    Jake shrugged with all his rookery bravado. “Don’t really care, either. You’re going to break something and it’s not right. These people worked really hard on their inventions.”
    “But that’s what I do, my lad. I break things! It’s so much more fun than going to all that bother of trying to make stuff. Trust me, you should try it sometime. The real fun’s in destruction, not creation. What’s your name?”
    He eyed him warily. “Jake.”
    “Take? Ahh, so you take things?”
    “No, I said—”
    “Excellent—a thief! Ha! I knew I liked you, Take. Rude, too. We shall be great friends. So, what sort of