by R. L. Stine
It didn’t take long to answer that question.
As the old gardener swung his hands up and down, the dirt all around us split open. Tiny sprouts of green poked up in the holes.
“Whoa!” I cried. “This is seriously weird!”
As the gardener conducted his silent orchestra, the green sprouts rose up quickly from the ground. Swaying from side to side in the soft breeze, plants grew all around us, all over the yard. Growing taller by the second, they shot up, tilting over the dirt path.
A vine tickled my ankle, and I cried out in surprise. Another vine rose up and curled around my knee. I struggled to stay on my feet.
It was like one of those sped-up films. The gardener waved his hands faster and faster. The vines grew taller all around us. I felt too surprised and confused to run.
And in seconds, it was too late.
I tried to wrestle free. But a thick vine curled around my chest like a fat snake, and another wrapped around my waist.
I squirmed and kicked and twisted. But the strong tendrils held me tightly and tightened even more.
As I battled the growing vines, I could see Maggie and Laci struggling, too.
No use. No use.
We were prisoners.
The gardener finally lowered his hands to his sides. Then he tossed back his head and laughed.
“YOU’RE the new mulch!” he screamed. “Thanks for delivering the new mulch. It’s THE THREE OF YOU!”
“Oh wow. Oh wow,” I murmured to myself.
The vines had grown high above my head and formed a wall all around me. A tight wall that let in very little light.
A prison cell. I realized I was trapped in a cell made of thick, strong plants.
I grabbed vines with both hands and tried to tug them apart. “Let us out!” I screamed to the gardener. “Let us out!”
Maggie and Laci joined in. Our cries were muffled by the thick plant walls that held us prisoner.
Was the gardener still there?
I spun around, trying to spot an opening in the wall of plants. Yes, there were open spaces. But they were only a few inches wide.
I turned sideways and tried to edge out.
No way.
I could see Maggie trapped inside a cell of vines beside me. She was straining at the vines in front of her, struggling to pull them apart. “Billy, what are we going to do?” she cried.
Before I could answer, the rain started to come down again. It pattered loudly on the tall vines and sounded like drumming above our heads. “Maybe the rain will loosen the vines!” I cried. I had to shout to be heard over the thundering storm.
I heard Laci shout from somewhere behind me. But her words were drummed out by the roar of the rain.
I spun around in the tiny space and tried to push the vines apart again, but they still wouldn’t budge.
Through a narrow opening, I saw Laci across from me. She was shouting and tearing at the vines in front of her.
“We’ll never get out of here!” I heard Maggie cry. “And Dad doesn’t know where we are. No one knows where we are!”
“Whoa.” I tried ramming my body against the wall. The rain had loosened them up a bit. The plants bent a tiny bit—not enough to make room for me to escape.
I tried again. Again. Still trapped. I stopped to catch my breath and gazed out at Laci in her vine prison.
I saw her push a hand through a tiny opening. I held my breath as she stretched her arm free. Then the plants seemed to open as she poked her whole body through a narrow gap.
“I’m out!” she cried. “I’m out!”
Laci was so tiny. I always made fun of how small she was, but I’d never do that again!
Peering through a gap in the vines, I watched her run over to Maggie. The two of them began tugging together. In a few minutes, my sister slipped out, too.
“Hurry!” I shouted. “That weird gardener—he might come back!”
The rain slowed a little. Now I could hear the drip drip drip of rainwater falling from the trees.
My heart began to pound again as the three of us struggled to pull apart the vines that held me inside. “Go! Go! You’ve got it! Yes!” I cried.
I burst free and pumped both hands above my head. Both girls, their wet hair matted to their heads, had wide grins on their faces.
But there was no time to celebrate.
The gardener could come back at any time and wave his arms and build a new prison for us. Or an ice creature could attack. Or some other horrible monster that lived in this terrifying house.
“Let’s go!” I cried. I turned and began to run toward the tall hedges at the back of the yard. My shoes splashed up rainwater over the weeds. I kept slipping and sliding, but I kept my eyes on the hedges.
I really want that diary, I thought. But right now, we have to get as far away from here as we can.
I glanced right and left, all along the dark hedges. “There has to be a gap,” I said.
“This way,” Laci said. She began to run along the back hedge.
The hedges formed a high wall on all three sides of the yard. The house rose up behind us. The hedges appeared to fence us in completely.
Was there a spot where Laci could slip through?
We ran all the way along the three hedge walls. No opening. No gap of any kind.
Heavy clouds rolled in again. The yard darkened, and the air grew cooler. The three of us stood in silence for a long moment.
“We have no choice,” I said finally. “The only way out of here is to go back through the house.”
We turned toward the house. The windows were all dark. Nothing moved inside.
Was someone waiting for us? Was someone watching us?
“I—I don’t want to go back in there,” Laci stammered.
Maggie turned to her. “We can’t stay back here forever,” she said. “It’s our only way out.”
“Follow me,” I said.
We stopped at the kitchen door. I walked up close and tried to peer into the kitchen. But the window was covered in thick dust, and I couldn’t see a thing.
“We’ll run through the house,” I said. “Run to the front and we won’t stop. Once we’re out the front door and down to the street, we’ll be safe.”
Maggie squinted at me. “You’re sure about that?”
I didn’t answer. Of course, I wasn’t sure. I was trying to cheer them on. Trying to encourage us all.
I grabbed the rusted door knob. I took a deep breath. “Okay. As soon as I push open the door … run!” My voice cracked, revealing how scared I was.
I squeezed my hand around the knob, twisted it—and pushed open the door.
I lowered my head like a running back about to score a touchdown and dove inside.
My wet shoes squeaked on the kitchen floor, and I slid out of control into the back of the long counter. Gasping for breath, I pushed away from the counter and took off again, running full speed.
The girls were right behind me. Our shoes slid and scraped and slipped as we darted into the hallway.
“Is this the right way?” Laci cried. “I don’t remember this hall.”
“Yes, it’s right,” Maggie answered breathlessly. “Keep going.”
I burst out of the hall, running fast, my heart racing. I could feel the blood pulsing in my ears.
I took a wrong turn.
Into a dark library. Tall bookshelves on all four walls.
My eyes swept over the rows and rows of old, dusty books. I pointed to a doorway on the far wall. “That way!” I cried. “Hurry!”
I lurched forward—and lost my balance. I uttered a cry as I started to topple over backward. I struggled to stay on my feet. But my legs folded, and I was thrown forward, then back again.
I heard the two girls shouting out in surprise. I saw them tilting and twisting, too. It took me a few seconds to realize why I was stumbling. The floor was rocking up and down!
I shot my hands above my head to steady myself. The floor rose and fell bene
ath my shoes. It was as if the house was trying to keep us from escaping.
“I … I can’t move!” Maggie yelled. She tumbled to the floor on her knees.
“It’s like being on a ship, tossed by waves!” Laci cried.
The three of us stumbled and roared forward, then back. “Got to get to the door!” I cried. “Got to … move!”
I tried to lunge forward. But the floor was rising and falling too hard to get anywhere.
“Whoooa!” I stumbled. Grabbed a small table to keep from falling. Too hard. I was sliding too hard.
The table toppled over and hit the floor with a deafening craaaash, and I sprawled on top of it.
I let out a groan as pain roared up and down my body.
A drawer slid out of the table onto the rocking floor. “Huh?” I glimpsed something inside the drawer.
A little black book.
Could it be?
I held my breath as I reached for it.
Was it Slappy’s diary?
As I tried to lift the book from the drawer, the floor gave one last hard toss. It sent me sliding helplessly on my stomach across the floor. “Owww!” My head banged the wall hard.
Maggie and Laci were both on their knees. “Hey—it stopped!” Maggie exclaimed.
Laci groaned. “I’m seasick! Let’s get out of here while we can.”
“N-no. Wait. Look!” I stammered. I scrambled to the drawer on the floor.
“I found it!” I raised the little black book in front of me. “It’s the diary!”
Maggie gasped. “Huh? How do you know?”
I pushed the cover up to her face. She read the words at the bottom: My Diary.
“Awesome,” Laci said, her eyes on the doorway in front of us. “Now let’s get out of here. Before the floor goes berserk or the ceiling falls on us or something!”
“Wait,” Maggie interrupted. “Let me see it. Maybe it will tell us where the gold is.” She grabbed it from my hand. She raised it to her face and began to quickly scan through the pages.
“Put it down!” Laci exclaimed. “We can’t stand here reading an old diary. This house isn’t safe! This house—”
Maggie had her eyes in the diary. “Slappy was here,” she murmured. “He was here. In this house. And so is the gold. He says it right here.”
“Okay. Okay. Hold on,” I said breathlessly. “We came for the gold. Maybe we should hunt for it. But … where? Where should we search?”
“No need to search!” a raspy voice called from the doorway. “I’m HERE!”
I turned to the door—and gasped.
A ventriloquist dummy stood in the doorway with a grin as wide as Slappy’s. A female dummy with a wild hive of curly blond hair.
She had bright blue eyes and a short snub nose. The same grinning red lips. She wore a flowered top over a short black skirt and black tights.
“No way!” I cried as she strode into the room. “No way!”
“Is she … alive?” Laci asked in a trembling voice just above a whisper. “Is she a puppet?”
“She’s alive,” Maggie answered. She took a few steps back.
My throat suddenly felt as dry as cotton. I struggled to speak. “Wh-who are you?” I croaked.
“I’m Goldie,” she replied. Her voice was soft and smooth, a woman’s voice. Her wooden lips clicked up and down when she spoke. “I live here,” she added. “I guess I’m the one you’ve been looking for.”
“Huh? You?” I blurted.
“This isn’t happening,” Laci muttered. She backed up to the wall, her eyes on the advancing dummy.
“It’s about time that idiot Slappy sent me some new victims!” the dummy said. Her grin appeared to grow wider. “You will all serve me. I think you three will do fine—once I break you in! Hahaha.”
“You know Slappy?” Maggie demanded.
“We have to go,” Laci said. She turned her eyes to the front hall. “Seriously. It’s good-bye time. This is a nightmare. A living dummy? I think I’m hallucinating!”
“Oh, don’t leave,” Goldie said in her smooth, soft voice. “We’re going to be very good friends. Haha.”
“Who are you?” I blurted out. “What are you doing here?”
“I told you,” she snapped. “I’m Goldie. I live here. Slappy calls me The Gold. You just read that in the diary. I hope you’re not too stupid to be my servants.”
“Huh?” My mouth dropped open. “You’re The Gold?”
The dummy nodded. Her blond hair bobbed on her head.
Maggie let out a sigh. Her whole body drooped. “You mean … there’s no real gold?”
“I’m The Gold!” the dummy shrieked. “Me! Me! Me! I’m The Gold! At least, that’s what Slappy calls me. That fool likes to flatter me. Know why? Because I have powers he can only dream about.”
“But—but—” Maggie sputtered.
“I know he wants my powers,” Goldie continued. “He’ll do anything to get them. Because they are amazing!”
The three of us stared at her. We didn’t reply. Our brains were all spinning.
No gold, I thought. There’s no gold. We came here and risked our lives for nothing.
“We have to go,” Laci repeated.
“No. I’m not finished bragging,” the dummy replied. “You’ve seen my powers. You saw what I did to you just now.”
“You mean … the Cold Man from the freezer?” I said. “And the old gardener with the vines? That was you?”
She nodded. “And don’t forget the floor tilting and rocking.”
“You—you did all that to us?” I stammered.
“Child’s play,” she said. “I can do that with my beautiful eyes closed.”
“That was horrible—” Maggie started.
Goldie raised a hand to silence her. “You’re right. It was horrible. I apologize, dears. I wouldn’t have tried to kill you if I had known you were my new servants!”
“Servants?” I cried. “No way!”
“Watch out, sonny,” Goldie warned. “It’s so easy for me to totally mess up your minds. You’ll find out if you ever cross me.”
Maggie shook her head. “No gold,” she murmured. “No gold. I don’t believe it.”
“I’M The Gold!” Goldie screamed. “I’m The Gold. But you three can call me Master!”
“But Slappy—” I started.
She raised a threatening hand. “Forget about that moron. Slappy and I were made side by side by the same sorcerer. But … I got the brains. AND the powers.” She giggled. “AND the good looks!”
I glanced quickly at the front hall. Could we reach it before she pulled one of her terrifying tricks on us?
“Don’t just stand there admiring my beauty,” Goldie said. “Make yourselves at home. You’re going to be here for a long, long time! Hahaha.”
“No, we’re not,” I said.
I swung my arm and motioned to the hall with the diary.
Without a word, the three of us spun away from the grinning dummy—and bolted out of the room and into the front hall. Our shoes slammed on the floorboards as we ran.
The hall was long and narrow. At the other end, we could see the front entryway and the door.
“Go! Go! Go!” I cried, waving the diary in front of me.
The girls got their legs tangled up and stumbled forward. They pushed apart and didn’t stop running.
The end of the hall was only a few feet away.
“We’re going to make it!” I cried breathlessly.
WHAAAAAM.
An explosion made my ears ring.
Like a bomb blast, a powerful burst of air sent me tumbling backward. And then I let out a scream as I felt my feet leave the floor.
Another blast of hot air sent me flying. My arms flailed. I tried to kick my feet. To lower myself. But I was helpless. Trapped in the hurricane bursts of air.
“Owwwww!” I uttered another howl as my back slammed into the wall.
It knocked the breath out of me. I struggled to breathe.
I pushed my shoes against the wall and tried to force myself free. But I couldn’t pry myself off.
I heard the cries of the two girls. Laci and Maggie were both pinned to the wall across from me, dangling four or five feet off the floor.
They thrashed and flailed and kicked. But it didn’t take long to see there was no way to free ourselves. The three of us hung on the wall, silent now. Listening to the clumping footsteps of the dummy as she made her way toward us.
She stopped a few feet away and eyed each one of us. “Well, well,” she said. “You didn’t get very far, did you?” She shook her head, her curls spinning around her head. “I told you kids to hang around.”
She laughed at her own joke.
“I think I swept you off your feet!” she exclaimed. “It’s my special charm, you see.” She raised both hands above her head, suddenly angry. “Don’t mess around with me, kids. I have the powers, and you don’t.”
She stepped closer to the wall and stared up at the book in my hand. “Is that what I think it is?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Hand it over,” she said. She raised a hand toward me.
I swiped it away from her. “I don’t think so,” I said.
Her grin appeared to fade. “I need that book. How did you find it?”
“I don’t remember,” I said.
Goldie uttered a low growl. “I need it. I’m not going to play games with you.” She reached up with both hands.
I raised it higher.
“Give her the book, Billy,” Maggie said. “Maybe she’ll let us down from the wall.”
“Listen to her,” Goldie urged. “Let me have the book, and maybe I’ll let you down.”
“That’s not good enough,” I said.
“Billy, we don’t need the diary anymore,” Maggie said. “There’s no gold. Nothing to find. Let her have it.”
“She wants it too badly,” I said. “I think I’ll keep it.”
“You’re making me very angry,” Goldie said. Her wooden lips clicked loudly with each word.