by Todd Loyd
A whirlwind of escalating voices erupt from the mouths of each and every one of the parents. Seeing that his last comment pushed too far, Howard nervously grabs his phone, pretending to get a phone call.
“Sorry, excuse me, uh, I have to get this. Gwen, see that the parents get some free popcorn or something. Back in a flash.”
Snodgrass marches back behind a food stand a few steps away. He can hear the incredulous cries and has no intention of rushing the pretend phone call.
“Can I get anyone some popcorn?” Gwen asks, but the offer goes over like a resounding belch at a funeral.
A red-faced Titus Chick reaches for his phone while the Braddocks and Carnahans begin talking to Gwen, grilling her with the same set of questions they had asked Snodgrass.
Meanwhile, Howard thinks, Safe for now. Geez, Clyde, hurry up and get those teenagers outta there.
Chapter 76
Inside the cabin, the four teens are panting in relief. Amy senses tears welling up inside her. The outward toughness she has shone all night is beginning to unravel. At this point, she does not care who leads them, nor does she care what advice they follow. All she wants to do is get out of this place alive. It has been one thing after another, and on top of everything else, she's nervous about a giant spider that's wanting to eat them. Nervous, on edge, and pushed beyond the limits that anyone can expect of a thirteen-year-old girl, she begins to cry.
Scotty sees his sister with her head lowered in her hands and attempts to calm her.
“Amy, we're okay. We made it past. We are safe.”
“Yeah. For now, we're safe…until someone comes out of the kitchen with a knife or something to chop us into little bits. What then?”
She looks up. Jack and Mason are staring at her. Each is looking as dumfounded as the other. Wiping the tears from her face, she straightens a bit.
Jack places a reassuring hand on her shoulder and says, “Come on, Amy. None of us is going to let anything happen to you. Now let's figure out what's in this shack and come up with a plan on how to get through the doors out there and past that spider.”
Amy nods, appreciating Jack's reassurance, even though she remains no more comforted about their situation. She simply does not want to cry anymore in front of Jack.
“Guys, I know some of you…” Jack says, looking at Mason but keeping his voice very non-combative, “are not really wanting to listen to the narrator, but we really need to pay attention. I mean he did say something like, ‘eyes set on high.’ He was warning us about the spider.”
Amy sees Mason nod. Even he must relent that Jack is right. Her eyes readjust to the light of the room. It is well lit, and to the mutual shock of all of the party, it is elegant. Judging by the looks of the outside of the cabin, Amy had expected to find a litany of taxidermy deer heads and fishing trophies. Instead, a fine oriental rug covers a shiny hardwood floor, a grand piano in the corner, and a chandelier hangs down above an elaborate dining room set in the middle of the floor. In the back of the room, there is a door.
If she didn't know any better, Amy could have believed she was standing in her own grandmother's house—squarely in the center of the room that no child was ever permitted to play.
Oddly, her thoughts take her back to a day when Scotty had gotten the only spanking she had ever seen her grandmother dole out. They were playing hide-and-seek that day. Scotty was eight, and she was seven. The kids’ Grammy was known for second helpings, surprise gifts, doting wet kisses, and free access to the pantry, but she also had one rule in her house for her grandchildren: do not step foot in the china room. Up until this particular day, Amy actually couldn't recall ever having seen anyone inside the room except for her grandmother, who would tediously vacuum the room with ritualistic precision. However, on this day, Scotty ignored the rules and hid under the glass-topped coffee table, which sat beside an old grandfather clock that chimed hauntingly every 15 minutes. Because the room was indeed off-limits, Amy did not bother to look there. After being unable to find him, she asked her grandpa if he had seen the boy, and, apparently, Grammy overheard the question. Like a cop on patrol, her face grew rigid and suspicious. She stomped over to her china room and called out, “Scotty Hubert Carnahan! Show yourself this instant.”
Amy had never heard this tone from Grammy. It was disturbing, but not nearly as disturbing as what happened next. The little boy crept from under the coffee table, and as he did so, a plate on display was jolted by one of his flailing arms. With a crash, the plate shattered. In an instant, the frail and loving Grammy transformed into a frightening persona, like the Grim Reaper. With lightning-fast reflexes, far beyond Amy's imagination for the 60-plus-year-old woman, she vaulted into the room, lifted Scotty by the ear, dragged him out into the den, and carried out corporal punishment.
Amy remembers feeling a mixture of comedy, from seeing Scotty splayed out over her Grammy's knees, and terror, from seeing the old woman deliver the punishment.
As soon as it was over, smiling, good-natured Grammy returned and said, “Now, you kiddos stay out of the china room.”
There was no need to tell either of them, ever again.
The room in the shack, complete with a grandfather clock that ticks and tocks, reminds Amy of the china room. However, there is one difference: the hands on this clock seem to be moving around the face with rapid speed.
Chapter 77
Jack desperately wants to console Amy further. He wants to wrap his arms around her and teleport them away from all this. When looking at her face, still glistening with tears, he has to keep himself from rushing to her. Jack focuses on her eyes, and he wonders, What is she staring at? His eyes follow hers to the face of the grandfather clock. The arms are rapidly turning around the face.
Scotty and Mason are examining the table setting.
Scotty inquires, “Think there's something to eat in here?”
Mason responds, “How can you think of eating at a time like this? Oh, I guess you always think of eating,” and jabs at Scotty's belly. Scotty feigns a smile.
“Guys, look at the clock,” Jack says.
Mason looks and says, “Great, looks like it's 12:30. Man, we've been in here a long time.”
Jack corrects, “It's not 12:30 or 12:40. No, the hands—look.”
As the small hand clicks over to the Roman numeral one, a long chime strikes. From the top of the clock, three mice run down the side of the frame to the floor.
“The clock strikes one! Hickory, dickory, dock,” Scotty announces and lets a small laugh escape.
“Well, unless they have guns that we can't see or razor-sharp piranha teeth, maybe they won't come after us,” Mason jokes.
Jack watches the mice carefully. There was a small amount of ominous truth in Mason's words, although he half expects the mice to grow into monstrous carnivores. To his relief, the mice scamper away from them, but something is odd. The small rodents keep bouncing into walls and crashing into each other it is as if they can't see.
Then Jack realizes, Three blind mice, of course.Suddenly, the back door swings open. A large woman with a white apron storms into the room. Mason and Scotty run back to Jack and Amy, expecting the worst. Wildeyed and open-mouthed, the large woman wields a knife in her hand. Ignoring the teenagers, the robust woman scurries around the room after the mice. Like the world's largest cat, she nimbly catches each mouse by the tail. Holding the mice with one beefy hand and brandishing the knife in the other, she turns to the back door.
As she opens it to leave she stops, looks back, and says, “You need to leave now.” And with that, the door closes behind her.
“Oh man, I would hate to be one of those mice,” Mason remarks. “She was not messing around.”
“Well, I guess we need to leave,” Jack declares.
Amy's in total shock. She declares, “See? I told you. Someone would come out of the kitchen with a knife.”
“But she wasn't after us,” Scotty points out.
However, his words don't r
eally calm Amy.
Nervously, Jack spies the clock. The hands are moving rapidlyit's already 3:00. He thinks, If the clock strikes one again with us in here, who knows what will happen.
In response to Jack's earlier suggestion, Mason states, “But what about the spider? I think we should stay. I would rather deal with her than that thing.”
Jack counters, “We're going to have to get past him somehow. Let's go out the back door and try to sneak around it.”
Mason retorts, “But the door is locked, and the only other exit is back to that garden.”
Jack thinks, Why won't he listen to me?Tick, tick, tick.
Scotty and Mason decide to make a sweep of the room. Before long, they are engaged in another conversation about Scotty's weight. Meanwhile, Jack notices that the butcher knife is still on the table and thinks, Now that's just plain crazy. What kind of bizarre magic is this? That could come in handy. He broods over the knife, evaluating whether he should take it or not. Then he grabs it.
Looking up, he sees the disapproving face of Amy. She has been watching him.
“You can't take it,” she utters.
“Why not?”
“She has to have it…or she'll come looking for you, don't you think? We've already got a wolf and now a spider after us, but we were warned in the map, about the glowing orbs and the fiery lass. She looked pretty fiery to me. You steal her knife, and it could be trouble.”
Looking back at the knife, Jack is torn. He has already stolen something tonight, and the guilt has been gnawing at him. However, he also feels that the knife could come in handy.
Chapter 78
His conscience gets the best of him, and Jack somewhat reluctantly places the knife back down on the table. He tells Amy, “You're right, we don't need another enemy. There's enough to go around in this place.” Then, interrupting Scotty and Mason's discussion, he calls out, “Okay, you guys ready to roll?”
“Not with that eight-legged creature out there,” Mason says.
“Maybe if we can sneak around the spider, then we can work the door open? We've got the hammer. Mason, we can't be in here when she comes back; you saw her.”
Even though Jack's solution is far from ideal, the group, including Mason, knows it may be their only hope.
“Okay, Jack, I'm game,” Mason says and pulls the hammer from the work belt now tied around his waist.
“Good. Finally, he sees something my way,” Jack says to himself.
Mason continues, “Maybe I can grab the axe if I see it? Amy, keep that stick handy. If the spider sees us, you may have to go all Ted Williams on him.”
“Who's Tim Williams?” Scotty asks.
Mason rolls his eyes and says, “A baseball legend. Played for Boston back in…oh, never mind.”
Tick, tick, tick. The hands on the clock are at 11.
Jack announces, “Time to move, guys. Out the door, go. But be quiet.”
The last to walk back out into the Grove is Jack, but before he does so, he decides to take another look at the knife. However, it's gone. He thinks this is odd, but he goes ahead and walks out of the cabin and quietly closes the door.
The group is behind the cabin, and there is no sign of the spider. With his back leaning against the cabin and taking one small step after another, Mason peeks around the corner.
“Any sign of anything?” Jack whispers.
“Nope. No woman, no spider.”
“Good, just take your time—”
A pebble lands next to Jack. Not a muscle in Jack's body moves at first. He has no desire to look up, but he knows he must. Taking a quick glance to the roof, Jack yells, “Spider!”
Everyone looks up and sees the spider looking down on them with those eight glowing orbs.
Without a moment to lose, they bolt for the door, caution and silence being thrown out the window. Jack avoids a giant spider web that is draped from a tree. Then he looks back and sees the enormous spider that has a body so large it makes the cabin look like a play toy.
Mason makes it to the door but declares, “It won't budge!”
Pulling on Mason's arms, the two boys use all their strength in a desperate attempt at forcing the door open. Jack turns to get a gauge on the spider's location, and his eyes are met by a terrifying sight: Amy is caught in the large web. She had not seen it during their flight to the door.
Forgetting the door, Jack instinctively runs to her. He thinks, That knife! I If only I had that knife!The spider is drawing closer to the door. A shot of liquid flies past Jack's head and hits the door just above Mason.
“Get me out of here Jack!” Amy cries.
Jack lunges toward her. He tries to pull her away and calls out, “Help, Scotty, she's stuck! Help me!”
The web is so sticky thatJack's arm gets caught in it. Another volley of webbing then strikes Jack, and he has only one arm free. His flailing only gets him more tangled. Scotty has not come to assist Jack, and, now, the spider is almost upon them. Jack takes the flashlight and flings it at the monster. It makes a dull thud but has no effect. The creature continues to lumber forward toward its prey.
Jack says, “Your stick, Amy! Can you give me the stick?”
“No, it's stuck, too.”
“Maybe I can fight him off,” Jack says. He looks at the menacing giant, and just over its head, Jack sees a ray of light enter the room. He realizes that someone is coming through the door and hopes that maybe it will be someone who can help.
Struggling, Jack arches his neck to see the possible rescuer. He realizes it's the wolf and that the situation has just gone from bad to horrible.
Chapter 79
Scotty has heard Jack's cry, and he sees his sister caught in the web. His body wants to respond, but his legs are frozen to the floor. Even as the ominous hulking spider draws closer to Amy and Jack, fear deprives Scotty of his will. And as if a gigantic arachnid were not enough, a new player has entered the mix: a six-foot-tall wolf.
“Scotty, snap out of it!” Mason cries.
Scotty stutters, “Ma-Ma-Ma-Mason—the wolf!”
Mason, who has been working on the door, turns around and sees the wolf. He doubles his efforts with the door and says, “Scotty, help the others! Now—go!”
Scotty thinks to himself, You coward. You can do this, Scotty. You have to do this. He knows he must do something, but he's praying that somehow Jack can free his sister.
“Scotty, for crying out loud!” Mason screams.
The wolf rushes through the room, heading for Amy, and the scene before Scotty is amplified terror. In an instant, the spider turns away from its prey in the web after it becomes aware of the pounding footsteps from behind. A jutting spray of the sticky webbing hits the wolf in the chest, ensnaring both of his arms, and he falls to the ground due to the impact. Then another shot of webbing wraps around his legs.
Upon seeing the distracted spider, whatever mental chains once held Scotty to the floor unshackle. He runs to Amy and Jack. However, the spider whirls again, this time toward Scotty. Unaware that he has been marked, Scotty falls face-first to the ground after a thin rope of the webbing encircles his ankles.
“Oww!” yells Scotty.
His shoulder throbs. Scotty turns to see the spider slowly approaching him. It is making low clicking and gurgling noises while frothy white bubbles seep from its horrid mouth. Scotty knows that after it makes a few more steps, he'll be done for.
Then he remembers, The scissors!Scotty rolls onto his side and reaches into his shorts’ pocket, searching desperately for the scissors, but his fingers tickle a small vial instead. He had forgotten about the vial.
Scotty yanks the vial from his pocket and attempts to hurl the vial, but it's no use. The pain in his shoulder will not allow him to make a good throw with his right arm. He considers throwing with his left, but he realizes that he has not thrown anything with his left arm since shattering Mr. Turner's windshield in third grade. Scotty tries again with his right arm, but the pain is too intense. He knows
he will have to do it left-handed, but for greater accuracy, he decides to wait until the spider is closer.
Scotty thinks, A little further. A little further.Amy screams, “Scotty, move!”
The spider picks up speed toward Scotty, and just before it strikes, Scotty throws the vial.
Chapter 80
It's a direct hit. The vial breaks into a dozen tiny shards, and the contents of the potion spill onto the spider. Immediately, an orange vapor emits around the head of the spider. As the orange mist wraps and shifts around the entire body of the monster, a stunning transformation occurs. The giant spider begins to shrink. Jack watches in jubilation as the spider reduces, becoming smaller and smaller. But, he begins to get nervous when the cloud inches closer to Scotty. Before the orange mist can shroud him, though, Scotty rolls away. Then he pulls out his scissors and goes to work on the webbing.
“Jack—the spider! Scotty did—uh, Scotty threw—uh, Scotty shrank the spider!” Amy calls to Jack.
He glances at Amy, grinning at Scotty's heroics, and says, “I saw it.”
Jack turns back to the spider and can now barely make out the eightlegged fiend. In spite of its rapidly dissipating size, the spider makes a final lunge at Scotty, who gets the webbing off his feet just in time to kick the creature, now about the size of a football, across the room.
It lands near the wolf.
“Look guys, this way!” Mason calls. He is standing with hammer in hand before an open door. However, the others cannot join him yet because Amy is still tied up.
At the same time, the wolf, who has managed to free an arm, is now crawling toward Amy.
“Jack—the wolf!” Amy screams as the predator inches towards her.
Scotty hurries over to Jack and Amy and begins snipping away at their bindings with his scissors. Mason also joins them to lend his support while being careful to avoid becoming ensnared in the same webbing.