“So you really have been in there?” Joe asked.
Sal took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and nodded yes.
“But how did you get it open without the key?” I asked.
I planned to steal the key from the statue, but I was able to safe-crack the lock on my own, so I didn’t have to.
“Did you take the treasure?” Joe blurted.
No! Sal wrote with such force that the pen tore the paper. The vault was empty. I read the Admiral’s note, and I knew the curse was real!
Sal had been writing fast before, but he really picked up the pace now.
I knew then that my obsession with the treasure was what caused me to be struck mute. It was a warning! Like a fool I ignored it. I knew from journals I’d found that Grandmasters took vows of silence to protect their identities underground. It was how they managed to go unnoticed. I should have known my own silence wasn’t a coincidence.
Sal tore off the page for us to read and resumed writing.
But my greed also blinded me to the truth. For years I searched for the treasure—decades researching and planning. I burned every bit of it that night—my notes, blueprints of the tunnels, even the genealogy proving my family’s inheritance. It wasn’t ours to inherit. My ancestor betrayed the Admiral over two hundred years ago, and now I’d done the same. But the Admiral was right. There was still a treasure left for me to claim. My life.
Joe and I were riveted by the page in front of us as Sal continued to write.
The Admiral had given me a choice and I took it. I thought the curse was over. I put all my energy into making the old train depot a real home for those with nowhere left to go. But then ghosts started to appear in the tunnels. And when they took Layla, I knew the curse wasn’t over.
Sal tore off another sheet and handed it to us.
I saw them carry her into the tunnels. But I was too afraid to follow. I tried to tell my niece—even wrote her a note saying so—but she didn’t believe me. Even if Layla doesn’t know who I am, she’s still family. I couldn’t let her be punished for my sins. So I did something I swore I’d never do again. I came back to the Secret City to save her. But I failed. And now they want me to betray the Admiral all over again!
Sal was shaking by the time he finished writing his story.
“Do you know where the treasure is?” I asked gently.
Sal shook his head violently.
It’s not meant to be found, he wrote. Even if I knew, I would never say.
“Well, if you don’t tell Zeke something,” Joe said, “it’s going to end badly for all of us. We can’t rescue Layla if we’re sealed in a stone vault.”
“I’m not so sure I’m the one who needs rescuing,” a voice said softly.
“Layla!” Joe cried.
There she was, still wearing her mask and standing outside the cell with a set of keys dangling from her finger. She’d come back for us . . . just like she’d promised.
“We don’t have much time,” she said, sliding a key into the cell door. “Everyone else is searching for the treasure. I was able to get the keys, but they could be back any minute.”
The cell door swung open and Layla unlocked our shackles. Joe grabbed Layla’s hand. “I knew you were one of the good guys!”
“Thanks, Layla!” I said, taking the keys and unlocking Sal’s cell and shackles.
Sal ran out, wrapped her in a big hug, and started to cry.
“Um, who’s this?” she asked.
“Layla, meet your great-uncle Sal,” I said.
I could practically see her confusion through the mask.
“We’ll explain later. Come on!” Joe grabbed her hand and ran toward the stone steps that led down to the amphitheater.
As soon as we reached the bottom, we were surrounded.
“Grab the old man and the girl!” Zeke yelled.
Joe jumped in front of Layla and I moved to defend Sal, tackling one of the Knights to the floor.
As I rolled back to my feet, I saw Zeke throw down his trident and try to grab Layla while Joe was busy tussling with Keith. Before I could run toward her, Zeke pulled a long dagger from his robe and held the point to her neck.
“Anybody else tries anything and the lady here gets it,” he said.
“Let her go or you really will need a mask when I’m done with you,” threatened Joe, scrambling to his feet.
Zeke ignored him. “There’s only one way you’re going to save your long-lost niece, Sally boy. Pick up that notepad and write down exactly where the treasure is.”
Sal shook his head back and forth and wrote, Cursed.
“You really think I’m going to let some superstition stop me from reclaiming my rightful place in the world? Now start writing!”
Sal shook his head even harder.
“If you don’t”—Zeke yanked off Layla’s mask and pressed the tip of the dagger to her cheek—“she joins the rest of the ghosts down here.”
Sal’s lips began to tremble as he bent down to pick up the notepad. He looked at Layla for a long, agonizing moment before scribbling something. I strained to see what he was writing, but Zeke yelled, “Get back!”
Zeke ripped the pad out of Sal’s hands the second his pen stopped moving. He didn’t let go of Layla, but he did let the knife slip to his side as he looked at what Sal had written.
Zeke’s trident was lying close enough that I could reach the blunt end of it with my foot. I made eye contact with Joe and kicked the end of the trident as squarely as I could, sending it sliding across the stone floor.
My aim was right on, but I’d miscalculated how much force I’d need to get it to Joe. I kicked it hard enough that it hit a bump and started to catch air. Joe was ready for it, though. He slammed his foot down on the blunt end just as the trident sailed past, causing the forked end to fly upward, skewering Zeke right in his red-robed rump.
Zeke yowled and let go of Layla. Joe dove for her, shoving her out of harm’s way. I leaped toward Zeke before he could make a run for it, but one of his henchmen blocked me, knocking me to the ground. A bunch of the Knights turned tail, but there were still five or six ready to defend their Grandmaster, which meant we had our hands full fending off a gang of masked fanatics.
Meanwhile, the Grandmaster had turned and fled.
16
DOWN THE DRAIN
JOE
LAYLA SMACKED ONE OF THE Knights with her mask and then pulled his robe over his head so he couldn’t see. Frank had another Knight in an arm bar, and Sal was sparring with yet another. The four of us were doing a good job holding them off, but every second we were fighting meant that Zeke was getting farther away.
Frank realized it too. He grabbed the trident and started swinging it around in a circle, forcing the Knights to back out of reach. He was doing more than just defending himself, though; he was herding them away from Layla and me.
“You and Layla go after Zeke,” he yelled. “Sal and I can hold them off!”
“Thanks!” I yelled back, grabbing Layla by the hand and running toward the tunnel where Zeke had fled.
I recognized the torch-lit tunnel as the same one Frank and I had been led down when we were captured. Zeke wasn’t in sight. I’d hoped we’d spot him in one of the other three tunnels when we reached the crossroads, but we had no such luck. One of the tunnels was pitch-black, one curved out of view, and the other was only partially lit before it receded into darkness.
“Any idea which way he might have gone?” I asked Layla.
“No, it’s like a maze down here. Besides, they told me a lot of the tunnels were booby-trapped,” she said.
I cringed as I recalled my close call on the rock wall. Who knew what kind of nasty surprises might await us if we chose wrong?
“One out of three aren’t great odds, but we may have to wing it,” I said, getting ready to start down the curved tunnel.
“Hey, is that torch moving on its own?” Layla said, pointing down the partially lit tunnel.
&nb
sp; I had to strain my eyes, but she was right. Way down the third tunnel, a speck of light was bobbing up and down.
“That’s not a torch, it’s a flashlight. It has to be him!” I said, and took off running with Layla right behind me.
We were gaining on him, but by the time we reached the place where the torches went out, the light had vanished. Layla and I each grabbed a torch and kept running.
We spotted Zeke’s light at the next intersection. It disappeared again a moment later, only this time we saw it veer to the right. We were close enough now to make out Zeke’s shadow when the light went out altogether. We sprinted toward the spot where we’d last seen it, but there was nothing there.
“Where did he go?” Layla asked, looking around. “He couldn’t have just vanished.”
“Maybe he saw us following him and nixed the light,” I said, walking farther down the tunnel. I had just started to notice the air getting draftier when my torch made a strange sizzling sound.
Then, plunk! A drop of water landed on my head. It occurred to me that the one place I hadn’t thought to look was up.
There was another tunnel directly above me. It was just wide enough for one person to climb the iron rungs that were bolted into the stone. Water dripped down the walls from somewhere above, which meant we couldn’t be too far from the surface. I had no idea how high the ladder went, but I could see Zeke’s silhouette rising behind his flashlight, so following him wouldn’t be a problem. At least not until he reached the top.
“I think I found him,” I said. “Are you up for a climb?”
“Let’s go get him,” Layla replied.
“We can’t climb and hold torches at the same time,” I said, “so we’re going to have to go by touch—and the ladder’s a bit slick. It could be dangerous.”
“Dangerous for you, maybe,” she said, throwing down her torch and pulling herself up effortlessly. “But after ten years of gymnastics, this will be a cinch for me.”
The ladder was no joke. I started to wonder if we’d ever reach the top. The dripping water was getting worse the higher we climbed, making the situation even hairier.
“His light went out!” Layla said as the tunnel plunged into darkness. “Do you think that means he reached the top?”
“I sure hope so,” I said, trying not to think about just how far we had to drop if he managed to kick us off. “Be on guard.”
“Don’t worry, I went first so you could break my fall,” she said.
I laughed. It was the same kind of joke I would have made to Frank.
“Ow!” she grunted. “Either I just reached the top or the air above me got really hard.”
“If it’s a hatch, it should either lift or slide. Is there a handle?”
“I don’t feel any . . . wait . . . got it!” she said as the hatch slid open. Cold water splashed down on top of us, almost causing me to lose my grip.
“There he is!” Layla lifted herself out of the tunnel and took off running.
I climbed up after her into an old, wet drainage tunnel. Zeke’s flashlight illuminated the tunnel not far ahead, where he had stopped and was trying to pry loose a metal gate blocking another hatch in the ceiling above him. He’d ditched his mask, and he was close enough that I could read the panic on his face when he saw us coming.
“I think this is part of Bayport’s original sewer system,” I called out to Layla, catching up to her. “We must be close to the surface.”
“Good. We won’t have far to drag him after I knock him out,” she said.
By the time Zeke finally managed to yank the grate off the hatch opening, we were only a few yards away, too close for him to make a break for it. Instead he whipped out his dagger and thrust it in our direction.
“That’s close enough!” he shouted as Layla and I skidded to a stop just out of reach of the blade’s tip.
I looked around for something to use as a weapon, but all I saw was a metal ring embedded in the wall above me. I knew from Urbex that sewer workers held on to them when the water rose. There was no way I was getting that thing free, so I was forced to use the next best thing: a bluff.
“You might as well just give up,” I told him. “You can’t reach for the ladder without dropping your weapon, and we’re close enough to grab you the second you do.”
“You’re also close enough to get cozy with my dagger if you take another step,” he added, jabbing the knife forward.
“I guess it’s a standoff, then,” I said, lowering myself into a defensive crouch.
Zeke’s dagger sliced through the air. “Not if I just turn the two of you into rat food.”
“You’re in a lot of trouble, Zeke, but no one’s been hurt yet. I don’t think you want to add murder to your list of crimes.”
“You’re right, I don’t,” he said. “But I’m too close to finding the treasure to let a couple of kids stop me from fulfilling my destiny.”
“But according to Sal, you’re not even related to any of the Knights!”
“So what!” he snapped. “Without me the Knights wouldn’t exist anymore. I’m the one who resurrected them! I’m the one who will reclaim the wealth and power that are rightfully ours.”
“The only thing that’s rightfully yours is a jail cell!” Layla sneered.
“The treasure is mine!” he yelled. “I wasn’t supposed to be a bum. My father was a wealthy businessman. His fortune was my birthright, and it was taken from me by Sal’s parents. They bought my father’s company out from under him when he fell ill and cheated me out of my inheritance!”
So that was the link between Zeke and Sal! He stabbed the air with his dagger. “It’s only fair that I get the treasure that was meant for Sal’s family. I’m claiming it as justice for what was taken from me!”
Zeke was on the verge of flying out of control.
“It sounds like you got a raw deal,” I said, trying to sympathize with him so he’d calm down. “I’d be mad too, but there are other ways to make things right.”
“Don’t you think I tried?” he hissed. “The system is rigged against people like me. Sal’s parents were powerful people in Bayport. I lost every penny I had trying to fight them.”
Zeke’s gravelly voice came out sounding like a wild animal’s growl.
“They put me out on the street, but that wasn’t even enough for them. The police issued a warrant for my arrest because they claimed I was harassing Sal’s family. They drove me underground like . . . like a mole.”
Zeke was seething, and I could tell from that last comment that his anger had settled on me.
“I didn’t mean to offend you when I called the underground dwellers mole people,” I said. “The town under the station is awesome. It seems like you and your friends have a good home there.”
“I’m not like them,” Zeke spat back. “None of those people have an ounce of ambition, and half of them are just plain crazy.”
He smiled. “But Sal. Sure, he was off his rocker, but there was something different about him. I didn’t know who his parents were when he first started showing up underground; I was just drawn to how determined he seemed. Like he was on a mission. I made it my business to get to know him better.”
“Sal didn’t tell you about the treasure! He was shocked you even knew about it,” I said, hoping to keep him talking.
“Oh, there are ways to get to know a person without talking to them.”
“You followed him to the Secret City?” Layla asked eagerly.
“Not without getting lost or stumbling into a trap, you didn’t,” I cut in. “It would have been impossible for you to find it on your own, and Sal said he burned all his plans and blueprints.”
“I found out about the Secret City long before Sal burned those documents.” Zeke laughed meanly. “Once I realized who he was, I was determined to figure out what he was up to. The way he was always looking over his shoulder and carrying strange bundles made it obvious he was hiding something. He would vanish for days, giving me plenty o
f time to locate those documents in his train car and copy them.”
Zeke shook his head. “At first I thought the whole thing was just a bunch of make-believe. I almost threw away all the copies I’d made, but something told me not to. Good thing I didn’t. One of those papers was a map that led me right to the Secret City, and once I saw the vault with my own eyes, I knew the treasure was real.”
“So you stole Sal’s plans?” I accused.
“I didn’t steal them,” he growled, “I implemented them! At first I just meant to take the treasure for myself, but I needed help to carry out his plans properly. And I realized that using the treasure to rally a new order of Knights was my chance to take back everything that had ever been stolen from me. With patience and careful planning, I could rule the entire town . . . just like the Admiral!”
Zeke was getting caught up in his own story, gesturing wildly and punching the air with his dagger for emphasis.
“Every king needs subjects,” he said. “So I re-formed the Knights with the descendants of its original members and became their Grandmaster. Some of my followers were skeptical at first, but once they saw the Secret City they became believers.”
Layla cleared her throat and raised her hand. “Hello, nonbeliever here.”
“You would have believed once you saw the treasure,” Zeke said, disappointment creeping into his voice. “You could have helped make right what your family did to me.”
I could see the confusion on Layla’s face, but there wasn’t time to explain.
“You can’t blame Sal’s whole family for what his parents did years ago,” I shouted at Zeke.
“I gave her a chance,” he sneered before turning to Layla. “But I can’t trust you anymore. Which means you don’t leave me any choice.”
Zeke raised the dagger and began to splash toward us through the tunnel.
Either I figured out a way to keep him talking, or we were going to be getting a closer look at that dagger. “You still haven’t told us what Sal wrote on that piece of paper earlier,” I said, hoping he’d take the bait.
Tunnel of Secrets Page 8
