The Magician's Tower (15 page)

“Samuligan!” she shouted, launching herself through the open carriage door and slamming it shut. “To the park! Isadora and Roderick have the lead. There's no time to waste!”

She fell back into her seat as the carriage surged forward, the sting of Headmistress Duvet's handiwork still throbbing down her backside as they sped along the busy street in the direction of Oswald Park.

I
f you know what's good for you, Roderick,” Sir Baltimore shouted, “you'll win this challenge!”

Roderick's father stood below the front of the stage, a cigar clamped between his teeth, smoke pluming around his head as if he were on fire from the inside. Oona had never seen the man looking so angry, and it was all she could do to keep from looking at him as she followed close on Roderick's heels up the stage steps to the tower. Deacon landed in a nearby tree to await her return.

“That girlfriend of yours is making a fool out of you!” Sir Baltimore shouted at his son. “She's already up there! Get your hind quarters moving, or you'll disgrace the family!”

“Daddy!” little Penelope Rutherford cried at her father. “You said you would read me a story!”

The little girl held up her book and swatted her father with it in much the same manner as Headmistress Duvet had swatted Oona with the
IMPROPER
cane.

“Penelope!” Sir Baltimore shouted, snatching the book from her and slapping it down on the front of the stage. “I will not read any more of this faerie-tale drivel ever again if you do not shush, girl.” He returned his attention to Roderick, balling one fist and shaking it in the air. “Remember what we talked about last night, son. Now go win this thing.”

Oona and Roderick stopped center stage, where the architect calmly folded his newspaper and then stood. He adjusted the ridiculously tall top hat on his head as Deacon perched in one of the nearby trees.

Catching her breath, Oona glanced from Sir Baltimore to Roderick—specifically from Sir Baltimore's shaking fist to the purplish bruise on Roderick's cheek—and Oona wondered just how much “talking” had actually taken place between them last night. Sir Baltimore's fist slammed down on Penelope's book of faerie tales.

“Go get 'em, son!” he shouted. “The family is counting on you!”

Roderick did not so much as glance in his father's direction. He and Oona handed their porcupine barbs to the architect, who in turn handed them each a key.

“Take the side stairs to the fourth floor,” the architect
said, indicating the outside stairs that Oona and the others had used to descend from the third floor the day before.

“That is all,” the architect said, and promptly sat back down, returning his attention to his paper.

“Go! Go! Go!”
Sir Baltimore cried.

Oona and Roderick took to the stairs as Adler Iree came running up the stage steps behind them. It was going to be a close race, Oona realized, taking the steps two at a time. And then she remembered that Isadora was already up there, far ahead of them all, and she began taking the steps three at a time.

Roderick was the first to reach the fourth floor, where the steps ended at a door. Oona could feel the sway of the building in the breeze, and hear the creak of nails in wood. Roderick drove his key into the door, shoving his way inside and slamming the door shut behind him.

“You rotter!” Oona called after him. She shoved her own key into the hole, shouldering the door open. As she turned to close it, she saw Adler pounding his way up the final few steps. Feeling quite a bit more chivalrous than Roderick Rutherford, she held the door open for Adler. He slipped quickly into the building, holding his frayed top hat to his head.

“What the?” Adler exclaimed. He skidded to a halt. The door clicked shut and Oona spun around.

“Oh, dear me,” she said, taking it all in. “What have I gotten myself into?”

“I'm asking myself the same question,” said Adler.

Adler and Oona stared. Three feet in front of them, taking up nearly the entire floor, was an open pit of snakes. The serpents writhed and wriggled, their scaly black bodies slithering over one another like a dark carpet. Oona backed against the door.

“Where is Roderick?” she asked, seeing no sign of the other boy. “And Isadora, for that matter?” she added.

“I haven't the slightest—” Adler began, but his words were cut short when something swooped past his head. He jumped back against the wall, just managing to avoid being hit by the thing's tail. “What was that?” he asked, out of breath.

Whatever it had been, it had disappeared from sight just as quickly as it had appeared. Oona craned her head back, looking toward the ceiling, only to realize that there
was
no ceiling. At least, not directly overhead. Only if she squinted could she make out some vague semblance of where the top of the room might end, some ten or more stories above.

“Look,” Oona said, pointing up.

Adler peered upward, bracing himself against the wall.

“Is that what they call a riverboat?” he asked.

Oona nodded. It was a riverboat indeed: a Mississippi paddle steamer, if Oona's memory served correctly. Her mother, who had been a great lover of boats of all kinds, had owned a book with illustrations, and this had been one of Oona's and her mother's favorites.

Suspended by cables from the ceiling, the magnificent white boat hung two stories above their heads, complete with round paddle wheel at the back and river barnacles clinging to the hull. How the architect had managed to fit it inside the tower eluded her at first, until she realized that this must be the spot where the tower bulged out like a snake swallowing an egg.

Speaking of snakes
, Oona thought.
There's something not quite right about these serpents
.

No sooner had the thought occurred to her than one of the snakes leapt straight into the air. As if this behavior weren't startling enough, the snake suddenly unfurled a set of large black wings and then flew directly at her. She screamed, throwing her hands to her face, but the snake banked in the air, slapping the side of her head with its tail before soaring upward and disappearing over the top of the boat.

“Did you see that?” Adler asked, as if Oona might have missed it.

Before she could respond, however, she saw something else that took her by surprise. It was Roderick Rutherford peering over the edge of the boat above.

“Now, how did you get up there?” Oona asked.

Another snake leapt out of the pit and into the air, this one extending its wings and darting at Adler. Adler held up his hands, protecting his face. The snake opened its mouth in a wide yawn, displaying a horrifying set of shiny fangs. Its mouth clamped down, its fangs sinking into the brim of Adler's top hat and wrenching it from his head.

“No, you don't!” Adler shouted.

He grabbed the snake around the middle with both hands, but the snake did not slow in the least. Its tail wrapped tightly around Adler's wrists and soared upward, flapping its bizarre wings like mad, taking Adler and his top hat with it. Shouting in surprise, Adler looked down as he and the snake soared around the side of the riverboat and disappeared over the top.

“So that's how it's done, is it?” Oona said. “Seems … easy enough.”

Sounding less than confident even to her own ears, she braced herself against the wall, attempting to steady her nerves. Seconds later she received her chance to test her theory. Another snake jumped into the air, unfurled its wings, and came straight at her … except there was
something different about this particular snake. While all the rest of the serpents were black, this one appeared bone white—an Albino snake—with huge, pink batlike wings. Half a heartbeat later all the remaining snakes in the pit leapt into the air, unfurling hundreds of sets of black wings and chasing after the white one.

It all happened so fast that Oona didn't have time to second-guess her decision, and when the white snake swooped by within inches of her head, she reached out and grabbed hold of it. The slithering white tail wrapped itself snuggly around her wrists, and both Oona and the snake vaulted upward into the open air of the room. Only unlike Adler's snake, the white one did not head directly for the top of the boat, but instead rose halfway to the boat's hull before diving back to the ground.

Oona screamed, her insides feeling as if they had been left hovering above her. More terrifying than the wild flight, however, was the swarm of flying snakes following close behind like a mini-hurricane. Oona could see their open mouths and glistening fangs only inches from her feet.

Yet again the white snake changed directions in midair, shooting for the ceiling, and Oona's shoes slapped briefly against the floor as they turned. Several of the pursuing snakes crashed into the pit, but most of them managed to pull out of the dive just in time.

The white snake vaulted straight up, the swarm of black serpents like a slithering shadow at Oona's heels. The speed was incredible, her skirts nearly flattening around her legs as they flew over the boat like a bullet, past the upper deck, and then jackknifed in the air.

Oona's stomach leapt into her throat, and her arms felt like rubber. For a mere second, she thought she caught a glimpse of Isadora Iree floating in the air, and then Isadora was gone from view in the blink of an eye. Oona shook her head, assuming that she had only imagined it.

They were spiraling back down, down the side of the building, Oona's toes scraping the wall. A quick glance at her feet revealed several snakes with their mouths clamped onto the heels of her shoes.

“Oh, dear,” she squeaked. “Most unsatisfactory.”

She kicked at them wildly, meanwhile using her strength to pull her knees to her stomach, getting her feet as far ahead of the pursuing dark cloud as possible. But the snakes continued to close in from above, and it suddenly occurred to Oona that she was going to be sick.

Mercifully, the white snake leveled off, skimming over the top deck of the boat, nearly crashing into Adler Iree, who stood wide-eyed near one of the side rails.

“Let go!” he shouted, and then ducked as Oona and the swarm of snakes whizzed inches above his head.

“Let go?” Oona shouted back. “Are you crazy?”

The white snake turned hard left, only just avoiding a collision with the sidewall. The front half of the pursuing swarm struck the wall hard, bouncing off and wobbling in the air before drunkenly descending back to the floor. But the second half of the swarm pulled up just in time and appeared to be gaining speed. And so was the white snake.

Oona's arms began to ache as they circled the boat, around and around, gaining momentum with each revolution. The room began to lose focus. All her blood seemed to rush to her feet. Just when Oona was sure she was going to pass out, the white snake once again dove toward the top deck of the boat.

She knew what she had to do. In spite of all of her instincts to hold on, Oona released her grip, feeling completely out of control, hoping beyond hope that Adler's advice had been wiser than it sounded.

The instant she let go, the snake uncoiled from her wrists and she dropped, tumbling through the air, falling, falling … and landing quite perfectly into Adler Iree's outstretched arms.

“I've got you!” Adler cried, then: “Umph!”

Adler stumbled back, the two of them toppling to the deck, Oona coming to a halt in a heap of skirts on top of Adler—except, for the moment, it did not seem to Oona as if she had come to a halt at all. Everything was spinning.

She tried to focus, peering at what she thought was a face … with writing on it. But that was silly, why would a face have …

Her vision cleared, and she saw where she was: on the top deck of the riverboat, lying on top of Adler Iree, their faces less than an inch apart. She felt his breath tickle her cheek, and for an instant Oona wondered whose face might be more red, Adler's or her own.