Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (25 page)

A second intruder
stood beside Brandon’s bed. “He’s a big one,” he said to one of his companions. “Maybe ye ought to give him a second sprinkle of the sleeping dust.”

“I gave him plenty already
,
”
responded the third.

“Need I remind ye of
the
time back on Delardo?”

“Are ye saying I don’t know what I be doing?” the third
intruder
said, sounding testy.

“Aye.”

The
second bum
pushed the
third one
and a shoving match ensued.

“Stop it,” said the one holding the needle of light
.
“We
’re on a mission
.”

The bums stopped fighting. The
second
one picked up
Glory
’s
old jack-in-the-box and turned the winder
.
Music tinkled until the lid popped opened and a clown sprung out
.

The bum dropped the toy, fell backwards
,
and tripped over his own feet
.
His mates held their ample bellies, whistling and snorting with laughter. The first
one
pulled himself to his feet, mumbling about the silly people of
Tullah
.

Suddenly, Brandon sat up in bed
with his
eyes half open.

The three bums startled
.

Slowly big brother’s eyes widened. He stared at the
intruders
and they stared back at him
.
Brandon screamed with
gusto
.
The
bums
grabbed onto each other and screamed too
.
A crash came from down the hall.

“What’s the matter
?
”
Patrice
called out. The sound of bare feet slapped down the hallway. “I’m coming!”

A second set of footsteps thumped up the stairs in a hurry.

“
Dad
!
Dad
!
”
Glory
burst from the closet
.
The intruders recoiled, stumbling over themselves.

“Quick!” yelled the
one
with the light
.
“Use the
Para
plume
!”

The third bum took a large white feather from his hatband and drew an oval in the air.
“
Issatti
!
”
he shouted.
Inside of the perimeter
,
a
dazzling
green
light
s
himmer
ed
like
a
tiny
sea kissed with
sunlight
.
T
he first bum jumped through it and was swallowed up like a swimmer diving into deep water
.
The second man did the same, taking his light with him, just as
Glory
flicked on the light switch
.

The one with the feather paused in front of the magic oval
.
He held up his palm and blew. Sapphire
droplets
scattered over Brandon’s face, his eyes rolled back in their sockets
,
and his head collapsed back
o
nto his pillow
.

Tucking the
feather
into his hatband, the remaining bum looked directly at
Glory
.
“We’ll be back,
t
hief.
”
Stunned, she watched him dive
into the oval, which faded away just as the bedroom door swung open.

Dad
barged into the room
, gun in hand,
with
Patrice
on his heel.

“What the blazes is going on in here?”

“
Dad
!”

She
rushed over and flung h
er
arms around his waist, gulping air.

“The bums were in the house! They come and go through holes they draw in the air with a feather
.
They went through the house, searching for someone
,
or something
, the E
lboni
they said
.”

“
Elboni
?”
Patrice
wrinkled her face in disbelief
.
“You mean the
Wybbil
’
s lucky stone?”

“You
know about
it?”
Glory
said with surprise.

“The
l
egend of the
Elboni
, sure I’ve heard of it, but you ought to know better than to believe in
stuff
like that.
”

Dad
pulled
Glory
to arm
’
s length, pale eyes stern. “Calm down,
girl
.
Has
Grandpa
been filling your head with his tales of
Wybbil
s and Whatnots
?”

“
Wybbil
s?
”
Glory
gulped. “You mean the bums are
Wybbil
s? It’s even worse than I thought!”

“NO!
”
Dad
said sharply
.
“There aren’t any bums
!
And
definitely
no
Wybbil
s
!
I’m gonna have a talk with
Grandpa
Kracker first thing in the morning
.
He used to fill your mother’s head with nonsense too.
”

“
Grandpa
didn’t say anything
.
I saw the
m
with my own two eyes
.
I don’t know if they’re
Wybbil
s
or
not, but
whoever they are
,
they s
tole my shoes in the barn
.
And they
were in the house just now
—
in this very room
!
”

Dad
glanced around the room. “And where are they now?”

Glory
pointed toward the wall.

“You mean they went outside?”

“No
.
Well, yes
.
No
.
Maybe.”

“You’re not making any sense,”
Patrice
said
.
She and
Dad
took their time getting to the window. They tested the lock, noting out loud how it was still locked, secured from the inside
.
“I’m sure that was Brandon screaming,
b
ut the other voice was really strange.”

“I heard it, too,” said
Dad
.
“It must have been
Glory
.
”

“It wasn’t me
.
”

“Shh
h
,”
Dad
admonished and took a seat on the edge of Brandon’s bed, shaking him by the shoulder
.
But Brandon wouldn’t rouse.

Glory
tried to make them understand. “
Th
e same ones who stole my shoes in the barn, they blew sleeping
elixir
in his face a-
a-
and
...
”

“Quiet,”
Dad
said
.
“Brandon’s fine. He had a nightmare and probably screamed in his sleep
—
that’s all.”

“B-b-but the bums
were here
, dressed in fancy suits
.”

Patrice
kept her eyes on
Glory
as if
gawking at
a train wreck
.
“
Dad
, I think
s
he’s serious.”

“This funny business all started after
s
he fell out of the loft,”
Dad
said, rubbing his chin stubble. “I wonder if
s
he cracked h
er
noggin’ harder than I thought.”

“
She’s cracked,
” Patrice was quick to agree. “A
nybody can see that.
If you want, I can
drive
h
er
to the doctor tomorrow.”