The Horror (10 page)

She howled and smashed the chair to bits with her hammer.

Instantly the pieces came together and in seconds the chair rebuilt itself.

The witch-thing hissed with fury and began slugging the walls with her hammer, screaming,
“Give me the jewel, you nasty little boy! It's mine, give it to me!”

Splinters flew, and larger pieces, too. The witch-thing was so busy raging, it was like she'd forgotten all about us.

It was someone else she was screaming at. Bobby?

“What jewel?” Katie whispered hoarsely. “What's she talking about?”

“I don't know,” I said, flinching as spit flew from the creature's ugly mouth. “But you better duck!”

Our voices had reminded the witch-thing of our presence.

Teeth bared in a snarl, she threw the hammer.

Katie tried to twist out of the way but the torn old dress hampered her movements.

The heavy weapon caught her square on the shoulder.

Katie cried out and clutched her arm.

Sally began to cry.

“It's okay, Sally,” said Katie between clenched teeth. “I'm all right.”

But she wasn't. I could see how her injured arm dangled uselessly. Just like mine had that time I'd broken it riding my bike down Dead Man's Hill.

It was all up to me now.

I had to get both Katie and Sally past the witch-thing and out of here. Somehow.

The hammer had fallen to the floor between me and the creature.

Seeing my one chance, I lunged for it.

So did the witch-thing. She shrieked, spewing foam at the corners of her mouth, and snatched at the handle.

But at the last instant, the hammer whirled around and lashed at her head.

The witch ducked out of the way and screamed.
“You can't stop me! I'll get you, you brat! I'll get you good, you'll see
.”

The hammer dropped heavily to the floor and she quickly seized it, cackling in triumph.

The witch-thing had her eyes fixed on my little sister. A lump of a tongue came out and licked her scabby lips as she grinned at Sally.

It was the most evil smile I'd ever seen. It made the hairs prickle on the back of my neck.

“Come here, little girl,” she crooned, raising the hammer over her head once more. Sally whimpered.

Katie pointed behind the witch. “Look!” she cried.

The witch-thing cackled as if she'd heard that trick before.

But behind her a window had formed out of blank wall.

We watched in amazement as a lovely yellow moon appeared in the new window.

Then, in a violent explosion, the window blew in!

A powerful tunnel of wind grabbed the black-draped witch and flung her against the wall.

It pinned her there, spitting and sputtering, unable to move.

“Hurry,” I shouted, knowing the window might disappear any second. “We've got to get out on the roof!”

I pushed Katie and Sally in front of me toward the smashed-in window.

And braced myself for the wind that would suck us back into the nightmare.

37

But this time the wind didn't try to stop us. The broken window frame slid open as we approached.

I crawled through it to the roof and pulled Sally out after me.

Katie tried to follow, but she snagged her dress.

“Pull hard!” I shouted to Sally.

She helped and we both yanked on Katie's shoulders, trying to pull her out to the roof. But it was no use—Katie was stuck in the window.

“Let me go!” she shouted. “Save yourselves!”

It was the bravest thing I'd ever heard, but we couldn't run away, not when Katie was in danger.

Behind her I heard the witch-thing screaming again.

Then Katie shrieked. “She's got my feet!”

The witch was pulling her from the other side.

I started to lose my grip and Katie inched back through the window. “Run!” she cried. “Get away!”

“Give me your hand!” I shouted.

I grabbed her good hand and held on with all my might. It was like the witch-thing wanted to rip her in two!

I set my feet against the outside of the window and held on. Slowly Katie came back through the window. She groaned in pain when her broken arm bumped against the roof.

Behind her the witch-thing was spitting and snarling.

Suddenly the witch screamed and let go. Poor Katie came shooting through the broken window and smacked her head against the roof.

She was out cold.

“I'll get you!”
screamed the witch.

She was coming at us, charging for the window.

“Bobby!” Sally shouted. “Help us please!”

The witch was reaching for us when suddenly the window disappeared.

“Nooooo,”
came a horrible wail from inside. “
I want them. They're mine! Mine!”

Sally and I huddled on the roof with Katie's limp body held up between us.

Inside, the witch-thing was back to smashing the walls.

“Bobby won't let her get us,” said Sally. “Bobby doesn't like baby-sitters, but he's sorry about what happened to Katie.”

Right, I thought. Katie had tried really hard to save Bobby.

And look where it got her.

38

Somehow I had to get us down from here. We were on a gently sloping section of the roof.

Cautiously I crept down to the edge to try and see where we were. Bobby had a way of getting the house turned around when he made rooms appear.

We were over the cherry tree.

My heart gave the smallest leap of hope.

The tree was too far away to reach and even if I could reach it from here the branches were too thin to support me.

But if I could shinny partway down the drainpipe, there was a large branch I might be able to grab hold of.

I went back and told Sally what I was going to do. Katie was still unconscious.

“I'll holler to you when I reach the bottom,” I told her. “Then I'm going to go in the house and get to the phone. Katie needs an ambulance.”

Sally's eyes were big and frightened. “I'm scared,” she said.

“I know, but you have to be brave a little longer,” I told her.

There were some vines growing up the drainpipe, so the first part was easy. I just hooked my feet around the vines, clutched the top with both hands, and let myself down easy.

Then the vines broke.

I slipped, skinning my hands, but managed to get a grip with my knees and feet.

I looked up. Already the roof seemed a long ways away.

I let myself down a little more. And a little more.

The drainpipe creaked and complained. It was old and brittle and pieces of it flaked off as I made my way down.

I twisted my neck to see where the tree branch was. I was close.

But it looked a lot farther away from the house here than it had from the roof.

No way I was going to be able to reach it.

I'd have to try and slide down the drainpipe the whole way.

My shoulders and arms were already burning with the effort and I couldn't even feel my knees any more.

I looked down. The ground was very far away.

But it was too late to get back to the roof.

If only there was someplace I could rest for a few minutes! Just long enough to get the feeling back in my arms and legs.

Above me there was a sharp CRACK!

The drainpipe jolted and I lost my grip.

I dug in my heels and grabbed the pipe again, pain shooting through my hands as I slipped.

The pipe was shaking! It was trying to throw me off!

One foot slid off into thin air.

I was falling!

39

I struggled to hold on but my hands were slipping.

My whole body was swinging and I couldn't get my foot back on the pipe.

Then my other heel hit something hard. The pipe shuddered. I came to a stop.

For a second I just held on, trying to get my breath. My heart was pounding.

I looked down. My foot had caught on one of the brackets that held the pipe to the house.

Above me there was another CRACK! and a POP!

Something small and heavy smacked the top of my head, hard.

It fell into a fold of my shirt and I could see it was a bolt.

I looked up in horror.

The brackets that held the pipe to the house were giving way under my weight.

Slowly the pipe sagged away from the house. With every groan my section pulled farther from the wall. I could do nothing. Just watch it happen.

Then, with a final loud POP! the whole thing gave way at once and I was sailing through the air, headed for the ground with the pipe still clutched to my chest.

I was falling faster and faster!

Maybe I would only break a leg. That was the best I could hope for.

Then all of a sudden I wasn't falling anymore.

I wasn't on the ground either.

I was suspended in midair, high over the backyard.

Very carefully, I turned my head to look.

The outer branches of the cherry tree had snagged the pipe. Its weight was resting on one of the thickest branches. I could almost reach out and touch the branch from where I was.

A few more inches, if I could only work my way along the pipe that far. A few more inches and I would almost be safe.

Cautiously I worked my way along the pipe to the tree, holding my breath as the pipe dipped and groaned.

I grabbed the branch and swung my leg over. The branch swayed and held me. As I let go of the pipe it snapped and crashed to the ground.

Shuddering, I inched my way up the branch to the thick trunk of the cherry tree. Hugging the tree, I started down. The branches seemed to come up to meet my feet.

In no time I was on the ground.

I was shaking so hard my legs wouldn't hold me. I tried to shout to Sally to let her know I was all right but all that came out of my mouth was a croak.

Once I got my breath back, though, it was time to go on. I reminded myself this was the easy part.

I still had to go back inside the house. And the witch-thing was waiting for me.

40

Dark clouds moved across the moon, casting huge shadows on the house.

I walked up to the front door. It felt as if my insides were shrinking away from my skin.

What would happen when I opened the door?

Would the wind drag me back up into the attic? Even from the porch I could still hear banging and shrieking going on up there.

The rest of the house seemed quiet.

As if it was just waiting for me to open that door so it could swallow me whole.

But I had to. Katie needed an ambulance. If she didn't get one …

I shuddered. I couldn't think about that.

The front door
creeeeeaked
open when I pushed it.

I stepped into the dark hallway. Nothing stirred down here. But from upstairs came the thump of a hammer smashing the walls.

The witch-thing was still going nuts up there.

As quietly as possible I tiptoed toward the phone, wincing at the noise my sneakers made on the broken glass. If the witch heard me I didn't think my chances of getting out were very good.

But she was making so much noise I didn't need to worry.

I brushed glass off the phone and picked it up, punching 911 in the dark.

“Send an ambulance to the big old house on Cherry Street,” I whispered. “It's an emergency.”

Then I hung up and got out of there fast.

I needed to get back to Sally and Katie.

I remembered there was a ladder in the garage. There was also a ton of junk. Without a light I had to pick my way back to where the ladder was.

With the help of the moon I managed to find it okay but I still had to get it out of there. It was too heavy for me and I kept falling over old tools and broken outdoor furniture.

I was panting with exhaustion by the time I had it free. As I paused to rest, I saw whirling lights coming up the road.

The ambulance.

We were safe.

The ambulance team took over. They set the ladder up and got Katie and Sally down from the roof.

Katie was still unconscious, but breathing.

“How did this happen?” one of the medical people asked me.

I knew they wouldn't believe me about the haunted house, so I didn't even try. “My little sister got trapped out on the roof,” I said, making up a story. “Katie tried to rescue her.”

At least half of it was true.

“She'll be okay,” the ambulance driver said. “But she'll have to spend a few days in the hospital, getting X rays and a cast put on her broken arm.”

I sighed with relief and hugged Sally, who hadn't said a word since she came down from the roof. The noise inside had stopped the moment the ambulance arrived.

“Where are your parents?” somebody asked.

“I'm going to call them right now,” I promised.

The ambulance driver ruffled my hair. “You did good,” he said, “but now we'd better get her to the hospital.”

And that was it. They drove away, lights flashing.

Sally and I were alone.

“Poor Katie,” Sally said, wiping a tear from her eye. “Bobby is sorry.”

I looked back at the house. It seemed to be watching me. I'd promised to call my parents but something told me not to go back inside the house.

Not again. Not at night.

So my little sister and I huddled under the cherry tree until the first streaks of light showed in the sky.

Sally had finally fallen asleep. It was time to make the phone call, but I didn't want to wake her.

And I knew she'd be safe under the cherry tree.

That's my excuse. That's why I went back to the house by myself. How long could it take, making a phone call?

Inside, the house was silent. Not a sound. That made me uneasy.

Where was the witch-thing? Had she faded away when the sun came up?

But I couldn't worry about that, I had to act fast. I went to the kitchen and looked up at the list of numbers Mom had tacked to the wall for Katie.