Rivers of Fire (Atherton, Book 2) (14 page)

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"Indeed it is," answered Dr. Kincaid. There was a gleam in his eye. "Move away from it now."

Edgar, Isabel, and Samuel stood together and loomed over the yellow circle as Dr. Kincaid moved in front of Lord Phineus. Vincent held him firm in his grasp.

"You must open that door," said Dr. Kincaid. "You must open it right now."

The lord would not look him in the eye.

"Pandemonium," mumbled Lord Phineus. Then he flew into a rage and Vincent could barely contain him.
"Pandemonium,
I say! That's what you aim to bring to my kingdom! You will not have it! It's mine and mine alone!"

"You know how to open that door," said Dr. Kincaid, his patience stretched. "The password is eight letters and you know them!"

Lord Phineus laughed. Only he knew how to open the yellow door, no one else.

"I know that word," said Samuel. "I know where it comes from."

Dr. Kincaid looked up. "What word?"

" 'Pandemonium,'" he said. "I know that word."

Lord Phineus stopped laughing and looked at the boy. There was a crack in his confidence.

"You are a very stupid boy," said Lord Phineus, trying to rattle Samuel with the cruelty of his voice as he had done so many times before. Vincent still held Lord Phineus by the arms and he wrenched them back.

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"How do you know that word?" asked Edgar. "Did someone say it to you?"

Samuel answered without hesitation. "No. I read it."

"Read it where?" Edgar prodded.

Samuel thought about all the books he'd enjoyed during his life of ease as a child of the Highlands. There had been so many. But that word. "Pandemonium." Where had he read that word?

And then, like a sharp bolt of lightning, a vision of the book came to him.

"It wasn't a normal book. It was more like a verse. I remember that it was very hard to follow and I didn't finish it. It's called
Paradise... Paradise something,"
said Samuel. "It's big -- a whole book--but it's only one poem."

"Of course!" Sir William chimed in. "I've read it as well.
Paradise Lost."

"Yes! That's it!" cried Samuel.

"Shut up!" demanded Lord Phineus. "Not another word!" Sir William and Samuel knelt at the yellow door and touched the dials.

" 'Pandemonium,'" said Sir William. He looked at his boy. "That was a dark and terrible place in the poem, the most terrible place of all."

"And the ruler of that place, do you remember his name?" asked Samuel.

Sir William thought back, tried to remember, but could not. "I remember it," said Samuel. "I do, I remember it!"

"Don't you speak that word!" screamed Lord Phineus.

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A "The ruler of Pandemonium is called Mulciber," said

Samuel. "That's eight letters, and there are eight dials."

"Don't open that door!" growled Lord Phineus. He watchedas Dr. Kincaid turned the dials.

Dr. Kincaid spelled the word in his head--m-u-l-c-i-b-e-r-- the ruler of Pandemonium, and he turned the dials to match the word. He came to the last letter, paused with a glance at Lord Phineus, and turned the final dial to spell the name Mulciber. Steam poured from the edges of the circular door as it began to rise ever so slightly. Sir William clutched the edge of it and began to lift it open.

"Don't!" cried Lord Phineus. "You can't have him back!"

"What's he talking about?" asked Isabel. She had been silently observing, trying to catch a clue here or there to the mystery that was unfolding around her. Lord Phineus turned and lunged at her like a wild animal, trying without success to break free of Vincent's iron grip.

When Sir William had opened the mysterious entryway there was light in Mead's Hollow as there hadn't been before. A pale orange glow emerged from the circle in the ground. It might have been beautiful for a moment, except for the sudden sound of the Crat that exploded all around them. They had been near--nearer than they realized--and the light sent them into a frenzy.
Eeeeeeek! Eeeeeeeek! Eeeeeeek!
Everyone, even Lord Phineus, began crunching the air, trying to scare the Crat away.

"Everyone down the ladder!" cried Dr. Kincaid. "Now!" He pushed Isabel, Edgar, and Samuel toward the light in the

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floor and there they saw a yellow ladder leading down. It hung in the air, ending well above the bottom, almost as if it were floating.

"Give me my whip!" shouted Vincent. Sir William took hold of Lord Phineus and Dr. Kincaid tossed the whip to Vincent. He cracked the whip over and over again toward the swarming Crat as the three children hurried down the ladder. They were followed closely by Dr. Kincaid, but the old man stopped with only his head poking out into Mead's Hollow and he spoke to Lord Phineus.

"You must come with us," he said. "It's the only path left to you."

Lord Phineus looked up, his eyes swollen and rimmed in red. Sir William pushed him toward the circle of light.

"You should not have opened that door," warned Lord Phineus. "I tell you, you can't have him. You won't find him! I won't allow it."

"Get down here this instant!" screamed Dr. Kincaid. He moved down the ladder without another word. Sir William nudged Lord Phineus to the very edge of the opening.

Eeeeeek! Eeeeeek!
The Crat were circling very close, and Vincent was having trouble snapping them all away with his whip. Sir William saw one dart into the light and come for his legs. He kicked with all his might and sent the creature flying into Mead's Hollow. He'd had enough.

Sir William had been shoving Lord Phineus toward the opening until finally the captive tumbled in, grabbing the ladder to steady himself. Sir William descended after him,

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forcing him farther down with the heel of his boot, until the two of them were through and only Vincent remained in Mead's Hollow.

As Vincent made his way toward the opening, Atherton began to shake, moving like a rolling earthquake. The motion knocked Vincent right off his feet. The Crat were bowled over as well, disoriented and unable to attack. One of the Crat tumbled into the hole, landing on its feet next to Lord Phineus. It bit once and Lord Phineus shrieked, kicking the awful creature against one of the walls. The lone Crat darted into a corner, looking for a dark place to hide.

Vincent crawled toward the hole, rolling off course as he went, until finally he reached the yellow ladder. When he was almost all the way inside, he looked back. He could not see the water but he could hear it coming. He took the door by a handle on the inside and he flung it down over his head, shutting himself and the others away.

As Vincent neared the bottom, he saw that the lone Crat was huddled in the corner of a long corridor. Vincent uncurled his whip and snapped at the Crat until it lay lifeless.

"How lovely," said Lord Phineus, a viscous sarcasm in his voice, "that you're always here to protect us."

Vincent had a very real desire to turn his whip on Lord Phineus.

"That way," said Dr. Kincaid, seizing control of the situation. He pointed down a corridor that looked to Edgar as if it sloped downward. The entire floor along the way was illuminated from the bottom with soft orange light. It was a stone

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floor, but it held wide, clear sections of what appeared to be a murky sort of glass.

"There's no place for him to hide," said Dr. Kincaid, staring at Lord Phineus. "Let him lead the way, and keep a close eye on him."

Vincent snapped his whip, startling Lord Phineus into motion, and the group began to move forward, toward where the light fell away.

Edgar fell into step beside Dr. Kincaid and the two walked in silence for a minute or two. When Edgar spoke, he chose his words carefully.

"How did Lord Phineus know how to open the door?" asked Edgar, a new thought rising in his mind. "Did he lock Dr. Harding down here?"

Dr. Kincaid smiled and pulled on his big earlobe, looking down at the boy.

"I believe he did just that," said Dr. Kincaid.

***

"Mulciber, is it?" whispered Sir Emerik. He had long since abandoned his torch and traveled in utter darkness and quiet through Mead's Hollow. He had stayed close to the others all along, but he'd hung back when they reached the round yellow door--far enough away to avoid the circle of Crat, but near enough to hear the word. "Mulciber!"

The water had come like a flood, but Mead's Hollow was vast and empty and it would take a great deal of water to fill it.

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