Fablehaven2-Rise of the Evening Star Page 29
Seth exited the room again. He did not return for a few
minutes. When he finally came back, he said, I checked out
the windows. There are two imps on the back porch, and a
big fat one out front. The sides of the house look unguarded.
If you slip out through the study window, you might be able
to sneak into the woods.
We should wait and make a break for it together, she
said. Nobody is going to look behind the couch between
now and when you steal the keys.
How long do you think we should wait? he asked.
Longer than you think, Kendra said. The clock on
the wall says 10:47. I say we wait a full hour before you go
upstairs, just to be safe.
In that case, I'm going to make a sandwich.
No way, Kendra said firmly.
All I've eaten for two days is cocoon pulp, he said.
You had snacks at Warren's, she said.
Right, snacks. I wasn't that hungry then. Now I feel like
my stomach is digesting itself.
If they hear you rustling around, we could all die.
There's plenty of food at the cabin. I say wait.
What if they end up catching us? Seth asked. Then
we'll be stuck eating glop! Did you smell that stuff?
If we get caught, we'll have bigger problems than what
to eat.
I bet I could make a sandwich about ten times quieter
than you whisper, he accused.
Are you trying to make me angry?
Are you trying to make me hungry?
Fine, Kendra said. Go make a sandwich. We've got an
hour, maybe you can bake some cupcakes too.
I've got a better idea. I'll make us smoothies in the
blender. With lots of ice.
I wouldn't be surprised.
Fine. You know what? You win, Kendra. I'll sit here and
starve.
Good. Starve quietly.
Time crawled. Seth spent most of the hour sitting
invisibly on the couch. Kendra tried to picture what escape
route she would use if things went bad. Eventually the hour
passed.
Can I go get the keys? Seth asked.
Do we need more of a plan? Kendra said.
My plan is to be really quiet and bring the keys downstairs,
Seth said.
And then only one of us should go to the basement, so
at least one of us can get away, she said. We don't want to
both get trapped down there.
Okay. What if somebody wakes up and sees me? Seth
asked.
Run for it, Kendra said. I'll play it by ear. Just because
they see you won't mean they'll know I'm in the house.
Maybe I can lie low and save the day after things settle
down.
Or maybe somebody else will save the day for a
change, Seth said. Besides, if they find me I bet they'll
search the house.
Where's the best hiding place on this floor?
If I were you, I'd hide in the study, like behind the desk.
You'll have quick access to a window that will take you outside.
Going out through the side should give you a chance
to avoid the imps. If they catch me, you should probably
take off. Maybe you can leave the preserve and try to find
the Sphinx.
We'll see, Kendra said.
Wish me luck. Hopefully my growling stomach won't
give me away.
Wrapped in her sheet, Kendra walked to the entry hall
with her brother. As he started climbing the stairs, staying
close to the wall and treading lightly, she went to the study.
She unlocked the window and squatted behind the desk.
She noticed a letter opener on top of a pile of papers. She
picked it up. It felt comforting to have some sort of weapon
in her grasp.
All she could do now was wait. Maybe she should be the
one wearing the glove and creeping into Vanessa's room.
Seth would never have let her, since sneaking around was
more his specialty. But it was an awful lot of responsibility to
give to somebody who liked sticking French fries in his
nostrils.
At the top of the stairs, Seth moved stealthily down the
hall to Vanessa's door. A light had been left on in the bathroom,
so the hall was fairly bright. The door to Vanessa's
room was closed. There was no light shining underneath it.
Cupping his ear against the door, he waited invisibly, but
heard nothing.
Gently he turned the knob. It made a faint clicking
sound, and he paused. After several slow breaths, he turned
the knob the rest of the way and eased the door open. The
room was darker and more shadowy than the hall, but he
could still see fairly well. Vanessa was lying on her side on
the bed beneath her sheet. The blankets were folded at the
foot of the bed. Containers full of strange animals were
everywhere.
Seth took a slow step toward her bed. A low croak disturbed
the silence. Seth froze, turning invisible. Vanessa did
not stir. Apparently she was accustomed to animal sounds in
the night. That should work in his favor.
Her bed was on the far side of the room. He decided that
instead of crossing the center of the room, he would work his
way along the perimeter. That way if she woke up, there
would be less chance of her accidentally bumping into him.
Seth crept along the edge of the room taking small, quiet
steps. The sheet did not cover Vanessa's shoulders, so he
could see that she had not changed out of her clothes.
Staring at her, he had a hard time picturing her as a traitor.
She was so pretty, her dark hair spilling over her pillow.
Seth glimpsed a metal pole under her chin. It had to be
the artifact key! She was sleeping right on top of it!
A bird chirped and he halted, watching the narcoblix
intently. Satisfied that she remained asleep, he worked his
way along the wall, passing numerous cages. Vanessa was facing
him. All she needed to do was open her eyes while he
was moving and all would be lost. Finally he reached the
nightstand beside her bed. Her blowgun lay on the nightstand,
along with three small darts. What if he picked up a
dart and pricked her? Did narcoblixes have immunity to
sleeping potions? It wasn't worth the risk. But he picked up a
tiny dart anyhow, for backup.
Another step closer and he was standing over Vanessa.
If she stretched out her hand she could touch him. If he
reached out his hand he could touch her. There was no way
he could get to the artifact key. She was partly on top of it.
He would have to wait for her to shift positions.
While he waited, he scanned the room for the dungeon
keys. There were many surfaces where they could be resting,
on top of cages or terrariums as well as on tables or
dressers. He did not see them anywhere. They could be in
her pocket. Or tucked away in a secret spot. Or Errol might
have them.
Vanessa continued to breathe evenly, showing no sign
that she would ever change positions. Maybe narcoblixes
were really deep sleepers. She might not move all night.
There was simply no possible way he could slide
the long key
out from under her without waking her up. Most of it was
under the sheet with her.
Seth noticed a box of tissues on the nightstand. He
removed a tissue. It made a slight sound as he pulled it from
the box, but Vanessa did not twitch. Seth stared at the tissue,
but it vanished along with the rest of him as he held
still.
Wiggling his hand, he stared again at the tissue, figuring
out the best way to let it hang. This would be risky. He
might very well wake Vanessa up. But he had to make her
shift positions. She showed no sign of budging on her own.
Leaning forward, Seth moved the dangling tissue toward
her face. Slowly but surely it came closer, until a corner of
the tissue brushed her nose. Vanessa smacked her lips and
scratched her face. Seth jerked his hand away and held still.
Vanessa twisted her head back and forth, hummed softly,
and then her regular breathing resumed. She did not alter
her position. The key remained mostly beneath her.
Seth waited for a long time. Then he leaned forward
with the tissue and again let it gently brush her nose.
Vanessa snatched the tissue and her eyes opened suddenly.
She had been waiting for it this time! Seth froze, his invisible
hand less than a foot from her face. She glanced at the
tissue, squinted in Seth's direction, then turned to look the
other way. When she looked away, Seth jerked his hand
back, flickering momentarily into view. Fortunately her eyes
were not on him. It reminded him of playing Red Light ----
Green Light when he was younger. He and Kendra had to
sneak up on their dad while his back was to them. If he
caught them moving when he turned around, they got sent
back to the start. The stakes were higher, but the game was
the same.
Vanessa sat up. Who's there? she asked, eyes darting
around the room. She looked straight through Seth several
times. Errol? she called loudly, reaching for her blowgun.
On the way to her blowgun, the side of her arm brushed
against Seth. She yanked her hand back. Errol! she yelled,
kicking the sheet off of her.
Striking quickly, Seth jabbed the tiny dart he was holding
into her arm. Her eyes widened in surprise when he
flashed into view, but she had no time to react. She had
been rising out of bed, but instead she hesitated, lips corn'
pressed, and then collapsed heavily to the floor. Seth
grabbed the long key off the bed. It was quite heavy, and
several inches taller than him. He was glad to see that it disappeared
along with him when he held still.
Seth could hear Errol thumping down the hall. He leapt
away from the bed and stood still as Errol raced through the
doorway and saw Vanessa on the floor. Intruder! Errol
shouted.
Seth realized that Errol would probably suspect he had
already fled, so he held perfectly still. Errol briefly surveyed
the room, then ran out into the hall. Seth heard the front
door opening downstairs, followed by heavy footfalls on the
stairs. Would the imp smell him? What should he do?
He heard a door downstairs slam shut. The imp on the
stairs grunted urgently. Seth heard Errol dashing down the
hall. In the study! he shouted. Bring the intruder to me!
Seth heard Errol racing down the stairs. Kendra had
created a diversion, but now she would have everybody right
on her heels. Seth didn't like her chances. Leaning the key
by the door, he picked up a terrarium full of dark blue salamanders
and ran down the hall. He could hear them ramming
the door to the study.
From the top of the stairs, Seth heaved the terrarium
over the banister into the entry hall. He did not stay to
watch it hit the floor, but he heard glass shattering like a
bomb and Errol shouting. Seth hastily retreated to Vanessa's
room. Picking up the key, he crossed the room, unlocked the
window, and threw it open.
Vanessa's room was above the back porch. Seth dove
through the window onto the roof of the porch. He could
only hope that the commotion had already brought the imps
stationed on the porch into the house. Otherwise he was
about to be caught. He closed the window, hoping his pursuers
might not be sure where he had gone. For all they
knew he could have retreated to any of the rooms, or even
gone up to the attic.
He heard Kendra screaming for Mendigo from the side
of the house. She sounded desperate. Seth hurried to the
edge of the porch roof. The porch was raised above the level
of the yard, so even the lowest part of the porch roof was a
good ten feet above the ground.
Seth tossed the key onto the grass. Then he found a portion
of the roof that stuck out over a thick bush. Turning
and crouching, he grabbed the lip of the roof and stepped
off, hoping to dangle before dropping. The weight of his
body was too much, and he lost his grip, falling awkwardly
on his side, but landing in the bush.
Hitting the bush sideways turned out to be a lucky way
to fall. He mashed the bush down, and it absorbed the brunt
of the impact. Shaken, heart racing, Seth rolled out of the
bush, picked up the key, and sprinted for the woods, his
oversized bathrobe flapping behind him.
After waiting in tense silence, Kendra knew they were
in trouble when Vanessa started calling for Errol. She
opened the window so she would be ready for a quick exit.
Then Errol yelled about an intruder, and she realized Seth
had not been caught. She heard the front door open and the
imp charge up the stairs.
She had to create a distraction. Kendra ran to the study
door, opened it, and banged it shut. She locked it and rushed
to the window, wishing she had more to wear than a sheet.
She put her legs through first, so she was sitting on the windowsill,
then turned around and boosted herself backwards.
Her bare feet sank into the rich, soft soil of a flowerbed. She
dropped the letter opener in the process.
Through the window, she could hear somebody beating
on the study door. Wood splintered as the door was rammed
with greater force. Not bothering to look for the letter
opener, Kendra started running across the grass toward the
woods. She heard a tremendous crash behind her from inside
the house, like a huge vase shattering. Glancing back, she
still saw nobody in the study window.
On the manicured lawn her bare feet did not impede her
speed. In fact, she was pretty sure this was the fastest she had
ever run, energized by sheer terror. In the woods it would be
another story.
She heard something growl behind her. Looking back,
she saw a thin, wiry imp in pursuit, having apparently just
come through the window. She was about halfway across the
yard to the woods, but the imp was running fast.
Mendigo, Kendra screamed. Meet me in the woods
and protect me from the imps! Mendigo, hurry!
Off to her left, Kendra noticed the mellow glow of some
fairies, bobbing and weaving in a colorful cluster. Fairies,
please stop the imp! Kendra called. The fairies stopped
moving, as if they were now watching, but did not come to
her aid.
At the fringe of the yard, a few paces from the woods,
Kendra glanced back again. The wiry imp had gained, but
remained twenty paces behind her. Behind the wiry imp,
Kendra saw an extremely fat imp scrambling through the
window. He barely fit, and fell headfirst into the flowerbed.
Facing forward, Kendra dashed into the outskirts of the
woods. Mendigo! she cried again. Sharp rocks and sticks
jabbed at her bare feet. She crunched through leaves and
undergrowth. In some places the ground was squishy.
She heard the imp closing in behind her, snapping twigs
and tromping through shrubs. Then she heard a rustling
from off to one side. The wiry imp was now only about five
paces behind her. Kendra had no hope of outrunning him.
She heard footfalls from the same direction she had heard
the rustling, only nearer now. Some nearby bushes parted,
and Mendigo appeared.
A bundle hit Kendra in the chest, and it took her a
moment to realize that it was her and Seth's clothes along
with Tanu's pouch. Mendigo took flight, launching himself
in a flying tackle that leveled the thin imp just a couple of
paces from Kendra. They tussled on the ground.
Mendigo, stop the imp, Kendra said. But don't kill
him.
Looking back toward the yard, Kendra could see that the
lumbering, obese imp had almost reached the trees. Mendigo
had wrapped up the wiry imp in what looked like a complex
wrestling hold. Clutching the bundle of clothes, Kendra
tried to decide her next move. What would happen when
the fat imp reached them? He was much bigger than the
wiry imp. Maybe she could outrun him; he was certainly
slower. Neither was the same imp Kendra had seen in the
dungeon. Of the three, the imp in the dungeon was the most
muscular and looked the most dangerous.
Something else was crashing toward her through the
woods from the opposite direction Mendigo had come from.
After a moment, she saw that the something was wearing a
bathrobe. Seth! she cried.
He was carrying a metal staff that had to be the artifact
key. He looked at Mendigo wrestling on the ground and
then at the rapidly approaching fat imp. Mendigo, Seth