Chris Grabenstein - The Hanging Hill

“Where’s the party?” asked Mrs. Stone.

“Downstairs. We’ve set up a room.”

“In the basement?” Mrs. Stone sounded skeptical.

“It’s cool down there!” said Derek.

Grimes smiled. “This party is really for the children, Mrs. Stone. Ice cream and cake. Pizza. That sort of thing.”

“But we can come, too?”

Grimes hesitated, then smiled. “Of course. We look forward to the pleasure of your company. And now, will all those not directly involved with Curiosity Cat please leave the room?”

“Excuse me?” said Mrs. Stone.

“This is a closed rehearsal!” announced Hakeem. “Anyone not in the cast or in the crew must vacate this room. Immediately!”

Judy turned to Zack. “I could skip this first rehearsal.”

“No way,” said Zack. “This is the whole reason we’re here. Zipper and I will be fine. We’ll probably just hang out upstairs.”

“You sure, Zack?”

“I’m heading over to the library,” said Mrs. McKenna. “You’re welcome to join me there, Zack.”

“Thanks.”

“Mrs. Jennings?” Grimes said crossly. “Are we ready to proceed?”

“I guess.”

“See ya later, Mom.”

Then Zack, Mrs. McKenna, and Mrs. Stone hurried out the door.

62

“I have never been thrown out of a rehearsal in my life!” fumed Mrs. Stone.

“My first time, too,” said Zack. They were standing in the lower lobby outside the closed doors to rehearsal room A.

“Would you like to join me at the library?” Mrs. McKenna asked Mrs. Stone.

“Why?”

“You might find a book.”

“And?”

“Right. Okay. See you back here at seven.”

That got Mrs. Stone’s motor running. “I don’t have a thing to wear!” She clicked away on her high heels.

“How about you, Zack? Want to hit the library?”

“Maybe later. I need to take Zipper out for a walk.”

“Okay. Do you know where the library is?”

Zack nodded even though he had no idea where it was located.

He nodded because the ghost of Bartholomew Buckingham had just materialized over Mrs. McKenna’s left shoulder.

“What ho, Demon Slayer!”

Apparently, it hadn’t been a nightmare.

63

Zack waited for Mrs. McKenna to head up the curving stairway to the main lobby.

She, being an adult who wasn’t Judy, hadn’t seen or heard the swaggering ghost, his lantern jaw set on “heroic,” his hands firmly planted at his hips.

“Uh, I gotta go.” Zack bolted for the door they had used yesterday to head down the spiral staircase and explore the basement.

He slammed it behind him.

“What ho, Zachary!”

Buckingham was waiting for him on the other side.

“My, but thou art a nimble-footed knave!” He dipped into a bow that involved a lot of hand flourishes in front of his face. “I am your hoped-for guide spirit, here to assist you.”

“What?”

“Did you not recently wish that one of the night fliers would drop by during the day to give you a solid hint about what it is you are actually supposed to do?”

Busted.

“Yeah. So, what am I supposed to do?”

Buckingham struck his hands-on-hips pose again. “Why, slay the demons.”

“Right. But how?”

“That I cannot say.”

“Why not?”

“Rules. Regulations. Those of us who tarry amidst the earthly ether are prohibited from directly interfering with mortal life.”

“Listen, Mr. Buckingham, you’ve got the wrong guy.”

That puzzled him. “You are Zachary Jennings, are you not?”

“Yeah, but…”

“You are the hero of the crossroads, is this not also true?”

“Kind of …”

“You, bonny lad, are special.”

“Hey, I never asked to be special, okay?”

Buckingham nodded knowingly. “And I never asked to be ruggedly handsome, but, alas, as you can plainly see, I am.”

“Look, I’m just a kid.”

“Tut-tut. We have no time for modesty. In fact we have very little time for anything! You have less than nine hours.”

“What? There’s a time limit?”

“Indeed. Now then, I am not allowed to tell you all that I know.” Buckingham leaned in to whisper. “How ever, my spies report seeing two burly ruffians secreting a theatrical trunk deep within the bowels of this basement.”

“The what?”

“Sorry. The innermost recesses of the theater’s subterranean maze of storage rooms and hidden tunnels.”

“I really think you people should find someone else.”

“Fie upon it! Screw your courage to the sticking place, Zachary! We need you. Meghan needs you. Derek and Judy, too.”

“Are they in trouble?”

“I am not at liberty to divulge—”

“Are they in trouble?”

Buckingham first looked around to see if anyone was listening. Then he nodded frantically and mouthed a silent Yes!

“What kind of trouble?”

“The worst sort! Find the trunk, Zack! And beware Pandemonium!”

“Why do people keep saying that?”

“What?”

“‘Beware Pandemonium.’”

“Good question. I, forsooth, can not answer it.”

“Fine. Then I’ll just have to find out for myself.”

“Huzzah! That’s the spirit, lad!”

For the second time in one day, Zack realized he had accidentally said yes to something he really didn’t want to do.

64

Reginald Grimes sat at the head table in the rehearsal room, pretending to listen to the actors reading their parts out loud.

He would probably give up show business when he became a billionaire. He wouldn’t have time to direct vain and immature actors. He would have a multinational empire to rule. An army of demonic mercenaries to command.

“There will never be another cat like that!”

He looked up.

Meghan McKenna and Derek Stone were reading the scene that led up to the song about the missing cat.

“No, sir. Not in a million years!”

Jinx.

Grimes wondered if he could add a feline name to the list of souls to be resurrected.

Jinx might like to sit on his lap purring contentedly while he, Reginald Grimes, sat on his throne ruling the world!

65

It was only eleven a.m. but Zack was already exhausted.

He sat on the top step of the spiral staircase and gazed down into the basement below.

Okay. He had to figure out this “Beware Pandemonium” thing. Buckingham had just said it. The janitor had said it yesterday.

Zack knew that the Pandemonium Players was the name of the theater’s resident acting company, but why should he be afraid of them?

He felt a chilling breeze drift up the corkscrewing metal steps. He leaned forward and saw yet another ghost materialize—a woman with wildly curly hair. She wafted away from the staircase and weaved a fluid path across the clutter of props and boxes stored underneath the main stage.

Wait a second.

Zack had seen the back of this particular specter before.

In North Chester!

Sitting in the breakfast room of the Marriott extended-stay hotel across from a guy sizzling in an electric chair.

It was Doll Face!

Mad Dog Murphy’s girlfriend.

Zack clanked down the circular staircase as fast as he could to find out what the heck she was doing here.

66

Zipper was dreaming about squirrels again.

He liked the pillows on the bed at this new place. Nice and lumpy, squishy and mushy. He felt like he was in heaven, sleeping on top of a giant fleecy squeeze toy stuffed with Snausages.

And the sun hit these particular pillows perfectly! In fact, he was currently nestled in the most exquisite patch of sunshine and warmth. He figured that it was probably what lying on a beach blanket was all about for humans. He’d seen stuff on TV. Commercials for a place called Florida.