The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (50 page)

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turban and loincloth made of silver UnderWear material. "Oh, June. Mother to the world. Set it down, June. These are not children. They have destinies to fulfill."

June's face reddened. "I . . . oh, okay. You three can go. But be careful, all right? This is not easy for me."

"Thanks, Mom." Erec gave her a hug.

The Hermit raised a finger. "Now, who is ready to get really cold?"

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CHAPTER THIRTY The One

REC, DANNY, SAMMY, and Griffin followed the Hermit into the Port-O-Door. Sammy was bundled up in a down parka that Jam had brought into boiling hot Aorth "just in case." Going back to King Piter's house and getting more coats wasn't worth the risk, because Dumpling Smith was likely waiting for them there.

"Can we put the Port-O-Door closer to King Augeas's realm this time?" Erec asked.

"I think I planned it perfectly when you went last," the Hermit said. "You collapsed and fell in at just the right time."

"Maybe now we can try just climbing in, instead of collapsing," Erec suggested.

The Hermit gave him a look of long suffering. "Always the renegade."

Griffin was trembling, and Erec knew why. "You don't have to go back, you know. You've spent more than enough time in that place. Why risk more problems, Griffin? I wouldn't blame you at all for staying here."

"Nay," Griffin cried. "This is one trip I'd rather die than miss, me hearty. If I have a chance to take revenge on King Augeas for all he's done, then good luck stoppin' me."

"Danny and Sammy, everything will seem like a horrible nightmare there. And I don't know exactly how we'll get out of his realm. I hope the alarm clock helps all of us."

"The harder part might be getting back into it," the Hermit suggested. "King Augeas is likely mad at you for ruining his little world. He'll figure that you're back to save the Clown Fairy, and probably kick you out to freeze in the Arctic snow."

Erec hadn't considered that possibility. "Oh, that's wonderful. So, our plan is to go die in a frozen wasteland? Good thing Mom's not in here. She'd be cheering that on, all right."

The Hermit nodded gravely. "That is your plan. To die in the snow. Unless you care to make another one."

Erec looked at the clock in his hand. "I wish I knew how this thing worked. That would help."

The Hermit raised an eyebrow. "You don't know how to work an alarm clock? A fourteen-year-old boy? Not too tech-savvy, are we?"

"I can use a regular alarm clock," Erec replied hotly. "This one is set to get Wandabelle out. But how is it set?" He looked at the

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buttons on the side. One of them, in the same place where he set his own clock, was pressed in. When he looked close, in very small print in a little display box next to it, was a date and time: MAY 1, 2 P.M. A small dial was set near the button. Erec turned it and the date changed. "April thirtieth now. What date is it today?"

"April twenty-ninth," Sammy said. "It's four p.m."

"The twenty-ninth!" Erec could not believe it. "My birthday seems like it was years ago. Wandabelle's been sitting in that awful place so long." He felt awful for her. Erec's watch said four o'clock, and he turned the clock hands so they were synchronized. "I'm going to set the alarm for today, then. April twenty-ninth, at five p.m. Does that sound okay? We have to be really careful. Baskania knows we have the alarm clock. He'll be on the lookout for us there."

"Do you think he's waiting there for us now?" Danny said.

"I don't know if he's gotten out of his own jail yet. He might still look like me." Erec laughed. "He's not the type to wait long, anyway, especially not someplace cold and nasty like that. He'd send someone else." Then he remembered. "Balor Stain! Poor kid's been stationed there to keep his eye on things--his one eye. Baskania has Balor's other one, so he can see what Balor is seeing whenever he feels like it."

"Cap'n, I'll take 'im out, first thing. Before 'e even sees yer there, I'll swipe that Balor Stain with me saber, and lights out fer 'im."

As tempting as that sounded, Erec couldn't do it. "We . . . can't kill him, Griffin."

"Speak fer yerself, cap'n. I surely can, and I can show ye--"

"No, please don't. Let's think of something else. We need a way that we could keep him from seeing us, or knowing we're there." The answer came to him. "I know. What about that sheet I found in Baskania's Army Security Headquarters? If Griffin throws it over Balor before he sees the rest of us, Balor won't be able to see. It's like

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blacking out the lens of a security camera." Erec felt bad for Balor. "Imagine your own father sticking you somewhere awful just to use you like a security camera."

He took the sheet out of his backpack, zipping the alarm clock carefully back inside, and opened it up. They tested it to make sure which was the right side to throw over Balor. If it was put on backward, the person under it could see and hear everything.

"So ... I guess the plan is
not
to get thrown back into the Nightmare Realm, and not to be kicked out to freeze in the polar ice. We're going to let the alarm wake Wandabelle--I know! King Augeas kept our bodies in a room when we were living in his nightmare. I didn't see her in there, though. If I can find where she is sleeping, I'll put the clock wherever she is. When it goes off it will wake her up, and we can get her out of there."

"So, the rest of us just have to distract King Augeas, keep him talking?"

"I guess." Erec smirked. "You know, I have an idea of what I'd like to say to him. It would be fun to mess with him a little."

Danny had grown more unsure. "Um, how wrong can things go here?"

"Very, very wrong," Erec answered. "You sure you want to come?"

He nodded quickly. "Not to be outdone by my little bro."

Sammy grimaced, but she nodded too.

Griffin held the sheet at the ready. The Hermit pulled up the map of Upper Earth and found Henrietta Island in the De Long archipelago sitting in the East Siberian Sea. He enlarged it a few times, then put the Port-O-Door into a huge ice spike, like a giant clear stalagmite, projecting from a snow-covered crest.

They opened the door into blistering winds that knocked them back inside the vestibule a few times before they could stagger out. The only way to forge against the penetrating gale was to bend all the

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way forward and lean into it. Griffin and Sammy fell into the snow, and the others tugged them to their feet. The Hermit led the way, wrapped in a white toga.

The small island sloped up to form a steep crest on one side from which huge cliffs fell into the sea. Little penguins scurried out of their way as they walked toward the spot where the cliffs met an inlet of sea. Erec wasn't sure how his legs were able to move--they had no feeling left in them, and seemed more like dead logs. He wanted to ask his sister and brother if they were okay, but could form no words in such cold.

This time he did not collapse when they reached the icy cove. As the Hermit pointed down to the spot, Griffin bravely jumped in and was sucked away. Danny and Sammy looked at Erec in horror, as if to say they would not, in a million years, follow him. Erec waited, body shaking, hoping Griffin had time to throw the sheet over Balor. If that did not go right, they would have a lot more problems soon.

Sammy's face was blue, and she looked like she was about to pass out. Erec had to get her warm, fast. He took her hand and jumped into the cove and down the tunnel, knowing Danny would follow his sister anywhere.

Everything was white. Warmer now. But blinding white. Empty.

Erec staggered, but was standing on his feet in the tall white chambers. Griffin stood next to him with a smug look on his face. Erec felt much more comfortable here than he had the last time. After living here before, he did not need to adjust. Griffin was alert as well. But Danny and Sammy sat on the floor, gazing around them in a daze.

King Augeas laughed heartily from his huge throne of ice. His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Look who's come back here. Surprise, surprise. It's Prince Erec. And he's brought more royalty with him

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this time too. Oh, goody, goody. We can have ourselves a little royal tea. Three kings and a queen. How delightful."

Erec glanced at Danny and Sammy to see if they had picked that up, but they still were blinking in confusion. In the smaller throne, Balor Stain looked almost as dazed himself. He was bluish, still wrapped in black and red furs, and stared ahead, seeming unaware that Erec was there. Erec could not see the sheet over him, but he feebly pushed his arms out against something. Balor did not have much fight left in him anymore.

Erec was relieved that Griffin was able to have tossed the invisible sheet over Balor. He wondered how he had managed it. Maybe Griffin made it look like he was waving his arms in the air and bowing to King Augeas.

The king's skin sparkled like the ice around him. "I assume you've come back for the Clown Fairy. You're not going to take her, you know. Only one key can unlock her from here, and it's buried safely very far away." Seeing that Erec wasn't dismayed, he added, "I have to say, I don't trust you, boy. You tend to find strange ways out of things. Normally I'd love to have my guests back, but you were too much of a problem." He smiled. "Griffin, on the other hand, you are more than welcome to return." As he cackled, the sick laughter echoed from the ice-covered walls of the round cavern.

"Actually," Erec said, smiling at Griffin, "we came back for a different reason."

"And what might that be?" The king's eyes glittered.

"We actually liked it here. Griffin and I got to be friends, and we were talking. This place is a lot better than hanging out in Upper Earth, or the Kingdoms of the Keepers. You know why?"

The king frowned. "No," he said coldly. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you can't die here. Look at Griffin. He's hundreds and hundreds of years old. How much longer would he have where I

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come from? Fifty years? One small accident and he could be a goner."

Griffin nodded. "Much safer here, sire."

"But even more than that," Erec said, "we actually
missed
living here. It was far better. Like living a dream."

Amazement registered on the king's face. "A
dream
, you say? More like a nightmare, right?"

"No," Erec replied. "It was great here. You got rid of my worst nightmare, remember? And instead I was given all of the funny and cool things in your realm. I like to think of it as the 'Sweet Dream Realm.'"

"The 'Sweet Dream Realm'?" King Augeas asked, unsettled. "You enjoyed the monsters, then?" Erec spread his arms out wide. "What could be better than monsters that can't kill you? That's a complete ego boost. But my favorite part were the spiders. I love spiders. Always wanted some for pets. Just too hard to find so many of them back home. Yes, the spiders were great."

Griffin nodded. "Aye. Meself, I loved the food. Nobody serves a good rat stew like I could get here. Seasoned with blood, just like I likes it. That alone was enough to bring me back."

Griffin sounded so convincing, Erec wondered if he really did like rat stew. But he nodded and rubbed his stomach, playing along. "Umm, you're making me hungry, Griffin. But for me, I liked the work even more than the food, good as that was. Good, honest labor, hands to the earth. Just doesn't exist anywhere else. Where I'm from, everyone's too concerned about making money. Here, I learned to like getting my hands dirty just for the sake of hard work. That's what it's all about, right, Griffin?"

"You bet." He sniffed. "Got any of that stew around?"

"Don't tell me you liked the fleas and characters from people's nightmares walking around?" the king asked. His face looked whiter than usual.

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"Nightmares?" Erec pretended to be confused. "I did notice some interesting folks around. They were all great, I thought. Really nice, too. And the fleas, well . . . what are a few fleas among friends? That's what my mom always says."

"I miss the fleas." Griffin sighed.

"Am I that out of touch?" King Augeas frowned. "What would be a bad thing, then? Something you wouldn't want to be around?"

"Cakes." Erec made a face. "Sugary things--rot your teeth out. And too many smiling, happy faces. Now,
that
is scary. Makes you wonder what people are up to."

"And parrots," Griffin added. "I hate parrots."

"Anyway, we decided it would be much more fun to live here, forever, instead of short, miserable lives out there. So I brought Danny and Sammy here. We'll bring back more people too, if you want. Build this place back up again."

Hope flashed across King Augeas's face, then he looked skeptical. "So you've come for a visit and plan to leave again? What is it you really want, Erec Rex?"

"Just to discuss this idea with you. We could stay if you like. Or we could bring a huge crowd back with us. It's up to you."

The king liked having a decision to make. "I suppose more people would be better. As you returned on your own, I suppose you will likely come back. But before I let you leave, these two owe me something. I do have a rule, you know. One nightmare each, for my collection."

Danny and Sammy were now more awake. Erec glanced at his watch. It was 4:50. He had ten minutes to find Wandabelle before the alarm went off.

"You." The king pointed at Danny. "Kneel before me."

Danny stumbled toward the king. Erec gave him a nod of encouragement. Danny kneeled at the throne and looked up into the king's eyes. A shimmering haze lifted from Danny, surrounding him.