The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet

by Tony Abbott

  Eric shuddered. “How do you know that?”

  “I know many things about you,” Sparr said. Then he reached back and tore the blue curtain aside.

  “Uh-oh,” Neal whispered.

  Behind the curtain was a tall display stand. On the stand was a round black-and-white object.

  “Our soccer ball!” Julie exclaimed.

  “I have learned much from this object,” Sparr said, hovering over the ball. “But not as much as I shall learn … when I am done with you.”

  Suddenly, a voice cried shrilly from the window. “You are done right now, Sparr!”

  Everyone turned to see a mop of orange hair scurry down the wall.

  “Max!” Julie cried.

  “The one and only!” Max jumped to the floor and quickly spun a sticky web of threads around the Ninns’ feet. “Ha-ha!” he chittered.

  “G-g-g-guards!” Lord Sparr sputtered. “Take them all to the dungeon!”

  His red warriors lunged at the children.

  And tripped on Max’s gooey web!

  “All right!” Eric cried, leaping for the soccer ball and tossing it high. “Neal! Your famous bad kick! Just like in my basement!”

  Neal grinned. “Heads up, everybody!” He jumped at the ball and kicked it hard.

  “Akkk!” One Ninn groaned. “My nose!”

  “Serves you right!” Julie shouted. She snuck up and kicked the ball again. This time, it went straight for another Ninn’s stomach. He fell back into two others, knocking them to the floor.

  “Score!” Eric said, diving for the ball.

  “I’ll get the Red Eye of Dawn!” Keeah cried.

  But Sparr spun around and raised his fist.

  Kla-blam! A bolt of red fire shot from his hand. He staggered backward as the fire blew past Keeah, punching a hole straight through the wall to the hall outside.

  “We’ll get the Eye later!” Eric shouted. “Everybody out!” He jumped through the hole in the wall with Neal and Keeah. Julie and Max ran after them. They all rushed down the hall.

  But the Ninns were right on their heels.

  “This way!” said Eric, tumbling through a narrow door. He tossed the soccer ball to Julie and slammed the door behind them.

  “Uh-oh,” said Neal as he looked around.

  Dim light from a high window showed that they were in a small room.

  A very small room.

  “Uh-oh is right,” Julie said. “I think we found a dungeon all by ourselves!”

  Wham! Wham! The Ninns battered the door, but Eric and Neal held it as tight as they could.

  “Dungeons don’t have exits,” Max said, crawling to the window. “This is a storage room.”

  “Too bad it’s not a magic storage room,” Julie said. “The invisible cloak isn’t big enough for all of us. And there’s nothing here but these dumb old rugs.”

  “Rugs?” said Keeah. “They might be old, but … maybe they’re not so dumb. Check the label.”

  Clonk! The Ninns banged harder on the door.

  Julie read the label. “It says, ‘Rugs by Pasha. Do not remove this tag.’ ”

  Keeah’s face lit up. She nearly laughed. “Find a green one with purple spirals in the corners.”

  “This is no time to pick out a rug!” Eric said.

  “Not just any rug,” Keeah said. “A Pasha original.” She helped Julie tug out one big carpet. They spread it on the floor.

  Kkkrrkk! The door started to splinter.

  Eric felt his strength slipping away. “We can’t hold this door much longer!”

  “Everyone on!” Keeah said, sitting on the rug.

  Julie jumped on. “Now what? We fly?”

  Suddenly, the carpet lifted from the floor.

  “Yikes!” Julie gasped. “I guess we do!”

  Keeah laughed. “The carpet must like your voice. Pasha’s rugs don’t fly for just anybody.”

  Julie shrugged. “All I said was … fly.”

  Swoosh! The carpet circled the room!

  Blam! The door shook. One of its hinges blasted off.

  Max strained with his thin arms and pried the window open. Cold air swirled in from outside.

  “Max! Eric! Neal!” Julie cried. “Get on the rug!”

  “No,” said Max. “I must go save Leep. Besides, I don’t ride rugs. I get airsick, you know!”

  Waving with three of his arms, Max scrambled out the window and down to the ground below.

  Neal jumped onto the rug, holding the soccer ball between his legs. “Whoa! It’s wobbly up here!” He clung to the long fringe and held out a hand to Eric. “Grab on, pal!”

  Kkkrunch! The door burst open, and a dozen Ninns rushed in, with Lord Sparr in the lead.

  Eric leaped to the carpet.

  “I will stop you!” Sparr cried. He thrust his fist at them. “Red Eye of Dawn, give me the power!”

  Kla-bbblam! Bolts of jagged fire exploded in the room just as the carpet slid out the window.

  The rug pulled away into the air. But Sparr aimed his fist again.

  “He’s going to blast us!” Neal yelled.

  Suddenly, the white falcon was there, tearing out of the clouds! It swooped with incredible speed, right at Sparr.

  “It’s attacking him!” Keeah cried.

  Ka-whoom! The flame from the red jewel seemed to engulf Sparr’s hand. He stumbled back, his face twisted in pain, as the fiery bolts flew harmlessly into the air.

  “Missed by a mile!” yelled Julie. She steered the rug higher and higher into the sky.

  “I will hunt you down!” Sparr shouted. But the falcon swooped again, driving him back from the window.

  Swoosh! The carpet lifted up from the fortress.

  “Yahoo!” Eric yelled as they soared into the sky.

  He was still yelling when they disappeared behind the clouds.

  Swoosh! Swoosh!

  Pink air swirled all around the flying carpet.

  “We did it! We’re free!” cried Keeah. She looked over the side until Plud was a tiny dot on the ground. Then she turned to Eric.

  “Thank you. You helped me, even though you didn’t know me. Now let me get you home.”

  Eric scanned the distance. “The magic stairs faded. I don’t know where they are now.”

  “I saw them in a dream once,” Keeah said, narrowing her eyes. “They were in the ice hills of Tarabat. Let’s try there. Julie, head north!”

  Julie pulled hard, and the rug swept upward.

  As they flew, snow began to swirl in the air. Cold winds howled over them. A few minutes later, they were swerving through narrow mountain passes and over icy peaks.

  Suddenly, a rainbow of colors glistened ahead of them.

  “There it is!” cried Neal. “We found it!”

  Julie tugged a fringe. The carpet dipped toward the hills. It slowed and hovered at the foot of the stairs.

  The three friends hopped to the bottom step.

  Eric turned to Keeah. “Galen was right. We did enter a world in trouble.”

  Keeah nodded. “But a world with hope, too. Thanks to all of you, I can keep fighting Lord Sparr.”

  Eric handed her Galen’s invisible cloak. “Galen said we can’t take anything with us.”

  Keeah smiled. She held the soccer ball in her hands for a moment, then tossed it to Eric. “And don’t leave anything behind!”

  Then she tugged on the carpet. Obediently, it pulled away from the steps.

  “Will we see you again?” Eric called out.

  The icy air began to sing all around Keeah. “If the magic works, you will!”

  A moment later, she soared over the hills.

  Eric stared into the snowy air until she was gone. “If the magic works?”

  “Better hurry,” Julie said, starting up the steps, “or we’ll be stuck in this snowstorm forever.”

  The three friends ran up the stairs and entered the small room in Eric’s basement.

  Eric turned to take one last look at the strange world of s
now beneath them.

  “Good-bye, Droon,” he said. He touched the wall next to him. Click! The light went on.

  The cement floor instantly took shape beneath them. The world under the stairs disappeared.

  As if it had never existed.

  The three friends just stared at one another for a long time. Finally Eric opened the door and walked out into the basement. It was still cluttered and messy.

  “I don’t know,” he said, dropping the soccer ball onto the dusty chair. “It does seem kind of impossible, doesn’t it?”

  “Oh, yeah?” Neal said, holding his stomach. “I still feel that rug bouncing under me.”

  “And we helped Keeah,” Julie said. “That was real. It was too cool not to be real!”

  Eric slid a box in front of the door. “Galen told us to keep Droon a secret. And Keeah said we’ll know we’re going back, ‘if the magic works.’ Until then, I guess we just have to wait.”

  Julie checked her watch. “We’ve been gone for hours. We’d better tell our parents we’re okay.”

  Together they tramped up to the kitchen. Eric took a deep breath and opened the door.

  His mother was sitting at the dinner table. She had a shocked look on her face. “Eric?”

  “Mom, let me try to explain. We —”

  “Eric,” she said, “you’ll never get the job done if you give up so soon.” She pointed to the clock.

  It was only ten minutes after two.

  “We did all that in ten minutes?” Neal said.

  Julie’s mouth dropped open. “That means —”

  Mrs. Hinkle stood up. “You’ve finished the entire basement?” She started for the door.

  “Mom, no!” Eric said, blocking the door. “Actually, we didn’t get far. There’s still a lot to do.”

  She glared at him. “Because after the basement is the attic. And the porch. And the garage —”

  Wham! The basement door slammed shut as Eric and his friends rushed back down the stairs.

  They stopped at the bottom and stared.

  Floating silently in the middle of the messy room was the soccer ball. Across the surface of the ball were letters written in thin blue ink.

  “A message from Keeah!” Eric cried.

  Neal studied the words. “It says, ‘Your dreams will tell you to return.’ ”

  Suddenly, the patches of black and white swirled across the surface of the soccer ball, forming the ragged shapes of countries.

  “It’s a globe,” said Julie. “A globe of Droon!”

  The globe floated magically for a few moments, then changed back into a ball again.

  It dropped into Eric’s hands.

  “Whoa!” he gasped. “Guys, I’m no wizard, but I’m pretty sure the magic is working!”

  “Me, too,” said Neal. “I say we go home tonight and do some serious dreaming!”

  Julie nodded. “And we keep on dreaming —”

  “— until we get back to Droon!” Eric said.

  Then the three friends laughed out loud together.

  “To Droon!” they cheered.

  Eric Hinkle couldn’t breathe.

  The air around him was dark and smoky and hot. The evil sorcerer Lord Sparr was after him, chasing him down a long, dark tunnel.

  “Now that you know my secret,” Sparr shouted, “you will never be able to leave!”

  “I don’t know any secret!” Eric pleaded. “Let me go! Let me out of Droon!”

  “NEVER!” was Sparr’s only word.

  The sorcerer’s eyes were filled with anger. The weird fins behind his ears were purple and shiny. He was getting closer. Closer!

  The tunnel ahead of Eric split in two.

  Go right! said a voice in his head.

  “Oh, man!” Eric swallowed hard. He had always had a problem with right and left. He looked at his hands. Which was right? It took him a second to decide. “This way!” he said.

  He charged ahead into one of the tunnels.

  No! said the voice in his head. The right one!

  “Ha! Now I have you!” Sparr shrieked as Eric ran up against a solid wall. “My secret is safe!”

  “Help!” Eric cried. “I’m trapped!”

  Sparr lunged.

  Eric leaped out of the way.

  Thud!

  “Ouch!” Eric groaned.

  He opened his eyes. He was in his room. He was half on the floor, half still in bed, wound up tight in his bedsheet. He looked like a mummy.

  “Whoa!” he said. “What a nightmare.”

  The door opened. His mother stood in the doorway. “Eric, what was that noise?”

  “Uh, I guess I fell out of bed,” Eric said, unwinding himself from his sheet. “But I’m okay.”

  Mrs. Hinkle helped him up. “By the way, Eric. Where is Droon?”

  Eric nearly fell to the floor again. “Huh?”

  “You were talking in your sleep,” his mother said. “Something about a place called Droon.”

  Eric gulped. He blinked. His mouth opened to answer, but nothing came out.

  Droon was a secret. No one was supposed to know about the incredible world he and his friends had found under his basement stairs.

  Galen the wizard had made them promise not to tell anyone.

  The problem was, ever since his first time in Droon, Eric couldn’t think of anything else.

  Now he was even dreaming about it.

  And Princess Keeah had told them that when you dreamed about Droon, it meant you would go back.

  “Uh, Droon is a place we, uh … made up,” Eric said. “Neal and Julie and I.”

  He hated to lie. But until he and his friends found out more about Droon — and about the evil Sparr — it wasn’t safe for people to know.

  “Sounds secret,” his mother said. “By the way, your friends called. They’re coming over.”

  Eric dressed quickly. He had to tell Neal and Julie about his dream right away.

  He got to the backyard in time to see a small, scruffy dog chasing Neal across the lawn.

  Grrr! The dog kept biting Neal’s feet.

  “Stop it, Snorky!” Neal tossed a biscuit across the yard. The dog bounced after it. “Hey, Eric.”

  “I’m glad you’re here,” Eric said. “It happened. I had a weird dream about Droon —”

  “Not me.” Neal shook his head. “I was so tired teaching Snorky to fetch, I fell asleep before I hit the pillow. Actually, I fell asleep on my floor.”

  “I woke up on the floor!” Eric said. “It was weird. It felt like someone from Droon was sending the dream to me.”

  At that moment, Julie came into the yard.

  Eric ran over to her. “Julie, something strange is going on —”

  “First, let me tell you about my dream,” Julie said. “I was in Droon —”

  “Me, too!” Eric gasped. “Sparr was chasing me because I knew his big secret. But I forget what the secret was.”

  “Hmm.” Julie bit her lip. She always did that when she was trying to figure something out. “I was at a pool of water. I was really thirsty and I wanted to take a drink, but something creeped me out. I forget what it was, but it was very yucky.”

  Grrr! Snorky ran back across the lawn. He fastened his teeth on the toe of Neal’s right sneaker.

  “Let go of my shoe!” Neal cried. “Wait a second…. I remember now. I had a scary dream, too! I forget most of it, except …”

  “Except for what?” Julie asked.

  Neal shrugged. “I remember it was about my feet. I was in Droon, and my feet hurt.”

  Snorky leaped suddenly for Neal’s left shoe.

  “Heel!” Neal snapped, shaking his foot.

  “Well, he’s eating your heel,” Julie said.

  “Maybe he’s learning!” Neal tossed another biscuit, and Snorky ran for it. “Let’s get inside.”

  The three kids jumped up the back steps into Eric’s kitchen and headed for the basement.

  “Droon is full of secrets,” said Julie.
“Secrets we need answers to. We need to go back.”

  Neal frowned. “But what if all of our dreams come true? I mean, my dream was pretty weird.”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” said Eric.

  They tramped down the stairs into the basement. It was messy. It was beyond messy. Eric knew he’d have to clean it one of these days.

  Cleaning all the old toys and junk out of the basement was his special project. Neal and Julie had said they would help.

  When we get back, Eric thought.

  He pulled open the little door under the stairs. They entered a small, empty room.

  They closed the door. They all held their breath as Eric switched off the light.

  Whoosh! The floor vanished beneath them.

  In its place was a long flight of stairs. The steps shimmered in the light from below.

  The light from the land of Droon.

  “Yes! We are going back,” Eric whispered. “I wonder where the stairs will lead us this time.”

  “Or if it’s day or night in Droon,” said Neal.

  “Let’s stop talking and find out,” said Julie.

  The three friends stepped slowly down the stairs. The air was hushed and cool. And the sky below them turned deep blue and sparkled like a million jewels.

  A giant moon cast golden light on the stairs.

  “Nighttime,” Eric whispered.

  Before they knew it, the three friends were in Droon once again.

  Text copyright © 1999 by Robert T. Abbott.

  Illustrations copyright © 1999 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, APPLE PAPERBACKS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic, Inc.

  First Scholastic printing, June 1999

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-83336-3

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.