by Tony Abbott
The Ninns weren’t so lucky.
“Argh! Ooof!” Splash!
The clumsy, red-faced warriors crashed into one another. Then they plopped into the icy water.
“Dad, you did it!” Eric shouted. “You did it!”
“To the stairs! Quick!” Keeah yelled, running over to them. They all skittered across the ice and bolted up the bank to the waiting stairs.
Kla-bamm! Galen fired a bolt of light at Sparr, stunning him, then joined the kids on the stairs. Together they ran to the room at the top.
Sparr leaped desperately after them, howling, “The Upper World is mine. Strike, Wasp, strike!”
“Here, Keeah,” said Mr. Hinkle, handing her the harp. “It’s time to do your stuff.”
The Golden Wasp shot toward Keeah.
“Princess, prepare to become mine!” Sparr cried, climbing up after them. “Wasp — strike!”
Keeah stood firmly on the stairs, the cold wind blowing around her. She touched the strings.
Eric knew at once. The melody she played came from somewhere deep in her memory.
“Wasp — strike her!” Sparr cried again.
The Wasp did strike. It struck quickly.
But not at Keeah.
For an instant, it hovered over her, entranced by the melody she was playing. Then it lowered its tail and shot over to Sparr.
“Away! Away!” the sorcerer shouted.
But the Wasp would not obey him. It swept in and stung him — ZZZZZZT!
The sorcerer gasped, clutching his forehead. “No! No! The Upper World belongs to me. I must — must — akkkgh!”
Sparr howled angrily as he plummeted — half flying, half falling — to the frozen lake below.
Eric trembled all over, staring at the sorcerer.
Sparr lay thrashing on the ice, yowling and roaring as his Ninns slid across the lake to him.
Behind him, the black fortress of Plud was red with flame.
“It is over, for now,” Galen said. “Come….”
Eric stared at the ice below. Even from that far away it seemed as if Sparr’s fiery eyes were glaring at him. Piercing right to his heart.
It is not over.
That’s what those eyes told him.
Julie tugged Eric to the top of the stairs. “The moonfox broke out. He’s making another mess.”
Eric ran through the closet into the basement.
Sunlight shone in as it had when they left.
“Holy cow!” Mr. Hinkle cried. “What a mess!”
The moonfox had eaten its way out of the laundry basket. Now it was tearing the stuffing out of the old chair.
“Hey, that’s where I sit!” Neal yelled.
“I’ll take care of him,” Galen said, lurching into the basement with Keeah. He stared at the creature and thrust out his hands.
“Zof —kof —peechu —meechu — mack!”
The moonfox turned to Galen with his mouth full of stuffing. “Wait, no —”
Bloink! He vanished in a puff of green air. In his place, a gold charm bracelet clattered to the basement floor.
Max scampered over, snatched the Droonian bracelet, and dropped it into a pouch on his belt.
He beamed. “And that’s that!”
“Hooray!” Julie cried. “It’s over!”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Mr. Hinkle just stood staring at the whole thing. “Boy, Eric, wait till I tell your mother.”
Galen smiled. “That reminds me. Sir Hinkle?”
“Yes, Galen?”
“Somban —romban —toop!”
Eric’s father gave a sudden wiggle, then a giggle, then he stared ahead. Then his eyes slammed shut. And he started humming.
“Your father is forgetting everything that happened to him,” Galen said to Eric. “Droon must remain a secret known only to the chosen ones.”
“Chosen ones?” said Neal. “I like that.”
Eric sighed. He knew Galen was right.
“Sorry, Dad,” he said softly. “It was fun.”
Mr. Hinkle coughed, then sneezed, then his eyes popped open. “Um … what just happened? I mean … where … um … what … Oh, never mind! Just clean up this mess, will you?”
“Yes, sir!” said Julie.
Mr. Hinkle turned. “For some reason, I like when you call me sir.” Then he tramped upstairs, scratching his head.
“Galen, we’d better leave now,” Keeah said to the wizard. She headed to the closet, then turned and smiled at Eric. “Once again, you have —”
Keeah glanced behind him. Her eyes widened suddenly. She pointed out the basement window at the trees outside. She began to tremble.
“What’s wrong?” Julie asked.
“Those trees —” she said.
“Apple trees,” Eric said. “My dad taught me how to climb on those trees.”
Keeah stared at the sun winking through the bright green leaves of the twin trees.
“I’ve … been here … before,” she said.
Eric felt as if lightning had struck him. “What? What? But … how is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” Keeah said. “I …”
“Hurry!” Max called from the closet. “The stairs are fading. We must not stay!”
Keeah turned to the wizard. “Galen, could this be true. Could I have been here before?”
He pulled Keeah gently to the stairs. “All things are possible. But this is a mystery for another day. Come, Princess, we must leave here!”
He rushed into the closet with Keeah and Max.
Eric ran in and looked down as the three of them sped down the stairs and into the pink sky.
Keeah kept looking back until she disappeared into the clouds below.
Julie and Neal stood next to Eric, holding the door open until the stairs faded completely.
No one spoke for a long time. Finally, Eric flicked on the light in the closet.
Whoosh! The floor appeared. Droon vanished.
Eric turned to his friends. “What Keeah said … It’s impossible, right?”
Neal restuffed the chair and slumped down into it. “Been here before? I mean … when?”
Julie bit her lip and shook her head. “Talk about secrets? You guys, that’s gotta be Droon’s biggest one yet!”
Eric nodded. “Something tells me we’re just beginning to discover the real secrets of Droon.”
“And you know what that means?” said Neal. “Lots more adventures!”
Eric smiled. Adventures. That sounded good.
He turned to his friends. Then he glanced out the basement window to the yard outside.
“Hey, guys, who feels like climbing a tree?”
“I do!” said Neal, springing up from the chair.
“Me, too!” said Julie, jumping ahead of him.
Eric joined them on the stairs as they raced out to the backyard to play.
“Hey, Eric! Watch me!”
Eric Hinkle looked up in time to see his friend Neal do a cannonball into his backyard pool.
Splash!
It was hot and sunny in Neal’s backyard. His parents were having a big cookout. Everyone was laughing, swimming, and eating.
But Eric couldn’t get into it. All he could think about was a dream he’d had last night.
A dream about … Droon.
Ssss! Neal’s mother set a pot of bubbling chili on the grill. Then she loaded on some hot dogs.
Droon was the magical world Eric and his friends Neal and Julie had discovered while cleaning up Eric’s basement one day.
They’d found a small empty closet. As soon as they went inside — whoosh! — the floor vanished and a staircase appeared.
A staircase to the wonderful world of Droon.
Droon was a land of awesome adventure. A land of excitement.
And sometimes danger. But Eric loved it.
He, Julie, and Neal had made good friends in Droon. One was a princess named Keeah. Another was a wizard named Galen. Together, th
ey were fighting a wicked sorcerer named Lord Sparr. The kids were helping them make sure Sparr didn’t take over Droon.
After each visit, the kids couldn’t wait to go back. Sometimes, when Keeah needed help, she sent a message through an enchanted soccer ball. Other times, the kids dreamed about Droon. That’s how they knew when to return.
But this time, Eric wasn’t so sure he wanted to return. He’d seen a face in his dream.
The face of something terrifying.
The first thing he did when he woke up was draw a picture of it.
Now he had to show the picture to his friends. But no one else could see. Droon was a secret.
“Hey, Neal!” Eric called out. “Where’s Julie?”
“Coming soon!” Then Neal did a goofy dive and flopped into the water on his stomach.
Eric looked around. No one was watching, so he pulled out the picture and stared at it.
It stared right back.
With three angry red eyes.
“Not even Sparr has three eyes!” he mumbled.
“Chili dog?” asked a voice over his shoulder.
Eric quickly covered the paper. “No, thanks,” he said. Then he looked up. “Julie!”
Julie was in a T-shirt and shorts. She sat down at the picnic table and began chomping on her hot dog. “Why aren’t you in the pool?”
“I dreamed about Droon last night,” Eric said. “But the only thing I remember is … this.”
He showed Julie the drawing.
Julie nearly dropped her food. “Oh, my gosh! You made a drawing, too?”
She pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket and placed it on the table next to Eric’s picture.
Eric blinked. “And I thought mine was scary!”
Julie’s drawing showed a mouth with two rows of long teeth sticking out. But the teeth weren’t the worst part. The worst part was the fire pouring out between them.
Neal came splashing over to the table, drying himself with a towel. “What’s this, art class?”
“Scary art class,” said Julie. “Take a look. Here’s what we’ve been dreaming about.”
“Whoa, a three-eyed monster eating my mom’s extra-hot chili!” said Neal with a laugh.
“Yeah,” whispered Eric. “All we need is a nose and we’ve got the creepiest monster ever!”
Neal stopped laughing. “You know what’s weird? I dreamed about a nose last night.”
Eric jumped up from the table. “Draw it right now. This is important. It could be a clue to what’s happening in Droon!”
“I don’t draw too well,” said Neal. He looked around. “But the nose looked like … this!”
He took four chocolate chip cookies from the dessert plate and stacked them between the drawings. “That’s the nose.”
Eric frowned. “It looks like a pig nose.”
“Exactly!” said Neal. “With three nostrils. It was huffing and puffing. It sneezed a lot, too.”
“That’s not very scary,” said Julie.
“Did I mention the nose was drippy?” he added.
“That’s it!” said Eric. “We need to go to Droon right now!” He stuffed the pictures in his pocket.
Neal snatched the cookies.
“Don’t hog the food, son!” his father called.
“I’ll share!” Neal said. Then he ran into the house to change. Two minutes later they were all at Eric’s back door.
“You know what I think is cool?” asked Julie as they entered Eric’s house.
“That we can spend all day in Droon and still be back in time for chili dogs?” said Neal.
“Besides that,” said Julie. “It means we’re a team. It took all of us together to figure out that there’s some kind of monster in Droon.”
“And that we need to go back,” Eric added, charging through the kitchen and down to the basement. It was still pretty messy there. They never did finish cleaning it up.
Someday we’ll get to it, Eric thought. Then he grinned. But not today!
They quickly pulled aside the cartons that blocked the little door under the basement stairs.
Neal opened the door. Inside was a small closet, completely bare except for a single light hanging from the ceiling. The three kids piled in.
“Ready to face the monster?” Eric asked.
Julie smiled. “Ready.”
Click! Neal flicked off the light.
Whoosh! The floor below them vanished. They were standing on the top step of a long, glimmering staircase. The staircase to Droon.
As they started down, Eric recalled that Droon and his world — the Upper World — were connected by more than a magical staircase.
On their last adventure, Princess Keeah had come into Eric’s basement for a minute. Then she said she had been there before!
Talk about secrets!
Galen had told them the staircase had been sealed for many years before the kids found it. So what did Keeah mean that she had been to the Upper World before? When? How? Why?
This time, Eric would ask her.
The stairs curved through a thin layer of pink clouds. The sky below was turning purple. It was the end of the day in Droon.
Neal peered down the stairs. “Hey! I should have kept my trunks on, after all. There’s a swimming pool down there —”
Suddenly, the stairs began to wobble.
“Uh-oh,” said Julie. “Should we go back up?”
The stairs shivered and quivered.
“We can’t!” Eric said. “Hurry, or we’ll fall off.”
They rushed down the steps two at a time.
“Prepare to dive!” said Neal.
Then Eric squinted over Neal’s shoulder.
“Wait! That’s not a swimming pool,” he said.
“It’s not?” said Neal, leaning forward.
Below them sat a giant cauldron, boiling fiercely. Red and blue flames licked up the sides.
“It’s more like … a pot of chili!” cried Julie.
“I hope the cook isn’t Lord Sparr!” Neal said.
Then — whoosh! — the stairs vanished.
The three friends fell through the air, straight toward the boiling pot.
“Help!” Eric screamed.
Hiss! Bubble! Splort! went the pot.
Copyright © 2000 by Robert T. Abbott
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.
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First Scholastic printing, June 2000
e-ISBN 978-0-545-41856-0
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