Seth squatted behind a leafy shrub near the edge of the woods. Kendra settled in beside him. “Look on the porch,” he whispered.
Kendra raised her head to peek over the shrub, but Seth pulled her down. “Look through the bush,” he hissed. She leaned back and forth until she found a gap that let her see the porch.
“Imps,” she whispered.
“Two of them,” Seth said. “The big kind. How could they get in the yard?”
“That big one looks like the imp from the dungeon,” Kendra said. “I bet they were both prisoners. They didn’t enter the yard from the woods; they came up out of the basement.”
“We’ve seen what they can do,” Seth said, backing away from the shrub. “Imps are tough. We can’t risk them spotting us.”
Kendra retreated with Seth back to where Mendigo stood waiting. The shadows were long as the sun dipped toward the horizon. “How do we get past them?” Kendra said.
“I don’t know,” Seth said. “They’re fast and strong.” He put on the glove and vanished. “I’ll go in for a closer look.”
“No, Seth. They’re on the lookout. They’ll spot you. You can’t hold still and run away at the same time.”
“So we give up?”
“No. Take the glove off.” She didn’t like talking to his disembodied voice.
Seth reappeared. “I’m not sure we have many options. It’s front door, back door, or a window.”
“There’s another way in,” Kendra said. “And we might be able to use it.”
“What way?”
“The brownie doors. They lead in through the dungeon.”
Seth frowned pensively. “But how would we… wait a minute — the potions.”
“We shrink ourselves.”
“Kendra, that is the best idea you’ve ever had,” Seth said.
“But there’s a problem,” she said, folding her arms. “We don’t know where the brownies enter. We know they pass through the dungeon and into the kitchen, but we don’t know where to start.”
“My turn,” Seth said. “Let’s go ask the satyrs.”
“You think they’ll help us?”
Seth shrugged. “I have something they want.”
“Do you know how to find them?”
“We can try the tennis court. If that fails, there’s a place where I leave them messages.”
“I wonder if the fairies would tell me,” Kendra said.
“If you can get any to speak to you,” Seth said. “Come on, if we hurry we can get there before sundown. It isn’t far.”
“They really built a tennis court?”
“A nice one. You’ll see.”
Seth ordered Mendigo to pick them up, and then guided the limberjack around the perimeter of the yard to the path that would lead them to the tennis court. Mendigo jogged down the path, hooks jingling. As they neared the court, they could hear arguing.
“I’m telling you, it’s too dark, we have to call the game,” one voice said.
“And you say that makes it a draw?” the other voice replied incredulously.
“That’s the only fair conclusion.”
“I’m up 6-2, 6-3, 5-1! And it’s my serve!”
“Doren, you have to win three full sets to take the match. Count your blessings — I was getting ready to make my move.”
“The sun isn’t even down!”
“It’s below the trees. I can’t see the ball in these shadows. You played some solid games. I’ll grant that you had a fair chance of winning had we continued. Sadly, nature has intervened.”
Mendigo left the path at Seth’s prompting and started through the undergrowth toward the hidden court.
“Can’t we start again tomorrow at the same score?” the second voice tried.
“Unfortunately, tennis is a game of inertia. Restarting cold wouldn’t be fair to either of us. Tell you what. We’ll begin earlier tomorrow, so we can get a full match in.”
“And I suppose if you’re behind and can find a cloud somewhere in the sky, you’ll say there’s a chance of showers and call the game. I’m serving. You’re welcome to return it, or you’re welcome to stand there.”
Mendigo pushed through the bushes at the edge of the tennis court. Doren stood waiting to serve. The racket he had broken while swatting Olloch had been beautifully mended and restrung. Newel stood at the net.
“Hello,” Newel said. “Look, Doren, we have visitors. Kendra, Seth, and… Muriel’s weirdo puppet.”
“Would you kids mind if I serve one last game?” Doren asked.
“Course they’d mind!” Newel shouted. “Terribly rude of you to ask!”
“We’re sort of in a hurry,” Kendra said.
“We’ll make it quick,” Doren said with a wink.
“In this blackness, one game could be all it takes to cause a serious injury,” Newel insisted desperately.
“It isn’t very dark,” Seth observed.
“Line judge says we should play on,” Doren said.
Newel shook his fist at Seth. “Okay, one last game, winner take all.”
“Sounds good to me,” Doren said.
“That isn’t fair,” Kendra mumbled.
“No problem,” Doren said. “He hasn’t broken my serve all day.”
“Enough chitchat!” Newel called grumpily.
Doren tossed the ball up and blasted it over the net. Newel returned the blistering serve with a limp lob, allowing Doren to rush forward and hit a winner at a vicious angle. Doren’s next two serves were aces. The fourth serve Newel returned briskly, but after a fierce volley, Doren took the point with a wicked slice that died before Newel could reach it.
“Game, set, match!” Doren trumpeted.
Growling, Newel ran over to the shed and started bashing his racket against the wall. The frame cracked and several strings popped.
“Booooo,” Seth cried. “Poor sportsmanship.”
Newel stopped and looked up. “Has nothing to do with sportsmanship. Ever since the brownies mended his racket, his shots have more zip. I just want to level the playing field.”
“I don’t know, Newel,” Doren said, tossing his racket and catching it. “Takes quite a satyr to handle a racket of this caliber.”
“Relish the moment,” Newel said. “Next time we’ll be playing under the light of day, and we’ll have comparable equipment!”
“Funny you guys should mention brownies,” Seth said. “We need a favor.”
“Does the favor involve demons trashing our shed?” Newel asked.
“I took care of Olloch,” Seth said. “We need to know how the brownies get into the house.”
“Through the little doors,” Doren said.
“He means we need to know where their entrance is so we can get in through the little doors,” Kendra clarified.
“No offense, but it might be a bit of a squeeze,” Newel said.
“We have potions to shrink ourselves down,” Seth said.
“Resourceful kids,” Doren commented.
Newel studied them shrewdly. “Why would you want to get into the house that way? There may be barriers to prevent you. And who says the brownies will grant you access? They keep to themselves.”
“We have to sneak inside,” Kendra explained. “Vanessa is a narcoblix. She drugged my grandparents and took over the house, and will probably try to destroy Fablehaven next!”
“Wait a minute,” Doren said. “Vanessa? As in, smoking-hot Vanessa?”
“As in betrayed-us-all Vanessa,” Kendra said.
“I’m not sure how the brownies would feel about us giving away their secret entrance,” Newel said, rolling his tongue against his cheek and winking at Doren.
“True,” Doren said, nodding sagely. “We’d be violating a sacred trust.”
“I wish we could help,” Newel said, folding his hands. “But a promise is a promise.”
“How many batteries do you want?” Seth asked.
“Sixteen,” Doren said.
“Deal,” Seth s
aid.
Newel elbowed Doren. “Twenty-four, is what he meant.”
“We’ve already got a deal for sixteen,” Seth said. “We could make it less.”
“Fair enough,” Newel said. He gave Seth a sly glance. “I’m assuming you have said batteries on your person.”
“In my room,” Seth said.
“I see,” Newel said, scowling dramatically. “And suppose you get caught and never make it back? We’re out sixteen batteries, and we’ve broken our sacred promise to the brownies. I could live with sixteen up front, but with deferred payment, we’re going to have to up our fee by fifty percent.”
“Okay, twenty-four,” Seth said. “I’ll pay up as soon as I can.”
Newel grabbed Seth’s hand and shook it vigorously. “Congratulations. You just found yourself a secret entrance.”
“So, seriously,” Doren said. “What’s with the puppet?”
* * *
Dusk was deepening when the satyrs, Kendra, Seth, and Mendigo reached the driveway to the main house, not far from the front gates of Fablehaven. Kendra had seen a few twinkling fairies in the woods, but when she tried to get their attention, they darted away.
“Now I’d say it’s getting dark,” Doren said.
“Save it,” Newel replied, kneeling beside a tree and pointing. “Seth, go straight not more than twenty paces, and you’ll find a tree with a reddish hue to the bark. At the base of the tree, between a fork in the roots, you’ll see a good-sized hole. That is the entrance you’re looking for. Don’t blame me if they don’t roll out the red carpet.”
“And don’t tell them we told you how to find them,” Doren said.
“But be a pal and leave this near the entrance,” Newel said, handing Seth his freshly broken racket.
“Thanks,” Kendra said. “We’ll take it from here.”
“Unless you want to help us,” Seth tried.
Newel winced. “Yeah, about that, see, we’ve got a thing—”
“We promised some friends,” Doren said.
“It’s been scheduled for a while….”
“We’ve already canceled twice….”
“Next time,” Newel promised.
“Take care,” Doren said. “Don’t get eaten by a brownie.”
The satyrs gamboled away and passed out of sight.
“Why’d you even ask?” Kendra said.
“Didn’t think it could hurt,” Seth replied. “Come on.”
They rushed across the gravel driveway. The house was not in sight, so they felt relatively safe from Vanessa and her imps. Mendigo followed a few paces behind them.
They continued in the direction the satyrs had indicated. “That must be it,” Seth said, touching a tree with rosy bark. “There’s the hole. Good thing we found it before it was totally dark.” Seth leaned the broken tennis racket against the tree.
The hole looked big enough to roll a bowling ball into. It fell away at a steep angle. “Get the potions out,” Kendra said.
Seth rummaged in the pouch. He pulled out a pair of small vials. “These should do the trick.”
“You’re sure they’re the right ones?” Kendra verified.
“They’re the easiest to remember — the potion in the smallest bottles makes you small.” Seth handed one of the vials to Kendra. She frowned at it, her brow furrowed. “Now what?” he asked.
“Do you think our clothes will shrink too?” she asked.
Seth paused. “I hope so.”
“What if they don’t?”
“Tanu said the potions leave him about ten inches tall. So we’d be what, around seven or eight inches? What could we wear?”
“Tanu wraps handkerchiefs around some of his bottles,” Kendra said.
Seth scrabbled through the bag and removed two silk handkerchiefs. “These should do.”
“Hopefully whoever made the potions took clothes into account,” Kendra said.
“Should we sprinkle some on our clothes to be safe?” Seth said. “We have four extra shrinking potions.”
“Couldn’t hurt,” Kendra said.
Seth dug out an extra vial of shrinking potion. “At the same time?” he asked.
“Drink yours first,” Kendra said.
Seth unstopped the vial and downed the contents. “Tingly,” he said. His eyes widened. “Really tingly!”
His clothes suddenly looked very loose. He looked up at Kendra, craning his neck at his much taller sister. He sat down on the ground. His feet slipped easily out of his oversized shoes as his legs shortened. His head sank into his collar. The shrinking accelerated, and he seemed to disappear.
“Seth?” Kendra asked.
“I’m in here,” answered a chipmunk version of his voice. “Could you give me a hankie?”
Kendra placed a handkerchief into the shirt. A moment later Seth emerged, the handkerchief wrapped around his waist like a towel and dragging behind him. He looked up. “Now you really are my big sister,” he shouted. “Sprinkle some on my clothes.”
Removing the stopper from another vial, Kendra sprinkled the contents over Seth’s clothes. They waited, but there was no reaction. “Looks like we’ll have to save the day wearing handkerchiefs,” Kendra sighed.
“They’re nice and silky,” Seth called.
“You’re a nut,” Kendra said. She turned to Mendigo. “Mendigo, collect our clothes and our things and watch for us to come out of the house. When we come out, you need to hurry and meet up with us.”
Mendigo started tugging at her shirt. “Mendigo, wait to collect my clothes until after I shrink, and leave us with the handkerchiefs.”
Mendigo picked up Tanu’s pouch and Seth’s clothes. “Hey,” Seth cried, “let me see if I can carry the glove.”
Kendra retrieved the glove from the pocket of Seth’s pants, telling Mendigo to leave the glove with them. She handed it to Seth. He draped it over his shoulder and started walking. It looked cumbersome. “Is it too big?” Kendra asked.
“I can handle it,” Seth said. “When we turn big we’ll be glad we have it. Speaking of which, drink your potion and let’s get going. I don’t want to turn big and get crushed in the brownie hole.”
Kendra unstopped a third vial and drank it. Seth was right, it made her tingle. It felt like her limbs were on pins and needles, as if they had fallen asleep and now feeling was returning most uncomfortably. As she shrank, the tingling sensation intensified. Whenever Seth knew her leg had been asleep, he always tried to poke the tingly limb. It drove her crazy. This was much worse, stinging tingles starting at her fingertips and toes and racing through her whole body.
Before Kendra fully recognized what was happening, her shirt was all around her like a collapsed tent. She crawled to an opening through one of her sleeves. “Close your eyes, Seth,” she called, noticing how high and squeaky her voice sounded.
“They’re closed,” he said. “I don’t want nightmares.”
Kendra found the other handkerchief, turning it into a makeshift toga. “Okay, you can look.”
“You know,” Seth said, “if we turn big while we’re in the dungeon we’ll be trapped down there.”
Kendra walked over to one of the empty vials lying on the ground. Grunting and shoving, she tipped it upright. Relative to her new size, it was nearly as big as a garbage can. “The glass is thick,” Kendra said. “I can barely move this empty one.”
Setting down the bulky glove, Seth tried to lift the bottle. He could barely hold it off the ground. “Too bad we can’t bring a spare,” he said. “We’ll just have to hurry.”
“Mendigo, remember, watch for us and meet up with us when we come out.” Mendigo now looked enormous, like some eerie monument.
Seth slung the glove over his shoulder. “Come on.”
Kendra looked up. Through the gaps in the branches above her, she saw stars coming out. She followed her brother down into the yawning hole.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Brownie Doors
Although the dirt near the open
ing of the brownie hole was crumbly and loose, the ground soon became smooth and firm as the tunnel sloped downward. Near the entrance Kendra and Seth needed to crouch in some places, but before long the tunnel increased in diameter so they could comfortably walk upright. At first roots poked through the walls and ceiling, but as they descended deeper, roots became scarce, and the floor of the tunnel leveled out. The dirt felt cool against their bare feet.
“I can’t see a thing,” Seth said.
“Your eyes will adjust,” Kendra said. “It’s dim but it isn’t black.”
Seth turned around. “I can see a little light looking back, a very little, but it is pitch black looking forward.”
“You must be going blind, I can see way down the tunnel.”
“Then you take the lead.”
Kendra led them deeper into the tunnel. She wasn’t sure what Seth was talking about. Sure, it was dim, but there was enough light from the entrance even to reveal the texture of the different stones embedded in the tunnel walls.
“Can you still see?” Seth asked.
“Haven’t your eyes adjusted yet?”
“Kendra, it is totally black. No light. I can’t see you. I can’t see my hand. And I can’t see any light looking back.”
Kendra looked over her shoulder. The way back appeared equally as dim as the way ahead. “You see nothing?”
“My night vision is fine, Kendra,” Seth said. “I could see pretty well when I went to the grove, and there wasn’t much light there. If you can still see, then you can see in the dark.”
Kendra thought about the overcast night at the pond when she had assumed light was filtering through the clouds. She remembered seeing into cells in the dungeon that Seth thought were black. And now here she was, deep underground, and despite the dwindling twilight outside, no matter how far they walked from the entrance, it had stopped getting dimmer.
“I think you’re right,” Kendra said. “I can still see pretty well. The light hasn’t faded for a while.”
[Fablehaven 02] - Rise of the Evening Star Page 23