Rusty removed the charm from around his neck but stared at it with a blank expression. He appeared unsure of how to activate it.
“Here, you big lug, let us have that,” said Betty and Dotty in unison. After taking it, Dotty held it and instructed the juju in a commanding voice to find the Doomsday Device.
The elephant juju glowed in response. Then, to everyone’s astonishment, a faint golden beam of light emerged from it, shining in a straight line to the south.
Rusty’s face lit up with determination. “What are we waiting for?”
He leapt aboard one of the small carpets. Upon contact, the rug shot up into the air, following after the beam as a howling Rusty hung on for dear life.
“I guess that means we’d better all get going,” said Andy.
Bungalow Bob nodded. “And may good luck find us all.”
When Andy and Abigail took to the air on the magic carpets, it felt to Andy like he was riding the most terrifying roller coaster he’d ever been on. In spite of Bungalow Bob’s light instruction on how to control it, the carpet seemed to truly have a mind of its own.
Thankfully, simply hanging on and not falling off was enough to get them to the destination they’d asked it to find. And after nearly an hour of flying in deep tunnels under the earth, Andy was relieved to arrive at the most massive root structure he’d ever seen.
“Would you look at that?” Andy said, awestruck, as he shakily disembarked from his flying rug.
Abigail looked as if she’d fared much better than Andy, and she stepped off her carpet as nimbly as if she’d been flying them all her life. Growing up at sea with a boat captain for a father certainly had its advantages when it came to having good balance.
“It’s unbelievable!” she said, impressed. Then she added, “Look!”
Andy saw where she was pointing. At the base of the root, which Andy guessed had to be at least twenty feet tall and thirty feet wide, was an opening. Moving closer, they saw that it had been carved into the root itself by some kind of tool. An elegant Celtic knot was carved above the doorway, an Irish decoration in an uncanny location.
“Must be the place,” said Andy.
“Yeah,” said Abigail. “Should we go inside?”
“Kungaloosh!” said Andy. Then he added, “After you…”
Abigail grinned and shot through the opening. Andy followed and, once inside, saw that the root itself was hollow. Small tendrils beneath their feet gave them something to grip as they climbed upward, and the two began to half walk, half climb inside the root, both of them hoping that the tree above wasn’t too far away.
Walking inside a hollow root was a strange and rather creepy experience. The soft illumination inside the tunnel made Andy feel ill at ease and more than a little claustrophobic.
Abigail consulted the map. “I think we’re supposed to go this way,” she said, heading off to a gently twisting tunnel to the left.
No sooner had they taken a step in that direction than a bloodcurdling shriek ripped through the air. It made all the hair on Andy’s arms and neck stand up.
“Maybe not,” he said weakly.
Abigail looked as shaken by the sound as Andy was. It wasn’t the chime of the Doomsday Device, but it was nearly as bone jarring.
Abigail consulted the map a second time, then shook her head and said quietly, “I’m afraid so.”
Andy reached into his pocket and removed his Zoomwriter. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Okay, well, it sounds to me like Patrick Begorra doesn’t like visitors. We’ll have to show him we mean business.”
After about twenty feet, the root tunnel opened up into a huge cavern. The walls were made of the same material, but it was as if it had been magically stretched and pulled into a chamber so immense that it reminded Andy of a castle. Twisted tendrils grew up from the floor and down from the ceiling, resembling grasping claws. But worst of all, at the very end of the dark chamber was a ghostly horse and carriage.
“What’s that?” breathed Abigail.
“No idea,” said Andy. “But it doesn’t look good.”
The six horses that pulled the carriage had glowing red eyes. They pawed and stamped the ground, looking tortured and uncomfortable. Andy watched as the doors to the carriage slowly swung open and three terrible-looking figures emerged.
The first was man-shaped, tall, thin, and wearing a top hat and frock coat, but where his face should have been was only a formless gray mist.
The second figure was small and shriveled, a misshapen thing that snorted as it waddled from the carriage. To Andy it looked like some kind of crumpled ape. But the third one really made him cringe. It was nearly transparent, a dim reflection of a once-living woman wearing a white wedding dress. Her silver hair tumbled over her shoulders and eyes, and no sooner had Andy looked in her direction than she let out a second horrible, gut-wrenching scream.
“I…I think I know what those are,” said Abigail weakly.
“What?” asked Andy.
“Irish folk creatures. My grandmother used to tell me stories. That one in the hat is a Dullahan. It’s a headless creature. The short thing with the yellow eyes is a Dearg Due, kind of like a vampire, and the last one…she’s…the Banshee.”
“What does the Banshee do?”
Abigail glanced at him nervously. “Her cry means that someone is going to die. If the legends about her are true, she’s never, ever wrong.”
The creatures had all spotted them now and were moving in their direction.
“I don’t know what to do,” said Andy despondently. He’d faced many things in his adventures so far, including magically enhanced animals, a mummy, and a Hawaiian god. But ever since he was little, Andy had hated, hated, hated haunted houses and ghosts. He avoided spooky stories and hadn’t even enjoyed playing peekaboo as a baby. So seeing three horrible creatures that seemed to have walked straight out of his worst nightmare made his blood turn cold and all courage seem to leave his body.
“Well, we have to think of something,” said Abigail with a panicked tremble in her voice. “They’re coming closer!”
The air all around them turned cold as the underworld beings drew closer. Andy felt that these creatures were much different from the monsters he’d already faced. They seemed darker and more sinister.
“I…I c-can’t…” Andy stuttered.
Abigail looked at Andy’s terrified expression, then back to the ghouls who were getting closer and closer. “Andy!”
Andy shook himself out of his paralyzing fear. He’d faced a mummy. He could face this! He remembered his father once telling him that true courage was doing what had to be done in spite of feeling afraid. And he was terrified. But he was determined not to let that stop him.
He just couldn’t. There was too much at stake!
So when the creatures had come close enough that he could make out the malice in their eyes, Andy raised his pen in a shaking hand and, not entirely sure it would work on ghostly creatures, fired.
KA-THOOOM!
The atomic pulse emitter was fully charged, and the force of its blast ripped all the clawlike tendrils right out of the floor and sent them shooting to the back wall of the cavern like bullets. But because the creatures were supernatural, the blast had little effect upon them. The tendrils shot right through them, and they continued their slow, deadly approach without a pause.
The Banshee got to Andy first and grabbed his arm. The spirit seemed to glow with a sudden burst of eldritch energy. She screeched—a high-pitched, horrible sound—and then, to Andy’s surprise, icy pain shot through his forearm.
“Aaaah!” he screamed.
Abigail swung at the ghost with her fist. Perhaps it was because the spirit had grown more solid when using her power that the blow connected. The Banshee howled with surprise and let go of Andy’s arm.
“Run!” said Abigail, grabbing Andy by the back of his shirt.
Andy didn’t need to be told twice. While rubbing his burning arm, he took off after her,
running as fast as he could to avoid the ghastly creatures. As he ran, he heard the Banshee’s terrible wail once again, but he forced himself to keep moving and tried, as hard as it was, to ignore it.
There were several organic formations that grew from the root walls and floor, and Andy and Abigail tried to hide by diving behind one of the larger ones. Breathing hard, they looked around the cavern in hopes of seeing a way out, but there didn’t seem to be anything other than the tunnel the death carriage had come from. It was directly across from them, with the carriage and horses still halfway inside it.
Abigail saw Andy staring at it and could tell what he was thinking.
“I don’t know.…If that tunnel is where they came from, there could be even worse things waiting for us inside it.”
“What other choice do we have?” said Andy, rubbing his sore arm. Looking down at it, he could see claw marks where the spirit had grabbed him.
He glanced back. “Oh, no,” he said.
The creatures were reorienting on them and continuing their tireless stalking.
“On the count of three,” Andy said. “One…”
Abigail didn’t wait for three. She took off as soon as Andy began counting, and he leapt up and ran after her, too panicked to look behind him.
They raced past the tortured horses and carriage and shot down the dark opening through which they’d come. At first there was some mild relief as they left the cavern, but it was quickly replaced by a feeling of terrible dread.
Out of the frying pan… thought Andy as the dark tunnel opened up to an improbable sight. A creeping mist lay low on a crumbling graveyard. Looking up, Andy saw that there was a sickly-looking full moon. He was convinced it was some kind of magical illusion, but it looked so astoundingly real that he could hardly believe his eyes.
“This is impossible,” said Abigail.
“Must be leprechaun magic,” said Andy. “Come on. We need to find a place to hide before those things get here.”
As they darted between the crumbling graves, Andy noticed something out of the corner of his eye: a wooden chest resting on top of a crypt.
Andy’s instincts told him that something so out of place couldn’t be a coincidence. “Hang on,” he said to Abigail. “I need to check something out.”
Abigail looked on, confused, as Andy ran over to the small chest. Looking closely at it, he saw that it was engraved with curling script.
I HAVE A HEAD, A TAIL, AND NO LEGS.
Andy stared at the riddle. Abigail, breathing hard from their running, looked over his shoulder.
“Is that a riddle?”
“I think so,” said Andy. “But what does it mean?”
Suddenly, another scream from the Banshee split the air. Wheeling around, Andy and Abigail saw the three spirits emerge from the tunnel and continue their advance. The snorting vampire creature with yellow eyes bared its fangs in a vicious grin.
“We’ve got to hurry!” said Abigail.
“Like I don’t know that?” Andy snapped. He quickly added, “Sorry.”
Abigail nodded. She was feeling the urgency of the situation, too.
Andy stared at the words, rereading them over and over.
I have a head, a tail, and no legs. I have a head, a tail, and no legs.
“Ah, it’s so obvious!” Andy exclaimed. “It’s a snake!”
He looked at the chest expectantly, but nothing happened.
“Maybe a fish?”
Still nothing.
“Ugh! This is a tough one!” Andy exclaimed, rubbing his temples in frustration.
It was hard to concentrate when he was panicking. He turned the riddle over and over in his head but couldn’t figure out what it might mean.
“I’m not good at riddles. But maybe it has something to do with what’s inside the chest?” suggested Abigail hopefully.
“Too obvious…” said Andy automatically. But suddenly a thought occurred to him. He wheeled on Abigail with an astonished look. “You’re a genius!”
“I am?” said Abigail.
Andy moved close to the chest and said, “A coin.”
The lid on the chest suddenly snapped open. Inside was a cache of glittering golden coins.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re really clever?” asked Abigail.
“It was nothing,” Andy murmured. He would have blushed at the compliment in any other circumstances, but right now he was too worried to notice. He glanced over his shoulder. The creatures were only thirty yards away.
“Too bad treasure isn’t what we need right now. What we need is…” But then her eyes widened.
“What is it?” asked Andy.
“I just remembered something!” said Abigail. “My grandma used to say that the Dullahan would flee if given gold coins for a new suit. It never made sense to me then. But it does now!”
Without hesitation, Andy reached inside the chest and retrieved a handful of gold coins. “Think this is enough?” he asked.
“No idea,” said Abigail. “But listen, Andy, this is really dangerous. Anybody who gets within ten feet of a Dullahan can be turned into a statue. The trick is not to look him in the eye.” Noting the fear on Andy’s face and his hesitation, she added, “Do you want me to do it instead?”
“No, that’s all right,” said Andy. “I’ve got the coins, and we have no time to argue.” Then, gripping the handful of coins tightly in his hand, he ran directly toward the three monsters.
“Be careful!” cried Abigail, aghast.
But Andy didn’t reply. As he ran toward the spirits, they suddenly paused, appearing confused. They evidently were not expecting to be confronted directly by the person who was supposed to be their victim!
Andy ran directly at the tall man with no face. It took all his courage to keep his knees from buckling. When he got within ten feet, he shielded his eyes and did his best to visualize where the terrifying creature was hovering.
He cried out, “Dullahan! Here, go buy yourself a new suit!”
And as he threw the gold coins at the tall headless ghost, the spirit cried out with a terrible shriek! It convulsed as if struck by lightning, shaking and quaking until it faded from view.
Andy turned and kept running, never breaking stride or looking back, as he raced past the other two stunned ghosts and dashed back to Abigail.
“Good work! Now, come on,” said Abigail excitedly. “Those stories all scared me half to death. But there’s something else I remember.”
Andy followed close as they ran between the gravestones. Abigail called to him as they sprinted through the creepy grounds, saying, “We’re looking for something called Strongbow’s Tree.”
“What’s that?” asked Andy as he leapt over a low-lying gravestone.
“Should be…a large…twisted oak,” huffed Abigail. She’d been running hard and had beads of sweat stinging her eyes. “Gold…destroys the Dullahan. Strongbow’s Tree…gravesite…”
It was all she could muster. But Andy didn’t question her. He ran right beside her, feeling both terrified and relieved that they had some kind of working plan.
Andy spotted the tree. It was a horribly bent and twisted oak tree that had a plain-looking crypt next to its hoary base.
“The legend says…the Dearg Due’s body…was buried at Strongbow’s Tree,” gasped Abigail, trying to catch her breath. “We…have to pile stones on his grave, and then he’ll have no choice but to stay in there.”
Abigail leapt to the task, and she and Andy searched the area for every stone they could find.
Perhaps it was because the spirits could see that their lives were threatened that they moved more quickly. Andy and Abigail had barely gotten three stones on the crypt when Abigail suddenly let out a cry of pain.
Andy had been so busy looking for rocks that he hadn’t seen the vampire spirit sneak up on them. The squat thing had its yellow fangs embedded in Abigail’s calf and was sucking at it greedily.
“Get off, you!” shouted Andy. He grabbe
d the closest thing he could find, a stout fallen branch from the oak tree, and began frantically clubbing at the creature with all his strength.
The Dearg Due didn’t loosen its grip—it clamped down even harder, like a pit bull on a slab of meat. Without thinking about how terrified he was of the monster, Andy gathered all his courage, raised the branch above his head like a knife, and plunged the sharp broken end directly into the creature’s back.
And it had a powerful effect. The creature snarled and howled with rage, clawing at the stick that was halfway embedded in its body.
It’s just like a stake with a vampire! Andy thought suddenly. While the creature struggled, Andy raced to find enough stones to build a small pyramid of them on the creature’s tomb.
The horrible monster was distracted by the wooden stake in its back, giving Andy enough time to complete his task. When Andy had placed the seventh of his gathered stones in the pile of rocks on the granite tomb’s lid, the vampire’s yellow eyes grew wide with fear.
And then, just like the Dullahan, it slowly faded from view.
Andy rushed to Abigail’s side. The young woman was pale and seemed to have lost a lot of blood.
“Can you get up?” asked Andy.
Abigail tried, but then shook her head. “It got me.”
Andy was so overcome with anxiety over his friend that he didn’t see the spirit that hovered behind him. Abigail’s weak gaze lifted to look over his shoulder, and only then did he realize that the Banshee must be there.
“Andy…” she whispered.
“I know,” said Andy. But he realized that he didn’t care. His friend was injured badly, and he was much more concerned about her than anything else.
“What can I do for you?” Andy asked gently. “Does it hurt badly?”
Abigail nodded, her face drawn with pain. As long as he’d known her, Abigail had been one of the toughest people he’d ever met. She was a daredevil who seemed to possess more courage than the entire J.E.S. put together.
Seeing her weak and in such pain was something Andy was hardly prepared for. She was kind of like an older sister to him—beautiful and caring, but not someone who would put up with any nonsense. She was a role model, and he found himself feeling scared at the thought of possibly losing her.
Tales from Adventureland the Doomsday Device Page 10
