Fablehaven I (8 page)

as well eat shoe leather.

Kendra glanced at Lena.

Go
ahead, dear, the woman urged. You won’t get

sick; I cooked it plenty.

I like it, Seth said, chewing on a bite. We have any

ketchup?

Why would you go and ruin a perfectly good steak

with ketchup? Dale moaned.

You put it on your eggs, Lena reminded him, placing

a bottle in front of Seth.

That’s different. Ketchup and onions on eggs is a

necessity.

That’s sickening, Seth said, upending the bottle over

his steak.

Kendra took a bite of the garlic potatoes. They were

tasty. Mustering her courage, she sampled the steak.

Bursting with flavorful seasoning, it was much easier to

chew than other steak she had eaten. The steak is wonderful,

she said.

Thank you, dear, said Lena.

They ate in silence for a few moments. Grandpa

dabbed his mouth with his napkin again and cleared his

throat.

What do you suppose makes people so eager to break

rules?

Kendra felt a jolt of guilt. The question was addressed

generally and hung there awaiting a response. When

nobody answered, Grandpa continued.

Is it simply the pleasure of disobedience? The thrill of

rebellion?

Kendra glanced at Seth. He stared at his plate, picking

at his potatoes.

Were the rules unfair, Kendra? Was I being unreasonable?

No.

Did I leave you with nothing to do, Seth? No pool?

No tree house? No toys or hobbies?

We had things to do.

Then why did you two go into the woods? I warned

you there would be consequences.

Why are you hiding weird old ladies out in the forest?

Seth blurted.

Weird old ladies? Grandpa asked.

Yeah, what about that?

Grandpa nodded thoughtfully. She has a rotten old

rope. You didn’t blow on it?

I didn’t go near her. She was freaky.

She came to me and asked if she could build a shack

on my property. She promised to keep to herself. I saw no

harm in it. You shouldn’t go bothering her.

Seth found your private retreat, Kendra said. He

wanted me to see it. My curiosity got the better of me.

Private retreat?

Big pond? Fancy boardwalk? Parrots and swans and

peacocks?

Grandpa looked at Dale, speechless. Dale shrugged.

I was hoping you’d take us out on a boat, Kendra said.

Who said anything about a boat?

Kendra rolled her eyes. I saw the boathouse,

Grandpa.

He tossed his hands up and shook his head.

Kendra set her fork down. Why would you let such a

nice place go to waste?

That is my business, Grandpa said. Yours was to obey

my rules, for your own protection.

We’re not afraid of ticks, Seth said.

Grandpa folded his hands and lowered his eyes. I was

not entirely honest about why you needed to stay out of the

woods. He lifted his gaze. On my land, I provide refuge

for some dangerous animals, many of them endangered.

This includes poisonous snakes, toads, spiders, and scorpions,

along with bigger game. Wolves, apes, panthers. I use

chemicals and other controls to keep them away from the

yard, but the woods are extremely hazardous. Particularly

the island in the center of the lake. It is deliberately

infested with inland taipans, also called ‘fierce snakes,’ the

deadliest serpent known to man.

Why didn’t you warn us? Kendra asked.

My preserve is a secret. I have all the necessary

licenses, but if my neighbors complained, those could be

revoked. You must not tell a soul, not even your parents.

We saw a white frog, Seth said breathlessly. Was that

poisonous?

Grandpa nodded. Quite lethal. In Central America

the indigenous people use them to fashion poisoned darts.

Seth tried to catch it.

Had he succeeded, Grandpa said gravely, he would

be dead.

Seth swallowed. I’ll never go into the woods again.

I trust you won’t, Grandpa said. All the same, a rule

is of no value unless the punishment is enforced. You will

have to stay in your room for the rest of your stay.

What? Seth said. But you lied to us! Being afraid of

ticks is a lame reason to stay out of the woods! I just

thought you were treating us like babies.

You should have brought those concerns to me,

Grandpa said. Was I unclear about the rules or the consequences?

You were unclear about the reasons, Seth said.

That is my right. I am your grandfather. And this is my

property.

I am your grandson. You should tell me the truth.

You’re not setting a very good example.

Kendra tried not to laugh. Seth was in lawyer mode. He

always tried to maneuver out of trouble with their parents.

Sometimes he made some pretty good points.

What do you think, Kendra? Grandpa asked.

She had not expected him to solicit her opinion. She

tried to collect her thoughts. Well, I agree that you didn’t

tell us the whole truth. No way would I have gone into the

woods if I knew there would be dangerous animals.

Me neither, Seth said.

I made two simple rules, you understood them, and

you broke them. Just because I chose not to share all my

reasons for making the rules, you think you should escape

punishment?

Yes, Seth said. Just this once.

That doesn’t sound fair to me, Grandpa said. Unless

the punishments are enforced, rules lose all their power.

But we won’t do it again, Seth said. We promise.

Don’t lock us up in the house for two weeks!

Don’t blame me, Grandpa said. You locked yourself

up by disregarding the rules. Kendra, what do you think

would be fair?

Maybe you could give us a reduced punishment as a

warning. Then the full punishment if we mess up again.

Reduced punishment, Grandpa mused. So you still

pay a price for your disobedience, but you get one more

chance. I might be able to live with that. Seth?

Better than the whole punishment.

That settles it. I will reduce your sentence to a single

day. You will spend tomorrow confined to the attic. You

can come down for meals, and you can use the bathroom,

but that is all. Break any of my rules again, and you will not

leave the attic until your parents come for you. For your

own safety. Understood?

Yes, sir, Kendra said.

Seth nodded his agreement.

Journal of Secrets

Did you ever notice the keyhole on the belly of the

unicorn? Seth asked. He was lying on the floor

beside the fanciful rocking horse, hands laced behind his

head.

Kendra looked up from her painting. She had asked

Lena to create a paint-by-numbers to help her endure her

incarceration. Kendra had wanted to paint the pavilions

around the pond, and Lena had quickly sketched a scene

with startling accuracy, as if the housekeeper had the place

memorized. Seth declined to have another canvas prepped.

Stuck in the attic or not, he was sick of painting.

Keyhole?

Weren’t you looking for keyholes?

Kendra got off her stool and crouched beside her

brother. Sure enough, there was a tiny keyhole on the

underside of the unicorn. She retrieved her keys from the

nightstand drawer. The third key Grandpa Sorenson had

given her did the trick. A small hatch swung open. Out fell

several rose-shaped chocolates wrapped in gold foil, identical

to the one she had found in the miniature armoire.

What are those? Seth asked.

Soap, Kendra said.

Kendra reached up into the hatch and felt around

inside the hollow rocking horse. She found a few more

rosebud chocolates and a tiny golden key like the one from

the armoire. The second key to the locked journal!

They look like candy, Seth said, snatching one of the

ten chocolates.

Have one. They’re perfumed. You’ll smell pretty.

He unwrapped it. Funny color for soap. Smells a lot

like chocolate. He popped the whole thing in his mouth.

His eyebrows shot up. Holy cow, this is good!

Since you found the keyhole, how about we split them

fifty-fifty. She was a little worried he would eat all of them

otherwise.

Sounds fair, he said, grabbing four more.

Kendra placed her five chocolates in the nightstand

drawer and retrieved the locked book. As she expected, the

second gold key unlocked another clasp. Where could the

third one be?

She slapped her forehead. The first two had been hidden

inside things the other keys had opened. The other one must

be in the jewelry box!

Opening the jewelry box, she rummaged through the

compartments of glittering pendants, brooches, and rings.

Sure enough, disguised on a charm bracelet, she found a

tiny golden key matching the other two.

Kendra eagerly crossed the room and inserted the key

into the final lock on the
journal of Secrets.
The final clasp

unlatched and she opened the book. The first page was

blank. So was the second. She thumbed quickly through

the pages. The whole book was blank. Just an empty journal.

Was Grandpa Sorenson trying to encourage her to

keep a diary?

But the whole game with the keys had been so sneaky.

Maybe there was a trick to this as well. A hidden message.

Disappearing ink or something. What was the trick with

disappearing ink? Spray it with lemon juice and hold it up

to a light? Something like that. And there was another

trick where you rubbed gently with a pencil and a message

appeared. Or maybe something even more devious.

Kendra surveyed the journal more carefully, hunting for

clues. She held a few pages up against the window to see if

the light would betray hidden watermarks or other mysterious

evidence.

What are you doing? Seth asked. He had only one

chocolate rosebud left. She would need to hide her chocolates

someplace more secure than the nightstand drawer.

She held up a final page. The light revealed nothing.

Practicing for my audition at the insane asylum.

I bet you’ll win first prize, he teased.

Unless they see your face, she retorted.

Seth went over and scooped some kernels for

Goldilocks. She laid another egg. He opened the cage to

retrieve it and stroked her soft feathers.

Kendra plopped down on the bed, leafing through the

last pages. Suddenly she stopped. There was writing on one

of the final pages. Not really hidden, just tucked away in

an unlikely spot. Three words written near the binding,

toward the bottom of an otherwise empty page.

Drink the milk.