The Secret Path (8 page)

“What?” they both asked.

Adam nodded to the hourglass. “It's her pride and joy. Most witches have a black cat, but she's got that. Maybe it's the source of her power. Knock it over, Sally. Break the glass and spread the dust over the floor.”

The idea of destruction appealed to Sally right then. Or so Adam supposed as he watched her attack the hourglass as if she were a hungry lion jumping a plump zebra. The thing was not welded down. Probably the witch had never had an unchained guest who hated hourglasses. A few stiff kicks and the thing fell over. It hit the floor with tremendous force. The glass walls ruptured. The diamond dust flew across the stone floor.

Then everything in the nightmarish realm went crazy.

The candles on the wall sconces flickered, almost going out, which would have plunged the room into total darkness. The ground shook as if gripped by an earthquake. The noise was incredible.
The castle's stone walls began to crack, the dust from the splintering stones showering down on them. But best of all, the iron pole around which Adam and Watch were bound cracked in two. They were able to pull their wristbands up and over the pole. Deep in a lower room, they heard the witch howl in anger.

“We'd better get out of here quick,” Adam said, grabbing hold of Sally, his hand still somewhat tied by the handcuffs. “She sounds unhappy.”

“That's putting it mildly,” Watch remarked, straightening his glasses. They raced toward what they hoped was the front door. Then Adam stopped them.

“Wait a second,” he said. “We can't just leave the others in the dungeon.”

“What others?” Sally demanded as the ground continued to rock. It was as if the castle were being ripped apart at the seams.

“There's a bunch of kids in the dungeon,” Watch explained. “They seem nice.” He added, “Except they're missing a few parts.”

Sally made a face. “I do hope they have plastic surgeons in this dimension.”

“We have to get them out before the whole castle caves in,” Adam said.

Sally and Watch looked at each other. “He's really into this hero thing all of a sudden,” she said.

“We should never have called him a coward,” Watch agreed.

Adam was impatient. “I'm going back for them.”

Sally didn't protest. “We may as well. All we have waiting for us outside this door is a bunch of hungry crocodiles and alligators.”

Just before they left the living room, Adam stooped and picked up a handful of the diamond dust that had fallen from the cracked hourglass. It sparkled in his hands like a million tiny suns. Like magic, really. He stuffed it in his pockets.

Running, they found the door to the dungeon and hurried down the winding stairway. But when they reached the dungeon, they discovered that all the cells had burst open. The prisoners had already escaped.

“But where did they go?” Adam wondered aloud.

“This hallway must lead to a way out,” Watch said, nodding ahead. “Or at least it must lead to one now. I feel a draft of outside air.”

“I would rather go under the moat than try to swim across it,” Sally said.

“How did you get across it in the first place?” Adam asked.

“I told the guard I was a personal friend of the witch and that I had an appointment.” Sally shrugged. “He was a troll. He was pretty stupid. He lowered the drawbridge for me.”

The ground convulsed again. All three of them were almost thrown to the floor. Behind them the stairway collapsed in a pile of rubble. Adam helped Sally regain her balance.

“That decides it,” Adam said. “We have to go the way the others went. It's probably the smart thing. They know this castle better than we do.”

“Yeah, but half of them are blind,” Watch remarked.

Yet they had no choice and they knew it.

They raced forward, down the dark underground hallway.

Up ahead, they could feel fresh air.

Yet behind them, they could hear the witch.

Her echoing cries. Cursing them.

T
he passageway emptied onto the surface of the cemetery. That was both good and bad. Good because they had to get to the cemetery if they were to escape through the interdimensional portal. Bad because the remaining corpses under the ground were climbing to the surface now that the world was coming to an end. As they ran toward the tombstone, a bony hand clawed up out of the mud and grabbed Sally's ankle.

“Help!” she cried as the hand began to pull her under.

Adam and Watch leaped to her aid. Unfortunately, the skeleton had lost none of its strength with the loss of its muscle tissue. He was one strong corpse. They couldn't pry Sally free. Her right leg vanished up to her knee and she became frantic. Adam took hold of her arms and felt himself being pulled under.

“Don't let go of me!” she pleaded.

“I won't,” Adam promised. “Watch!”

“What?”

“Do something!” Adam said.

“Like what?” Watch asked.

“Get one of those sticks,” Adam ordered, referring to the dead branches lying around. “Jam it between Sally's leg and the skeleton hand. It might confuse the thing.”

“I'm not that skinny,” Sally said, fighting hard to stay on the surface. Slowly, steadily, Adam was losing his battle with the unseen monster. A few more seconds and Sally would be in a coffin.

“Hurry!” Adam snapped at Watch.

Watch found a suitably strong stick and stuck it down into the hole that had widened as more and more of Sally's body disappeared
into it. But because he was working in the dark and in the mud, Watch had trouble wedging the stick between the hand and Sally's ankle. Finally he found his mark. Sally let out a scream. Watch was, after all, using her calf bone as leverage.

“That hurts!” she complained.

“Getting chewed on hurts more,” Adam said.

“Getting boiled hurts more,” Sally said sarcastically. “I've heard it all before.” She slapped Watch on the back as he struggled with the subterranean creature. “Just get this thing to let go of me!”

“It would help if you didn't disturb my concentration,” Watch said.

Sally slipped deeper into the hole and Adam almost lost his grip. “Adam!” she cried desperately.

“Sally!” he cried back.

“If you love me,” she pleaded, “stick your own leg in the hole. Maybe it will go for you instead of me.”

“He doesn't love you that much,” Watch muttered when Adam made no move to offer his leg. Watch continued, “Just hold on a few seconds
more. I think—Yes! It's taking the bait! It's grabbed the stick. Pull your leg out, Sally!”

“Gladly!” she cried in relief. The moment the creature let go of her, Adam was able to yank Sally free. He helped brush the earth off her as she stood up. She pushed away his hands.

“The last thing I'm worried about right now is how I look,” she said. She pointed to the tombstone. “How do we get through that thing?”

“We better figure that out quick,” Watch said, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the toppling castle. “We have company.”

It was true. The black knight was coming.

And with him the witch.

T
hey hurried toward the tombstone, backward. But all they got for their troubles were more bruises on the back of their heads. The interdimensional portal was not open.

“Why isn't it working?” Sally demanded.

“I suppose you could ask the witch,” Adam muttered. “She'll be here in a minute.”

“The knight will be here before her,” Watch said grimly, pointing. “Look, he's coming around that tree. We need weapons. A few strong sticks.”

“A few hand phasers would be better,” Sally remarked.

They quickly scavenged for sturdy branches that they could use as oversize batons. In a rough semicircle they stood guard in front of the tombstone. The knight approached warily, his silver sword drawn. Behind him, maybe two hundred yards, the witch strode rapidly through the convulsing graveyard. Her hair shone like flames. The light in her green eyes was the sickly color of death. When the knight was maybe twenty feet away, Adam ordered the others to spread out around him.

“Well come at him from every side,” he said.

They fanned out. The knight, although big and strong, was somewhat clumsy. Adam smacked his steel-plated knee with his wooden stick and the knight almost lost his balance. Sally was more bold. Coming at him from behind, she whacked the knight over the top of the head. He didn't like that.

In a surprisingly swift move, the knight pivoted.

He swung at Sally with his silver sword.

Watch and Adam gasped.

Fortunately, Sally ducked.

The knight's stroke missed. For a moment he stumbled. Watch took the opportunity to drop his stick and leap onto the knight's back. His arms flew around the knight's neck and he rode the black warrior as he would a galloping horse.

“What are you doing?” Adam cried.

“I saw this in a movie!” Watch called back, barely able to hold on to the knight.

“We have to get him off there!” Sally cried, rushing to Adam's side. “The knight will kill him.”

No truer words were ever spoken. Even though they could whack the knight with their poles, they couldn't rush him directly. Not unless they wanted to be cut down by his sword. Adam and Sally watched helplessly as the knight reached over his shoulder and grabbed Watch by the arm. Slowly he began to pull Watch to the front, raising his sword in the process. In a moment, Adam knew, Watch would be missing his head.

Just then a bony hand stabbed out of the ground.

Twirling dead fingers searched left and right. As if worked by invisible radar, the skeleton's palm scanned the area. Struggling with Watch, the knight stepped one step too close to it.

The hand grabbed the knight's boot.

The knight dropped Watch and stared down at the thing.

Making an angry noise, the knight raised his silver sword.

The skeleton yanked hard on the black boot.

The knight lost his balance and fell backward, dropping his sword.

Another skeleton arm wrapped around the knight's neck.

He was being pulled under.

Adam, Sally, and Watch let out a shout of victory.

For about two seconds.

“Enjoying yourselves?” the witch asked, standing dangerously tall, only thirty feet away. In the struggle with the knight, they had momentarily forgotten her. The fire in her ruby ring flared and a cold green light shone in her eyes. She took a step forward and smiled wickedly. “You have been more trouble than I expected.
But at least now I have the three of you together.”

Adam reached for the knight's sword. It was incredibly heavy. Motioning the others behind him, he pointed the sharp blade at the witch.

“Take another step,” he warned, “and I'll run you through.”

“Ha!” the witch said, and took another step forward, moving between them and the tombstone. “You would be no match for me if you had a hundred men and a hundred swords behind you.” She raised her right hand, the one that held the burning ring. “This second I could melt you as if you were made of wax.”

“I think she's serious,” Sally observed.

“Perhaps we could discuss terms of surrender,” Watch said.

“No,” Adam said. “You don't want to bargain with a witch. And maybe we don't have to. Something just occurred to me. The clocks run backward here. Time moves backward. Everything here is backward. Maybe walking forward here is the same as walking backward at home.”

“Huh?” Sally said.

“We should go through the tombstone straight on!” Watch said excitedly.

“Exactly,” Adam said.

“Why did you have to think of that now that the witch is blocking our way?” Sally asked.

The witch mocked them as she moved directly in front of the tombstone. “Yes, Adam, your brilliant idea came a few seconds too late,” she said. “Now what are you going to do? Search for another witch's tombstone? I'm afraid the only way you can find another is if you kill me and erect a stone over my grave.” Her left hand caressed the ring on her right hand. The fire within the jewel continued to grow. Her smile broadened as she added, “A blind boy might find that hard to do, don't you think?”

Adam was sick and tired of her threats.

“I'm not blind yet!” he cried, and rushed at her with the sword.

Unfortunately, he didn't get too far.

A tongue of flame leaped out from the glowing ruby. It struck the tip of the sword and
licked down the shaft of the blade. Feeling his hand burning, Adam dropped the sword to the ground. At his feet the knight's weapon melted into a silver puddle. Adam stared at it for a moment, amazed. He didn't even see the witch reach over and grab him by the throat. But he saw her eyes, oh yes, as she pulled his face up to hers. Her green eyes shone like lasers, and he had to blink to see. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the sharp nail on her free hand approach.

“I think I will gouge out your eyes here and now,” the witch said grimly. “In front of your friends. Let them have a good look at what becomes of those who defy me.”

“Just one second!” Adam pleaded. “I have something for you. I stole it from your castle.”

The witch paused, her sharp nails now only inches from his face. “What did you steal from my castle?” she demanded.

“I'll show you,” Adam replied.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of the dust from the hourglass.

The diamond dust. The magic stuff.

He opened his palm and held it in front of her face.

The witch stared at it, shocked.

“You will pay for what you did to my clock,” she swore.

“Sure,” Adam said. “But not today.”

Adam took a deep breath and blew the dust in her eyes.

The witch screamed and dropped him. Staggering back, rubbing her now burning eyes, she tripped over the head of the black knight—which was all that was visible of the poor guy. Letting out another bitter cry, the witch fell to the ground. Bony hands thrust up through the soil and grabbed her by her red hair. They pulled hard, and the witch began to go under.