4. The Wet Walk

THE WET WALK 4 The shadow belonged to Mr. Nekobi, the old man who took care of the school. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew!" Mr. Nekobi was the one who had chosen Sam to be the school's hall monitor. He had told Sam, Antonio, and Lucy the truth about the school. It was a secret shared by just the four of them.

"Oh man, are we glad to see you!" Antonio said. "We're all trapped!" Lucy exclaimed. "And Orson Eerie is behind this wild storm." "He's trying to come back— as a real person!" Sam said. Mr. Nekobi ran his fingers over his wrinkled chin. "I've long feared that was Orson's plan." "We think this big freeze is part of Orson's plan to return," Sam said. "So we need to warm things up FAST! How do we turn the heat back on?" "The heat in this school has always been fussy," Mr. Nekobi replied. "Just tell us what to do," Sam said.

"You'll need to go to the teachers' lounge," Mr. Nekobi said. "There, you will find a thermostat. Turn it up to the highest possible temperature. That should force the radiators back on." "That's all?" Antonio asked. "EASY!" Mr. Nekobi shook his head. "At Eerie Elementary, nothing is ever easy." He looked back at the gym. "I'll keep Ms. Grinker busy. Good luck. The friends took off running. But, as Sam turned the first corner, he saw that Mr. Nekobi was right. This wouldn't be easy.

The windows all flew open at once! The blizzard stormed into the hallway! Snow filled the air, and icy water splashed down. THUMP! SLAM! SAA-WOOSH! The three friends huddled together. Lucy shouted over the howling wind, "Orson's bringing the storm inside— to stop us!"

Slushy water flooded the hallways. "Soon, this water will turn to ice," Sam said. "If the floors freeze, we'll never make it to the teachers' lounge. We'll be slipping and sliding everywhere!" Suddenly, there was a BZZ-ITT? and the lights shut off. The wet hall was very dark and very spooky. For a moment, the wind stopped wailing. A loud creaking sound filled the hall. Sam turned to see the bathroom door opening.

But nobody stepped through the doorway. Instead, something shiny and metal rolled out. Slushy water splashed as the strange object rolled toward them. It stopped at Antonio's feet. Lucy gulped. The sound echoed in the quiet hallway. Slowly, Sam crept toward the object.