by Tony Abbott
Eric nodded. “Keeah will know what to do. I’ll call Neal. We can’t go to Droon until Keeah sends for us, and we need to be all together.”
“Together for maybe the last time,” said Julie. She slumped into the kitchen and sat down.
“Don’t say that,” said Eric. “We’ll find a way.”
But really, Eric had no clue what that way was. He hoped Keeah could whip up some magic to keep Julie here. Whatever it took, they had to do it.
Just as he reached for the phone, Neal came bounding through the back door.
“Eric, I heard your voice in my head and came right over,” said Neal. “I was in my room reading a magazine about this mummy they found in a crusty old tomb in a big old box. Mummies are so cool. Except I’d probably sneeze all over them because of the dust and … hey, why are you guys so bummed out? Is it because of the mummy?”
Julie shook her head. “No, it’s because of the two little words on the sign in my front yard.”
Neal stepped to the door and looked out. He blinked, then he frowned. “By two little words, do you mean … Ylkciuq Emoc?”
“What?” said Julie. She jumped over to the doorway and stared at the sign in her yard.
“Oh, my gosh!” she gasped. “Eric! Look!”
The three friends piled out the door and stared at the FOR SALE sign. Only the sign no longer said FOR SALE. The letters had changed their shapes.
They now spelled out two other words.
“Ylkciuq Emoc,” said Eric. “That’s backward. Holy cow, it’s a backward message from Keeah!”
Neal rubbed his forehead. “Let me see … Ylkciuq Emoc … means … uh … come quickly!”
“Oh, my gosh!” said Julie. “Maybe Keeah heard about me moving away.”
“You’re moving away?” said Neal. “Oh, man. Why am I always the last to know? Julie, you’ve got to stay. Maybe Keeah can help —”
“My idea exactly,” said Eric.
“So let’s get to Droon now!” said Julie.
They jumped back into the house just as Eric’s parents walked into the kitchen.
“Julie, we just saw the FOR SALE sign,” said Mrs. Hinkle. “We think of you as one of the family. We didn’t know you were moving.”
“She won’t if we can help it,” said Eric. “And we’ll be working on our plan, um … downstairs, in the basement. See you later, okay —”
“But I found videos of you being born,” said Mr. Hinkle. He held up a box and blew a puff of dust off of it. “I was going to make popcorn.”
Neal froze. “Popcorn? With salt? And butter?”
“Neal,” said Julie. “The basement? Our plan? Remember?”
“Oh, right,” said Neal. “The plan. Sorry Mr. H. But you could save some popcorn for me —”
Eric and Julie flung open the basement door and pulled Neal in with them.
“See you later, Mom and Dad!” Eric said.
The three friends jumped downstairs. Instantly, they began dragging cartons away from a small closet under the basement stairs.
“Don’t worry, Julie,” said Eric when the door was clear. “We’ll find a way for you to stay.”
“And Keeah will help,” Neal added. “I’m sure we can do it, if we put our heads together.”
Julie looked at her friends. She dried her eyes and smiled. “What would I do without you guys?”
“Let’s hope we never find out,” said Eric. He opened the small door and everyone piled in.
“Are we ready?” he asked.
Julie nodded. “I sure am.”
Neal grinned. “Let me think. Keeah needs us. We need Keeah. What are we waiting for?”
Laughing, Eric shut the closet door and switched off the light dangling from the ceiling.
Instantly, the room went dark.
A moment later — whoosh! — the gray cement floor vanished. In its place was the top step of a shimmering rainbow staircase.
The staircase curved down and away from Eric’s basement and into the land of Droon.
“It’s so beautiful,” whispered Julie. “I hope I can always come back —”
“You will,” said Eric firmly. “I promise.”
As they descended, a cool breeze coiled up the stairs. The sun was nearly gone. The air over Droon was turning purple, and the first stars were beginning to dot the sky around them.
Neal tapped Eric’s shoulder. “I see something down below. Cliffs and rocks and stuff.”
“They’re called mountains,” said Julie.
A range of low, jagged mountains zigzagged below the curving stairs. Between the two highest peaks a narrow pass snaked through the hills like a road.
“I don’t see anyone yet,” said Eric, trying to peer into the pass. “Let’s keep going.”
A blast of chill air swept up from the hills.
Then, just as they neared the bottom of the stairs — thwang! — a flaming arrow struck the railing next to Eric’s shoulder.
“Ambush!” cried Neal.
“I see chubby red cheeks and shiny black armor,” said Eric. “That means — Ninns!”
“Back up the stairs!” said Julie.
“We can’t go back,” said Neal. “The stairs are fading! Prepare to fall — ahhh!”
The staircase faded, and the children tumbled and slid and rolled down the sloping hills to the bottom of the pass.
“There they are!” one of the Ninns yelled.
Instantly, the red-faced warriors loaded more flaming arrows into their bows.
They took aim at the children.
And they fired.
Thwang-thwang-thwang!
Text copyright © 2002 by Robert T. Abbott
Illustrations copyright © 2002 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.
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First Scholastic printing, February 2002
Cover art by Tim Jessell
e-ISBN 978-0-545-41827-0
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