"Booya!" Jake cries, jumping up and pumping his fist. He points at you. "You owe me a--"
He cuts off as a moaning sound fills the room. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere, all at once. "What's going on?" Emma asks, voice cracking with fright.
"I don't know!"
The pool table begins to shake. Inexplicably, pool balls begin floating out of the pockets. They rise into the air and begin swirling around, like a model of the solar system. You feel paralyzed as they spin around, faster and faster. Suddenly the moaning turns into an angry cry: "I HATE WHEN FATHER PLAYS POOL."
Emma screams.
The sound unfreezes you. Grabbing Emma's hand, you make a run for the door.
Run for your life! TURN TO PAGE 110
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There's a bundle inside the crib, barely visible in the shadows. Banishing all fear you take the final step forward and lean inside.
At first you think it's a baby. It's bundled that way, wrapped in a blue blanket like a burrito. But the rocking of the crib causes it to roll, and you see shiny, plastic eyes look back at you. "A doll," you say. "It's just a doll."
That gives your friends the signal that it's safe to come closer. They lean inside and then nod. "I think so!"
You all stare at the doll for a long time.
"So... what now?" Jake asks.
"I guess we should pick it up? If what we're looking for is underneath?"
"I'm not going to pick it up," he says.
Emma looks no braver.
With a sigh you lean forward. "Why do I have to do everything in this crazy house?"
Pick up the doll ON PAGE 112
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"Pride and Prejudice?" you guess.
The little girl looks shocked. "How could you get that one wrong? It's easy! That's one of the most famous opening lines in literature!"
She starts moaning, and a sudden wind picks up in the room despite the windows being closed. "Guys, I think we're in trouble..."
Suffer the girl's wrath ON PAGE 76
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You're not about to let a 50-cent piece go to waste. Cringing at the spiderweb, you reach underneath and slide the coin out. It feels heavy in your hands, more than most coins. The mint date is 1964.
"Hey guys," you say as you get to your feet, "check out what I found!"
But as you reappear in the window you see that your friends are no longer alone. "Oh hello there, Michael!" Mr. Goosen exclaims. He's standing on the porch with Emma and Jake.
"Hey Mr. Goosen," you say. You feel strange standing in his house while he's outside. "Hey, uhh... we're sorry for smashing your window. The key..."
"Oh that's quite alright," he says with a wave of a hand. He puts his thumbs through his suspender straps. "Doesn't matter since it's going to be bulldozed tomorrow anyways."
Jake gives Emma an I told you so look.
Mr. Goosen's eyes narrow. "However... it appears you've found your treasure already. My, that was fast!"
"This?" you say, glancing at the coin. "It's just a half-dollar. It was sitting in the corner..."
Mr. Goosen wags a finger at you. "I said you could take one item of special value from the house. I was quite specific! And that 50-cent piece is worth about $10 today. It's from 1964."
Jake looks crestfallen. "But... you mean..."
"I'm afraid so," Mr. Goosen nods. "Come on now, let's get you home." He gestures and you sullenly climb back out the window.
A 50-cent piece is better than nothing, but you can't help but wonder what you could have found inside the house. Your imagination runs wild as you try to forget that this is...
THE END
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You look over Emma's shoulder and see a small book open on the desk. "What is it, a book of fairy tales?" Jake says.
"Not a book. A diary." She picks it up and shows it off. It's about as thick as your thumb, with one of those metal clasps that closes around the side so it can be locked with a key. "Most of the pages were too faded to read, but this one's as clear as day."
She opens back to the original page and holds it up so you can read:
Today in arithmetic lecture, Elizabeth and I invented a secret language! The code is to take a normal word and shift every letter forward by 3. So the word 'apple' becomes 'dssoh'. We've sent a dozen notes back and forth and none of the other students can read them. They look at us like we are brilliant. Exw uhdoob, lw'v qrw wkdw kdug!
"But really, it's not that hard!" you translate. You smile at the others. "I had a secret language like that when I was a kid."
"Big deal," Jake says. "It's already late, and we're losing daylight. Pretty soon we won't be able to see much in here at all. Come on, I want to find something cool!"
You look to the window and see that he's right. You only have about an hour before the sun goes down. "Okay," you say, "let's go check out the hallway."
Lead your friends into the hall ON PAGE 27
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You're certain you saw something glowing in this potted plant. It's gotta be cooler than the tiara! You can't turn back empty handed.
"Okay," you announce, leaning forward. You slide your fingers into the soil.
It's definitely fresh soil, black and damp. Someone has been keeping up with the house, though apparently only on this single balcony.
"Do you feel anything?" Emma asks.
"I don't think so," you say. You move your hand back and forth in the pot, wiggling your fingers. "I'm not sure there's--"
Your fingers touch something solid.
"I've got something!" you say. It seems to be falling farther in the pot, so you wrap your fingers around it. "It feels cold, like metal."
"Like gold?" Jake breathes. Your friends crowd the window, waiting.
Find out what it is ON PAGE 90
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The coldness feels strange, though. Not quite right. After a few moments you realize why.
"It's not cold," you say. "It's wet. Almost... slimy."
Feeling unnerved, you begin to pull your hand out. But the object seems stuck to your hand.
Oh no.
You yank back on your hand but it hardly budges. With groan of terror you realize that you didn't grab the object. The object grabbed you.
"Ahh!"
You cry out but there's little use. Desperately you pull your hand into the air, lifting the entire pot. It's still attached to your hand, spraying soil all over the tiny balcony. With a frantic heave you throw your hand against the railing. The pot smashes open in an explosion of clay and dirt. Something flops onto the balcony floor. You realize that your hand is free!
"What the..." Jake says.
"Ewwwww!" Emma squeals.
The object on the ground looks vaguely like a snake, but fatter. It's like a giant earthworm, but as big as a football. It's covered in tiny spines. You stare at it, frozen in place.
A burning sensation on your hand breaks your paralysis. One of the spines has pierced your palm. There's no blood, but your hand is covered in a reddish rash.
And the rash is spreading.
It moves up your arm with frightening speed. You begin to scream. Rashes aren't deadly, right? They only itch? Will you have to cover it in lotion like poison ivy? These are the questions that run through your mind as you accept that you've hit...
THE END
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Emma decides for you by running forward. "My mom collects old wine," she says. "Some of her bottles are over fifty years old!"
Rather than stay in the darkness you follow her over to the wine racks.
The wooden racks are set into the wall, with wine bottle slots spaced about every foot apart. There are eight rows, you count. Dust covers everything; it's impossible to read the bottles without touching them.
Emma does just that, grabbing the first one she sees. The dust cascades off it like a wave as she clears it with a puff of breath. "Chateau Rousseau, 1988," she reads.
Jake picks up a bottle, and something black falls on
to the floor. Emma swings the light toward it. A wolf spider, the size of your hand!
"Ahh!" Jake yelps.
"It's just a spider," Emma says.
"I hate spiders!" He shoves the ax into your hands. "Mike, kill it!"
You heft the ax and look down at the little guy. He's not moving, just looking up at you with his eyes shining in the glow of the flashlight.
To kill the spider, GO TO PAGE 92
If you'd rather leave it alone, GO TO PAGE 55
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You have no love for spiders. Turning the ax sideways, you bring the flat end of the head down with a loud clang. Spider guts shoot out in all directions underneath.
"Ewww."
"Thanks pal," Jake says. It was such a small, easy thing to do, but he seems genuinely grateful. "Let's check out those crates now, okay?"
"But I'm not done looking at these," Emma complains.
"Then you can stay here," Jake says, "while we check out the cool stuff."
Emma says, "I'm the one with the flashlight, dorkus."
As you watch Jake and Emma argue, you feel a low trembling in the ground. It slowly grows more intense, like a train drawing closer. "Uhh, guys?" you say. "Guys? Hello? Do you hear that?"
"Hear wha--" Emma cuts off. She tenses. "What is that?"
The vibration is so violent that dust and mortar are shaking off the ceiling. The wine bottles move around, clinking together. "I think it's coming from... behind the wine rack."
There's a gap between two of the wine racks, and Emma points the flashlight there. You see a hole in the cement wall as big as a beach ball. You can't see very far inside because it's covered with some whitish, sticky substance.
"Uh oh," Emma says. "That looks like..."
Find out ON PAGE 74
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You approach Jake and take the cue out of his hand. "Stop playing around. We're here to find treasure, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Jake says, as if he had forgotten that.
It feels good to have something in your hand, like a weapon. You heft the cue like a battle-ax.
"Are you scared?" Jake chides.
"I dunno. Maybe."
"You can leave if you want, Mike..."
Emma steps between you two. "You guys are being dumb. Let's go check another room."
You nod at her, but as you leave the room you take the pool cue with you anyways.
Enter the hallway ON PAGE 65
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So it looks like the right window is the one. Cautiously, you approach it and give it a tug.
With the screech of wood on wood in inches upward. You have to wiggle it back and forth in the frame but slowly it moves up. Jake comes over and crouches below the window, pushing it up from underneath. With one final snap as part of the frame breaks, the window slides the rest of the way open.
"Good thing it's being bulldozed," Jake mutters, wiping the dust from his hands.
The window leads out to a small balcony, the kind that's meant to hold a few potted plants but not large enough for people to walk around on comfortably. A row of such plants lines the railing. There's enough room for one person, although it would be cramped.
You look at your friends and give a big shrug. "Who am I to argue with a decrypted secret message, found in a safe, whose code we acquired from a creepy moving crib, which we found by solving a ghost's riddle?"
"If you can't trust that," Emma said, "who can you trust?"
Do it! Climb onto the balcony ON PAGE 68
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"I think it's an E," you say. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
"Pretty sure?" Jake asks.
"Do you have a better idea?" you demand.
"Hey, I'm not the one taking piano lessons."
Emma says, "Mike, I'm not sure. I think it's an F."
Jake throws up his hands. "Neither of you us sure?"
"What do you think it is, then?" You gesture at the piano. "Go ahead. We're all ears."
Jake snickers. "Well I might as well guess, since that's just as good as trusting either of you!"
"Calm down..." Emma begins.
"We've seen enough craziness in this house, I don't want anything more to happen! And I know if you choose the wrong one something is going to happen!"
You're sick of arguing. Trusting Emma, you step forward and press the F key.
BONG.
The sound rings out, and you immediately know that it's wrong. "Uh oh," you say.
"I KNEW IT!" yells Jake angrily.
"Something is happening..." Emma whispers.
Prepare yourself ON PAGE 140
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"I bet the first one says 'TREASURE'," you say. "Let's open that one."
Jake wedges the ax head in between the top of the crate and the side. He pushes up and down on the handle until slowly, one millimeter at a time, the nails begin to loosen. With one final push the entire cover pops off and clatters to the ground, sending a puff of dust into the air all around you. The ax falls inside the crate and the sound of shattering glass rips the air.
"Oh no!" Jake cries.
Coughing and waving your head over your face, you lean over the crate. Jake and Emma join you, all peering inside. The dust begins to fade and the contents come into view.
Three cylindrical cannisters rest inside the crate, suspended in straw. They're made almost entire of glass, showing a glowing green liquid inside.
A fourth cannister is in pieces, the ax head penetrating through the center.
And the green liquid has spilled out. It makes a hissing sound as it drips down through the straw. That's when you notice more letters printed on the inside wall of the crate:
C - H - E - M - I - C - A - L
T - R - E - A - T - M - E - N - T
"Guys," you say, "I think we've made a mistake."
A greenish mist rises up from the crate. Within seconds it's all around you, filling the cellar. You feel a tingling sensation on the skin of your hands and neck. Your eyes begin to sting as you cough and cough.
You fall to your knees, wondering what would have happened if you had gone around to the back yard. You'll never know, though, because unfortunately this is...
THE END
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"Something doesn't seem right," you say. "I don't think this is the ultimate treasure."
"Then what is?" Jake asks. "Dude, you gave up a tiara to try this way!"
Emma giggles. "You seem awfully concerned with women's jewelry."
"It's worth a lot! Maybe millions!"
While your friends argue, you begin looking around the balcony. Besides the pots and plants whipping in the growing wind, there's just nothing there. On the other side of the railing is the vine lattice you climbed earlier, and the window into the girl's room. But that's it. Just the balcony and the vines. The vines are overgrown, spilling across the wall. They're everywhere, even surrounding the window. How are they attaching to the house? It doesn't really make any sense. In fact, the only way they could--
Suddenly you realize. You reach our and push aside some of the thick vines. The entire wall here is made of that criss-cross wooden lattice!
You look up.
The lattice extends above you, to a small round shape underneath the roof peak. There's a flicker of light and you realize it's a window.
You're not on the top floor. There's an attic above you!
"Guys," you say, "I think I know where it is."
Climb up to the attic ON PAGE 107
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"Babies are awfully precious," you decide. "Let's investigate the nursery."
You tip-toe down the hall and enter the small room adjacent to the Master Bedroom. There's not much to it: a dresser that doubles as a changing table hugs one wall, with an old fashioned pink piggy bank on top. On the opposite wall is a crib.
And the crib is moving.
You don't notice it at first, the movement is so subtle. But then you realize it's gently rocking back and forth, as if by some invisible hand. You share a lo
ok with Emma and Jake.
"I'm not sure I want to go near the crib," you say.
"We could always check the piggy bank?" Emma suggests.
To go to the piggy bank, TURN TO PAGE 106
To approach the crib, GO TO PAGE 40
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"Oops," says Mr. Goosen, striding into the office. "I did say memories were the most important thing, didn't I? Ahh, I didn't mean for my little girl to confuse you..."
"Your little girl?" you ask.
"Yes, Elizabeth's clue was good but I'm afraid it was misleading. That's my fault. Ahh well, it's too late now. Unfortunately you chose the wrong room. There's no prize in that box."
"But the ring..." Emma says.
"Costume jewelry," he says cheerfully. "There are gems in this house, though you three just barely missed them. What you hold is merely plastic."
"Aww," Emma says.
"However," Mr. Goosen says, holding up a finger, "I did say you could only take one item. And seeing as though you've chosen that plastic ring..."
"Oh man!" Jake cries. "Not fair!"
"I suppose some other children will have to come along and finish the job here," he says. "Time to run along now, it looks like a storm is brewing outside."
The House on Hollow Hill Page 6