So the vent—which should have connected to the heater—went straight down to the dirt foundation. There was a crawl space underneath the house, dark and dirty and full of old things from a hundred years ago: steel bands and broken glass, ancient two-by-fours and tiny barrels of century-old glue. Not to mention a lot of spiders. Mr. Schmindly would have to put his arm all the way into the hole. He’d have to stretch to even touch the dirt, get down on his belly.
It would be hard for him to get up quickly from that position.
I raised my heel and stomped as hard as I could on the top of Tabitha’s foot.
She screamed, and her grip went soft. I swung my elbows left and right and connected with something hard. Her head, maybe. She gave a muffled cry and fell back.
I shot forward, skirting the kitchen island and dashing for the dining room. I knew how to work the locks at top speed from running away from Theron during our games. I’d be out on the street in a second—
Mr. Schmindly’s foot smacked into my shins.
I tripped and sprawled onto the living room floor. My elbows and knees hit the hardwood and I cried out.
I scrambled to my feet, gritting my teeth, and lunged again for the door, but Mr. Schmindly caught my ankle and yanked me backward. My chin hit the floor, and I saw stars.
His hand closed on my arm, squeezing hard.
“Clever,” he said, breathing hard. He staggered to his feet and hauled me up with him. “But you’re not helping yourself. Lies are bad for you.” A hacking cough wracked him, and he put a fist to his mouth until it stopped. “We could work together, Lorelei. Just you think about that. Show me what I want, and we could be friends.”
“We’ll never be friends!” I shouted.
Tabitha limped into view with a hand to her mouth. Blood leaked between her fingers. “Vuu liffle momfter! Im kim you!” She started forward, but Mr. Schmindly shook his head, using his counselor’s voice again.
“She’s eleven, Tabitha. Really? You couldn’t hold onto her?”
“Shuff fup!”
“Put some ice on it.” Mr. Schmindly looked down at me. “Now, little Miss Lorelei. We need to work on your honesty. Is the comet stone really in the vent?”
I struggled, but I couldn’t get free. “It’s buried down there.”
“How deep?”
“All the way to China! Let me go!” I tried to punch him.
He grunted, caught my fist, and held it. “You’re like my boy,” he said through his teeth. “Entitlement. You think the Wishing World belongs to you. Well, it doesn’t. I worked my whole life to find a way back. I counseled children so I could hear their dreams, hoping for the keys to unlock the door again. I taught my ungrateful son everything I knew, everything I remembered. Now you and he have both found a way, and I’m not going to stand by while you leave me behind.”
Slowly and deliberately, he intertwined his fist into my hair and pulled my head back so hard tears came to my eyes.
“Ow!”
“Don’t struggle, and it won’t hurt,” he lied, walking me to the kitchen.
We passed Tabitha, who glared at me over a paper towel filled with ice.
He opened the old basement door and shoved me through. The stairs were narrow and steep. It was all I could do to catch my balance and not crash headfirst into the concrete wall at the bottom.
Mr. Schmindly slammed the door and it went dark.
“You sit down there and think about your lies. When you are ready to dig up the comet stone and bring it to me, I will let you out. I’m tired of being nice. To you, to my son. To all selfish children. No more. We must create a space of trust between us. We must tell each other the truth. Do you understand?”
I blinked against the darkness and let my eyes adjust. Light trickled in through cracks where the door met the floor. I moved farther down into the basement, which had always given me the creeps. This buried room felt like it was about to fall in on itself. Bulging brick walls held back the dirt and created a sunken space that adults could barely stand up in. Heater vent pipes, water pipes, and electrical wires ran overhead alongside the tall, thick boards that held up the floor.
I pulled my necklace out and held it up.
A flicker of orange light sparked in the corner by the hot water heater, a flash of yellow stones and a sandy floor. I drew a breath.
I let go of the necklace. The orange light faded.
“It’s true…” I whispered. The necklace did have something to do with Veloran.
I closed my eyes, holding up my hand like it had a pencil. I held onto the necklace with my other hand. I thought of the golden sandstone of the tunnel. The soft feathers at Gruffy’s neck.
This is my story, I thought, and I felt a thrill in my belly. I could do magic. I didn’t know why, or how. Whatever the reason, a hundred Mr. Schmindlys weren’t going to keep me in this basement.
I held up my hand, writing the words out in front of myself with an imaginary pencil.
Lorelei returned to Veloran and defeated the Ink King.
The words burned on the air, then fell away one letter at a time, rushing at the faint portal, making it brighter, clearer, deeper. Flickering torchlight and stone blocks painted themselves across the air.
I stepped into it, felt that invisible film against me, heard the whisper that wanted to change me into the Loremaster, but it was weaker this time. I shrugged through it, ignored the voice, and it felt like someone was striking a match inside my rib cage.
CHAPTER 9
I appeared back where I’d first entered Veloran. The grimrock’s fist scar marred the wall to my right. The sandy floor, scuffed from the battle, was underneath my feet. I looked up the hallway. I couldn’t see anyone, but I heard them.
“Urath.” The Ink King’s voice echoed from up ahead. “You swore to keep everyone away from the princess. You failed. Now you can starve!”
“Nooooo!” Urath moaned.
I kicked it into gear and ran up the hall.
“What do we do? What do we do?” came Pip’s identifiable squawk.
“We defeat this villain,” Gruffy said, his voice muffled. He must still be tied up in the Ink King’s tentacles. It was like I had just left, even though I’d been with Mr. Schmindly and Froggy Pop Star for at least twenty minutes.
I had to think of something. I wasn’t about to let the Ink King kill my new friends. A girl only gets so many friends. And honestly, how often are they griffons and talking toucans and mice?
But he was so powerful! I’d barely had time to say, “Stick it in your ear!” before he tossed me through the magic doorway.
Still, I had been onto something before I got tossed out of Veloran. I had found the Ink King’s wall, and I could have undone it if he hadn’t showed up. I had been this close! The story I had written had started to happen. Rather than months of telling myself I could do pull-ups and straining through them, I had made the wall appear just like that.
A wish maker, Gruffy had said. A Doolivanti.
I slowed my jog and crept around the bend.
Urath moaned in fear, pushing his giant hands against his little head. Ripple stood calmly beside him, and her all-blue gaze turned to look at me as though she’d been expecting me.
Okay. So that’s weird.
The Ink King had come out of the shadows, and I saw now that he was a person. Kind of. He was oily black, like someone my size had been dipped in tar, except with a hundred tentacles stretching out from him. He clung to the wall, hanging in the midst of his tentacles like a boy-spider, just beyond where Gruffy lay bound and struggling. The Ink King’s cocky voice said it all: he had this fight all wrapped up.
Wrap this up, I thought.
I drew a breath and wrote on the air.
The Ink King fell on his big inky butt and ran away from Lorelei and her friends.
“Girl said she free Urath!” The grimrock turned away from the Ink King, his chest heaving. His hands balled into fists. “Girl left Urath alone!”
/> “I didn’t leave.” I walked into the open as the words I had written burned and peeled away, flying toward the Ink King. They disappeared, but nothing seemed to happen.
“Lady Lorelei!” Ripple exclaimed. Okay, a little more weird, please? Hadn’t she already seen me? Why the shock and awe?
“I sent you away!” the Ink King exclaimed.
“And I came back,” I said.
“This is my world!” he said. Several black tentacles pointed at me.
Okay magic, I thought. Now would be a good time to kick in—
“Whulp!” Tentacles reached out from the shadows behind me and grabbed my ankles. My feet skidded on the ground as I fought them.
The Ink King gestured and images appeared in the ink that swirled in front of me.
We can’t find them, the police said, three of them standing over me, as tall as the grimrock.
They’re gone, Auntie Carrie whispered from my side, also larger than she should be. I don’t know why. But they’re gone. We have to move on …
Three of my friends from school stood on the shoulders of the police. Does that make you an orphan now? They all asked together.
They must have abandoned her … the police said.
They’re not coming back. We’re going to have to sell the house. Auntie Carrie hung her head.
The images rose over me and toppled, and I stumbled backward. Behind me, I could see the furnace in my basement as though it was painted on the sandstone wall. My feet slid on the sand as I was pulled toward it.
Suddenly, the Ink King gasped; Squeak had bit down on his oily black foot. The charcoal mouse scurried back and a bright spot of blood welled up on the Ink King’s toe.
“Stupid rat!” The Ink King flailed, stumbling back and falling onto his butt. His tentacles flung out, pushed him back upright, and he kicked out at Squeak.
Squeak dodged the kick, stood up on his hind legs, and did a little victory dance.
The tentacles that bound me went slack. I yanked my right hand free enough to scribble on my leg.
Head on head.
The words burned and peeled. Fire flared in my chest. I gasped, then slammed my head forward.
The Ink King staggered, reeling as though I had head-butted him.
That’s it, magic, I thought. That’s what I’m talking about.
The tunnel rumbled. Dust sifted down from above.
I stood up straight and sucked in a breath. The tentacles slithered away into the shadows and all of the Ink King’s images blurred. The policemen, my friends at school, Auntie Carrie, and Theron all slipped into the darkness like water down a drain.
“I’m staying here,” I yelled.
The Ink King backed away.
I walked up to the place where Urath’s invisible wall should be and reached out my hand. I felt it right away, but instead of little circles around my fingers, the blackness extended out from my whole hand.
I carved my sentence on the wall like I had a knife.
This wall is broken.
It shattered. Black glass blew apart, falling like rain and skittering across the floor. A fiery fingernail raked inside me from belly to breastbone.
I stood in the rubble, trying not to wince as I stared down the Ink King. “Where are my parents?” I said.
The dark-on-dark eyes watched me.
With a screech, Gruffy burst out of his shadow bonds. He unfurled his wings and launched himself at the Ink King, but the villain slithered backward so fast I could barely see him.
“You think you’re so strong, griffon,” the Ink King hissed. “Follow me and find out.”
“Squeak!”
Gruffy landed on the ground, searching overhead.
“Squeak is right. Squeak is right,” Pip squawked. “Stay out of the shadows. Out of the shadows.”
“Come after me, stupid griffon. See what happens to you.”
“Better to brace him now than later.” Gruffy strode into the dark.
“No!” I had a terrible feeling about Gruffy going after the Ink King in the dark.
“Chase me, griffon…” The Ink King’s slithery whisper echoed in the tunnel, but I couldn’t see him.
“Let him go, Gruffy,” I begged. “Please.”
Gruffy turned, paused for a long moment, then he bowed to me. “As you wish, Doolivanti.”
CHAPTER 10
We continued up the tunnel, and I peered into each shadow. The Ink King did not come back. But I did notice little bumps on the walls about the size of my fist. One of them popped out and became a sandy hand.
“Eeep!” I squeaked and jumped back. It reached for me as though to shake hands.
“What is that?” I said.
“Shake and bake. Shake and bake,” Pip said.
“Go ahead. They will not hurt you,” Gruffy assured me.
I reached out and took the sand hand. It shook mine vigorously and then sucked back into the wall and became a bump again just as another extended. I shook it. Another and another and another popped out, all eager for their turn. Ripple moved forward and began shaking them, too.
“Okay, I get the shake part. What’s the bake part?” I asked.
“The hot air of Azure City,” Gruffy said, flapping upward. He opened a big wooden trapdoor in the ceiling. Blinding yellow sunlight lit the tunnel and a blast of heat followed.
“Hoppin’ hot potatoes,” I murmured. I let go of the hand I was shaking, and they all stuck out of the wall, beckoning me. I stepped forward, putting my foot on one of their hands as I grabbed another. They lifted me up through the trapdoor and set me on the sand above. They did the same for Ripple and Squeak, who hopped deftly up their flat hands like steps. Gruffy and Pip flew out. Urath simply reached up to the edges of the trapdoor and pulled himself out, thooming onto the packed yellow earth one bony knee at a time. He shielded his eyes.
“Thanks Shake and Bake!” I said to the hands. They all waved good-bye.
I squinted, and a huge, golden city came into focus. There were buildings and towers, all made of sand. Some were small, square houses. Some were castle turrets without the rest of the castle. Some looked like skyscrapers. There were slides everywhere, carrying water from one place to another, and between all of the tallest buildings were sandstone walkways like golden ropes.
I turned, trying to take it all in. I mean, my first seconds in Veloran were chock full of fantastical creatures, but this was amazing in a totally different way. The city went on and on. One giant sprawl of sand castles of all shapes and sizes.
“Who built this?” I asked in a hushed tone.
“Sand Spinner. Sand Spinner,” Pip said.
“And that would be a Doolivanti?” I guessed, thinking of the names he’d run past me when I first introduced myself.
“What else? What else?” Pip said.
Okay, I thought. Mental note: creatures can be all sizes and types and possess in-born abilities. Like a toucan talking. Or a man made all of rock. But Doolivantis are builders, magicians. They could make tentacles out of shadows. Skyscrapers out of sand.
Sculpted fountains floated through the streets, pouring sand onto the ground. People walked around them, but every now and then, someone would approach the foundation and put a bucket underneath, and then the sand turned to water until the bucket was filled.
“Whompin’ waterbuckets,” I murmured. I thought of what Mr. Schmindly had said to his daughter, about needing to have imagination to come to Veloran. Well, the Sand Spinner had it in spades.
Urath held his arms up, trying to hide himself from the sun. “Too bright.”
“The grimrock cannot remain long,” Gruffy said. “We must find him a cool place, with shade.”
“And the princess. And the princess,” said Pip.
“An’ I but have a modicum of water, I shall be fine,” Ripple said, but she looked like she was wilting.
“What about those?” I pointed at the closest floating sand fountain. “Think it will turn into water if you stand under
it?”
“I know not.”
“Let’s know so.” I marched over to the fountain. Whatever magic held it aloft sensed me coming and turned toward me. It moved gently, as though its only purpose was to be useful.
Ripple neared; she squinted up at the pouring sand that left piles on the street. “Thou art certain?”
I laughed. “No. But it turns to water for everyone else. Why not us?”
Ripple closed her eyes and stepped under the stream of sand. It immediately turned to water, splashing over her head. She gasped and turned her face up into it, letting it cascade over her. Like when she had poured my water bottle over her head, not a single drop touched the ground. I waited for the princess to swell up like a balloon, but instead, she flung her arms out and spun. Her sparkling gown whirled out, growing three times as wide as Ripple was tall, as though it had soaked up all the water that wasn’t falling onto the sand.
With a deep breath, she pirouetted out from under the stream, her face turned toward the sun. She looked gloriously bright and alive.
“Wow!” I said.
“Ah, Mother Water. Thou art most refreshing!” She sighed, then looked at me. “I knew not how weak I was ’til I was infused with her life once more.”
“If you’ve had a good drink, we’d best get moving. Best get moving,” Pip said, looking at the villagers staring at Urath.
“Squeak,” Squeak agreed.
I squinted up the hill, fascinated by all the amazing buildings. I could explore this place for a week! The water slides all came from an enormous palace that had giant eyes all over its walls. They blinked down at the rest of the city. “Look at that!” I said.
“Eyes of the Sand Spinner. Eyes of the Sand Spinner,” Pip replied.
“And all the water comes from there. Is there a huge fountain or something? Or a river?”
“The Sand Spinner supplies water for all of Azure City,” Gruffy said.
“But where does it come from?” I asked.
“Am I to know?” Gruffy replied.
“Does it matter? Does it matter?” Pip asked.
They began moving down the street away from the palace. I looked at all the eyes for one long moment. “Aren’t you curious at all?”
The Wishing World Page 5