Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 ABOUT TWO HOURS LATER 5:15 P.M. Time crawled by. Babies were fussing. Beads of sweat dripped down Charlie's neck—it was hot and sticky in the room. Everyone else was getting restless, too. Someone had peeked outside and reported that

water was now rushing along Broadway and creeping up the Pottses' lawn. "I don't think that's happened before," Papa said quietly. And the wind, those shrieking gusts, were getting stronger and stronger. Whoooooo-eeeeeesh! Whoooooo-eeeeeesh! Whoooooo-eeeeeesh! "Chowie, I don't like those fairies!" Lulu cried after one terrible gust. "Make them go away!" Charlie thought of Meraki on that stormy night at sea, doing magic tricks for the passengers as the ship was tossed by the waves. He'd brought his magic kit with him—it was in their bag upstairs. That's how he could distract Lulu—it had worked during the last storm. Charlie went upstairs. As he headed down the hallway, he heard what sounded like a little boy crying. A kid must have wandered upstairs and

gotten lost, Charlie figured. Probably he'd wanted to look at the fancy toilet, like they had. Charlie wanted to help the poor little kid. He followed the crying to a bedroom down the hall. The door wasn't closed all the way. He peered inside. It was not a lost little kid crying. It was Gordon. He was sitting on his bed. Mr. Potts was standing in front of him. "Stop your blubbering!" Mr. Potts scolded. "You know I detest crying!" "I'm sorry, Papa! I'm just—" "You're so weak, son," Mr. Potts said. "You need to toughen up. Come on. I want you downstairs now!" Mr. Potts turned to leave the room. Charlie quickly ducked into the bathroom. He sat on the edge of the tub, his mind turning. Stop your blubbering. You're so weak. Those were the exact same words Gordon used when he picked on Charlie. How many times had

Mr. Potts yelled at him like this? Did he always speak to Gordon in such a nasty way? Gordon hadn't followed Mr. Potts downstairs; Charlie could still hear him crying. Charlie's stomach flopped. No matter how mad Papa got at Charlie, he'd never talked to him like that. Charlie felt sorry for Gordon. For half a second, he even wondered if should go in there, to see if Gordon was okay. But there was a big mirror in the bathroom. When Charlie stood up, he caught a glimpse of himself in the lantern light. His lip was mostly healed, but it still ached. He heard Gordon's barking laugh. Haw! Haw! Haw! Why should Charlie feel sorry for the bully who'd aimed a pointed stick at him? Charlie shook his head to clear his thoughts, then headed to get his magic kit. Which trick would he do first for Lu and the other kids? The French drop? The vanishing balls?

All of them, he decided. And I'll start with— Just then, panicked shouts erupted from downstairs. "The water! It's coming into the house!" Charlie darted to the staircase and made it halfway down before he froze. To his shock, water was rushing across the floor below. And it was rising higher by the second. Mr. Early's voice echoed in his head. "The sea suddenly rose up…" And then a stream of panicked people came barreling up the stairs. Charlie was caught in the stampede. The crowd pushed him forward, down the hall. Charlie didn't see Mama or Papa or Lulu anywhere. A lantern went out, and now there was barely any light. In the rush of pushing and shoving, Charlie wound up in a dark room. The wind let out an earsplitting shriek. Whoo-eeeeeesh! Whoo-eeeeeesh! Whooeeeeeesh!

The lanterns were out in this room, too. Charlie fumbled around, pawing at the air until he hit a wall. He leaned against it, trying to brace himself as the house shook harder and harder. Plaster rained down from the ceiling. He strained to see in the dark. Was he alone in here? Did he hear someone shouting? Or crying? Or was that just the wind? And then came the strongest blast yet. Whoo-eeeeeeeesh! The wall behind him shuddered. The sound was louder than anything Charlie had heard today. There was another crack and the wall behind him was suddenly… gone. The wind grabbed hold of Charlie and pulled him back. "Mamaaaaa! Papaaaaa!" Charlie was sucked out into the darkness, into the jaws of the storm.