Fablehaven I (23 page)

temples. What have I done?

Maybe we can change him back.

Seth kneeled down and put his mouth to Dale’s ear. If

you can hear me, give us a sign! he yelled.

The metallic figure made no response.

Do you think Grandpa and Lena are around here too?

Kendra asked.

We’ll have to look.

Kendra cupped her hands around her mouth.

Grandpa! Grandpa Sorenson! Lena! Can you hear me?

Look at this, Seth said, crouching beside the overturned

birdbath. The birdbath had tipped over toward a

flowerbed. In the flowerbed was a clear footprint-three

large toes and a narrow heel. The print was big enough to

suggest that it came from a creature at least the size of a

grown man.

Giant bird?

Check out the hole behind the heel. He stuck a finger

into a nickel-sized hole. A couple inches deep.

Weird.

Seth acted excited. It has a pointy thing on the back

of its heel, a spur or something.

Which means what?

We can probably track it.

Track it?

Seth moved forward in the direction the toes pointed,

scanning the ground. See! He crouched, pointing at a

hole in the lawn. That spur digs deep. It should leave a

clear trail.

And what happens if you catch up to whatever made

the tracks?

He patted his pockets. I throw some salt and rescue

Grandpa.

How do you know it took Grandpa?

I don’t, he admitted. But it’s a start.

What if it turns you into a painted statue?

I won’t look directly at it. Just in mirrors.

Where’d you get
that
from?

History.

You don’t even know what you’re talking about,

Kendra said.

We’ll see about that. I better get my camo shirt.

First let’s make sure there aren’t any other statues in

the yard.

Fine, then I’m out of here. I don’t want the trail getting

cold.

After scouring the yard for half an hour, Kendra and

Seth had come across various articles of furniture from the

house or porch in unexpected locations, but they had

found no other life-sized painted statues. They ended up by

the swimming pool.

Have you noticed the butterflies? Kendra asked.

Yeah.

Anything special about them?

Seth slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand.

We haven’t had milk today!

Yep. No fairies, just bugs.

If those fairies are smart, they won’t show their faces

around here, growled Seth.

Yeah, you’ll show them. What do you want to be this

time? A giraffe?

None of this would have happened if they had kept

guarding the window.

You did torture one of them, Kendra pointed out.

They tortured me back! We’re even.

Whatever we do, we should drink some milk first.

They went into the house. The refrigerator was lying

on its side. Together they pried the door open. Some of the

milk bottles had broken, but a few were intact. Kendra

grabbed one, uncapped it, and took a sip. Seth drank next.

I need my stuff, he said, bolting for the stairs.

Kendra started searching for clues. Wouldn’t Grandpa

have tried to leave them a message? Maybe there hadn’t

been time. She walked through the rooms, but encountered

no hints to explain the fate of either Lena or Grandpa.

Seth showed up in his camouflage shirt, carrying the

cereal box. I was trying to find that shotgun. You haven’t

seen it?

Nope. There’s an arrow by the front door. You could

toss that at the monster.

I think I’ll stick with the salt.

We never checked the basement, Kendra said.

Worth a try.

They opened the door by the kitchen and stared down

into the gloom. Kendra realized it was just about the only

undamaged door in the house. Stone steps led into the

darkness.

How about that flashlight? Kendra said.

No light switch? he asked. They couldn’t find one.

He rummaged in the cereal box and withdrew the

flashlight.

With some salt from his pocket clutched in one hand

and the flashlight in the other, Seth led the way. It was a

longer flight than would ordinarily lead to a basement —— more

than twenty steep stairs. At the bottom the flashlight

beam illuminated a short, barren hallway ending at an iron

door.

They walked to the door. It had a keyhole below the

handle. Seth tugged the handle, but the door was locked.

There was a small hatch at the base of the door.

What’s this? he asked.

It’s for brownies, so they can come in and fix stuff.

He pushed open the hatch. Grandpa! Lena!

Anybody!

They waited in vain for a reply. He called once more

before standing and shining his light into the keyhole.

None of your keys would fit this? he asked.

They’re way too small.

There might be a key stashed in Grandpa’s bedroom.

If they were down here, I think they’d answer.

Kendra and Seth started back up the stairs. At the top,

they heard a loud, deep groan that lasted at least ten seconds.

The penetrating sound came from outside. It was

much too powerful to have been made by a human. They

raced to the back porch. The groan had ended. It was difficult

to say from which direction it had originated.

They waited, looking around, expecting a recurrence of

the unusual sound. After a tense minute or two, Kendra

broke the silence. What was it?

I bet it was whatever has Grandpa and Lena, Seth

said. And it didn’t sound too far off.

It sounded big.

Yeah.

Like whale big.

We have the salt, Seth reminded her. We need to

follow that trail.

Are you sure that’s a good idea?

You have a better one?

I don’t know. Wait and see if they show up? Maybe

they’ll escape.

If that hasn’t happened by now, it isn’t going to. We’ll

be careful, and we’ll make sure to get back before dark.

We’ll be fine. We have the salt. That stuff works like acid.

If something goes wrong, who saves us? Kendra asked.

You don’t have to come. But I’m going.

Seth hurried down the porch steps and started across

the yard. Kendra reluctantly followed. She wasn’t sure how

they would pull off a rescue if scalding the monster with

salt failed, but Seth was right about one thing-they

couldn’t just abandon Grandpa.

Kendra caught up with Seth at the flowerbed where

they had originally found the prints. Combing through the

grass together, they followed a series of nickel-sized holes

across the lawn. The holes were spaced roughly five feet

apart and followed a generally straight line, passing the

barn and eventually leaving the yard along a narrow path

into the woods.

No longer obscured by grass, the tracks were even easier

to follow. They passed a couple of intersecting paths,

but the way was always certain. The prints of whatever

creature had left the holes were unmistakable. They made

rapid progress. Kendra remained alert, searching the trees

for mythical beasts, but spotted nothing more spectacular

than a goldfinch and some chipmunks.

I’m starving, Seth announced.

I’m okay. I’m getting sleepy, though.

Just don’t think about it.

My throat is getting sore, Kendra went on. You

know, we’ve been up almost thirty hours.

I’m not that tired, Seth said. Just hungry. We should

have foraged for food in the pantry. It can’t all be smashed.

We must not be too hungry if we didn’t think about it

at the time.

Suddenly Seth stopped short. Uh-oh.

What?

Seth went several paces forward. Leaning close to the

ground, he worked his way back past Kendra. He went forward

again more slowly, kicking aside any leaves or

branches on the trail. Kendra realized the problem before

Seth vocalized it. No more holes.

She helped scan the ground. They both scrutinized the

same segment of the path multiple times before Seth began

to search off the trail. This could be bad, he said.

There’s a lot of undergrowth, Kendra agreed.

If we could even find one hole, we’d know which

direction it went.

If it left the path, we’ll never be able to follow it.

Seth crawled on hands and knees along the edge of the

path, sifting through the mulch beneath the undergrowth.

Kendra picked up a stick and used it to poke around.

Don’t make any holes, Seth cautioned.

I’m just moving leaves.

You could do it with your hands.

If I wanted bug bites and a rash.

Hey, this is it. He showed Kendra a hole about five

feet from the last one on the path. It turned left.

Diagonally. She made a line with her hand connecting

the two dots and continuing into the woods.

But it might have turned more, Seth said. We

should find another one.

Finding the next hole took almost fifteen minutes. It

proved that the creature had indeed turned almost directly

to the left, perpendicular to the path.

What if it kept turning? Kendra said.

It would sort of be backtracking if it turned more.

Maybe it wanted to throw off pursuit.

Seth went forward five feet and found the next hole

almost instantly. It confirmed that the new course was perpendicular

to the trail.

The undergrowth isn’t as bad here, Seth said.

Seth, it would take all day to track it twenty paces.

I don’t mean to track it. Just to walk in this direction

for a while. Maybe it will intersect a trail and we can pick

up tracks again. Or maybe it lives not much farther ahead.

Kendra put a hand in her pocket, feeling for salt. I

don’t like the idea of leaving the trail.

Me neither. We won’t go far. But this thing seems to

like trails. It followed one all this way. We may be close to

a discovery. It’s worth going a little ways just to check.

Kendra stared at her brother. Okay, and what if we run

into a cave?

We take a look.

What if we hear breathing coming from the cave?

You don’t have to go in. I’ll look myself. The point is

finding Grandpa.

Kendra bit her tongue. She almost said that if they

found him out here, it would probably be in pieces. Okay,

just a little ways.

They walked in a straight line away from the path.

They kept scanning the ground, but noticed no more holes.

Before long they crossed a dry, rocky streambed. Not far

beyond, they wandered into a little meadow. The brush and

wildflowers in the meadow grew nearly waist high.

I don’t see any other trails, Kendra said. Or any