She traced the underworld, looking for some type of sign, a clue to set them on the right path. But each hall led to a staircase or another hall or a dead end; some stretched so far they could have been endless. Throughout, there were doors with markings on them similar to the one she entered to find Theodore. If they were to try each hall, each door, they could spend a lifetime searching for the balloons. It seemed utterly hopeless.
Then, through the lens, Juniper’s eye came upon something.
In the middle of one long hall, the floor was aglow, and, in this light, the ground actually appeared to be moving. Every other hall she peered down was identical to the next, one after the other, all but this one.
This had to mean something. It was their only shot. And so they ran toward it.
The glow intensified with each step, and when they reached it, they discovered the floor was made up of a continuous stream of sparks, similar to the ones in Theodore’s room. They were all running beneath the same carved door.
The image on the door consisted of hundreds of flies circling and settling on a thin crown with roses blooming within its center. It made no sense to Juniper, and she had no time to ponder its oblique meaning. That would have to be left for another day. For now, she just had to get inside and hope the balloons were there.
“We can’t waste any more time,” Giles said.
He reached out with the tip of his sneaker and was about to step down on the sparks when Juniper suddenly stopped him. “No,” she said. “We shouldn’t block their path.”
Giles looked down at the sparks. “Block their path?”
“They seem alive, don’t they?”
“They’re sparks,” Giles pointed out.
Juniper bent down and pulled out her magnifying glass. Inspecting them closely, she saw they were the tiniest of black-eyed creatures, almost human in appearance, with small wings rubbing together and creating a glow.
“Amazing,” Juniper whispered. “Just amazing.”
“Why are they all going in there?”
But Juniper didn’t respond. She reached out her hand, gently cupping it, and several of the sparks crawled into her palm. “They tickle. They don’t burn at all.”
“June, your hand’s glowing.”
She looked at it and indeed it was. The glow slowly stretched up her arm, and she was filled with tremendous warmth. “They’re beautiful,” she said, “magical. What are they doing in a place like this?”
Soon enough, after a gentle buzzing, the stream of sparks ended and the hallway was left bare. She returned the sparks she held to the ground and they, too, disappeared beneath the door.
“Hurry,” Juniper said, rising to her feet. “Let’s see where they lead.”
Giles stepped in front and, with ease, swung open the heavy door.
Inside, at the center of the room, was yet another tree. This one glowed white, a thousand sparks covering nearly every inch, moving about, buzzing with great intensity. There, tied to each branch, were dozens of balloons, all different sizes, with sparks running up their strings.
Juniper looked on in awe. “It’s like Theodore said. The souls inside the balloons are ripening. That’s why some are bigger than others. They must have been here longer. The sparks must be caring for them.”
As Giles reached for the nearest balloon, the attached sparks scattered. He pulled it down and examined it, only to see a name he didn’t recognize written across its face. “How am I going to find mine?”
The fact was, he didn’t have to. His balloon found him. On a midlevel branch, one balloon was pulling itself down toward him. Giles inspected its red face and found his signature written in dark ink. “There you are,” he whispered. Gently, he untied the string from the branch and gazed past the surface of the balloon, looking for something inside, a part of himself, perhaps. “It felt good to be strong,” he said, more to himself than Juniper. “I’m going to miss it.” He paused a moment, then undid the knot and reclaimed his soul. His body seemed to shine brighter than the room, and the sparks buzzed with excitement.
“Help me untie them,” Juniper said.
“There’re too many. It’s going to take us forever to find our parents’ balloons.”
“No, we have to free them all,” Juniper said. “Each one.”
Hurriedly, they untied the balloons, one by one, gathering fistfuls of strings in each hand. Any more and the two friends might have floated to the ceiling. The sparks quieted with the removal of each balloon and, with nothing left to ripen, fled the tree.
Once every balloon was untied and the tree was left completely bare, Juniper and Giles turned to leave. Except their exit was blocked by a wall of sparks.
Juniper, unsure how to proceed, addressed them. “Please, I’m sorry. We have to do this. There are people in great need.” She stepped toward them and the sparks pulsed with movement. Shifting her balloons into one hand, she stuck out her free hand to touch them as she did before, to move them, ease her fingers through their glowing wall.
This time, however, there was a terrific burn, as if she had placed her hand directly into a blue flame. Quickly, she yanked her hand free and shook it cool. The pain immediately faded.
“Please,” she cried. “I have to save my family.”
A lone spark left the wall and traveled up her body. This one didn’t hurt, not at all; it felt like the ones outside the door, pulsing with warmth. The spark crawled up her neck and settled on the rim of her ear. Inside her head, she heard a lovely, almost angelic voice. “We can’t let you leave with those balloons,” it said. “You must trust us. It’s for your own safety.”
“But . . . but . . . I don’t understand.”
“We know you have a good heart. Upon touch, we can tell such things instantly. That is why we must stop you. If every single balloon is taken from this room, such an act will unleash them.”
“Unleash them?” Juniper’s voice cracked.
“His legion, his slaves, will come for you. They will fill these halls in seconds. They won’t let you escape.”
“Please, we have to try.”
“We are trying to save you. Take whatever balloons you need, but leave the others. As long as there is still a balloon on the tree, you will be spared.”
Juniper considered this compromise. She could just take hers and Giles’s parents and retie the rest to the tree. That was what she had come for, was it not? But in her mind she saw another girl like herself, another boy like Giles, and how they suffered the same fates. It wasn’t fair. Leaving a single balloon behind, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself. “I can’t,” she told the spark. “We have to take them all. Every last one.”
“And why is that? Do you know all these people?”
“No.”
“And yet you would risk your own lives for them, knowing full well that there will always be more balloons, more sacrifices?”
“Yes. Yes, we would.”
“I see. Very well. It is rare for us to come upon someone like you down here. Your light glows brighter than all of ours put together. We will do our best to delay the beasts. You must hurry, though. Pray they never reach you. Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
The spark left her ear and joined the others. Together, each glowing creature rose to the ceiling and vanished. Juniper turned to Giles. “Let’s get out of here.”
They ran from the room with balloons in tow like colorful clouds, strings pulled tight into the palms of their hands, back in the direction they had come. Juniper expected to see Skeksyl leading an army of ghouls at any moment, and if that was to happen, she wasn’t sure what she and Giles would do. She glanced back, to the sides, into the distance, but there was no sign of anything. Perhaps the sparks could hold the beasts at bay.
Yet there was no time for relief, however momentary. They raced down the hall, pulling the balloons away from the ceiling lest they pop. To Juniper, they seemed to act as a parachute blowing behind her, slowing her down. Her arms ached im
mediately. Running like this, they were such easy prey.
They made their way into the massive cavern from which all points led, and it was there that they heard the noise.
Throughout the cave, down all the halls, each and every door was swinging open.
“They’re coming for us!” Giles shouted.
For an instant, Juniper saw things emerge, things she couldn’t identify but that chilled her to the core. Grotesqueries on two legs. It turned her voice into a desperate wail. “Run! Run faster!”
The strangest, most hideous noises grew behind them, a mélange of nightmares, but she and Giles refused to glance back. The forbidden hallway leading back to the staircase and to their homes was just ahead.
Entering it, they wished for light. The darkness was complete; anything could be in there waiting for them. Juniper expected to run right smack into one of the monstrosities pursuing her, but still she bravely pushed forward, the balloons bouncing together behind her, sounding like an absurd orchestra.
The tunnel stretched and stretched, and moments later, overwrought with fear, Giles tripped and fell to the ground. “The balloons!” he screamed. He had let them go and they were immediately consumed by the darkness. “I’m sorry,” Giles uttered. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Juniper heard the anguish in his voice, but there was no time to lose. “Hurry, we have to get them.”
They could feel the strings dangling across their faces like spiderwebs. Frantically, they grabbed what they could, swiping through the black air like blind men. All around them, the noises grew. “We have to go!” Giles yelled.
“There might be some left,” Juniper cried.
And just then, there was light. The sparks sat in the ceiling, revealing the few remaining balloons. Tears in her eyes, Juniper thanked them again and retrieved the last dangling strings. The lights dimmed out, then took off down the hall while Juniper and Giles continued in the opposite direction.
Perhaps, Juniper thought, Skeksyl’s still at the table, frozen. Maybe we can run right by him, far past whatever’s behind us, and he’ll never bother us again. But when they came out of the darkness and into the room, Skeksyl was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s looking for us!” Giles called. “Go faster! We’re almost there!”
They ran down the hallway, the stairs getting closer and closer, the noises falling farther and farther behind them, and that was when Juniper came to a screeching halt. Silent, she stared at one of the carved doors.
“What are you doing?” Giles called. “Why are you stopping?”
In a panicked hush, she replied, “I have to rescue Theodore.”
“June, we have no time. We have to get out of here. He’ll catch us. Our parents, the rest of the people in the balloons, they’ll be lost.”
“Giles,” she said softly, “I have to do this. I have to try. No one deserves to be trapped in a place like this.”
He looked at her with warmth, with admiration. His eyes calmed, but when he spoke, it was with urgency. “We can’t let anyone ever come down here again, can we?” he said. “Not ever. We have to make sure we’re the last.” He looked back to the stairway. “We have to end this.”
Juniper knew what he was thinking, and it made her want to hug him and never let go. “I won’t be far behind,” she said. “A minute. That’s all.”
“What if you need me?”
“You have to get started. We’re near the end now.” She put her shoulder against the carved door and pushed. Giles called out to her, but she pulled the balloons gently through the opening and walked inside.
The moment she stepped into the room, thousands of sparks flew past her, into the hall and toward the noises of the beasts.
At the table, dressed in the same suit with his hat still sitting and randomly jumping beneath the table on the floor, Theodore looked up from his work. “Juniper. What’s going on?” He saw the balloons filling the room in two big bursts. “Are those . . . ? Did you . . . ?”
Juniper nodded.
“No, no, no. This is foolish. You must get to safety.”
“I’ve come for you.”
But Theodore didn’t budge. He pointed to the shackles. “These chains will not break, whatever you do.” He gave them a sharp tug as if to prove the point. “Did you find a use for that balloon I gave you?”
Again, Juniper nodded.
“You are a brave girl indeed. The world needs people like you. That is why you must leave. Now.”
“There has to be a way to get you free.”
“These chains open for no key. They were created by dark hands, by something we couldn’t possibly understand. Perhaps one day a smart girl like yourself will figure it out. But, I assure you, I cannot be saved today.”
“But—”
“No. Juniper. He’ll find you. They’ll find you. You must run. You must escape now.”
“Theodore, I—”
“Now!”
Just then the door swung open, and in the frame stood a hobbled Skeksyl. His body was even more grotesque now, his skin riddled with boils and lumps. “My balloons!” he screamed.
Juniper backed toward the tree, terrified to the core. The balloons knocked precariously against the branches, making their sad music. If he came at her, they might tangle around the tree limbs, they might pop.
“You could have gotten away like your weak friend. The one who pathetically abandoned you. But you had to come back. And for what? Him?” He pointed a blistered finger at Theodore. “You are playing with destinies far greater than your own, girl. Now give me my balloons.” He reached out for her, to finish her, and that was when Theodore reached for his hat.
From beneath it came dozens of flying sparks. They shot across the room and toward the tree in an arc of light. In unison, they latched on to Skeksyl’s leg. He let out a nightmarish wail as his flesh burned. The room filled with smoke and stink as he smashed whatever sparks he could.
“Go!” Theodore called out to Juniper. “Run!”
Juniper gave him one last look and the old man nodded. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay.”
Still grasping the balloons, with Skeksyl writhing in pain beneath the tree, crushing sparks to death in his fists, she opened the door, squeezed through with her rescued souls, and ran for the stairway. It was so close now.
From behind her she could hear the screech of Neptune in pursuit. She didn’t even need to glance back to see how far off he was. Wings flapping frenetically, the raven was upon her in no time at all.
But, strangely, it didn’t strike at her. She couldn’t even see it. Where did it go?
Then she heard the noise. Pop!
Juniper swung her arms wildly at the bird, but it was too high for her to reach. Pop! Pop! Pop! it pecked, and three more souls were lost.
She bunched all the strings into one hand and once again reached into her pocket. Desperate, she grabbed the monocular and extended it with a quick snap of her wrist. Then, gripping it like a club, she swung.
She connected solidly; there was a crunch, and the raven flew all the way down the hall like a batted ball, landing limply in Skeksyl’s hands.
His leg sizzled and steamed. It was destroyed. He leaned against his staff for support, staring at the dead bird in his mutilated hands.
For what seemed like minutes, nobody moved. Juniper was almost sure her heartbeat was audible. It filled her ears with its throbs. She placed a hand to her chest. It was then she realized the noise was coming from somewhere else, somewhere above her. Inside, she smiled. Giles.
Skeksyl dropped Neptune to the floor. In a shattered voice of delirious pain and limitless anger, he spoke. “Those are my balloons. My souls. And I want them back! I! Want! Them! Back!” He came for her. He limped, far faster than Juniper had thought possible. “You’re miiiinnnnee!” he howled.
At first she couldn’t move. The sight stunned her in its horror. He filled the hall with his frightening figure. He was on the hunt; the ghoul wa
nted blood.
Juniper turned and began to race up the stairs. But the space was small and the balloons slowed her greatly as they cluttered against the ceiling. She could hear the wounded Skeksyl gaining on her, panting and grunting. It was impossible to look back, for the balloons blocked her view, but she swore she could feel something swiping at her ankles.
The noise from above, from the outside, continued and grew louder. She was getting closer.
“There’s no escape, Juniper!” Skeksyl yelled, and the words might as well have been screamed directly into her ear. He would have her in his clutches in mere seconds. The end was near.
Juniper climbed on, her muscles burning. Tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Be strong, she thought. Be brave.
Then, finally, she saw light. The night was over. The sun had begun to rise.
“Giles!” she called.
“June! Hurry!” he yelled back.
His voice filled her with hope. She pushed on. She climbed higher and higher. Just a few more steps, just a few more and . . .
She was out; she made it, the sunlight beaming down upon her in powerful bursts. To her right, balloons were tied to a tree. To her left was Giles and, incredibly, in his hands was Betsy. Not only did he lift it with ease, the tree was nearly chopped down. It was almost over.
But that was when she felt the hand grab her ankle. She fell onto her back.
“Mine!” she heard from beneath the tree. “I’m going to keep you alive forever, Juniper! I’m going to keep you alive so that you can wish for death!”
“No!” Giles screamed, dropping the ax and racing over. He grabbed Juniper by the wrists and began to pull. But he made no difference. Skeksyl pulled them both closer.
“Giles! The balloons!” she yelled. “Save the balloons!”
Quickly, Giles grabbed the two sets and ran to a nearby tree. His hands blurred with speed as he tied them securely to a branch.
Juniper Berry Page 12
