Chapter 6

Chapter 6 THE OL TRAPDOOR TRICK... I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY FELL FOR THAT. Ash couldn't even find her voice to scream. She was in complete free fall. She reached out, but there was nothing to hold on to. Nothing to slow her fall at all. And no way to tell what awaited her below. "HAAALP!" cried Po. "Somebody do something!" yelled Jodi. So it wasn't just her falling. Her friends were there, too. Ash wasn't sure whether that made it better or worse.

Then someone accidentally kicked her in the face. It's worse, she decided. Definitely worse. She braced herself for impact. There had to be an end to this fall eventually. And it was going to hurt. But when Ash finally stopped, there wasn't any pain. She heard a loud slap, and her fall slowed, until she was…drifting. Water, she thought. Thank goodness. We landed in water! She was relieved, but the feeling didn't last. Her momentum had carried her below the water's

surface. It was pitch-black down there, and she'd lost all sense of direction. She could only hold her breath for so long. Which way was up? She saw a dim light out of the corner of her eye. It was coming from a strange-shaped block, more of a small rectangle than a cube…. A sea pickle! Po was placing a colony of sea pickles on the stony ground below. They gave off just enough light for Ash to get her bearings. She swam upward, and saw that the others were doing the same. Po was the last one to burst through the surface. Ash could barely see him, but she heard him gasping for air. "Po, you mad genius," she said. "I can't believe you had sea pickles in your inventory this whole time." "I can't believe you didn't," said Po. "Sea pickles are the best." "SAVED BY SEA PICKLES," said Harper. "I never would have believed it." "Where are we?" asked Jodi. Her voice echoed in the dark.

"It must be some kind of underground reservoir," said Ash. "Very underground. WE WERE FALLING FOR A LONG TIME…." "I think I see the shore," Morgan said. "That way." Together they swam to a small stretch of sand. The sand bar was wedged between the water and a sheer stone wall. "THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN CLIMB OUT," Jodi said. Harper peered upward. "We could build a staircase, but it would take some time. We may be better off digging through the wall." "Tomorrow," Ash said. "Anything might be waiting for us on the other side of it, and we just had a very close call." "You're right," Harper agreed. "WE SHOULD REGROUP. EAT SOME FOOD, SET UP OUR BEDS…" "Ooh," said Po. "Dungeon camping. It could be a new trend." "Anyway, it must be getting late," said Ash. She turned to Morgan. "AND YOU STILL HAVE TO

MEMORIZE YOUR LINES FOR THE PLAY." In the darkness, she heard Morgan chuckle nervously. At school the next day, Ash felt like she was in free fall all over again. There was just so much to do. As stage manager, she was expected to keep an eye on every aspect of the play. The actors, the sets, the props, light and sound—she was responsible for keeping all of it on track. To make matters more complicated, this was a play no one had ever staged before. Ms. Minerva had wanted the students to do The Phantom of the Opera, a famous musical based on a famous book, but she hadn't been able to get permission, so she had written a new play, all by herself. It was called The Phantasm of the Cafetorium, and much like their teacher herself, it was kooky. Ms. Minerva seemed to have combined the story of Phantom of the Opera with her own love for French pastries. "Creative people must look for inspiration

everywhere!" she'd said. In fact, Ms. Minerva had encouraged students to look for inspiration in their own hobbies and interests. Harper, who was in charge of the props, had taken that advice to heart. She'd decided to give her creations a blocky Minecraft twist. "Remind you of anything?" Harper asked when Ash came by to check on her. She held up a rectangular box about the size of her forearm. She squeezed it, and one end glowed bright red. Ash gasped. "It looks just like a redstone torch!" she said.