Choke

  “He wants you to grow that last stone?” Kate asked in disbelief. “Is he aware of what the other dragons did?”

  “I don’t think he gets out much.”

  “You can’t even find the stone, can you?”

  “I’ve never really tried,” I said. “I’ve thought about it a lot, but last time I messed with those stones, things didn’t turn out so great.”

  “What’s behind this garage anyway?” Kate asked, looking around.

  “Nothing,” I answered her.

  “Well, if he’s wrong about the garage, maybe he’s wrong about everything.” Kate looked up at the back of the building. She walked along the entire wall glancing up and down. She studied each window and door and inspected the trees right behind it. She ended her investigation by staring down at the dirt. “Maybe if we got up on top we could see something. He said look down, right?”

  I thought it was kind of a dumb idea, but I had never been on top of a garage, and the idea seemed rather appealing. Maybe I could find the burnt cherub head.

  “Come on,” I waved. “We can go up and out of those dormers.”

  We ran to the side and went through one of the doors. There were tools hanging all over as well as oil and dirt stains on the floor. The room was large. We walked across it and through a tall skinny door. That door opened up into a short hallway with stairs at one end. We climbed up the wooden stairs and into a room filled with tons of old junk.

  “What is all this stuff?” Kate asked.

  “Who knows?” I replied. “Maybe this is where Thomas shops. There!” I pointed to a metal spiral staircase in the corner.

  The stairs led to an attic that was filled with boxes and smelled like dryer lint. I could see one of the back dormer windows. Kate followed me through the boxes to the window. It took me pushing and Kate cranking the window handle for us to get it open.

  The outside world drifted in, smelling much better than lint. We stuck our heads out and looked down.

  “See anything?” I asked.

  “The trees are too tall.”

  Kate was right, the trees were almost right up against the window, making it impossible to get a wide view. I grabbed onto the window frame and put my right leg out. I twisted and pulled my other leg while hanging onto the rock dormer and climbed outside. The roof was slanted beneath the window, but just above the dormer it was flat. I sat down on the slanted roof and reached back.

  “Here,” I said to Kate. “Give me your hand.”

  I helped pull Kate out and we crawled carefully to the flat roof.

  “If we go over there we can probably see best,” she said, pointing to the cupola that had the weather vane on top.

  We walked along the flat ridge of the roof and up to the cupola. The cupola shot up out of the roof about ten feet. It was probably six feet wide and there was a large arch-shaped vent with wooden slats on all four sides. I was surprised how big it really was. From down below it had looked like nothing great, but now standing beside it, I was pretty impressed. The top of the cupola was a triangular roof, and on top of that was the weather vane. I walked up to it and looked through one of the vents.

  “What’s in there?” Kate asked me.

  “I can’t really see.”

  We both pushed our eyes up to the slats and stared through. It was black inside and just as my eyes were focusing, a big chunk of the blackness moved. Kate screamed as something burst through the vents. I flew backward grabbing Kate’s shoulder and pulling her down as hundreds of black birds burst out of the vents. The birds screeched and flew upward. I slid down the slate tiles and slammed into one of the brick chimneys. I tried to get my bearings but the birds swirling around me made my head spin.

  “Kate!”

  “Over here!” she yelled.

  Kate was hanging onto the edge of the flat ridge. Her feet were scrambling as she tried to get back up. I turned my body around and crawled up to meet her. The birds began to break up and settle back into the vents and cupola. I sat down on the ridge next to Kate and watched the last of the birds disappear.

  “Why’d you scream?” Kate asked.

  “That was me?” I asked in surprise. “I thought it was you.”

  Kate put her head in her hands.

  “I don’t really like birds,” I admitted.

  “Yeah, me neither,” she said.

  We sat there catching our breath looking out over the forest toward the mountains behind the garage house. The tall trees blocked most of our view, but there was a section where they were all shorter and thinner so we could see over the top of them. It looked like a fuzzy road leading up to the high, forested mountain.

  We moved to the edge of the roof and looked down. There was nothing but the little bit of dirt before the trees started.

  “See anything?” I asked.

  “Looks just like it did when we were down there.”

  As we were working our way back to the dormer window a thought struck me. I stopped and gazed back out at the trees.

  “Hey, is that one section of trees shorter?” I asked.

  “Trees grow different heights,” Kate pointed out.

  “No,” I insisted. “Those are all shorter, leading up to the side of the mountain. It’s like only those were cut down and replanted years ago.”

  Kate looked closely at the forest.

  “There’s a long swath of short trees,” I insisted.

  “Swath? Are you still reading that dictionary?”

  “I have it in the bathroom,” I said.

  “Nice,” Kate smiled. “It is kind of odd how only those trees are short. Maybe someone cut them down for wood.”

  “Just that long strip?” I asked. “Why not cut down a square of them, or a rectangle, or just pick one here and one there?”

  We climbed down through the dormer and out of the garage. We got back outside and walked up to where the line of short trees met up with the rear of the garage. We both looked up and down a few times and then stared at each other.

  “That old man was just crazy,” Kate said. “There’s nothing behind this place.”

  I walked slowly, looking carefully at the base. I think I was hoping that just maybe there was a buried basement like the manor had—there wasn’t. But due to the lighting at the moment I did notice something small and rusty showing at the base of the back wall directly in front of the line of short trees. I thought it was just a small chunk of iron, but I couldn’t pull it out.

  “So what is it?” Kate asked, kneeling down, trying to dig at it with her hands. “Get a shovel or something.”

  I called Kate bossy, then ran into the garage and found a hoe and a shovel. I brought them both out and handed the hoe to Kate. She stood up and I lifted my shovel and threw the tip of it down into the dirt. I thought it would slice into the soil and I’d be able to dig up under and pop the metal piece out. Instead, my shovel head hit something metal and jammed my arms. The sharp, clinking noise pierced my ears.

  “Ouch,” Kate said, holding hers.

  A chunk of dark dirt cracked open and we could see that the small piece of metal was at least ten inches long. We both stared at it.

  “You know what it looks like,” I said. “Part of a train track.”

  We both gazed back toward the long stretch of shorter trees. Kate dropped to her knees and began to search near the edge of the garage for the other side of the track as I dug at mine.

  “Here’s something,” she said excitedly.

  I stepped over and dug at it with the shovel. I could see a few inches of the other train rail. The rails were buried about two inches under the soil and appeared to run right into the back of the garage.

  “Hold on,” I said, dropping the shovel. I ran back into the side door we had entered before. I wanted to see if the tracks came under the wall and inside. I walked through the first room past the stairs we had climbed up. There was another door and when I walked through it there was a wide room with rows and rows of shelves on the walls. The b
ack wall was extended into the room and was slanted.

  Kate was standing by me now.

  “I wanted to see where the tracks led,” I explained. I walked around the large, slanted wall looking for a door or opening to get into what had to be a large space behind it. There was no opening. In fact it looked a little like someone was trying to hide the odd wall with all of the shelving. “The tracks must angle down lower because of the slant. So whatever was on those tracks would just disappear down beneath the garage. But someone sealed off the tunnel.”

  “Nice work, Nancy,” Kate said. “Scooby and the gang would be proud.”

  I ignored her. “But why?”

  “Who knows what your ancestors were thinking,” Kate said. “They were nuts. Maybe the tracks lead to the buried basement.”

  We went back outside to where the small pieces of exposed rails were. I felt the back wall as if I were psychic and it could tell me something. It didn’t say a word. It was just a cold, stone wall.

  “Well, we can’t knock down the wall,” Kate said.

  “But we could follow the tracks into the forest,” I smiled. “I mean we could see where the other end is.”

  Kate looked to the trees and then back.

  “Sorry, but I have to get home,” she said reluctantly. “My parents will be wondering where I am soon.”

  “How about tonight?” I asked. “I have that metal detector that Millie bought me. “We could use that to track the rails. I’ll get Wyatt up here too.”

  “You’re already in trouble,” Kate pointed out. “Remember?”

  “Maybe this will help make things right,” I suggested.

  “Right,” Kate smiled. “I can tell you’re only interested because it might help.”

  “Mysterious train tracks leading into a forest,” I argued. “How am I supposed to leave that alone?”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you at midnight,” she gave in. “And I want to see that secret room and slide.”

  “Of course.”

  We quickly covered up the little bit of track we had found and went our separate ways.

  Midnight couldn’t come soon enough.

  Illustration from page 18 of The Grim Knot

  CHAPTER 9

  Blurred Vision

  I was so excited I could barely contain myself. To be honest, I had been a little bored the last few months and the thought of something weird and mysterious made things better. Sure, the balloon incident had broken things up, but I missed the drama the manor and dragons had originally provided my life. Things had gotten sort of normal and I was happy with the possibility of adventure.

  I telephoned Wyatt and filled him in. Most of his questions had to do with the train tracks. “Yes, there are tracks,” I insisted.

  “And they lead into your garage?” he asked.

  “They lead to the back wall and inside there’s a large part of the garage no one can get to where the tracks go down.”

  “Who built that place?”

  “I’m wondering about that myself,” I said. “So can you make it?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the girls.”

  Don’t get me wrong, I liked Wyatt. He was rough, but funny. Originally we were enemies, but the dragons had made us friends. The only thing that bugged me about him was the way he always joked about girls. He said things like, “Girls rule and I drool.” He also liked to brag about how he was going to ask a bunch of them out. So far he hadn’t asked anyone out. All he did was drive Kate and me crazy with his wishful thinking and desperation.

  “So you’ll be there?” I questioned, adding a fake laugh.

  “Do girls like me?” he said confidently.

  “No,” I answered.

  Now it was his turn to fake laugh. “I’ll be there.”

  The rest of the afternoon dragged, and at dinnertime there was still no sign of my dad. There was, however, roast beef, fluffy mashed potatoes, dark gravy, sweet corn, and pie that was tastier than any pie I had ever eaten. As usual I ate at the counter in the kitchen by myself while Millie puttered around me cleaning up.

  “You should sell this recipe,” I said honestly.

  Millie smiled for the first time since I had been home. “You’re a nice child, Beck. I just wish your father would show up.”

  “He said he was going after something important,” I reminded her. “That’s gotta take at least a day.”

  “I suppose,” she said sighing and drying her hands on her apron.

  “Millie?” I asked. “What do you think about trains?”

  “I haven’t given it much thought, but I suppose I like them. Why?”

  I just shrugged. I guess I was hoping she knew and would suddenly blurt out the answer to where those tracks went.

  “It was windy last night,” Millie said.

  “I know. Plus I’m having kind of a hard time sleeping,” I told her. “I think it’s because of all that time in the hospital. I’m sorry if my wandering around wakes anyone up.”

  “I didn’t hear you wandering,” she insisted.

  “Last night I actually walked outside for a little bit,” I told her. Just to stretch my legs.”

  “The outdoors can be quite invigorating,” she replied.

  I sighed, feeling better about having to slip out later and follow the tracks. After all, I would just be stretching my legs again.

  After dinner I went straight to my room. I lay in bed and looked at The Grim Knot for about an hour. I reread some of the pages and stared at all the notes and pictures that were drawn in it. I knew there was more there somewhere. I just couldn’t see it. The book was kind of like the manor, filled with secrets and hidden things you couldn’t easily distinguish. I wished my dad was around to talk to, but chances were even if he were here he wouldn’t say much about the book. It wasn’t a subject he enjoyed talking about. I stared at one of the pages as if it had some hidden picture that would pop out at me. My new pasty friend had told me to look closely, but I couldn’t see anything I hadn’t noticed before.

  I closed the old book and set it on my nightstand next to my dictionary and Mr. Binkers. Then I set my alarm, turned out my light, and fell asleep.

  When the alarm rang at eleven forty-five, I jumped out of bed. I was tired, but my body was up for some excitement. I changed my clothes, used the bathroom across the hall, grabbed the metal detector and a flashlight, and then made my way out of the manor. I didn’t have a watch, but I made it back behind the garage before midnight.

  “What are you doing?” Wyatt whispered fiercely as he sprang out from behind some trees.

  Instinctively I dropped the metal detector and hit him right in the nose. He flew back howling as I tried to calm myself enough for my heart to slip back down my throat and into its proper place.

  “What the heck,” I breathed. “You scared me to death.”

  “You look plenty alive,” Wyatt said holding his snout. “I think you broke my nose.”

  “Good. You don’t spring out of the forest at someone at night.”

  “It was worth it,” he laughed. “I bet you jumped at least six feet.”

  “I should have hit you harder.”

  I couldn’t see Wyatt clearly but I could tell he was wearing a white shirt with a jacket over it. He was shorter than me with dark hair and long arms.

  “So how are you?” I asked.

  “I was fine up until now.”

  “Are you guys not getting along?” Kate asked, stepping out from around a corner of the garage.

  “He hit me,” Wyatt complained.

  “You probably deserved it.”

  I liked Kate.

  We walked over to where the track had been and I turned on the metal detector. It squealed like a hot microphone, sending feedback into the forest and probably waking all the animals. I adjusted the volume while Kate and Wyatt plugged their ears.

  “Now that you’ve woken up the entire mountainside . . .” Kate complained.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Come on.”
r />   The metal detector gave off a low beep as I traced the track away from the back of the garage and into the forest. Wyatt was right behind me and Kate was on my left. I could see a couple of stars, but for the most part the sky was hidden by clouds. It was very dark so Kate held her flashlight so that the beam was shining directly in front of the metal detector.

  “I thought we were going to see the secret room and the slide,” Wyatt whined.

  “We will later,” I whispered. “We want to see where this goes first.”

  I heard something large running in the forest and stopped to make sure it wasn’t running toward us.

  “Must have been a deer,” Kate said.

  We moved again—the sound of the metal detector and our footsteps sounded in a weird, unsettling rhythm. I jammed my leg into a tree branch that I had not seen.

  “Shine the light better,” I complained to Kate.

  Kate directed the flashlight into the air.

  “Sorry,” I apologized.

  She moved the light back.

  “So, where do you think the track goes anyway?” Wyatt asked.

  “Straight,” I answered, keeping the metal detector directly in front of me. We walked through the thin trees as the ground began to slope up just a bit.

  “You think there’s a tunnel going through the mountain?” Wyatt questioned. “Maybe there’s some sort of secret place . . . with girls.”

  Kate and I both stopped and gave Wyatt annoyed looks.

  “What? All right, then why would there be a train here?” Wyatt said defensively. “The track is covered with trees.”

  “There hasn’t been a train on these tracks in probably a hundred years,” Kate said. “The trees have grown, but the track has to go somewhere. Maybe that place is gone too . . .”

  A huge deer ran right across our path. Wyatt swore while Kate dropped the flashlight and slapped me on the arm for no reason.

  “Don’t do that,” she said.