“Why would a monster do that?” Mikal asked.
“What am I, a psychiatrist? Why would a monster do anything monstrous?”
“The poor Dreamers,” George said. “Maybe we should try to help them.”
“We’re on a tight schedule,” Caleb said. “I’d like to get out of this place as fast as we can. It gives me the creeps.”
“All right, maybe next time,” George said. “It’s too bad Cavendish can’t just guide us right to the key.”
“Oh, I could do that. But that isn’t what you asked,” Cavendish said. “Didn’t my programmer tell you I’ve been equipped with a detection device that attracts me to items made from the iron sands of a forgotten beach in a long-lost world? That’s what the keys to Astria are made from, you know. I could locate one within a hundred yards or so.” He sounded very smug.
“No, he didn’t mention anything like that,” Caleb said.
“But it’s very convenient. Would you please take us to find the key to Astria, Cavendish?” George asked.
“Absolutely!” Cavendish said. “But first, what’s the magic word?”
“Please?” George said.
“Not you! I was asking him.”
Caleb folded his arms over his chest and raised one silver eyebrow.
“Just get it over with, Caleb,” George said.
“I’m not doooing it withouuutt the magic wooooOOOrrddd,” Cavendish sang, his voice screeching on the high notes as he imitated an opera singer.
Caleb held up his hands to shush the map. “Shh! Okay, fine. Just keep it down. I don’t want you to draw attention to us. Cavendish, will you show us the way … please?”
“Absolutely. But I can’t just point to it, numbskull. You have to spin me around! Then when I locate the route and the picture starts to move, follow it.”
Caleb started spinning in a circle.
“Not so fast!” Cavendish said.
Caleb slowed, and the picture moved forward. He stopped in surprise.
“Don’t stop, birdbrain. Now follow!”
“You’re pushing it,” Caleb said, but he began walking in a straight line between two rows of cots, leaving a trail in the dew-dampened grass. He was careful to stay as far from the sleeping Dreamers as possible. “Stay close, guys. And don’t get too near the beds. I have a bad feeling about them.” His voice had a strange edge to it that neither George nor Mikal had heard before.
“You’re right to be afraid,” Cavendish said cheerfully. “That’s where the Nightmares live, underneath the beds. If you’re not careful, they’ll reach out and grab you and drag you away, never to be seen again. They’ll eat you right up, bones and all.”
“The … Nightmares?” Mikal asked, going a bit pale around the edges.
“Yes. The Dreamers don’t only have good dreams. They have bad ones too. That’s okay, as long as they stay asleep. But sometimes a Dreamer has a particularly frightening dream and will wake up from the terror of it. That transports the Nightmare to this world and traps it here, which makes it very angry. The Keeper runs a tight ship, so she makes them live under the beds. They have to do what she says. I suppose she likes having them around, though, as they make a marvelously effective army against intruders.”
“We’re intruders,” Mikal whispered.
“That must be how the monster got here, by being dreamed as a Nightmare,” Caleb said.
Cavendish continued. “Of course. It wasn’t always like this, but many of the worlds changed following the breaking of the Council of Seven, some for their own protection and some just because now they could get away with it.”
“I wonder which one this is,” Caleb said.
“Do you have any pointers on how to deal with a monster, Cavendish? Just in case,” George said.
“Pointer number one, don’t be food. Unfortunately, you are food, so that doesn’t do you any good. At least I’ll be okay. What monster would eat me when there’s child flesh to be had?”
“Mr. Neptune really dropped the ball when programming your people skills,” Caleb said.
* * *
They had walked for ages and still seemed no closer to finding a key. They had passed out of the meadow and were now skirting a dark forest that smelled of pine and woodsmoke.
“Maybe Cavendish is buggy?” George asked when they stopped to rest.
“Buggy?!” Cavendish said in a high-pitched voice. “I know exactly where I’m going!”
“Shh,” Caleb hissed, clapping his hands over the map’s speakers.
Mikal tugged on Caleb’s sleeve and pointed to a series of huge footprints leading off through the trees. “It looks like a trail.”
“That’s the way the map says we have to go,” Caleb said. “And if I had to guess, I’d say those were monster tracks.”
Mikal squeaked a little and darted behind Caleb.
“Yep, monster tracks,” George said. “You guys don’t have to come any farther if you don’t want to. I can go on by myself to find the key.…” But she looked at them hopefully.
“We’re not supposed to get separated,” Mikal said as he threw a longing glance over his shoulder, back the way they had come.
“I already told you, George, we’re not leaving you,” Caleb said, but there were beads of sweat on his forehead.
She breathed a sigh of relief and led the way down the path.
The trees thinned, and a clearing appeared before them. They reached the open space, and the picture stopped moving.
“Well? Where is it?” George asked.
“Look,” Mikal said, his voice quavering as he pointed to the forest on the other side of the clearing.
Trees were mangled, their trunks splintered and tossed about. The enormous prints led off in that direction. It was so quiet you could almost hear the falling of pine needles.
Then the silence was broken by a great roar that crashed over the children, causing them to jump with fright. The ground trembled, and leaves fluttered down from the trees above them.
“Heavens to Betsy,” George said, wiping clammy hands on her skirt.
“I think we found the monster,” Mikal said in a choked voice.
Caleb just stood trembling, his face as gray as his hair.
They huddled together, their knees quivering like jelly, as the roaring came nearer.
Across the clearing, an enormous creature emerged from the thick trees, leaves swirling around it like a tornado as it thrashed through the underbrush, destroying everything in its path.
CHAPTER TEN
The leaves slowly settled, allowing them to see the monstrous beast. It was as wide as all of them put together. It had enormous red eyes, and its jagged fangs dripped foaming saliva. Its arms were long, knuckles almost brushing the ground, and on top of its head it had two squiggly antennae that spun madly. It was made only slightly less frightening by the fact that it was covered in curly purple hair, and hanging from its forehead was a bright red accordion. When the monster noticed the children, it stopped in its tracks and stood absolutely still.
The children took a horrified step backward, and the monster lunged at them, curling its lips to reveal more of those wickedly sharp teeth. With a trainlike bellow, it charged.
George’s eyes widened in terror, and she screamed, “Run! It’s going to kill us!”
“No! You mustn’t run! It’s an Ooglah! If you run, he’ll chase you!” Cavendish said frantically, trying to raise his voice over the clamor.
Before they could decide whether to flee or not, the monster turned and flopped onto the ground. It buried its face in its massive hands and started to make a hideous heaving sound.
The children stood still, afraid to move as it continued to ignore them.
“Holy fire and hippos,” Mikal said. He gripped Caleb’s arm hard enough to leave marks.
George swallowed and pressed her lips together. “You can say that again.”
“Can we run yet?” Caleb blinked as nervous sweat dripped into his eyes.
“No, it couldn’t be. It’s an Ooglah. They don’t cry,” Cavendish said.
“I think it is crying,” George said. “What’s an Ooglah?”
“Why should I tell you?”
“If you don’t, I’ll tell it you said rude things about its mother,” Caleb said.
Cavendish sighed. “An Ooglah is a special kind of monster. They’re rare. Only the unluckiest of people ever meet one. They live in a world called OooLaGul. They’re family oriented and eat shellfish and carrots and the occasional small child. This Ooglah is male, and around a hundred seventeen years old, I’d say, judging by the rotation of his antennae. That’s young for them, by the way.”
“You’re so smart,” George said. “I can’t wait for you to meet my little brother, Daniel.”
“My programmer gave me an encyclopedia program,” Cavendish said boastfully. “But I did take a little creative freedom. The child-eating part is just a myth. It’s never been proven.”
Mikal relaxed ever so slightly upon hearing this, but he still trembled with fear.
“They’re normally more intimidating. I’ve never heard of a purple Ooglah, or one with something like that hanging from its forehead, for that matter,” Cavendish said.
The Ooglah continued to weep. He looked back at them over his shoulder, causing them to jump in surprise and huddle together. He sniffed and started sobbing again, louder than ever.
“What do you think is wrong with him?” Mikal asked.
“Beats me. They don’t have feelings,” Cavendish said.
“I think most things have feelings,” Caleb said.
“Shows what you know,” Cavendish said.
“Maybe we should try to help him,” George said.
“Why in the Flyrrey would you want to do that?” Cavendish asked, obviously appalled.
“He’s right, George,” Mikal said. “It sounds risky.”
“But he seems so sad. Besides, you’re getting braver, remember?”
Mikal took a deep breath, but he didn’t look completely convinced when George left the little group and began easing nearer to the beast.
“Jeez, Georgina!” Caleb said. “Are you crazy? Come back here!”
“She’s not gonna listen,” Mikal said, shifting back and forth on his feet.
“Oh, let her go. He probably needs a good meal,” Cavendish said. “While he’s feasting on her, we can run away.”
“If it eats her, I’ll feed you to it next,” Caleb said.
Cavendish made an exaggerated gulping sound.
Caleb shoved both hands through his hair, the distress plain on his face. “Aw, jeez. Come on, we’re going with her.”
“Of course we are,” Mikal groaned, but he didn’t dawdle as he followed behind.
George crept closer and closer. The smell of crushed grass filled the air as she came to a stop near the front of the behemoth.
“Excuse me?” she asked, but her voice only came out as a hoarse whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Pardon me, but are you all right?”
The Ooglah glanced up at her and sniffed loudly, causing the accordion to make a horrible musical sound. He then shuffled and scooted around, putting his back to her again.
George frowned and moved to stand directly in front of him. “You shouldn’t ignore someone when she’s speaking to you. It’s very rude.”
The Ooglah gazed at her through watery eyes. He blinked, hiccupped, and then sighed.
“That’s better. Do you think you can settle something for us?”
The Ooglah tilted his head to the side and looked at her curiously.
“We were just trying to decide whether your kind has feelings. I’m pretty sure you do, or else you wouldn’t be crying. You are crying, aren’t you?”
Caleb and Mikal had been sneaking up behind the Ooglah, on their way to rescue George, when leaves crunched beneath Caleb’s feet.
The Ooglah jerked his head in their direction and curled back his lips, hissing threateningly before scooting closer to George.
The boys stopped dead at the sight of his long ivory teeth.
“Stay back, he’s about to talk to me,” George said. “You are going to talk to me, right?”
“Ha! Ooglahs don’t talk. They’re notoriously stupid!” Cavendish said.
“Keep him quiet, Mikal,” Caleb said through gritted teeth.
The Ooglah spoke then, and his voice was thin and reedy. “My name is Thazel,” he rasped. “We do have feelings, and we are not stupid.” He shot a dirty look at Cavendish.
“Well, of course he doesn’t think he’s stupid,” Cavendish said.
“Cavendish! Hush!” George said. “Now, why are you crying, Thazel?”
He sniffed and looked down. With a long claw he traced patterns in the dirt.
“Well? What could a strapping young monster like you have to cry about?”
“It’s the Dreamers.” He gestured vaguely over his shoulder with one hand, and the boys ducked as it whooshed toward them. “One of them dreamed about me when I was in OooLaGul. I was just fishing for carrots and minding my own business, but the Dreamer must have thought I was scary, because suddenly I had this horrible thing hanging from my face where my nose used to be.” He pointed sadly to the red accordion dangling from his forehead. “That’s what they do, you know, dream silly things onto monsters to make them less intimidating. But it must not have worked, because the next thing I heard was this terrible crying sound, and here I was! The Dreamer had woken up from fright and turned me into a Nightmare. Now I’m trapped here, and I look so ridiculous that none of the other Ooglahs will ever take me seriously again.”
George inspected him carefully. “I don’t think you look ridiculous. The nose isn’t that bad. It’s just different. I’m different too. So are they.” She gestured at Caleb and Mikal.
“How are you different?”
“I’m really small for my age,” Mikal said, moving just a bit closer.
“I have hundreds of freckles,” George said, settling into the grass beside Thazel. “Hundreds of them!”
“And I have this weird silver hair,” Caleb said, pointing at his head.
“Er, Caleb?” Mikal said. “It isn’t silver anymore. It’s turning purple, like Thazel’s. So are George’s freckles, and look, my suspenders are too!”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Caleb said, and tried in vain to see his own hair.
George touched her fingertips to her cheeks as if she could feel the tiny specks changing color. “Well, I guess now we’re all different together.”
“What about me? Check me! Am I different too?” Cavendish asked.
“No, sorry, Cavendish,” Mikal said. “No purple anywhere.”
Cavendish sighed his disappointment.
“I used to be green before I got here,” Thazel said.
“Every world leaves a mark on the people of it. Even the Loeta who pass through. The mark usually fades after they’ve left, and sometimes it’s not visible at all,” Cavendish said.
“What are the Loeta?” George asked.
“Loeta means strangers from different worlds,” Thazel said. “I’m Loeta in the Land of Dreamers. So are you. We don’t belong here.”
“I feel like that everywhere,” Caleb muttered under his breath.
“It’s the worst thing about being dreamed into this place,” Thazel said with a heartbroken sob. “I want to go home! I miss my family, and I don’t like it here. It’s terrifying and full of Nightmares. When I first came here, the Keeper of Dreams made me live under the bed with those horrible creatures. I was too scared to stay there, so I ran away. But the Keeper didn’t like me disobeying her, and she’s hunting me with her wicked beasts!”
Caleb tugged uncomfortably at his collar.
“I miss my family too,” George said, offering Thazel a handkerchief.
His hand dwarfed the small square of linen
, but he blew solidly into it. The hanky dissolved under the pressure, causing him to splatter the boys with slimy lavender snot.
The boys yelped and jumped back, shaking themselves loose of the dripping substance.
George bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.
“You have got to be more careful with that thing,” Caleb said, pointing to Thazel’s accordion nose as he wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt.
“Not only does it look silly, but it’s messy too,” Cavendish said, tired of being neglected and feeling left out from being the only one without a mark.
Thazel’s chin quivered.
“Cavendish! That’s a mean thing to say,” George said.
“He’s just jealous we’re not paying attention to him,” Caleb said.
“I am not jealous!” Cavendish said, his screen transitioning from green to an angry red.
“It’s okay, Cavendish. We still need you,” Mikal said, patting the map affectionately.
Cavendish didn’t say anything, but his screen faded into bashful pink.
“Thazel,” George said, “how would you like it if we helped you get home?”
Thazel’s eyes widened with hope. “I would like that so much. But how? The Keeper is hunting me to put me back under the beds, and the Nightmares are prowling.”
“And we still have to find the key, George,” Caleb said. “It must be close by; Cavendish said he can locate them within a hundred yards, and we’re kind of in a hurry. Time, Cavendish?”
“The time is now seven fifty PM DWT. You currently have fifty-one hours and twenty-one minutes until you’re smashed to smithereens. I say leave the monster and find the key.”
“I don’t like to agree with Cavendish, but that isn’t much time at all to save the worlds from being destroyed, George. What about our mission?” Caleb asked.
“And Aunt Henrietta?” Mikal asked.
George fidgeted with the ends of her scarf. “Our mission is important. You know how badly I want to rescue Aunt Henrietta. But we can’t leave Thazel here all alone. It would be wrong. It wouldn’t be leaving this world better than it was when we got here. I think Aunt Henrietta would want me to help him. Daniel would. Daniel always wants to help everybody.”
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