William Arden - The Secret of the Crooked Cat

“You think it’s the robber, Jupe?” Andy asked.

“I do,” Jupiter said. “I think he did fail to find what he wanted in the cats, so he searched the trailer. If he found it in the trailer, he’s going to be really dangerous now. If you see him, just follow him. Don’t try to catch him.”

They all nodded, and Bob and Andy vanished to the left towards the tunnel of love and the ocean side of the roller coaster, Jupiter and Pete moved quietly between the sagging roller coaster and the laughing mouth of the fun house.

The night made the abandoned rides and shows look like the landscape of the moon. Pete and Jupiter had passed the fun house, and were continuing on round the ghostly roller coaster, when Pete suddenly crouched down.

“Jupe! I hear something!” Pete whispered.

In the darkness under the beams of the roller coaster, and somewhere behind them now, they heard a small sound. It came again — a soft scraping like heavy shoes on rough wood. Then, what could only be quick footsteps running back away from them. The heavy steps of a man.

“I see him!” Pete hissed to Jupiter. “He’s going towards the fun house.”

“Can you see who he is?”

“No,” Pete said. “He’s gone into the fun house!”

“Hurry, Pete. There might be another way out!” They hurried silenty across the moonlit open space to the gaping mouth of the fun house.

Inside, they listened. They were in a dark passage that faded into blackness ahead. Shafts of silver moonlight through holes in the rotted roof were the only illumination.

“He had to go straight ahead, Jupe,” Pete whispered. As if to confirm Pete’s statement, they heard a sharp, creaking noise in front of them, followed instantly by a thud and a sharp cry. Something heavy seemed to slide and bang against wood. The creaking sound came again, with another bang — and silence.

They looked at each other uneasily, and began to move cautiously forward along the dark, moonlit passage. Vaguely, they made out a closed door straight ahead. “Be careful when you open — ” Jupiter began.

The First Investigator got no farther in his warning about the door. With a sudden creaking noise the floor of the passage dropped away at a steep angle. They slipped flat on their backs, and slid wildly down the tilted floor as if on a playground slide.

There was nothing to hold on to. Flailing their arms, they slid down pell-mell until they hit with a thud against the wall ahead.

“Oooof!” The breath was knocked out of both of them.

Untangling their arms and legs, they sat up and watched in dismay as the floor that had tilted down so suddenly creaked and groaned and swung up again, becoming the ceiling of the dark, narrow hole in which they sat!

“The, whole floor tilted down!” Pete exclaimed. “It must be balanced so that when someone walks on it past the centre it drops like a see-saw.”

“It’s a fun house trick that still works,” Jupiter realized. “The robber must have fallen down it ahead of us, but where did he go?”

“There’s only one way,” Pete said.

Directly in front of them was a narrow, round opening like a pipe. There was no other way out of the hole.

“Be careful,” Jupiter whispered, “there might be a trick.”

They crawled into the narrow tunnel. It was short, and they emerged into a room. Light filtered through wide cracks in the ceiling.

Except that it wasn’t the ceiling above them — it was the floor!

“Juuuuupe!” Pete’s voice quavered.

They seemed to be upside down in the dim, silvery room. The floor with its chairs, tables, and rug was above their heads. A ceiling light fixture stood straight up in front of them, and upside-down paintings floated in front of their startled eyes.

Jupiter whispered, “Another trick, Pete. They probably used lighting effects to make it better when they were operating.”

“You’re sure we’re not upside down?” Pete said doubtfully.

“Of course I am,” Jupiter insisted. “There’s another round tunnel ahead leading out of here. Come on.”

The new tunnel was much larger. As they stepped through, it moved and rocked. They realized that it had once been a revolving barrel. Though it no longer turned, it was still unsteady, and they stumbled through holding on to the rocking sides.

“Listen,” Jupiter warned.

Somewhere ahead was a faint noise, like someone stepping very quietly.

“There,” Pete whispered, and then gasped, “Oh —!”

They were in a longer and wider room than the other. It’s ceiling was badly rotted, and bright moonlight filled it, casting deep, moving shadows. But it wasn’t the shadows that had made Pete gulp. Jupiter stared in fright.

A strange shape moved near the wall to the right. A monstrous apparition that looked straight at the boys. It was tall, horribly thin, with an enormous swollen head and arms as long and thin as tentacles. Its whole weird body seemed to flow and shift in the silver light like a giant, human snake.

“Wha… what… is it?” Pete stammered, moving close to Jupiter.

Jupiter gulped, “I don’t know… I… ” and then began to laugh nervously. “It’s mirrors, Pete! We’re in the crazy hall of mirrors! We’re seeing ourselves in twisted mirrors!”

“Mirrors?” Pete swallowed, “then why do I hear walking?”

“I don’t hear — ” Jupiter began.

“Oh, no! Is that a mirror?” Pete wailed very low. Directly ahead, away from the mirrors, a shape! — crouched in the dim moonlight as if listening, watching. A broad-shouldered shape, bare to the waist, with wild black hair and a black beard.

“Khan!” Pete cried louder than he had intended. The strong man became alert “Come out of there!”

Jupiter gripped Pete’s arm. “He can’t see us.”

Khan growled. “I hear you! I’ve got you now!”

“That way!” Pete whispered “A door!” They slipped through the door Pete had seen among the mirrors. They found themselves in a narrow corridor with no ceiling. Ten feet inside it branched into two passages. Behind them, they heard a sharp oath as Khan found the door.

“Left, Jupe, that’s the way out!” Pete urged. The Second Investigator led them racing along the passages that branched every ten feet or so, always taking the left turn. Somewhere behind them Khan pounded along, banging into walls. The boys at last reached a door, tore it open, and came out — into the hall of mirrors again!

“It’s a maze!” Jupiter realized in dismay. “Another fun house trick. We’ve gone in circles.”

“Khan’s coming behind us!” Pete groaned.

Jupiter chewed his Up. “There’s always a key. That way got us nowhere. We’ll go the other way each turn!” They hurried back through the same door they had started with, and this time they took each right turn when the passages branched. For a time as they ran through the passages they heard Khan floundering behind them. Then his noises faded, and they reached a double door. They tumbled through it — and stood in the open between the side of the fun house and the entrance to the tunnel of love. “It worked, Jupe!” Pete said.

“Yes, it did.” Jupiter preened. “Now we’ll find Mr. Carson, and tell him that Khan — ”

There was a sudden tearing crash of wood. As the two boys stared in fright, the massive figure of Khan smashed through a wall of the fun house, his eyes gleaming wildly!

Jupiter and Pete crouched low in the shadows, holding their breath as Khan stood listening where he had smashed through the wall of the Fun House.

“He doesn’t see us yet,” Jupiter whispered, his voice shaky, “but he will soon, Pete.”

“We can’t get to the fence,” Pete said. “He’s between us and the fence. But if we don’t get out of here, he’ll see — ”