Free The Three Thorns by Michael Gibney Page A

snatched the map and held it up to the stage light so he and Greta could get a clearer look. “Of course I don’t,” he sneered, tossing the piece of paper back at Mr. Porter.
    “It looks to me your runaways are headed to the countryside, Mr. Jennings,” added Greta.
    Victor began to nervously titter under his breath.
    “Be quiet, you great oaf,” Mr. Jennings snapped as he took one step closer to the stubborn entrepreneur. “Make no mistake, they’re coming here for a reason, and we’re going to be here to catch them this time.”
    Greta ordered the rest of the cast and crew to leave the auditorium, including Sebastian, while the policemen searched the theater. Sebastian kept his head down passing his parents, but then looked around himself when he reached the safety of the stage curtains. Sebastian always liked to look at the grand architecture of the auditorium before going to bed, especially as this was the newest theater on this side of London that his parents had recently purchased.
    The Cain family never stayed in one place for too long. But Sebastian was rather fond of this building in particular. It didn’t seem cold like his previous residencies. The building’s interior design and the artwork on its ceilings were often the last things Sebastian gazed upon every night.
    But something suddenly appeared out of place this time. Something lurked in one of the top balconies. The troubling sight caught Sebastian so off guard that it demanded a second glance. An odd face lit up and peered out of the front row of the right balcony. It was the face of a boy his age. The face suddenly faded into the shadowy background as quickly as it had appeared.
    Sebastian had a creepy feeling that someone had been watching that evening’s events unfold.

 
     
11
     
     
New Friends of Warwickshire
     
     
    Awake! Finally awake.
    “Where am I?” Benjamin whispered to himself. The muffled sounds vibrating along the thin walls had stirred him from his deep slumber. A chesty cough echoed through the hall ahead of him. Maybe he had coughed without realizing it.
    He pondered for a while, rubbing his burning eyes to rid himself of blurred vision. Another husky cough came from the hall, louder this time.
    Benjamin sat up on the hardened suede sofa and felt the room begin to spin. Aches and pains ran across his winter-beaten body. He must have been asleep a long while for he was fully dry, and his wet coat and damp shoes were nowhere to be found.
    He stood up in an attempt to shake his dizziness off. The warmth of the prickly carpet tips brushing through his toes contributed discomfort to his soaring temperature.
    Still dazed and confused, Benjamin slowly gravitated toward the sounds along the hall.
    The hallway looked warm and cosy with a varnished wooden ceiling overhead. Peach wallpaper with patterns of gilded flowers covered the walls around him. It was obvious that a person of great wealth and taste lived here.
    When Benjamin drew nearer to the coughing noise, he thought of Peter and Tommy.
    Following the strange rabbit hunter across the cold countryside was the last thing he could remember. Or did he follow a kidnapper? Was the rabbit hunter the owner of that coarse smoker’s cough? There’s only one way to find out, Benjamin thought.
    Bravely, the sick boy walked along the last stretch of hallway, nearing a small dip in front of him. Three carpet-covered steps led to a short landing that joined another three identical steps leading upward toward a door, slightly ajar. A beam of light shone through the gap in the doorway and widened as the door began to creak open.
    The rabbit hunter stepped into the smaller landing below, blocking the glow from the doorway that silhouetted him. He looked up at the terrified boy standing three steps above him, then walked closer to reveal his face half covered in the shade. His face was round and colorful and welcoming in the clear light, which made Benjamin feel less afraid of him.
    “How