Hocus Pocus Hotel (4 page)

The two boys darted out the door.

“Where'd he go?” shouted Charlie.

“This way!” yelled Ty.

Charlie followed Ty through a maze of long, endless corridors. Hallways split off into more hallways. Every now and then they had to travel up or down a short flight of steps.

The sound of footsteps ahead of them was their only guide through the maze. Then the footsteps stopped.

“Did we lose him?” asked Charlie.

Ty shook his head. “I don't know,” he said.

A cold October breeze passed down the hall. Somewhere, a window was open.

Without warning, Ty shouted angrily and banged his fist against a wall. “What an idiot!” he muttered.

Then a door nearby creaked open. A woman's voice called out, “What's all this ruckus? What's going on?”

The two boys followed the voice and turned a corner.

An older woman stood leaning against a doorframe with her hands on her hips. Light spilled from her room and glittered on the fancy red bathrobe wrapped tightly around her. Her silver hair was piled high on her head.

“Is that you, Tyler?” she said. Charlie noticed that the woman's cheeks were bright pink.

“Sorry, Miss Drake,” replied Ty. “We've been chasing someone.”

“Chasing someone?” she cried. “Heavens to Betsy. I thought the hotel was falling down, with all that noise.”

Ty introduced Charlie to the woman. Dotty Drake had once worked with magic herself. She had been a magician's assistant. “One of the best,” she said, smiling.

“Were you sawn in half, or did you float through the air?” Charlie asked.

“A little of both,” said Miss Drake.

“Sorry to butt in, Miss D., but did you hear anyone else run past your apartment tonight?” asked Ty.

“I heard lots of running,” said the woman. “But who would be running around here?”

She stopped. She raised a hand to her mouth.

The lights flickered off and on again.

“Him …” she said faintly. With her other hand she pointed back down the hallway, behind the boys.

Charlie turned and saw a shadowy figure standing near the middle of the hall.

“Mr. Madagascar,” called Ty. “Is that you?”

The figure shouted back. “I'm sorry, young man. But I have to do this.”

“What's going on?” said Miss Drake.

The lights flickered off and on. Miss Drake screamed and fell to the floor. “Oh no!” yelled Charlie. He and Ty knelt down beside her.

The lights turned off for several more seconds. When they came back on, the older woman's eyes fluttered.

“You must stop him,” she said.

The boys looked back down the hall. The shadowy man was now standing at the far end, next to an open window. A breeze was blowing the purple curtains that hung on either side of the window.

“Wait!” cried Ty. “Mr. M.! What are you doing?”

Then, as Charlie watched, not believing his eyes, the man called Mr. Madagascar took a running start and leaped headfirst through the open window into the darkness beyond.

Miss Drake screamed again.

Ty jumped up and hurried down the long hallway. Just as he passed another hall, a second shadowy figure appeared. It collided with Ty. A shudder passed through the hall. Then Ty groaned and collapsed, and the lights continued to flicker off and on.

At the far end, the window still stood open. The purple curtains rustled in the night wind. The sound of cars and traffic floated up from the streets below.

Charlie ran to the middle of the hall. “Ty, are you okay?” he asked.

In the darkness, Ty mumbled, “Where is he?”

The lights turned back on. Charlie ran over to the open window. He brushed aside the waving curtains and leaned out.

Far below on the sidewalk, people walked along as if nothing had happened. The outside of the building was smooth. The nearest windows were closed. It was a straight shot down, at least a dozen stories to the ground. There was no ledge, no roof, no awning, nothing that would have slowed down, or caught the body of the falling Mr. Madagascar. Where was he?

Miss Drake joined Charlie at the open window and looked out cautiously. The breeze tugged at her silver hair.

“What happened?” she asked. “Where is he?”

“Gone,” said Charlie.

Miss Drake's face turned pale. Charlie was afraid she was going to faint again.

“That's impossible, young man,” she said.

“Even for a magician?” asked Charlie.

The older woman stared hard at him. There was a glint of steel in her eyes. “Maybe not,” she said. She looked at the sidewalk far below. Then her gaze wandered to the buildings across the street. “He was the Master of Levitation, after all,” she said.

“But that's just fake magic,” said Charlie. “I mean, it was a trick, right?”

“A trick?” asked Miss Drake, leaning out the window for a final look. “Well, if it was a trick, then it was the greatest magic trick in the world. Madagascar would be the first human to fly!”

That's impossible
, Charlie thought. But a little voice inside him added,
Or is it?

Miss Drake adjusted her red robe, and Charlie noticed that it matched the waving curtains behind her.
That's funny
, thought Charlie.
I thought the drapes were purple.

Miss Drake said, “We need to take Tyler downstairs.”

Ty was sitting on the carpet, holding his head in his hands. “Where is he?” he mumbled again.

“Mr. Madagascar jumped out the window,” said Charlie. “Um, do you think you might have a concussion?”

Ty shook his head. “No, I mean the guy who ran into me.”

In the craziness, Charlie had forgotten all about that second figure. The lights had been going off and on then. The shadowy stranger must have escaped during a blackout.

“I didn't get a good look at him,” said Ty. “He looked tough, though.”

“I didn't see him either,” said Charlie. He looked closer at Ty and added, “You look terrible.” Ty's face was covered in bruises. “You two really banged into each other.”

“That should make him easy to find,” said Ty, slowly getting to his feet. “Keep your eyes open for some jerk who looks like me, covered in bruises.”

“Let's get you downstairs,” said Miss Drake.

Mrs. Yu was upset when Ty and Charlie walked into the Yu family home, a small apartment tucked away behind the lobby.

“Tyler! I've been looking everywhere for you,” she cried. As soon as she gave her son a closer look, she screamed. “Look at your face!” she yelled. “What happened to you? Go wash that blood off in the bathroom. And who is your friend?”

“This is just a kid from school,” Ty said. “And I'm okay,” he added.

“Does this have to do with Mr. Madagascar?” Mrs. Yu asked.

“Um, sort of,” Ty said. “He jumped out the window.”

Mrs. Yu shrieked. “I'm calling the police!” she said. “These crazy magicians —”

Ty hurried Charlie down the hall as Mrs. Yu ran into the kitchen.

In the bathroom, Charlie helped Ty wash crusted blood off his forehead. “I do look terrible,” said Ty, staring into the mirror.