Read Spooksville 17: The Thing in the Closet Online
Authors: Christopher Pike
Spooksville 17: The Thing in the Closet (10 page)
'I wonder,' Watch said. 'I have studied the sky here. This may sound odd but it does not seem that far away.'
'But the sky is the sky,' Sally protested. 'It is not in one fixed place.'
'In our world perhaps,' Watch said. 'But here might be a different story. Zeta?'
'Of course the sky is like a curtain,' Zeta said, puzzled. 'It is fixed. How could it be otherwise?'
Adam sat up. 'Watch, are you saying that earth is just on the other side of this curtain?
That if we can get up to the sky we might be able to get back home?'
'Yes,' Watch said. 'On the condition that we can reach the sky and somehow manage to open it. Zeta, tell me, are there any high mountains in this land that reach up to the curtain?'
'Of course,' Zeta said. 'The Curtain of Dreams rests on several of the highest mountains.
There is a peak not far from here that touches the sky.'
'This place is too weird,' Sally muttered.
'Could you take us to that peak?' Watch asked.
Zeta nodded. 'When my uncle lets us out of here we will go there immediately. On horseback it is only a short ride from here. A few of your hours, no more.'
'I don't think we will be going there today,' Adam said grimly.
Just then they heard a knock on their prison door.
Zeta jumped up and hurried to the door. There was a small square of metal bars on the door through which he could see the outside. A small figure with a burning torch seemed to be standing in the stone hallway. Zeta recognised her.
'Clere!' he exclaimed. 'What are you doing here?'
'Who is Clere?' Cindy muttered.
Zeta turned. 'It is my girlfriend. She has come to help us.'
They all jumped up. Cindy scowled.
'You never told me that you had a girlfriend,' she said.
They gathered around the door. The girl outside was shorter than Zeta by a head and had fine features and softly pointed ears. Incredibly, even by human standards, she was very pretty. Her hair was long and dark green. She did not seem surprised to see humans from Earth. She spoke mainly to her boyfriend.
'Zeta,' she said in a sad voice. 'I could not believe the news until now. Your uncle has put you in prison. Pray, what have you done wrong?'
'I have done nothing wrong,' Zeta said. 'Only I have discovered that Furma has struck an alliance with the Shadows in our fight with Gilbrare.'
Clere cringed. 'Can this be true? But they are monsters.'
Zeta nodded solemnly. 'It is unfortunate but true. And I suspect I am to be kept imprisoned until after the war is decided so that our people do not find out the truth until too late. But I fear that by then the Shadows will have gained too much power. They could overrun our kingdom.'
'What can I do?' Clere asked.
'You have to get us out of here,' Zeta said. 'Speak to your father. He has known me a long time and trusts my judgement. Tell him the things I have seen in the Forbidden Territories. Duke Lester's people sharing wagons with Shadows. Tell him that my uncle has lost all sense of righteousness. This alliance will surely kill us all.'
Clere glanced at the humans. She frowned.
'Who are your friends?' she asked.
'It is a long story,' Zeta said. 'Just spread the word of what is happening and get us out of here. Once the truth reaches the people it will explode like fire blown by a strong wind.
Then we will be safe from injustice.'
'The word will spread,' Watch warned. 'I just hope your King does not want to put out this particular fire with a hammer.'
Eleven
Watch's words proved prophetic. Two hours later they were out of the prison and fleeing the city of Centrae on horseback, in the direction of the mountain Zeta had spoken of. The peak that supposedly touched the sky. Fleeing was the correct word to describe their situation. The King had sent a small army after them. He even seemed to be leading it himself, if they could believe Zeta's superb vision. A gold and blue flag waved from the front of most horses. And Zeta thought he glimpsed Shadows riding alongside the King.
Perhaps the rumours had already spread too far and the King had nothing left to hide.
Clere had done her job well. Her father must have been a powerful man in the kingdom.
He had been able to send his own men past the King's guards. Yet his power must have had its limits. He had not been able to stop the King from going after them.
'I never thought I would see the day my uncle rode openly with the Shadows,' Zeta said as they paused at the crest of a tall hill. They were already halfway up the mountain, and if they could believe their own eyes, it looked as if they would touch the weird green sky soon. Clere sat on her horse beside Zeta.
'This is a sin,' Clere said. 'It must be stopped. No one hates us more than the Shadows.'
'If only we could be free of them,' Zeta said with a sigh.
'There could be a way,' Watch muttered.
'What are you thinking?' Cindy asked him.
'Many things,' Watch muttered. He gestured to the mountain top. But we'd better get up there before they reach us.'
The King and his army had superior horses, no doubt the best in the land. They gained steadily on the gang as they strove to reach the sky. Yet it seemed that for once luck was finally on the gang's side. They rounded a sharp curve in the mountain path and suddenly ran into the sky.
It was like a huge dark sheet, hanging over their heads. Dismounting and climbing on to the top of the final slope, they poked at the sky. It was as hard as rock. Yet it felt more like plastic.
'This is a really weird place,' Sally muttered.
'How are we going to break through this?' Cindy asked Watch.
'And are we sure we won't find empty space on the other side?' Adam said. 'We might just find ourselves sucked out into a black vacuum.'
'I don't think we want to break through this sky,' Watch said. 'I think we want it to open for us. Specifically, open back in Spooksville.'
Sally stared up at the wide dark green canopy.
It seemed to stretch for ever, drooping low over the land.
'It doesn't look like we can just talk to it,' Sally said. 'How are we going to get it to open?'
'I have an idea,' Watch said with confidence.
Adam glanced back at the approaching army. King Furma definitely had plenty of Shadows with him. Maybe he intended to feed them to the beasts as punishment for upsetting his plans.
'Whatever you have planned, I think you had better do it now,' Adam told Watch.
Watch shrugged. 'I want to wait till the King gets here.'
'What?' the others cried in unison.
Watch held up his hand. 'I think I know how to solve the problem of the Shadows once and for all.'
'But it's not our problem,' Sally said. 'We are just kids, we should not get involved with their internal politics. We should get out of here while the going is good.'
'But if you could help us,' Clere said to Watch, and there was a note of pleading in her voice.
Zeta glanced at Cindy and his expression was worried.
'We need your help,' he said to her. 'But I don't know if we have the right to ask for it. I just know it would comfort me to know that you are safe.'
Cindy smiled. 'But I am not your concern.'
Zeta reached out his hand and squeezed her hand.
'You have become my concern,' he said sincerely.
Watch smiled at all the fuss, which he rarely did.
'There is no need to worry,' he said. 'We can defeat the Shadows and get home at the same time. In fact, the two things are related.'
'But how?' Adam asked.
'Think how we got here,' Watch said. 'We caused a rupture in the space-time continuum by concentrating fear on a particular place, which happened to be George's closet. In the same way it was only through another rupture — that was also made by fear — that the Shadow was able to enter Cindy's bedroom and steal her away. Fear is the key here. Fear keeps us trapped here in this realm. Fear makes this sky above us — this Curtain of Dreams — thick and impenetrable. But if we drop our fear I am sure we will be able to pass through it and back into our world as easily as we can swim through water.'
'Let's do it!' Sally exclaimed, as the army drew even closer. The King led the procession; he had already drawn his sword and there was no mistaking the anger on his face. The Shadows at his back howled with glee, no doubt looking forward to plenty of human brains to eat.
'But how do we stop the Shadows?' Zeta asked Watch.
'The same way,' Watch said. 'Just don't be afraid of them. I believe, Zeta, Clere, that your people create these Shadows. That in this realm your fear has taken a physical body in the form of these monsters. Zeta, Cindy told me what you said about the Shadows. You said,
"Some believe they come from the remains of our unconsumed fears." It was this clue that got me thinking along these lines.'
'But what exactly should we do about them now?' Zeta asked.
'Laugh at them, and I honestly believe they will vanish,' Watch said.
'This sounds like an extreme case of wishful thinking,' Sally muttered.
'What if they don't vanish?' Clere asked.
Watch shrugged. 'Then we are dead meat.'
Zeta considered and then spoke to the gang of humans.
'I think Watch might be right about how we can defeat the Shadows. But there is still a chance we might fail. For that reason I think you should leave this realm now, if you can.'
'A very logical and sound idea,' said Sally, climbing back up the slope.
'Wait,' Adam said to her. 'It is not like us to abandon friends.'
Cindy looked at Zeta and Clere. 'You risked your lives to save us,' she said. 'We are not leaving until we know you are safe.'
'You humans are more brave then I thought,' Zeta said with admiration.
'And more stupid,' Sally grumbled.
The army was on them in a minute. Flanked by Shadow guards, King Furma dismounted and strode up to Zeta. The young man stepped forward to meet him. Furma looked like a real King, even with his pointed ears and green skin. He was tall and powerfully built. On his head he wore a gold crown embedded with jewels.