by Tony Abbott
They each grabbed a long vine, ran back, and leaped from the ground.
Fwit! Fwit! Fwit! Fwit! The four friends soared over the river’s crashing waves.
Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop! They landed safely on the far bank. They picked themselves up and plowed through one last row of trees.
Beyond them lay a strip of white sandy beach.
On the beach, jutting out into the water, was a narrow footbridge.
And Tarok’s chariot was racing toward it.
“We’ll have to go the rest of the way on foot,” said Keeah. “Come on. Let’s run like the wind.”
The four friends raced across the sand as fast as they could. At first, the black sea seemed peaceful and almost golden in the fading light.
But as they drew nearer, the water rumbled and the ground quaked. The sea churned wildly, spitting up large, whitecapped waves.
“The island,” Keeah said. “It’s coming!”
Ka-fooom! The sea broke open and a rocky point of land came thrusting up from the black depths. It was as if a small mountain were being pushed out of the earth, through the water, and into the light of day.
Waves bubbled and hissed and swirled all around the land, then went calm.
In the center of the island was a perfectly white stone. On the stone lay a wooden bowl.
It was plain and battered.
It was not encrusted with jewels or gold.
It had no markings on it.
It was just a bowl.
But the instant the fading sunlight struck it, the air around it turned a hundred colors.
The bowl itself glowed and sparkled.
And so did the water in the bowl.
“Oh, my gosh,” said Keeah, racing to the bridge. “That’s the prize….”
Eric could tell — they could all tell — it wasn’t just seawater rippling in a simple wooden bowl.
It was what the true winner wanted most.
“Keeah, the prize is for you,” said Eric. “If Tarok were meant to win, it would be a pile of treasure. But it’s not. It must be … the cure.”
“Run,” said the princess. “Run! RUN!”
They raced across the footbridge as fast as their legs could carry them.
But it wasn’t fast enough.
Tarok and Slag reached the end of the bridge and leaped onto the island.
“The prize!” Tarok howled, raising his arms in victory. “The prize is mine!”
Tarok grabbed the bowl from the stone.
He stared at it.
“What’s this?” he snarled. “This is the legendary prize? It’s nothing but an old wooden bowl!”
“Where is the treasure?” Slag boomed. He stuck his nose in the bowl and took a sniff. “This smells like nothing! I want a real prize!”
Before the kids could get to the island, Tarok and Slag began fighting over the bowl.
“Give it to me!” said Tarok.
“No, it’s mine!” Slag boomed.
Suddenly, the bowl slipped through their fingers. It hung in the air for a moment.
Then it crashed to the ground.
Sploosh! The golden liquid splashed out, drained through the rocks, and was washed into the black sea.
“No!” Keeah gasped, jumping onto the island. “That was the prize. It was magic!”
“Magic?” said Tarok. He looked at Keeah, then at the bowl, then at Slag. “You numbskull!”
“Me?” grunted Slag. “You did it!”
The two men began to slap each other.
Keeah’s fingertips shot off blue sparks. “Give me the glass ball now! My mother must change her shape or she’ll die!”
Neal and Julie grabbed Tarok by the arms.
“Okay, okay!” the little man said. He tugged the glass ball from a pocket, tossed it up, and — k-k-k-zing! — the ball sizzled and sparked, then burst away to nothing in a puff of red smoke.
The tiger appeared before them, lying on the ground, its head resting on its giant paws.
Keeah knelt next to her.
The queen gave out a long, quivering breath. “Keeah, without the cure, only Demither has the power to alter this spell. No one else may do it.”
But the princess’s eyes flashed with determination. “No. There must be another way. It can’t end like this!”
At that moment, Eric’s pocket felt hot as if something in it were burning.
“Whoa,” he said. “I totally forgot.”
He dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out the black gemstone. “I found this in Tarok’s wagon,” he said. “It’s just the right shape to be a story stone from your harp. I thought it might be one of the missing ones.”
Keeah held the gem in her hand. “It is one of the stones,” she said. “I know it is —”
The moment she touched it, the black gem began to flicker in Keeah’s hand. And as it did, a halo of bright red light began to swirl around her.
Then the light covered her mother.
The tiger howled a sudden, unearthly sound.
Slag stepped back. “Red light! She has … witch power!”
Tarok gaped at Keeah. “But I thought only Demither could do that. The princess … she has Demither’s power!”
Julie frowned. “For your information, Keeah is a very good wizard —”
Eric turned to Tarok and stared at him fiercely. “Where did you find this stone? Tell me!”
Tarok shriveled under Eric’s gaze. “Years ago in the Panjibarrh Hills! I saw Demither and the princess alone together —”
“That’s impossible!” Julie snapped. “She would never be alone with that horrible witch!”
“I saw them together,” Tarok went on. “Demither held the princess’s hands. Strange light flowed between them. Red light. Just like right now! That’s where I found the black gem. Now — let — me — go!”
With a burst of strength, Tarok wriggled free of Julie and Neal and — poof! —the air filled with smoke. In the confusion, Tarok leaped to the bridge, and Slag with him. Together, they raced to the shore.
But the kids couldn’t tear their eyes away from the queen. She had already begun to change.
The tail was first. Then the legs. And the back.
They all turned silvery and black.
“Keeah,” the queen purred, “you have saved me. I don’t know how you have the power … but you do have it.” The queen struggled to her feet and crawled to the shore.
“Mother, is it true what Tarok said?” Keeah asked. “About the witch … and me?”
Relna shuddered as the last of her red fur vanished and the shiny, dark skin spread completely over her.
“That is a secret I will find the answer to,” she said. “Now I must go. My next life is the darkest yet. But there will be joy on the other side. Until then, be careful … be well … I love you!”
With those words, the queen slid beneath the churning waves. The water crashed once, then was still for a long time.
“Oh, Mother …” Keeah whispered.
Suddenly — splash! — the waves broke open and something soared out.
“Queen Relna!” Julie shouted.
But this time, nothing of the tiger was left. Instead, she was a sleek and slender sea creature.
A dolphin!
As black as ink, the dolphin flew joyously over the waves. She twirled in midair, then slid beneath the sea again. Over and over she soared and dived.
Softly, Keeah said, “She’s beautiful!”
“She has always been beautiful,” answered a friendly voice above them.
The kids looked up to see Galen standing calmly on the edge of the bridge.
“Come now,” he said. “The Quest is over. The staircase has appeared. And already the magical island begins to sink.”
The kids climbed onto the bridge.
Splursh! Black waves washed over the new island, and it descended, rumbling and shaking, beneath the sea once more.
In a moment, it was gone.
On shore, Taro
k and Slag climbed into their chariot. Flonk! Blink! — in seconds, it was a boat again. It motored quickly into the water.
“The bad guys are getting away!” cried Neal.
Galen smiled. “I think Demither has plans for them. They failed today. She won’t like that!”
As soon as the boat hit the water, waves began to toss it about, driving it far out to sea.
“Serves them right,” said Julie.
The kids and Galen crossed the bridge back onto the beach, where the magical staircase stood shimmering on the rocky shore.
From the edge of the forest came a familiar shout. “Yee! Yee!”
Ortha stood with a small band of green monkeys, waving to Eric, Julie, and Neal as they raced to the stairs. The kids waved back.
At the bottom of the staircase, Galen handed the princess her harp. “Although it may not seem so, Keeah, today you have won the Quest.”
She smiled and hugged Eric, Julie, and Neal. “I couldn’t have done it without my friends.”
Galen nodded slowly. “Truly, friends like these are also a prize.”
Then Keeah set the black story stone in its place on the harp. As she did, the stone flashed for an instant. Then deep within it, as if etched into the gem from inside, was a shape.
A leaping dolphin.
“Only one stone remains to be found,” said the wizard. “Only one more change, then the queen of Droon shall take her throne again.”
He motioned to the stairs. “Now, quickly, children, up you go. The Upper World calls you!”
Neal laughed as he jumped onto the staircase. “What a cool Quest,” he said. “I can’t wait to climb ropes in gym tomorrow. Thanks to Droon, I’m pretty sure I can do anything!”
The three kids headed up the stairs for home.
“Until next time,” Keeah called to them, her eyes beaming brightly. Then she and Galen turned to watch the dolphin dive and leap across the waves, all the way to the distant horizon.
“I like happy endings,” said Julie, racing up to Eric’s basement.
Eric flicked on the closet light.
Whoosh! The stairs disappeared beneath them.
“And happy beginnings,” Neal added.
Eric grinned. “The in-between stuff is pretty cool, too. Especially when it happens in Droon!”
Eric Hinkle and his friend Julie carefully pulled open a small door under the stairs in his basement.
Errr-errrk! The door’s old hinges squeaked.
Behind the door was a small, dark closet, with a single unlit lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.
“Isn’t it weird how it looks just like a regular closet?” asked Julie.
Eric grinned. “It is a regular closet. To everyone else.”
But to Eric, Julie, and their friend Neal, it was more than just a closet. It was the entrance to another world.
The magical world of Droon.
Actually, it was Julie who had first dis-covered the entrance to Droon.
She’d just gone into the closet, when suddenly the door closed behind her, the light went out, and — whoosh! — a long, shimmering staircase appeared where the floor had been.
The kids were scared, of course.
But the staircase looked so beautiful they just had to see what was at the bottom.
On their first visit to Droon, they met a young princess named Keeah who was now one of their best friends.
They’d also met a good wizard named Galen Longbeard and his spider troll helper, Max.
Galen was teaching Keeah to be a wizard, too.
Together with Keeah and Galen, the kids had battled a wicked sorcerer named Lord Sparr, a strange witch called Demither, and lots of other nasty creatures who were always trying to take over Droon.
The best part was that Eric and his friends seemed to be helping Keeah keep Droon free.
“I asked you over,” Eric said to Julie, “because I think we need to keep the closet in good working condition. After all, it’s our only way into Droon.”
“Great idea,” said Julie. “If the door squeaks too much, your parents will hear us. And Galen told us always to keep Droon a secret.”
“I’ll put in a fresh lightbulb,” said Eric.
“You can oil the hinges. I asked Neal to
come and sweep up, but he’s late.”
“As usual!” Julie said with a laugh.
She took an oilcan from the work-bench. Standing on her toes, she began oiling the door’s hinges. Eric searched the nearby cabinets for a new lightbulb to re-place the old one.
As they worked, Eric recalled their latest visits to Droon. He and his friends had had many adventures. But they’d also un-covered many mysteries.
For one thing, Keeah said she remembered being in the Upper World — Eric’s world — a long time ago.
But that didn’t seem possible.
Then, Keeah was told that Witch Demither secretly gave her some powers. Witch powers!
Keeah didn’t remember that at all.
“Hey, Eric,” said Julie, bending down to oil the lower hinges, “what do you think witch powers are like?”
“I was just thinking about that!” said Eric.
“I mean, are they dark and dangerous like Lord Sparr’s?” she asked. “Or more like the sort of natural wizard things Galen can do?”
“I don’t know.” Eric found a new light-bulb and took it to the closet. “But wouldn’t it be weird if there was a connection be-tween Keeah being here and having witch powers? I wonder if Galen knows.”
“Galen’s five hundred and forty-two years old!” said Julie. “If he doesn’t know, who does?”
Eric shrugged. “Maybe we will. If we ever get to Droon again.”
He glanced at a soccer ball sitting on the workbench. After their first visit to Droon, Keeah had put a spell on it. When the ball floated in the air, it meant the staircase
would be open for them.
“I can’t wait to go —” Eric began.
Just then, four furry white paws trotted past the window. They were followed by two beat-up sneakers.
“Get back here!” cried a familiar voice.
“Woof!” came the response.
“It’s Neal,” said Eric.
“And Snorky,” added Julie. Then she laughed. “Looks like Neal’s having trouble with him . . . again.”
“We’d better help him out!” said Eric. The two kids dropped everything and rushed up the basement stairs, through the kitchen, and out to the backyard.
When they got there, Neal was on all fours, nose to nose with Snorky, trying to grab him.
Julie giggled. “It looks like you’re dancing!”
“It’s not funny,” Neal groaned as Snorky romped away to sniff a tree. “I was teaching him to fetch when he escaped!”
Eric tried to trap Snorky from behind. “What was he fetching?”
“A box of cookies,” Neal said.
Julie shook her head. “Only you would think of teaching a dog to fetch food for you.”
Neal grinned. “What can I say? I’m a genius.”
“Hey, genius, your dog just ran into my house!” said Eric. He jumped up the steps and into the kitchen.
Inside, Snorky skittered under the table and headed down the hall at top speed, tracking dirty paw prints the whole way.
“Not the living room!” said Eric. “My mom just vacuumed!”
“We’ll trap him in the hall,” Neal shouted, dashing through the kitchen.
Eric and Julie tore around the other way. But Eric slipped on the carpet, slid across the floor, and crashed down — ka-thunk! — taking Julie and a large house-plant with him.
The plant spilled dirt all over the carpet.
“Woof! Woof!” barked Snorky as he turned and shot down the stairs to the basement.
“Oh, no!” said Eric, scrambling to his feet. “What if Snorky gets into the closet?”
“Let’s get down there right away!” said Julie.
But when they entered the
basement, they stopped short.
Julie gasped softly. “Oh, my gosh!”
The soccer ball was floating in the air over the workbench.
“Keeah needs us in Droon,” said Eric. “That means the stairs will be open for us.”
“And for Snorky —” said Neal. “Uh-oh!”
The three friends spun around to see Snorky’s curly tail disappear behind the closet door.
Click. The door closed softly.
“Yikes!” cried Neal. “He’s going to Droon!”
“But he can’t unless the light is out,” said Eric.
He pulled open the door. The light was out.
“Oh, man! I didn’t put the new bulb in!”
Below them, the stairs were shimmer-ing in a rainbow of colors. And Snorky was prancing down them, his tail wagging happily.
“Come back here, you,” said Julie.
The three friends dashed down the stairs, but Snorky began to run. “Woof! Woof!” he barked.
“He thinks it’s a game!” moaned Neal.
As they descended through the clouds, the sky over Droon was turning from black to purple.
“It’s just before morning,” said Julie. “It should be getting light soon.”
They jumped off the bottom of the staircase and looked around. Dusty brown mountains surrounded them on every side.
“It looks like the Panjibarrh hills,” said Eric. “We’ve been here before. . . .”
“Never mind that,” said Neal, scanning the rocky ground. “Where’s Snorky? Snorky! Get back here. You need to go home —”
Then the staircase faded. The kids knew it would not reappear until it was time to go home.
“Too late to send Snorky back,” said Julie.
Grrrr. Something was growling from behind a rock.
“Snorky?” said Eric cautiously. “Is that you?”
Grrrr! The growling was louder this time.
“Here, puppy,” said Neal softly. “Here —”
A head peered from behind the rock.
But it wasn’t Snorky’s head.
It was large and gray. Its features were craggy and its skin was rough, as if it were very old.
Grrrr! Another head, the same as the first, jerked up from behind the rock.