Free The Wooden Skull by Benjamin Hulme-Cross

 
    Chapter 1
    The Bridge
    Mr Blood, Mary and Edgar were standing near a bridge in the town of Blackwell. The river water was dirty and full of all the town’s rubbish.
    â€œI am going back to the inn to sit by the fire,” Mr Blood said. “Come back inside when you are ready.” He walked away.
    Mary saw two men on the bridge. There was something strange about them.
    â€œLook, Edgar!” said Mary, “those two men over there on the bridge. They…”
    â€œThey look exactly the same,” Edgar said, “how strange!”
    The two men looked like twins. They were just the same as each other in every way.
    Â 

    Â 
    The men had the same face, the same haircut. Even their clothes were a perfect match. They stood looking at each other in the middle of the bridge.
    Edgar could see one difference between the men, however. One man looked very ill and very unhappy. The other man had a nasty smile.
    The men stood there saying nothing. Then, as Edgar watched, he saw that bit-by-bit the unhappy man’s face changed. He stopped looking sad. Soon he looked quite calm and happy.

    That man stepped up onto the low wall at the side of the bridge. The other man did the same. Then, without a word, the two men jumped off the bridge.
    Mary and Edgar cried out and ran onto the bridge. As they ran they both saw a small object rolling towards them. One of the men had dropped it before he jumped. Mary stopped to pick it up.
    Edgar kept on running until he reached the wall of the bridge. He leaned over.
    Â 

    The men had vanished in the dirty river.
    By the time Mary got to the wall of the bridge a few other people were also looking down into the dirty river.
    â€œAnother jumper!” one lady said. “We won’t be seeing him again. The currents are strong and they suck you under.”
    â€œThere were two of them,” said Edgar. But nobody heard him. The people who had stopped were walking away.
    â€œThat was horrible!” Edgar said to Mary. “What was that thing they dropped?”
    â€œThing? What thing?” Mary snapped. She sounded very angry. Edgar didn’t know why.
    Â 

    Â 
    â€œThe thing that fell,” Edgar said. “You picked it up.”
    He could see it in her hand. He grabbed it. It was a small wooden carving of a skull with two faces.
    â€œIt’s mine!” Mary grabbed the skull back. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
    She turned and ran back towards the inn where they were staying.
    Edgar stared after her. He didn’t understand.

    Â 
    Chapter 2
    The Inn
    By the time Edgar got back to the inn, Mary had locked herself in her room.
    â€œOpen the door,” demanded Edgar. “We need to talk.”
    â€œLeave me alone,” shouted Mary.
    Edgar tried to find Mr Blood. He wanted Mr Blood to talk to Mary but Mr Blood had gone out.
    Edgar went to his room and sat on his bed. He kept thinking about the two men on the bridge. Were they twins? Why did they jump? One of them had looked sad, but the other seemed to be happy. So why had he jumped to his death?
    Â 

    Â 
    Edgar tried to talk to Mary again a few times that evening. Each time, she told him to go away. Edgar did not know what was the matter with Mary but he knew that something was very wrong.
    It was getting late and Mr Blood had not come back. Edgar decided to go to bed. He hoped that Mary would be better in the morning.
    In the middle of the night, Edgar woke up. He could hear terrible howling. He got up and walked along the hall.
    Â 

    Â 
    The howling grew louder. It seemed to be coming from Mary’s room. He knocked at the door, but the howling carried on.
    Mr Blood came out from his room and the landlord and landlady of the inn came to see what all the noise was about. They unlocked Mary’s door.
    They found Mary curled up on the floor next to her bed.
    Mary was holding something in her hand and howling. Her eyes rolled. Her face was