Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (56 page)

BOOK: Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series)
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Needle
came back
through the door
.
He
took
Glory
by the shoulders, holding h
er
at arm

s length
to meet h
is
gaze
.
“There
be
only three rules:  One: ye can blow this whistle to summon us and we will get ye out
pending a negotiation
.

He
pulled a pearly bird-shaped whistle on a chain out of
his
glittery
green
vest.

Two: ye cannot
exit
through the
red
door unless ye
are carried
out
by one of us
.


Three: if ye manage to escape
the
Bamboozle on your own,
ye pass and
can never be tested again.

He
placed the whistle
around
Glory
’s
neck
.
His scratchy voice deepened
.

Remember, blow the w
histle and we will come.

“But, what do I do
?
How do I get out of the Bamboozle
?
Are the doors locked
?
Do I need a key
?

“Only the whistle
,
or a
show of selflessness
,
can end each test
.
Since
the latter
be
difficult to come by
in
a species so lacking
,
ye better hang tight to the whistle.”

White Feather gave h
er
a rough shove through the square door
.
Glory
fell and came up with a mouthful of sand
.

“May
the
Elboni
’s magic
be with ye,” Needle said and slammed the door
, which
instantly vanished and became one with the wall of sand
.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1
9
 

 

 

Glory
spit out sand granules and
ran to the part of the wall where the square door had been
only a second ago
.
Only
hard
rough
brick made of white sand
met her fingertips
.

She pounded the wall.
“Let me out!”

Nobody answered
.

The
shadowy
Bamboozle felt like priso
n
, or worse, a tomb.
M
aybe h
er
brothers were right
about her being bonkers
.
She slid down the wall to a seated position.
Sunlight poured through the
tall stack
creating a bright circle at
the center of the
ground.

“This is just a really bad, BAD dream.

She
said aloud, banging
the back of
her head against the wall.
“Wake up
.
Wake up
.
Wake up.”

S
he lifted the bird whistle to her mouth to end the test.
“Wait, what am I d
oing?

She studied the whistle

such a shiny little bird

so sweet and inviting.

Wait. T
his is what they want
you to do

panic

so you’ll trade your freedom for the stone.”
She let the whistle drop to her chest.
“Keep your eyes on the treasure
, Glo.

“Bamboozle
,” she whispered.

I’m
not going anywhere, so you
m
ight as well show me what you got.”

S
ilence
.

“Oh, I see, your strategy is to bore me to death.

Rubbing h
er
temples,
s
he
studied
the three painted doors
barely perceptible in the shadowy edges of the structure
.
Where did they lead?
Outside? To another world? Perhaps they
were holding something back
?

Shapes were significant in Wybb
.
We
re colors too
?

She
tapped a
n index
finger
on her chin

thinking
.
Green
reminded her
of moss
.
But maybe it stood for sickness because people turned green w
hen nauseous
.
And
wasn’t
that the color of envy
?
Wh
at
the heck should
I do
?
Her brothers complained
that
she was too slow about things
.
If I think about it too much, I won’t do anything at all
. Let’s see, l
eaves are green
.
Maybe the door is symbolic for garden. A garden means life
.
Glory
decided to try the green door first.

Sh
e plowed through the thick sand into the dimly lit edge of the Bamboozle
.
The
door felt
metallic and
cool to the touch
.
A brass handle rested at the center
.
What
terrible thing waited behind it? D
on’t think about it,
she cheered herself on. You can do it, Glo. I
gnore the fear and
simply
do it
.

Heart thumping,
s
h
e tugged a
t
the
handle, opening the door a
mere crack.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she peeked through.

Eyes widened curiously
.
Sand,
and
more sand, an open sky
.
The sun shimmered above
the
baking land
, so hot she could see heat vapors rising from the ground
and
a
stretch of
beach
with palm trees far in the distance.

Her heart leapt
.
She’d
found the way out on
the first try
!

Congratulating h
erself for
having reasoned it all out,
s
he pulled the door wide open
.
Chin up
s
he marched through it
, b
ut when
s
he stepped through
,
the  beach disappeared, replaced by a
narrow
metal chamber
lined with
foggy windows
.
B
r
own bench seats filled
the floor
. A thin
aisle
ran
down the center. F
amiliar faces star
ed
up at her
.
The school bus?
I’m on the friggin’
school bus
.

 

 

Scratching h
er
temple,
s
he couldn’t
even
remember getting out of bed this morning
.
Now
s
he
stood
in front of Mrs. Spud with ba
ckpack slung over one shoulder
.
Everything
felt
out of whack
, but
s
he couldn’t put h
er
finger on
the why of it
.

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