The Three Furies (Erec Rex) (7 page)

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but maybe it was their birthday, in March, and not April eighteenth, like he thought. That would explain why June was taking care of all of them. Erec had found out who he was. But they didn't know yet, so they were still safe.

That meant that Mrs. Dumpling Smith and her friends must be working for Baskania. He had found out who the other triplets were and wanted them killed. But why didn't they want to take Erec, too?

Then Erec had a chilling thought. Maybe Baskania had other plans for him. He needed Erec for the twelve quests that were needed to become rulers of the Kingdoms of the Keepers. Only Erec could draw the next quest from Al's Well. Baskania gave the quests to the Stain triplets. Even though they didn't finish Erec's quests, if everyone thought they did, those three could become the next kings.

So Baskania wasn't done with him yet. But Erec was not about to let him get Danny and Sammy.

So they were his missing triplets? Erec stared at them for a long moment. The two of them looked so much alike. Hadn't June changed their looks like she had changed his? Is that what he would have looked like now, if he grew up the way he was supposed to?

But he could not ask. Danny and Sammy were only safe because they did not know they were the heirs to the thrones of Ashona and Aorth, and he would not put them in danger by telling them.

"Hey, look." Danny pointed out of the window. "There's a red snail sitting out there. Looks like you got another letter."

Erec went outside and picked it up off the ground.

Dear Erec,

I had no idea about Bethany. I can't believe it. Baskania and Rosco will pay for this. You mark my words. It wasn't enough to ruin my life. Now they're destroying hers too. And yours.

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I've been spying in the Green House as much as I can. It was hard to tell what was going on, though. So I got a job there. I gave them a fake name, and I'm working for the custodian now, doing things like cleaning up messes. I water all the plants, which lets me walk all over and listen in to conversations. I haven't heard anyone talk about Bethany yet, but I found out where Baskania's offices are. Rosco goes there a lot--I've seen him. I'm going to spend the most time there, spying on them.

Balor, Damon, and Dollick Stain come around all the time. Those jerks are cheating even more, but I guess that's no surprise. They wear phony amulets that make it look like they did the quests. And their friends, Rock Rayson and Ward Gamin, follow them around. They have eye patches now. You know what that means--Baskania took an eye from them. Yikes!

Your Friend,

Oscar

Erec dropped the empty snail into his pocket. He walked inside, clutching the letter in his hand so tightly it was nearly wrinkled into a ball. This was all too much. Baskania was after his sister and brother. Bethany was captured--alive at the moment, but probably not for long. Oscar was in hiding, seeking revenge on Rosco and spying on Baskania. And the Stain triplets were well on their way to taking over the Kingdoms of the Keepers . . . which would destroy the world.

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A loud voice made everyone jump. June dropped her spoon into her soup with a big plop. "I see you're all still there," Dumpling Smith growled. She raised the pitch of her gravelly voice and tried to sound sweet. "Very clever. But you two have it all wrong, dearies. I only want to help you. There are bad people about, you know. You need to trust me, no?" Then she became angry. "Don't think you can stay hidden away for long, you two. I'll keep watch with these nice glasses here. The time has come." Erec could hear her heavy breathing. "Interesting house. Is it King Piter's? There he is. I believe this must be his house, now that his castle is gone."

Everyone in the room looked at one another, afraid to talk.

"Okay, then. Excellent. We'll be seeing you there very soon." Dumpling's laugh ended abruptly, midstream, as she must have pulled off the glasses.

June spoke in a hushed voice. "We need to get out of here, to somewhere she doesn't recognize. This house should stay empty until they are sure that none of us are coming back to it." She lowered her face. "I'm so sorry, dear King, to have brought intruders to your home. I'm sure you'll be safe here--nobody would dare to bother you. But I should take my family away."

The king's voice sounded hollow. "I'm afraid I'm as vulnerable as anybody else right now. I don't have my scepter. I should probably go with you." His hair looked wispier than it did this morning, his face more sunken. Erec hoped that the scepter being gone would help the king regain his strength, but he guessed that might take a while.

Jam cleared his throat. "Modoms, sirs. If you don't mind me making a suggestion, I have an aunt who lives in Americorth North. She has a simple house, nothing in it that stands out as unusual that I can think of. And I am sure she would be delighted for us to visit for as long as necessary."

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"I didn't know you were from Aorth, Jam," Erec said. "I thought you were from Alypium."

A despondent look flashed across Jam's face. "I am pretty sure that my parents were from Alypium, but they both died a long time ago, and I have no siblings. Once I tried to research my family history, and see if there was anyone else left. I did find some long-lost relatives in Aorth--at least I think they might be relatives. They weren't exactly sure either. But they took me in immediately, accepting me as family."

The king nodded silently, looking too weak to speak.

June said, "Thank you, Jam. We should go there. As long as Dumpling doesn't put on my Seeing Eyeglasses right as we go through the Port-O-Door, she won't know where we went."

"How did she get your glasses?" Nell asked.

"It was terrible." June shuddered. "They kept asking where you went. Not that I would have told them if I knew. The tall one--Kookles, I think his name was--grabbed Zoey. He started throwing her into the air, and then he was
juggling
her with a bunch of balls."

"That was fun!" Zoey looked excited. "I went all the way to the ceiling."

June looked sick. "I panicked. Kookles was walking closer and closer to the window. I was afraid he would throw her out." She didn't look sure. "I told them they could have anything they wanted--anything. Dumpling told me to give her my magical glasses. Next thing Dumpling put on my glasses, and you know the rest."

Jam handed out shiny silver suits that they slipped over their clothing. "This is UnderWear," he explained. "It will keep you cool when you're deep under the Earth's surface, in Aorth." The fabric was slippery and stretched easily over everyone, expanding to their sizes.

Erec pulled his UnderWear on fast and scrawled a quick letter to Oscar while Jam helped the king into his silver pull-on outfit.

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Dear Oscar
,

Be careful working in the Green House, okay? I was thinking--if Rosco can read your mind, he must know that you're there, right? He probably knows you are spying on him. Don't do anything to make him angry. He'll show up wherever you are, and he's really powerful.

Thanks for trying to find out about Bethany.

Your Friend
,

Erec

"Hurry, guys," said Sammy. "I'll feel better when we leave this place."

"I'll go there with you," Erec said. "But I can't stay. King Piter and I have to go to the Oracle and find out how to get Bethany back."

The king breathed heavily. "Erec, I would like to go. But I'm afraid I'm just too weak. I'm sorry to let you down. Will you let me know what you find out there? I need to rest with your family, if that's okay."

Jam cleared his throat. "I would be more than happy to accompany young sir to the Oracle. Would you like some company?"

Erec grinned. "Sure, Jam. That would be great."

Jam bowed his head. "At your disposal."

June sighed. "Come right back, Erec. And let me know what you find out, okay?"

Erec nodded. The king was right about not being able to go along. Erec and Jam helped him walk down the hallway after the rest of his family.

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Jam dismissed the remaining servants, then pressed a few spots on the Port-O-Door maps and opened the door into an unexplored spot in Otherness so that Erec could toss his snail letter through. "Now to Aunt Salsa's. Hoods on, everyone." He pushed the red AORTH square. "Eight Anodyne Road."

A furnacelike blast of heat hit Erec in the face when Jam opened the door.

"Sorry, sire." Jam bowed his head to King Piter. "Do you think you can handle the heat while I ring her doorbell? I would have ushered you straight into her home but I haven't spoken to her yet."

The king nodded, and they all dragged themselves outside. The heat was like nothing Erec had experienced. His hair felt like it was melting and might explode into flames. He tried to speak, but his breath would not carry into the ovenlike temperature. But then his silver UnderWear suit puffed with cool air, blowing a steady stream up onto his face. He still felt warm but was amazingly comfortable.

"How hot is it here?" he asked Jam.

Jam's hair was blowing straight up from the cool breeze flowing from his UnderWear. "Probably a good hundred and seventy-five degrees, young sir. It can get up above two hundred in the summer."

Erec looked around. "So, this is Aorth." He had never seen anything like it. Tall spires of a city rose all around him. He had expected Jam's aunt Salsa to live in a quiet village, but this place seemed packed with more skyscrapers than New York City. The buildings looked sharper, too. Most were pointed on top, with barbed spires projecting from their sides. When Erec looked closer, he could see that each building was one solid slab of stone stretching from the ground to what must have been a thousand feet in the air. Small gaps in the stones served as windows, which most of the rooms in the buildings did not have. The stone towers sloped just a little from the bottom to the tops, ending in long,

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narrow funnels. They looked like gigantic stalagmites in a cave.

All the giant rock formations along the busy, clustered streets would have given the city a Stone Age look, Erec thought, if not for the crowds of immense neon signs and glittering computerized advertisements hanging from all of the buildings. They made the billboards in New York's Times Square look dull. Sophisticated computer graphics flashed movie ads onto stone walls, strobe light images of products sparkled in the air, and holographic visions of celebrities danced down the streets, selling products to pedestrians.

His siblings and mother were gazing around in wonder. The spectacle was almost too much to take in. Erec wondered why Alypium was so quaint compared to this. This must be King Pluto's taste, he thought, in contrast to King Piter's. In fact, this city did seem to fit King Pluto's brash, fast-talking personality.

"Are all the parts of Aorth like this?" Erec asked Jam, remembering that there were cities under each of the continents of Earth.

Jam nodded. "Quite. Well, Antarticorth is quieter. It is busy here. Not to my taste, exactly, but it's all what you're used to." He pushed one of the hundreds of buttons on a tall brass plaque attached to the entrance to a skyscraper, and a woman's voice called out.

"It is Jam Crinklecut," he said. Erec wondered how many other people were named Jam, so that he had to use his last name too. "I've come for a stay with some friends, if it is okay with you, Aunt Salsa."

A squeal issued from the speaker, then a loud buzzer made everyone jump. Jam opened the door and ushered Erec's family upstairs to his aunt's apartment. Cold air from the building rushed over them like a soothing lotion. The UnderWear suits stopped blowing air and flattened against their clothing again.

Aunt Salsa looked nothing like Jam, making Erec wonder if they truly were related. She was round and comfy in a bright red sweater dress, with black spiky hair. But what caught his eye the most was

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her love of jewelry. From her sparkling tiara all the way down to her jeweled shoes, Aunt Salsa was covered with pins, brooches, and necklaces of all sizes. The gems must have been fake, or they would have been too expensive for any one person to own.

Jam's aunt scooped him up in her arms, squeezed him, and spun in a circle. Jam's face reddened, but Erec could tell he was pleased.

"Oh, Jam dear. I'm so delighted that you could visit! If I only knew in advance, I would have cooked up a storm. But don't worry, I'll whip something together now. You don't know how much this means to me, visiting when it's not even a holiday! Your poor aunt gets so bored nowadays. And you brought your friends!" She surveyed the haggard crowd, then gasped when she noticed the king. "King . . . is this really the king . . ." She rushed to help him into a chair, then bowed to the floor. "Oh, forgive me, your majesty. I have only a very plain apartment, nothing compared to what you are used to." She bowed a few more times and then rushed into her kitchen, talking about preparing snacks. Jam followed her, and Erec could hear them happily arguing that the other should sit and rest, and let them do the cooking.

Aunt Salsa won the argument at last, and Jam emerged from the kitchen with a sheepish grin. "I explained the situation to her, of course offering that we all stay in a hotel if she preferred. As I expected, she was delighted to have us stay here with her." He nodded to Erec. "Young sir, I suppose we should go right away and speak to the Fates? I know you are in a hurry."

Nodding, Erec said good-bye to his mother and siblings. They headed out into the heat of Americorth North again, and then Jam pressed code numbers into their Port-O-Door, which had stuck itself on a stone wall nearby. The lighting seemed odd, somehow, glowing with a warm but almost fluorescent feel. Erec looked up and shuddered, seeing that the sun was amazingly close to them. Something