Chapter 14

chapter fourteen Movement jostles me awake. The first thing I notice: the sound of the strayfurs and Debra-Bulb is gone. Whew. The second thing I notice... The ground is moving? Or we're moving? Something is moving. I glance out the window, and— GUYS WAKE UP. WE'RE MOVING, But my friends are already very awake. In the back seat, Quint and Globlet are playing something like checkers—using glowing fingers as pieces. "What the—? What's happening?" I ask.

"You parked on top of a clumberthod," Globlet says, like I should have known that. She kicks back, leaning against a pile of overflowing bags. It would seem Quint accumulated A LOT of souvenirs while I was snoozing. "Yay for happy accidents, right?" Quint says, right before he slams a finger down onto the board. "And for another happy victory." Globlet smacks the board. "I am losing VERY SORELY RIGHT NOW!" "Uh, guys?" I start, trying to dial them back in. "How is this a happy accident?" "Well," Quint says, "the clumberthod got us right past Debra-Bulb's roadblock." "Oh. That is good," I say. My wake-up panic is starting to settle down. "How long have we been on top of this guy?" Globlet grins. "Long enough for us to learn a ton about you. You talk in your sleep. Lots of stuff about Pop-Tarts, cheat codes, and June—" "OK!" I exclaim. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Quint shrugs. "You seemed comfy."

Something in the distance gets Globlet's attention, and she suddenly hops to her feet. "We're nearing the crossing," she says, crawling into the passenger seat. "A river we'll need to pass to reach the Hidden City. The clumberthod won't take us much farther." In the distance, I see a shadowy canyon. I have zero idea how I'm supposed to drive our taxi down—and off —this massive, loping monster. But Globlet simply tosses a bag of candy out the window, and Seabiscuit follows, leaping to the ground below.

"Good-bye, new pal!" Globlet calls to the clumberthod. "I hope we'll keep in touch! I'll write! But you have to write first!" As soon as the giant creature is out of earshot, Globlet spins around— Don't EVER tell ANYONE we did that. Riding a cumber thought is literally the most illegal thing you can do in this dimension. Also, I took his wallet. Goblet.