10 The World Under the Stairs

Ten The World Under the Stairs Swoosh! Swoosh! Pink air swirled all around the flying carpet. "We did it! We're free!" cried Keeah. She looked over the side until Plud was a tiny dot on the ground. Then she turned to Eric. "Thank you. You helped me, even though you didn't know me. Now let me get you home." Eric scanned the distance. "The magic stairs faded. I don't know where they are now." "I saw them in a dream once," Keeah said, narrowing her eyes. "They were in the ice hills of Tarabat. Let's try there. Julie, head north!"

Julie pulled hard, and the rug swept upward. As they flew, snow began to swirl in the air. Cold winds howled over them. A few minutes later, they were swerving through narrow mountain passes and over icy peaks.

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Suddenly, a rainbow of colors glistened ahead of them. "There it is!" cried Neal. "We found it!" Julie tugged a fringe. The carpet dipped toward the hills. It slowed and hovered at the foot of the stairs. The three friends hopped to the bottom step. Eric turned to Keeah. "Galen was right. We did enter a world in trouble." Keeah nodded. "But a world with hope, too. Thanks to all of you, I can keep fighting Lord Sparr." Eric handed her Galen's invisible cloak. "Galen said we can't take anything with us." Keeah smiled. She held the soccer ball in her hands for a moment, then tossed it to Eric. "And don't leave anything behind!" Then she tugged on the carpet. Obediently, it pulled away from the steps. "Will we see you again?" Eric called out. The icy air began to sing all around Keeah. "If the magic works, you will!" A moment later, she soared over the hills. Eric stared into the snowy air until she was gone. "If the magic works?" "Better hurry," Julie said, starting up the steps, "or we'll be stuck in this snowstorm forever."

The three friends ran up the stairs and entered the small room in Eric's basement. Eric turned to take one last look at the strange world of snow beneath them. "Good-bye, Droon," he said. He touched the wall next to him. Click! The light went on. The cement floor instantly took shape beneath them. The world under the stairs disappeared. As if it had never existed. The three friends just stared at one another for a long time. Finally Eric opened the door and walked out into the basement. It was still cluttered and messy. "I don't know," he said, dropping the soccer ball onto the dusty chair. "It does seem kind of impossible, doesn't it?" "Oh, yeah?" Neal said, holding his stomach. "I still feel that rug bouncing under me." "And we helped Keeah," Julie said. "That was real. It was too cool not to be real!" Eric slid a box in front of the door. "Galen told us to keep Droon a secret. And Keeah said we'll know we're going back, 'if the magic works.' Until then, I guess we just have to wait." Julie checked her watch. "We've been gone for hours. We'd better tell our parents we're okay."

Together they tramped up to the kitchen. Eric took a deep breath and opened the door. His mother was sitting at the dinner table. She had a shocked look on her face. "Eric?" "Mom, let me try to explain. We—" "Eric," she said, "you'll never get the job done if you give up so soon." She pointed to the clock. It was only ten minutes after two. "We did all that in ten minutes?" Neal said. Julie's mouth dropped open. "That means—" Mrs. Hinkle stood up. "You've finished the entire basement?" She started for the door. "Mom, no!" Eric said, blocking the door. "Actually, we didn't get far. There's still a lot to do." She glared at him. "Because after the basement is the attic. And the porch. And the garage—" Wham! The basement door slammed shut as Eric and his friends rushed back down the stairs. They stopped at the bottom and stared. Floating silently in the middle of the messy room was the soccer ball. Across the surface of the ball were letters written in thin blue ink.