Fablehaven: The Complete Series (23 page)

“They mean he was abducted,” Doren clarified.

Kendra nodded. “Creatures got into the house and took him and our housekeeper.”

“Not Dale?” Doren asked.

“We don’t think so,” Seth said.

Newel shook his head. “Poor Dale. Never been very popular.”

“Lousy sense of humor,” Doren agreed. “Too quiet.”

“You guys don’t know who might have taken them?” Kendra asked.

“On Midsummer Eve?” Newel said, tossing up his hands. “Anybody. Your guess would be better than mine.”

“Could you help us find him?” Seth asked.

The satyrs shared an uneasy glance. “Yeah, ouch,” Newel began uncomfortably, “this is a bad week for us.”

“Lots of commitments,” Doren confirmed, backing away.

“You know, now that I’ve thought on it,” Newel said, “we may have needed a new rigging on the chimney anyhow. How about we go our separate ways and call it even?”

“Don’t take anything we said to heart,” Doren said. “We were just being satirical.”

Seth stepped forward. “Do you know something you aren’t telling us?”

“It isn’t that,” Newel said, continuing his slow retreat. “It’s just Midsummer Day. We’re booked.”

“Thanks for helping us get away from the ogress,” Kendra said.

“Our pleasure,” Newel replied.

“All part of the package,” Doren added.

“Could you guys at least point us toward home?” Seth asked.

The satyrs stopped retreating. Doren extended an arm. “There’s a path over there.”

“When you reach it, go right,” Newel said.

“That will get you started in the right direction.”

“Give our best to Stan when he turns up.”

The satyrs hastily turned and dashed off into the trees.

Chapter 12

Inside the Barn

Kendra and Seth located the path just as the satyrs had instructed, and soon reencountered the nickel-sized holes that served as a perfect trail of breadcrumbs toward home. “Those goat guys were idiots,” Seth said.

“They did save us from the ogress,” Kendra reminded him.

“They could have helped us rescue Grandpa but they blew us off.” He wore a scowl as they continued along the path.

As they neared the yard, they heard the inhuman groan again, the same sound they had heard while exiting the basement, only louder than ever. They halted. The perplexing sound was coming from up ahead. A long, plaintive moan, comparable to a blast from a foghorn.

Seth dug some of the remaining salt out of a pocket and rushed ahead. With their quickened pace, they were soon back at the edge of the yard. Everything appeared normal. They saw no hulking behemoth capable of the enormous sound they had heard.

“You know, that salt didn’t do much to the satyr,” Kendra whispered.

“It probably only burns the bad creatures,” he replied.

“I think the ogre lady picked some up.”

“It was all mixed in the dirt by then. You saw it torch those guys last night.”

They waited, hesitant to enter the yard. “Now what?” Kendra asked.

The mighty groan resounded across the yard, nearer and louder. The shingles on the barn rattled.

“It’s coming from the barn,” Seth said.

“We never looked there!” Kendra said.

“I didn’t think about it.”

The monstrous groan blared a third time. The barn shuddered. Birds flew up from the eaves.

“You think something took Grandpa and Lena to the barn?” Kendra said.

“Sounds like it’s still there.”

“Grandpa told us never to enter the barn.”

“I think I’m already grounded,” Seth said.

“No, I mean what if he keeps ferocious creatures in there? It might have nothing to do with his disappearance.”

“It’s our best chance. Where else are we going to look? We have no other clues. The tracks were a dead end. At least we should try to get a peek inside.”

Seth started for the barn, with Kendra following reluctantly behind. The towering structure rose a good five stories tall, topped by a weather vane in the shape of a bull. Kendra had never studied it for entrances until now. She noted the obvious set of large double doors in the front, along with some smaller access doors along the side.

The barn creaked and then started shaking as if there were an earthquake. The sound of timbers splitting filled the air, followed by another mournful moan.

Seth glanced back at Kendra. Something huge was in there. A few moments later the barn grew still.

Chains and a heavy padlock bound the double doors in front, so Seth moved along the side of the building, quietly trying the smaller doors. All were locked. The barn had several windows, but the lowest were three stories off the ground.

They stealthily circled the entire building, finding no doors unlocked. There weren’t even any cracks or peepholes. “Grandpa sealed this place up tight,” Kendra whispered.

“We may have to make some noise to get inside,” Seth said. He started circling the building again.

“I’m not sure that would be smart.”

“I’ll wait until the barn starts shaking again.” Seth sat down in front of a small door, little more than three feet high. Minutes passed.

“Think it knows we’re waiting?” Kendra asked.

“You’re just bad luck.”

“Stop saying that.”

A fairy glided over near them. Seth tried to shoo it away. “Get out of here.” The fairy effortlessly dodged his shooing motions. The more vigorously he waved her away, the closer she came.

“Stop it, you’re just egging her on,” Kendra said.

“I’m sick of fairies.”

“Then ignore her and maybe she’ll leave.”

He stopped paying attention to the fairy. She came up right behind his head. When the proximity earned no reaction, the fairy landed on his head. Seth slapped at her, missing as she wove around his intended blows. Just when he jumped to his feet to chase her, the booming groan came again. The little door trembled.

Seth plopped back down and started ramming the door with both feet. The moaning muffled most of the impact’s noise. On the fifth kick, the edge of the little door split and swung open.

Seth rolled away from the opening, and Kendra stepped aside as well. Digging in his pockets, Seth withdrew the remnants of his salt. “Want some?” he mouthed.

Kendra accepted some salt. A second or two later, the deafening moaning ceased. Seth gestured for Kendra to wait. He crept through the small door. Kendra waited, squeezing the salt in her palm.

Seth reappeared in the opening wearing an inscrutable expression. “You have to see this,” he said.

“What?”

“Don’t worry. Come look.”

Kendra ducked through the little doorway. The enormous barn contained just one cavernous room with a few closets around the perimeter. The entire room was dominated by a single gigantic cow.

“Not what I expected,” Kendra murmured in disbelief.

She gawked at the colossal bovine in amazement. The huge head was up near the rafters, forty or fifty feet in the air. A hayloft spanning an entire side of the building served as a feedbox. The cow’s hooves were the size of hot tubs. The tremendous udder was absolutely bulging. Milk beaded and dripped from teats almost the size of punching bags.

The gargantuan cow cocked its head, staring down at the newcomers to the barn. It let out a long moo, making the barn shake simply by shifting its stance.

“Holy cow,” Kendra muttered.

“You can say that again. I doubt Grandpa will be running out of milk anytime soon.”

“We’re friends,” Kendra called up to the cow. The cow tossed its head and began munching from the hayloft.

“Why haven’t we heard this thing before?” Seth wondered.

“She probably never moos. I think she’s in pain,” Kendra observed. “See how swollen the udder looks? I bet it could fill a swimming pool.”

“Seriously.”

“Somebody probably milks her every morning.”

“And nobody did today,” said Seth.

They stood and stared. The cow continued munching from the hayloft. Seth pointed at the back of the barn. “Look at the manure!”

“Sick!”

“The world’s biggest cow pie!”

“You would notice that.”

The cow let out another bellowing complaint, the most insistent so far. They clamped their hands over their ears until the lowing stopped.

“We probably should try to milk her,” Kendra said.

“How are we supposed to do that!” Seth cried.

“There has to be a way. They must do it all the time.”

“We can’t even reach her thingies.”

“I bet that cow could tear this place apart if she wanted. I mean, look at her! She keeps getting more upset. Her udder looks like it’s about to burst. Who knows what kind of powers she has. Her milk lets people see fairies. The last thing we need is a giant magical cow running around loose. It could be total mayhem.”

Folding his arms, Seth surveyed the task. “This is impossible.”

“We need to search the closets. Maybe they have special tools.”

“What about Grandpa?”

“We’re out of leads,” said Kendra. “If we don’t milk this cow, we could end up with a new disaster on our hands.”

In the closets they found a variety of tools and equipment, but no obvious gear for milking gargantuan cows. There were empty barrels all around, in and out of closets, which Kendra figured must be used for catching milk. In one closet Kendra found a couple of A-frame ladders. “These might be all we need,” she said.

“How do we even get our hands around those things?”

“We don’t.”

“There has to be a gigantic milking machine,” Seth said.

“I’m not seeing anything like that. But it might work if we just hug and drop.”

“Are you nuts?”

“Why not?” Kendra said, motioning between the teats and the floor. “It isn’t that far from the nipples to the ground.”

“We’re not trying to use barrels?”

“No, we can waste the milk. Barrels would get in the way. We just need to relieve the pressure.”

“What if she steps on us?”

“She hardly has any room to move. If we stay under the udder, we’ll be fine.”

They dragged the ladders into position, one beside each of two teats on the same side of the mammoth cow. They climbed the ladders. Only by standing one rung from the top were they high enough to grip the teat near the udder.

Seth stood waiting while Kendra tried to get into position. “These feel wobbly,” she said.

“Balance.”

She hesitantly stood upright. It felt a lot higher than it had looked from the ground. “You ready?”

“No. I bet this barn will hold her.”

“We have to at least try.”

“Hug the thingy and slide down?” Seth asked.

“We’ll trade off, you, then me, then you, then me. Then we’ll do the other side.”

“How about you start it?”

“You’re better at this sort of stuff,” Kendra said.

“That’s true, I milk a lot of giant cows. I’ll show you my trophies sometime.”

“Seriously, you start,” urged Kendra.

“What if it hurts her?”

“I don’t think we’re big enough. I’m more worried that we’re not going to be able to get any out.”

“So I should squeeze as hard as I can,” Seth confirmed.

“Sure.”

“Once I do it, you’ll do it, and we’ll just keep going as fast as we can.”