I sat on the floor doused in yellow liquid moonlight mingled with shadows, waiting. But for what? I thought. A chance to escape? The window was small and too high for me to reach. For someone to rescue me? That was unlikely to happen. No one knew where I was. I was trapped in silence—ensnared by insatiable madmen. The door creaked open. A dark shape shuffled in then stepped into the light. It was one of the men who had grabbed me. I stared up at the tall, hulking mass of muscle with the bald scalp and goatee, which made him look slightly devilish as he smiled down, all teeth and gums. Isn’t that a shame,” he said, glancing down at me.
“You have spider webs in your hair. ” Cobwebs! I struggled to free my hands so I could check out the damage, but I couldn’t move. “Don’t bother. I made sure to tie your wrists nice and tight with twine. By the way, thank you for joining the party,” he snarled. “It simply wasn’t the same without you. ” He pulled me up by my hair and led me down the hall into another dark room with no windows, then slammed the door. I heard the lock click and turned around. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw that Twist and Seth sat against one wall, Ryan, and Jacob against the other.
I crowded in between them. Jacob managed a smile. “Don’t worry. Madison. We’ll find a way out of here. ” “Yeah, I know—” I whispered, but stopped when I heard the clip-clop of heels in the hallway. The door creaked open and a tall shadowy figure appeared carrying a tray. He untied my hands and set two Chinese food containers down in front of me. I tugged at my filthy T-shirt and tried to comb the loose debris out of my hair with my fingers. Then I devoured the cold Chicken Chow Mein and soggy fried rice. When I finished choking down my dinner, the man tied my hands and left the room. Where are we? ” Jacob shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe in Bitter Springs. After we slipped through The Slash, I flashed my light around the cavern and I caught a glimpse of a man’s face. I ran, but five of them tackled me. Anyway, we were tied up, gagged, and flung around the room like chunks of beef. ”
“Then they tried to trick me into sliding through,” I added. “Yep, Bane was furious when you didn’t fall for his scheme. He smashed a pile of logs into splinters, paced, and cursed at his posse. Insisting one of them go through after you, but they were too big and afraid to try. “But, uh, how did they find us? ” I said. “How did they know where we were? ” “I heard Bane telling one of his thugs that when he got to the top of the rise he saw us turn the wrong way down Coyote Canyon,” Jacob said. “Somehow he knew about the connection between the two ridges and must’ve of guessed we’d use the fault to try to make it home. ” “So, he was one step ahead of us the whole time. ” Jacob shook his head. “Unfortunately, the dirty rotten . . . scoundrel. I thought my plan was foolproof! Instead, I played right into his hands. ” He chuckled.
I frowned at him. “What’s so funny? ” “Nothing, it’s just . . . when one of Bane’s guys told him that Aunt Emma had called the police and they were out looking for us his ears turned the color of a ripe tomato and his nose twitched like a spastic fish. It was hilarious. ” I laughed. “Yeah,” Seth agreed. “It was a hoot until they bound our wrists with strips of cloth, shoved us into barrels, and hammered the lids shut. Then he had his guy’s roll the barrels onto a truck.
The ride here, wherever here is, was about as much fun as plunging into a food processor. “They were stopped once and I heard someone ask Bane if he had seen us. Naturally, he said no, but promised to look in the pass that leads north from the valley to Bitter Springs,” Twist added. “Anyway, they unloaded the barrels in a parking structure and pushed us into this room. Some guy in a long dress gave us some sort of slop. What about you? ” I told him pretty much everything, including where I had hid the stone. “That was quick thinking,” Seth said after I had wrapped up my story. “Jacob’s right, we’re going to get out of here, Madison.
I have a plan. ” “So what’s your plan? ” Twist asked. “Are you going to wave a magic wand and abracadabra—our ropes will fall to the floor? Then just like in a fairy-tale we’ll be transported to an enchanted kingdom? ” “Whatever, dude. I have a pocket knife—” Twist shook his head. “Why didn’t you say something before? ” “Because I didn’t think about it until now. So, here’s the plan. I’ll get turned around and face your back. You reach into my front pant pocket, pull my knife, and cut my hands free. I’ll slice your twine, then you can free everyone else.
When the puppet-master comes in, we’ll push him out the way, run into the hall, and lock him inside. ” “Nice try,” Twist whispered. “Except what about all the other knuckleheads running around here with guns? How are we going to get past them? ” “I never said my plan was perfect. There are still a few kinks that need to be ironed out, but its—” Seth was interrupted by the clatter of footsteps. So much for the plan, I thought and looked over. A man in a white ankle-length robe stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of yellow light. “Come on,” he insisted. Let’s go. ”
“Wait! ” Ryan said. “Where are we going? ” “Never mind,” he hissed. “Let’s go. ” My heart was pounding. “But—” “Silence! ” he snarled. “Or you’ll suffer the consequences for your defiance. ” I stood up awkwardly, resigned to my fate like a condemned detainee accepting their impending doom. The others seemed to accept their lot as well and filed into a neat, dress-right-dress line behind the man. We marched down the corridor and into an antique bronze elevator with a scissor gate. The winch lugged up three floors and dinged to a stop.
The man folded the barrier back and opened a purple door. Huge carved red Chinese’s dragons with horns of ivory, holding pearl shaped balls in their four claws flanked the entry. He pushed us inside. “I should warn you, don’t lie! Because if you do, you’re so dead! ” he paused as he ran a clawed forefinger across his neck. “Now take a seat. ” He left and we were alone in a circular room, which exuded bright, exotic colors. Yellow Chinese lanterns illuminated wall murals of bamboo shoots and sagging willow trees, gilded pillars, and ceiling frescoes.
Purple sheers with beautiful scenes embroidered in gold hung over the long windows. “You approve of my drapes? ” a voice from behind me asked. I spun around to see a scowling man older than dirt sitting in an ornately engraved wooden armchair thickly padded with red cushions. He wore a flowing black robe, a caterpillar mustache, and glasses. His face was round and withered like a carved apple that had sat out in the sun too long. “Please come closer. ” He had an odd accent—Asian, maybe, but without a doubt from somewhere further east than Whodunit Hill. “Please, sit.
So, you’re the rambunctious rascals who have given me so much trouble? ” We crossed the room. The pale blue carpet with a mishmash of intertwined yellow, pink, and blue water lilies was so thick I sunk in ankle deep with every muffled footstep. Five small tripod stools were arranged in a semicircle in front of the old man. I sat on the edge of my seat. There was an awkward silence in which he kept shifting his eyes from us to the windows and back to us again. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Who are you? ” “Who am I? ” He smiled. “Well now, that’s a magnificent question.
One I am sure you all want answered. You may call me Mr. Ping-Pong. ” He leaned forward and his breath smelled like a bad case of weasel droppings mixed with mothballs. “And I’ll let you in on a little secret, one you’ll never believe, I’m three hundred and seventy five years old. ” I can believe it, I thought and nudged Seth, who was sitting beside me. “Huh? ” Seth said sarcastically, and then winked at me. “Never would have guessed you were that old. ” Mr. Ping-Pong ignored him, looked at Ryan, and sighed. “Dear boy, I don’t understand how you of all people could betray me.
We are the same, you and I. Your great, great-grandmother was a princess who was persuaded by that monster Morgan MacBride to desert her country. I suppose I can’t entirely blame him, women follow their hearts. But what I do blame him for is stealing something else, something far more valuable than even a princess. A stone! Not just any stone, a priceless rock hidden away long ago, and now that it’s reappeared, I must have it! ” His voice sounded brittle and unpleasant. “Do you hear me, boy? I must have the stone! ” “Uh-oh,” I whispered and could feel my lower lip quiver.
“Mr. Ping-Pong, sir,” Twist said, “if you would allow Ryan to call his aunt I’m sure he could convince her to sell the stone to you. ” “Definitely,” Ryan agreed. “Unless it’s already gone. ” Mr. Ping-Pong nearly jumped out of his seat. “What do you mean? ” Ryan told him about the letter his aunt had received from a person who claimed to be a relative of Princess Mei MacBride. Mr. Ping-Pong flinched, but didn’t look surprised. “Are you foolish enough to believe every lie you hear? The letter was sent by someone very well to do—someone who desires the stone almost as much as me. That same someone is willing to use deception to acquire the rock.
So I decided to change the rules and take back what’s rightfully mine. Unfortunately, one of you picked it up by mistake. So I grabbed you. Now you’ll give me the stone and I’ll win. Brute force stamps out deception time after time. It’s a no brainer. ” “Then you’ll let us go? ” Seth mumbled. “I ask the questions here! ” he snapped. “Now let’s try to stay on task, shall we? We were chatting about the stone, remember? You were just about to tell me where it is,” he said, and his eyes flared orange behind his glasses. “Where did you unpleasant little monsters hide my rock? Come on, you can tell me. ”
I swallowed hard as I tried to stall for time. “Ah, I’ve heard great things about an Asian’s sense of hospitality and their unrivaled gestures of generosity. And, um . . . I’m parched. My mouth feels like wasps have camped out inside and are using it for a nest. So, uh—” “Shut up! ” he shouted and the wart on his chin that looked like the leaning Tower of Pisa frowned. I didn’t think it was possible either, but trust me this one was not pleased. “I won’t play anymore idiotic games of cat and mouse with you brats—I’ll just cut to the chase and it might get dangerous, if you know what I mean. ” Breathe, I told myself.
He’s merely a man, not a monster. He shut his eyes and massaged his temples. Then he smiled at me. “Such a precious little girl, I’m sure you’re the apple of your dear daddy’s eye. I know he wants you home unharmed. I can give him what he wants, as long as you start cooperating! ” He rang a silver bell. A second later, the man in the white robe appeared next to him. Mr. Ping-Pong waved his hand dismissively at us like a horse swatting at gnats with its tail. “I’m tired and need to rest. Take them away. ” There was nothing to do but follow the man into the dark, windowless, little room while he stood guard outside the door.