Free The Burning by R.L. Stine Page B

beggar!” Hannah cried, laughing. “Down, down! Get off me, and I shall give you a taste!”
    Ignoring her, Fluff leapt high, trying to get his teeth on the meat pie.
    â€œHere. Here is a piece for you,” Hannah said, using one hand to shove the dog off her lap. She broke off a tiny wedge of pie and held it out to Fluff.
    The dog yipped and slurped it up eagerly, licking Hannah’s hand clean. “Stop! Stop! You’re
tickling
me!” she cried, laughing. “What a scratchy tongue you have, doggy!”
    â€œYou
do
spoil that dog,” Julia grumbled good-naturedly.
    Hannah gave Fluff another piece of the pie.
    â€œWhere are the boys?” Julia asked. She climbed to her feet, shielding her eyes with one hand, and searched the woods for them.
    â€œI hope they have not wandered far,” Hannahsaid, following her sister’s gaze. “Robert has no sense of direction at all. He can get lost inside the house!”
    Hearing a strange sound, Hannah turned back to Fluff.
    To her surprise, the dog was whimpering loudly, his head lowered, his tail tucked tightly between his legs.
    As Hannah watched in alarm, the dog’s entire body began to convulse. Fluff coughed, then his stomach heaved, and he began to vomit, his legs trembling, his entire body quivering.
    Then all at once the dog crumpled to the blanket, dropped onto his side, and was still.
    â€œFluff!” Hannah cried. “Fluff! Fluff! Oh, Julia—what has happened?”

Chapter 16

    H annah carefully lifted the dog from a puddle of dark vomit and held him tightly against the front of her dress. “He’s dead,” she muttered.
    â€œNo!” Julia cried in horror. “Hannah, he
cannot
be! He—” Tears formed in the corners of Julia’s gray eyes.
    â€œPoor Fluff. Poor Fluff. Poor Fluff,” Hannah repeated quietly, still hugging the dead animal to her.
    â€œNo. I do not believe it!” Julia cried, shaking her head. “The dog was perfectly fine until—until—”
    Both girls had the idea at the same time.
    â€œThe meat pies!” Hannah cried. Her eyes widened in horror, and she gaped at her sister. “Julia, did you—?”
    Julia lowered her eyes to the pie beside her on the blanket. “No. I did not touch mine. You?”
    Hannah shook her head. “Only Fluff. He was the only one to eat. And now the poor dog is dead.”
    â€œPoisoned,” Julia muttered.
    Hannah gasped.
“What
did you say, sister?”
    â€œPoisoned,”
Julia repeated the word as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Lucy. She poisoned the pies. She
had
to.”
    â€œNo!” Hannah cried, lowering the dog to the blanket, her features set in horror. “You don’t think—”
    â€œLucy,” her sister repeated, shaking her head. “She almost murdered us all.”
    Hannah swallowed hard, her heart thudding wildly against her chest. She climbed quickly to her feet, her expression frightened. “Where are the boys?” she asked, searching the woods. “Julia, go fetch the boys and bring them home. I shall run to tell Father. He must know what Lucy has done—at once!”
    As Hannah ran through the woods toward the house, tears rolled down her cheeks.
    Poor Fluff, she thought. That poor, innocent dog. He looked so frightened, so confused.
    Poisoned.
    Poisoned by that villainous maid.
    If only Hannah had told her father her suspicions about Lucy after finding the shard of glass in her shoe. Then Fluff would still be alive.
    I’ll tell Father everything now, Hannah toldherself. And the maid will be gone before—before she can kill again.
    The back of the rambling Fear mansion came into view. Hannah slowed a little as she passed the burial plot. A closed pine coffin had been set down at the edge of the fresh grave.
    Jenkins must be inside it, Hannah realized. The funeral will be held in a few moments.
    Thinking of Fluff, a loud