Read The Swiss Family RobinZOM (Book 4) for Free Online Page B

her.
    “Certainly,” the young woman said.
    Bill realised he hadn’t ever heard her voice before. It was deep and dulcet, confident without being abrasive. She put her handbag on her lap. Bill sat down. The silence was crushing.
    “Lovely weather today,” Bill said.
    “It is,” the woman said.
    Bill’s top lip became sweaty. He wiped it dry with a handkerchief.
    “Do you know,” he said, clearing his throat, “I see you every morning but I don’t even know your name?”
    She looked at him, her eyes glazing over with thought.
    “Oh!” she said. “It’s you! You sit on the back row, right?”
    “Yes, that’s right,” Bill said, elated she recognised him.
    “My name’s Ines,” she said, offering her dainty hand. “Ines Kaufman.”
    “Nice to meet you, Ines. I’m Bill Robinson. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

On The Island #3

I
     
    Jack started awake. He peered around at his surroundings, for a moment losing track of where he was. His memory fell into place. He looked out the porthole at the bright sunshine filtering through the windows. Francis lay in the bed next to him.
    “Francis?” Jack said. “It’s time to wake up. Francis?”
    He poked his younger brother in the ribs. He didn’t respond. He poked him again, this time on the cheek. Jack frowned and peered at the tips of his fingers. They were wet. He turned Francis’s head toward him. His skin was bumpy with beads of sweat, and a vibrant red rash wound up either side of his neck and behind his ears. He was shaking.
    “Francis?” Jack said, panic entering his voice. “Francis?”
    He poked his brother again, but he still didn’t wake.
    Jack pressed his fingers to Francis’s throat. There was a pulse – faint, but it was there. Jack got up and ran outside, leaning against the railing. Fritz and Ernest were pacing up and down in the clearing below.
    “Guys!” Jack said. “Francis is like Mother! He’s fallen asleep!”

II
     
    Francis’s breaths were weak and shallow, his chest hardly moving.
    “We’re dropping like flies,” Fritz said. “What’s going on?”
    “I don’t know,” Ernest said. “Only Father had any clue. And now he’s unconscious too.”
    “Didn’t he say anything to you before he fell asleep?” Jack said.
    “He fell unconscious,” Fritz said. “He didn’t fall asleep.”
    “Whatever,” Jack said. “Did he say anything?”
    “Yes,” Ernest said. “But it doesn’t make any sense.”
    “What did he say?” Jack said.
    “Something about green? Or a stripe?” Ernest said. “I don’t know. I think he was in the midst of his fever when he said it.”
    “We’ve been through too much to be wiped out by something we can’t even see!” Fritz said.
    “You mean, something like the virus?” Ernest said. “It’s wiped out the rest of the world. No reason why something similar shouldn’t wipe us out too.”
    “Listen to Descartes over here,” Fritz said. “Can you try not to be morbid for one second?”
    “Let’s think about this logically,” Ernest said. “Father didn’t go anywhere near the hat. How can he have caught something from it?”
    Fritz shook his head.
    “No, he did go near it,” he said. “He studied it to see if there was anything Mother might have an allergy to.”
    Ernest looked toward the gift table and found the hat was no longer there.
    “But Francis didn’t go near it,” Ernest said. “How do you explain that?”
    “The hat was on his bed when I went upstairs earlier to bring your gift down,” Fritz said. “Then he took a nap. Maybe that was what caused it.”
    “Perfect,” Ernest said, throwing his hands up. “Where’s the hat now?”
    “I threw it out the window when we left Mother and Father alone,” Fritz said.
    “Then how come I haven’t succumbed to it yet?” Ernest said. “I was the one who spent hours making it. How come I’m still here?”
    “Maybe you’re immune,” Fritz said.
    “I doubt it,” Ernest said.