The Hawk Bandits of Tarkoom

by Tony Abbott

  The three friends stared at one another.

  Then they all raced up the stairs for home.

  “Kkkk! Boom-ba-boom!”

  Eric Hinkle was jumping on his bed and making noises.

  “Ka-blamma-bam!”

  His friends Julie and Neal were watching him. Julie’s mouth was hanging open. Neal’s eyes were as big as moons.

  “My dream started with a huge storm!” Eric said, waving his arms. “Thunder was pounding the house. Rain was coming down in buckets!”

  He paused to catch his breath.

  Neal gulped. “Don’t stop now, man. Tell us everything you saw.”

  Eric swallowed once and went on. “It could be a dream about Droon,” he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “But the next part is sort of a mystery. You have to tell me what you think.”

  Julie and Neal both nodded silently.

  Droon.

  They would never forget the day they discovered the entrance to the magical land of Droon.

  First they found a door hidden by some old crates and cartons in Eric’s basement.

  Then they pulled the door open and piled into a small closet. The next thing they knew — whoosh! — the floor vanished and they were standing on a shimmering staircase.

  The staircase led down to a strange and wonderful world. In that world, the good wizard Galen and the young princess Keeah battled a nasty sorcerer named Lord Sparr and a mysterious sea witch called Demither.

  Since their first adventure, Princess Keeah had become one of their best friends. Sometimes she would send them a magical message asking them to come. At other times the kids would know through their dreams about Droon that Keeah needed them.

  “I hope you did dream of Droon,” said Julie. “It’s been weeks, and I want to go back.”

  But Eric’s latest dream wasn’t like any other he’d ever had. It was more like something that had really happened.

  “I was small, maybe four years old,” Eric began. “The storm was scaring me, so I went to the basement to hide.”

  “When I’m really afraid, I sort of freak out,” said Neal. “I hide my head and hug my blanket, or maybe a pillow —”

  “Neal, shhh!” said Julie. “Eric, go on.”

  Eric tried to remember everything. He closed his eyes. Yes, it was coming back to him….

  “It was dark in the basement….” he began.

  Rain was splashing against the window over the workbench. The apple trees outside whipped around in the wind.

  Suddenly — boom! — there was a big banging sound. And the closet door burst open!

  Bright red light filled the basement.

  “I dived behind an old chair!” Eric said. “Then, right before my eyes, two people stepped out of the closet and into the room.”

  “Yikes!” Neal gasped. “Who were they?”

  Eric told them what he had seen.

  One of the figures was a child about his age, dressed all in blue. The other was a grown-up who wore a long dark cloak.

  “What is this place?” the child said. It was a girl’s voice. “Are we still in Droon?”

  “No,” said the tall one in a voice like a woman’s, but very deep and scary. “Come, we must do this quickly or he will find us.”

  “The big bad man?” asked the girl.

  “Yes,” said the woman. “I gave you the red light to help you escape him. And I will give you more. But first, follow me.”

  “The girl might be Princess Keeah,” said Julie.

  “Then the big bad man would have to be Lord Sparr,” said Neal. “He’s the biggest, baddest man in Droon. But keep going, keep going!”

  Eric told them how, in no time, the two strangers were across the basement floor and up the steps. They moved swiftly, as if their feet didn’t even touch the floor.

  Quietly, carefully, Eric followed them.

  The two figures swept up the steps and into the dark living room. They fluttered past the sofa, the coffee table, and the television.

  They started up the stairs to the second floor, then up to the attic.

  “There was a weird glow under the woman’s cloak,” Eric told his friends. “She was hiding something, but I couldn’t tell what it was.”

  “So you followed them to the attic,” said Neal, reaching for Eric’s pillow. “Then what?”

  Eric told how he saw the two figures standing under the sloped roof. Before them was a large window looking out the side of the house.

  “I want to go home,” the girl said, trembling.

  “Soon,” the woman answered. “We must do this together. Are you ready?”

  “Yes.” The girl held out her hands.

  “This will be the last time,” the woman said. “Then you will have my power.” She touched the girl’s hands.

  Zzzz! — a bright red light passed between them, then stopped. The girl held up her hands.

  “I have it now,” she said.

  Red sparks shot from her fingertips.

  Eric gasped, and the woman turned sharply, showing her face for the first time. Her features were twisted. Her skin was rough and scaly.

  “Hurry! Open the window!” she snapped.

  The girl moved her hand and, as if by magic, the window sprang open. Cold wind and rain rushed into the attic.

  Without another word, both figures spread their arms, ran to the window, and leaped out.

  “They flew!” said Eric, bouncing on his bed again. “Over the trees and high over the street. It was so awesome! I think they dipped behind the library, but the storm got too wild to see. Finally, I woke up.” He sat down on the edge of the bed. “So what do you think?”

  “Whoa,” Neal murmured. “I love the flying part. I wonder what it’s like having cool powers like that. Not that we’ll ever know….”

  Julie’s eyes shone. “If the girl was Keeah, I think we’re being called back. I think we should go!”

  She and Neal jumped to the bedroom door.

  But Eric didn’t move.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Neal.

  Eric frowned. “Well, our dreams usually come true in Droon. But I was little in my dream. So was Keeah. This dream can’t come true.”

  “But what if it’s not really a dream?” said Julie, suddenly excited. “What if it’s a memory? I mean, maybe it actually did happen. And your dream is what you remember —”

  Eric stood up. “Of course! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Remember when Keeah said she had been in my basement once before? But nobody could figure out how?”

  “Galen and everybody said it was impossible,” said Neal.

  “Well, maybe it’s not so impossible,” said Eric. “If my dream really did happen, it proves that Keeah was here before!”

  The three friends stared at one another.

  They were all thinking the same thing.

  They needed to get to Droon right away.

  In no time they tramped down the stairs to the basement. They began pulling away the cartons blocking the closet door under the stairs.

  “But if the girl was Keeah,” said Neal, “then the other person was …”

  Eric shuddered, remembering the woman’s strange face. “That voice, the scaly skin. I know who it was. It was Demither. The witch.”

  They all shivered to think of her.

  The witch had a history of doing bad things. Once she transformed into a giant sea serpent and destroyed Keeah’s ship. Another time, she tried to kidnap Keeah’s mother, Queen Relna.

  “If it was Demither,” said Julie, “it would explain how Keeah seems to have witch powers.”

  “Exactly,” said Eric. “Wizard powers give off a blue light. But Keeah also had red powers like Demither. They’re sort of wild and dangerous.”

  “But why were the two of them in your house?” asked Neal. “That’s the biggest puzzle.”

  “And maybe we’ll find out today,” said Julie.

  The kids piled into the closet. Eric closed the door behind t
hem and Neal switched off the light. The room was dark. Then it wasn’t.

  Whoosh! The floor vanished and they stood at the top of a rainbow-colored staircase.

  Together, the three friends descended the stairs. Down they went through a layer of wispy clouds. Below them, the bright orange sun of Droon shone on a magnificent city.

  “It’s Jaffa City,” said Neal. “Right on Keeah’s doorstep. We’re pretty good at this, you know?”

  Eric grinned at his friends. “Yeah, we are.”

  But as they hurried down the stairs, a sharp wind rose up and nearly blew them off the side.

  “Holy cow!” said Julie, struggling to hold on.

  Then hard, icy rain began pelting them.

  Before they knew it, large black clouds swept across the sky, completely blotting out the sun.

  “What’s happening?” asked Eric.

  “I don’t know, but I see Galen’s tower,” said Julie, pointing to a tall tower standing near the city walls. “Let’s try to get over there now!”

  “Right,” said Neal as the sky boomed with thunder. “Maybe Galen has a blanket I can hide under. This is getting scary!”

  Text copyright © 2001 by Robert T. Abbott

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

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  First Scholastic printing, February 2001

  Cover art by Tim Jessell

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-41824-9

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