Free Secrets of Valhalla by Jasmine Richards Page A

day in a row, he thought. And I have now officially lost whatever marbles I had left. He scrubbed at his face. Eleanor Bright, a dragon, and now a Saturday that seemed to be repeating itself. A burble of something that could be a laugh or a sob climbed up his throat,and only theshrill ring of the telephone disguised it.
    â€œI’ll get it.” Tia slipped down from her stool and headed to the phone, but Buzz was quicker.
    If he was going to live this day twice, be it by dream or hallucination, then he was going to be the one to answer this phone call. There have to be some perks to going mad.
    He snatched the phone from its stand and hit the green button.
    â€œHello-the-Buzzard-residence,” he said in one breath.
    â€œBuzz? Buzz? Is that really you?” a tinny voice on a crackly line said.
    â€œMum!”
    Despite the fact that he had expected it to be her, had wanted it to be her, hearing Mum’s voice made his hands tremble on the phone. “I thought I’d never hear your voice again.” His mouth was dry. “I’ve missed you so much Mum.”
    Tia and the Prof were already at his side, their faces twin masks of astonishment.
    At the other end of the line, Mum was silent, and Buzz wondered if her line had failed. But then he heard her swallow hard, as if her mouth was as dry as his, and he realized that she was nervous. “I’ve missed you, too, love. I’m so sorry tohave put you through this—will you forgive me?”
    â€œIt wasn’t your fault. It was the electrical storm.”
    His mum gasped. “Did I tell you that already? I could have sworn that—”
    â€œWhen will you be home?” Buzz asked, cutting her off before she could ask any more difficult questions.
    â€œI’ll be getting on a plane first thing tomorrow. And when I’m home everything is going to go back to normal, I promise.”
    Normal , Buzz thought, and the warm glow of talking to his mother began to fade a little. He’d left normal behind the day he imagined he saw Eleanor Bright imprisoned by an enchanted rope in Tangley Woods. And now I’m living Saturday on a loop. Normal felt really far away. Buzz’s hand tightened on the phone. Maybe he wasn’t mad. Maybe I’m still asleep, dreaming away in my bed upstairs.
    â€œI can’t wait,” Buzz whispered, and he hoped the desperation is his voice would get lost in the static on the line. He hoped the sooner Mum was back, the sooner his world would return to its axis.
    â€œAll right, love, pass me over to your father.”
    Buzz handed the phone to the Prof, and he could see the flash of annoyance that crossed his sister’s face as she realized the phone wasn’t coming her way.
    She got to speak to Mum yesterday, Buzz reminded himself. Not that she knows that, since apparently yesterday didn’t happen for her.
    â€œNatasha, are you hurt? Where have you been? Wethought . . . well, you can imagine what we thought.” The Prof held the phone tightly, and his knuckles stood out starkly against his pale, freckly skin.
    Buzz could hear his mother’s voice but not her words as the Prof listened intently.
    â€œNatasha, the line is breaking up. Yes, of course, I’ll tell her. I lo—” He broke off and looked at the phone in frustration. “She’s gone.”
    â€œBut I didn’t get to speak to her.” Tia’s voice was a little hoarse.
    â€œI’m sorry, but it sounds like she had to move heaven and earth to make the call and the line was temperamental, to say the least.”
    Tia nodded, her throat working furiously.
    The Prof was looking at Buzz in puzzlement. “I don’t know how you knew, but you were right. Your mother really is coming home.”

CHAPTER TEN
A New Game Plan
    B uzz walked onto the field, waiting for the dream to fade or the hallucination to shatter, but Saturday kept on running just the same.
    The Prof seemed to