Always October (24 page)

For some reason I found the approval of the little monster, or at least this half of him, heartening.

I got a good way out before I accidentally looked down.

Instantly, I wished I hadn't. Hundreds of feet below me the River Doom raced and roared between jagged rocks. The white, foaming water threw up so much spray that some of the rocks were completely shrouded in mist. Even so, I could see long-jawed creatures leaping from the waves. If I could spot them from this height, I knew they must be enormous.

Closing my eyes, I murmured, “I have to get the baby across. I
have
to get the baby across!”

“Jacob?”

Opening my eyes, I saw Lily looking back at me. Her face was etched with worry.

“It's all right,” I said, and took another step forward.

“Good boy,” said a voice from behind me. To my astonishment, it was Gnarly. “Now just keep goin'. Keep goin'....”

Slowly, painstakingly, I made my way forward.

Everything might have worked out fine if Mazrak and his henchmonsters hadn't come charging out of the forest.

Because my eyes were locked on my destination, I didn't realize they were there at first. But when I heard Mazrak's roar, I turned to look back—and almost lost my balance.

Mrs. McSweeney and the other half of Sploot Fah, the last two of our group to mount the bridge, hurried back toward the rock shelf. The little monster leaped forward and latched onto the leg of one of the attackers, managing to trip it. Mrs. McSweeney pulled out a knitting needle and started blasting out bolts of power. One monster screamed in anger. Another crumpled and fell.

And more emerged from the woods.

“You kids keep goin'!” bellowed Gnarly. “Git the baby away from here!” Then he turned and headed back toward the fight.

LD was screaming and shaking his rattle.

It was excruciating to leave our friends, but getting the baby to safety was the most important thing. I started forward again. Behind me I heard more shouts of pain, and then of rage. Suddenly Gnarly bellowed, “Cover me, Eloise!”

I glanced over my shoulder and froze.

Gnarly was kneeling at the end of the bridge. He had pulled out his clippers and was
cutting the twigs
!

“Jacob, keep moving!” he roared when he saw me looking at him.”

I understood his plan at once. It was to sever the bridge so the monsters couldn't follow me and Lily across. So we had to get over quickly. But the fact of standing on a bridge that was, literally, being cut out from underneath me had me once more frozen in my tracks.

“Jacob!” said a small voice. “Brace yourself. I'm coming up.”

It was Luna. Even though I was wearing jeans, I flinched as her claws dug into my skin and she began to climb my side. Once she reached my shoulder, she said, “Close your eyes. I will be your guide and we'll take it one step at a time. First one now.
Now!
”

When I still didn't move, the cat nipped my ear. “NOW!” she repeated fiercely.

I took a step forward.

“Good, you're doing fine. Now take another. I'll tell you if you drift toward either side. I don't want to die any more than you do, so you can trust me to guide you true. Just keep walking the way I tell you.”

“Faster, Jacob!” urged Lily from ahead of me. “FASTER!”

“I can't!”

“You have to!” Her voice hardened.
“Or are you going to let those monsters get Little Dumpling?”

That was cruel, but it worked. The thought of failing Little Dumpling pierced my heart, and I knew I must get him across one way or another. I began to move faster, following Luna's instructions. The bridge bounced beneath me, and swayed side to side as well, making it impossible to run, or even trot.

“Almost there,” said Luna. “Keep going!”

I opened my eyes. The end of the bridge was no more than twenty feet away! Suddenly I felt it sag worse than ever. Wondering if Gnarly was about to cut it loose, I glanced back. To my horror, one of the monsters had knocked him aside and leaped onto the bridge. Even worse, Gnarly had cut away so many of the twigs, the bridge could not support the weight of the huge creature.

That end broke free from the cliff.

With LD screaming in my ear, I flung myself forward. I sank my fingers into the coarsely woven twigs, but my feet could find no hold. In an instant I was dangling hundreds of feet above the roaring, rock- and creature-filled river, holding on by only my fingers.

Luna still clung to my shoulder. And LD, of course, was strapped to my back.

I looked up.

It was about ten feet to the top.

I looked down.

The monster whose weight had broken the far end of the bridge free had also managed to hold on! He was a couple of hundred feet below me and climbing fast! His movements caused the long ribbon of the bridge to swing wildly back and forth.

Lily stared down at me, her face white with terror.

“Climb, Jacob!
Climb
!”

As if I was planning to let go! Except I did have to let go, with at least one hand, because that was the only way to move up. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and pulled my right hand free of the twigs. My body sagged. The bridge twisted sickeningly.

I stretched, grabbed more twigs, pulled.

Progress! My head was actually about a foot closer to the edge.

Another excruciating pull upward, and then another. My arms ached. My muscles felt as if they were on fire.

About four feet from the top, I ran out of strength.

Lily was on her stomach, reaching down to me. “Come on, Jake, come on! Just a few more feet!”

“I can't,” I gasped. “I'm out of strength.”

“Nonsense!” hissed Luna. “Keep going.
Keep going!
”

I took a deep breath, reached up, grabbed for another handful of twigs … and missed.

My fingers slipped. I began to slide.

Lily screamed, which did nothing to reduce my panic—especially when I realized it wasn't even my situation that had made her scream.

I
don't like screaming, I think it's for sissies. But what I saw by the full moon's light tore that one out of me. Actually, I had first felt a brief flash of hope because I saw what Jake couldn't: Keegel Farzym and Teelamun had arrived! They must have been trying to catch up with us ever since the battle in the Council Chamber.

Unfortunately, that hope died quickly. Despite the reinforcements, the odds were against our friends. Mazrak just had too many monsters. So when I glanced up from Jake's predicament and saw that Mazrak's crew had captured our friends and was carrying them back into the woods, out came the scream.

Add to that the fact that Jacob had run out of strength and might not be able to make it to the top, and that LD was still strapped to his back, and that a monster was actually climbing up after them—it was about the worst moment of my life.

The look on Jacob's face as he stared up at me, clinging to those woven twigs with that vast drop to the raging river below, was heartbreaking … especially because I knew his greatest fear wasn't even for himself but for LD.

A coldness seized me as I saw him slide downward. Eyes wide with terror he whispered, “I'm not going to make it, Lily.”

Then I noticed something that added to my terror—the woven twigs were pulling loose from where they were rooted in the cliff! With a cry, I sank my fingers into the spaces between them. I wasn't so foolish as to think I could hold the bridge if they came loose. But I hoped that if I could take off even a bit of the strain, it would give Jake time to get to the top.

“Lily, don't hold on!” he cried. “If it goes, it will pull you down with us!”

Before I could say anything, do anything, the half of Sploot Fah who had come across ahead of me brushed past my legs and scrambled down the woven twigs as if he were a monkey. Grabbing Jacob's wrist, he shouted, “Hold on!
Hold on!
”

It was enough to stop the slide. Jacob got his fingers back into the twigs. But at the same time the added weight pulled more of them loose from the cliff's edge.

“That was a close one,” said Luna, who was still on Jacob's shoulder.

“Got good grip now?” asked the half-Sploot Fah.

“I think so,” Jacob gasped.

“Don't think!” cried the little monster. “KNOW!”

Jacob closed his eyes, then nodded. “Yes, I've got a good grip.”

“Good. Now hold on.”

He let go of Jacob's wrist and scrambled farther down the twisting weave of twigs. Not a hundred feet below him the enemy monster continued to clamber upward. His movements added to the strain on the bridge, and I felt as if my arms were coming out of their sockets.

Once our half of Sploot Fah was under Jacob's feet, he took a good grip on the twigs and yelled, “Now put feet on me and push up.”

“Are you sure?” gasped Jake.

“Do it!”

And Jacob did. It was just the extra help he needed. When he raised himself by another foot, the little monster scrambled up behind him so that he could do it again.

The much larger monster below them roared in anger and climbed even faster.

I screamed again, this time from the pain in my arms and shoulders. I didn't know how much longer I could hold on.

Jacob was near the top, but the big monster was only about ten feet below him and moving fast. Extending a thick, scaly arm, he reached up, grabbed Sploot Fah, yanked him from the bridge. He let go. Sploot Fah fell but managed to snatch at the bridge and caught himself. He scrambled back up and grabbed the monster's left foot. At the same time the monster reached up and latched onto Jake's leg.

Suddenly Luna leaped from Jake's shoulder. I screamed a third time, thinking the cat was going to plummet to her death in the river. Instead, she snagged onto the big monster's shoulder. He bellowed in pain as Luna's claws sank into his flesh. Yowling like a demon, she scratched and clawed at his bald head. Taking one hand off the bridge, he swatted at her, trying to dislodge her. The action made the bridge swing more wildly than ever.

Sploot Fah swung around to the other side of the bridge, the side facing the cliff, climbed past the monster who was struggling with Luna, and got under Jake's feet again.

Jake looked as if he might faint. But with Sploot Fah supporting him from below, he continued his upward climb. Less than a minute later he scrambled over the top, Sploot Fah right behind him.

Luna launched herself from the monster's scalp, but the beast managed to reach up and snag her leg. She yowled in alarm. Then something whizzed past me—a rock, thrown by Sploot Fah. It struck the big monster on the head. He let go of Luna for just an instant, and she shot up the rest of the way to the cliff. As soon as she was with us, I let go of the bridge.

To my horror, though twigs were snapping and straining, it was still connected to the edge of the cliff.

“Jacob!” I cried. “Help me!”

With LD still strapped to his back, Jacob knelt beside me. Almost instantly, Sploot Fah was there too. The little monster had gathered an armful of rocks and continued pelting the monster, who still clung to the bridge. The beast was only four or five feet below us now, his horrid purple face contorted with fury. He reached up with his powerful arm, seized another handful of twigs, pulled himself even closer.

Sploot Fah bounced another rock off his head. Jacob and I yanked at the twigs, desperate to dislodge them.

“Stop now and I will let you live!” roared the monster.

I tore another twig free.

The creature bellowed in rage. “I … will … take you to pieces!”

“Head back down!” I cried. “Right now, or I'm pulling out the last of these twigs!”

The monster glanced below him. The end of the bridge dangled a little way above the river. Dark shapes were leaping out of the water.