Monster - A. Lee Martinez [77]
“I didn’t check the basement,” said Chester. “Maybe she’s there. Or maybe she’s out of the house.”
Monster hoped so. The old lady was a loony, but she had a lot of power. He would rather not tangle with her.
“Judy is in the kitchen,” said Chester. “I think we can get her and leave by the back door. If you’re quiet, you could probably sneak past the women too.”
Monster scrawled out the runes and folded them carefully into his pockets, putting one in his shirt pocket and one more in each pant pocket. A third he crumpled up into a ball and held in his fist. He took a few minutes to commit each location to memory. There wouldn’t be much time to remember in the heat of escape.
“I think Judy’s been drugged,” said Chester. “She’s acting dopey.”
“She’s always acting dopey.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We run downstairs, grab Judy, and make a run for it,” said Monster.
“You do realize that your detailed plan has three steps and two of those steps hinge on running?”
“It’s easy to criticize,” said Monster. “I don’t see you coming up with the plan.”
“Good point,” agreed Chester. “Let’s do it.”
Monster and Chester stepped out into the hall and moved as quickly to the stairs as they could without making a lot of noise. The imp trailed behind silently. Monster leaned over the banister and scanned the bottom of the staircase. There was no one there, and the front door was standing unguarded. It would’ve been easy to bolt for it, but he had to find Judy. He sized up the archway to the den. It was about eight feet wide. If he was lucky, he could slink past it without being seen.
Something meowed behind him.
There were many cats in the house. They lined the hallways and steps but were so quiet and unobtrusive that it was easy to forget they were there. Hearing a feline sound caught him by surprise.
Monster turned to face Pendragon. The cat mewed again.
“Shhhhh, kitty.” Monster scratched the cat’s head.
The imp growled at Pendragon. The cat arched his back, and Pendragon and the imp circled each other, making too much noise. Monster tried shushing them. He went to grab the imp before a fight broke, and ended up nearly getting roasted by a blast of flame from Pendragon. Monster jumped back as he beat out his smoking sleeve. He stepped on another cat’s tail and it roared like a lion. He stumbled and kicked another feline. This one honked like a goose. His foot caught the edge of a step and he tumbled down the stairs, sending cats screeching and howling in all directions. His fall came to an end as he collided with a small table, tipping over a flower vase, causing it to shatter.
The clamor of an imp wrestling with a fire-breathing cat, along with the fireballs and shrieking at the top of the stairs, destroyed any chances of being sneaky.
Monster’s vision cleared just in time to see a giant hand wrapping around his throat. It squeezed his windpipe closed and lifted him off the floor.
“You aren’t supposed to be here, are you?” said Ferdinand.
He beat her with his fists, without noticeable effect.
“I forget,” said Ferdinand to Ed. “Are we allowed to kill him?”
“I don’t think so.”
Ferdinand blew a bubble. “I guess I’ll just choke him out.”
Monster slammed the rune spell in his right hand onto her arm. She released him and staggered backwards, knocking Ed aside.
“What did you do to me?” Ferdinand asked.
“Instant vertigo,” he replied.
“You son of a—” She swung at him, but he easily dodged. She collapsed on the floor and struggled to get up.
Ed kicked his knee, and Monster fell. She raised her leg above her head and prepared to bring it down with skull-crushing force.
Chester, in the form of a paper octopus, flung himself at Ed, wrapping his tentacles around her head. Her foot came down an inch from Monster’s face as she whirled around the room.
Monster pulled another spell from his pocket and crumpled it into a ball.
“Get clear, Chester!”
The gnome folded himself into a bird and flew away as Monster hurled the rune. It bounced off Ed’s chest. She swung out with her right foot and narrowly missed striking him across