The Knights of Silversnow (The Secrets of Droon #16)

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1: Turvy-Topsy

  2: Pesty Pests!

  3: Riddles in the Woods

  4: Scary Caravan

  5: Out of the Frosty Earth

  6: The Sleepers Awake

  7: Strange Discoveries

  8: A Big, Big Secret

  9: The Battle of Battles?

  10: The Adventure of the Wand

  The Adventure Continues …

  Also Available

  Copyright

  “I’m going to use it. I can’t use it. Yes I will! No I won’t. Here I go. I better not. I’m using it!”

  “I definitely agree.”

  Eric Hinkle and Neal Kroger were pacing back and forth across their friend Julie Rubin’s front yard. A large FOR SALE sign was sticking out of the lawn next to them. Julie’s father had gotten a new job and Julie was moving away — that very day.

  But it wasn’t the sign that the two boys were talking about. It was the object in Eric’s hand. It had a narrow golden shaft about a foot long with a glowing purple flower at its tip. It was a magical object called the Wand of Urik.

  And it came from Droon.

  “I still can’t believe you found the wand,” said Neal, wanting to touch the wand but not daring to. “It was lost in Droon forever and here you go and find it just like that!”

  Droon was the strange and mysterious world Eric and his friends had discovered under his basement. Since the first time they had descended the rainbow-colored stairs, Droon had filled their lives with wonder, adventure, and danger.

  And friends, too. That was the best part.

  Their closest friend in Droon was a young wizard named Princess Keeah.

  Together with Galen Longbeard, the old first wizard of Droon, and Max, his spider troll helper, and many other friendly folks, Eric, Neal, and Julie had helped the princess keep Droon free from the clutches of a wicked sorcerer named Lord Sparr.

  Right now, Sparr was riding a huge fiery snake through the old underworld of Goll. Galen was following Sparr, trying to stop the sorcerer’s latest evil plan. Whatever that was.

  “The wand really found me,” said Eric, stopping to stare at the wand. “It was disguised as an old stick. I can’t believe I kept throwing it away, but it kept finding me again!”

  Neal peered closely at the wand’s bright flower. “Probably because you’re sort of a wizard.”

  Eric smiled at that. He was sort of a wizard.

  Ever since he had been struck by a blast of Princess Keeah’s magic, he had been able to do strange things.

  He could make powerful blue light shoot from his fingertips. He could speak to his friends just using his thoughts. And he had visions of things that hadn’t happened yet.

  Eric looked at Julie’s front door. It was open.

  “Maybe I’m supposed to have the wand,” he said. “Just to keep Julie from moving away. Maybe that’s why it followed me, you know?”

  “But Keeah said magic is tricky,” Neal said. “So maybe we shouldn’t —”

  Just then — rmmm! — a large moving van rumbled down the street toward Julie’s house.

  Eric shuddered. “That’s it. I can’t let Julie move away. I’m doing it!”

  Feeling the power of the wand surge through him, Eric marched up to Julie’s front door.

  Piles of boxes were stacked up just inside the door. Julie’s father was removing paintings from the walls and stacking them on the sofa.

  Holding the wand behind his back, Eric pulled open the screen door and walked in.

  “Hi, Mr. Rubin,” said Eric. “Is Julie around?”

  “Hi, Eric, Neal,” said Mr. Rubin with a sigh. “Forgive the mess. We have so much … stuff. Julie! Your friends are here!” He smiled at the kids, then carried the paintings out of the room.

  A moment later, Julie came downstairs carrying a big carton full of toys. Her cat, Pinky, was nestled right in the middle of them. Eric could see that Julie’s eyes were red. She’d been crying.

  “Hi, guys,” she said. “I have so many baby toys I haven’t seen for years. They make me remember all kinds of stuff.”

  Eric checked to see that they were alone, then, grinning, he brought the wand around for Julie to see. The flower at its tip was glowing brightly.

  Julie stared at it. “Oh, my gosh. Is that —”

  “Yes!” Neal blurted out. “The Wand of Urik! It followed Eric up from Droon! Now we have it!”

  Julie’s eyes widened. “Do you think it could … No, Keeah warned us … I mean, that wand created the rainbow stairs! It’s got too much power to fool with. Shouldn’t we bring it back?”

  “We’ll bring it back,” said Eric. “Definitely. Just as soon as we do — this!”

  Julie drew a breath. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Pretty sure!” said Neal, stepping back. “At least, I think so….”

  With a quick flourish, Eric waved the wand over his head. Remembering the riddles Galen had spoken when he used the wand, he said, “Staying is good. Julie is good. Julie is staying!”

  Suddenly, the wand flooded the room with quivering purple light that threw Eric sharply backward. “Whoa! That’s power!” he said.

  An instant later, the light faded and the room went back to normal.

  “That was cool,” said Neal, helping Eric up.

  Julie looked around. “Okay, now what —”

  Brrrng! The phone rang loudly in the kitchen. The kids could hear Mr. Rubin pick it up.

  “Hello? Yes, it is. What? Really? But I thought … Yes. Are you sure? Okay. Tomorrow. Yes!”

  He hung up the phone, then came into the living room and removed his glasses.

  “Dad, what is it?” asked Julie.

  “It’s the most amazing thing,” he said. “My old company offered me an even better job. I’m … I’m going to take it. Julie, we’re not moving!”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Dad, is this true? I mean, are you kidding? I mean — yay!”

  “Yay is right!” Mr. Rubin exclaimed. “I’ve got to go tell your mother! Honey —”

  He rushed from the room.

  With a huge grin, Eric slid the wand into his belt and folded his arms. “Yes, yes. Applause won’t be necessary. Nice, but not necessary —”

  Julie began jumping up and down. “Thank you, Eric! This is so great! It’s greater than great! It’s unbelievable! This is awesome! Pinky!”

  Julie scooped her cat into her arms and twirled around. “Pinky, we’re not leaving! Oh, Pinky, isn’t this great?”

  “Woof!” said the cat.

  Julie stopped twirling. “Pinky … ?”

  “Woof! Woooof!” The cat leaped from her arms and shot behind a stack of packing boxes.

  Neal squinted at the cat. “Has Pinky been eating dog food by mistake?”

  “Uh-oh….” Eric stared at the wand in his belt. The gleaming flower at its tip dulled for a second. Then one of the purple petals shriveled and fell, vanishing before it hit the carpet.

  He looked up. Neither Julie nor Neal had seen it.

  Eric trembled suddenly. “Um … I think we’d better get to Droon right away —”

  He headed to the door, then stopped short, his friends bumping into him from behind.

  “Holy cow,” said Neal. “Who are they?”

  The moving van was nowhere in sight. Instead, a procession of figures in long, hooded cloaks was marching slowly up the street. They kept chanting, “Om — yee — Pesh! Peshhhhh!”

  Julie shook her head. “Those guys are not from around here. Pesh? That’s not even a word —”

  “And thos
e aren’t even guys,” said Neal. “Look!”

  A green tail flicked up behind one of the hooded figures as it tossed a dark ball into the air. The ball rose high, then made a sudden crackling noise.

  An instant later, a sleek flying lizard appeared in the sky over them. It had several sets of wings along its back and many legs beneath it. It coiled in the air and made a loud hissing sound.

  “This is not supposed to happen,” said Neal.

  Eric shook his head. “It’s because of the wand. I shouldn’t have used it.”

  A moment later — poomf! — the lizard was gone. The hooded creatures were gone. The children stood alone in Julie’s front yard.

  Julie turned. “Guys, I think we’d better —”

  “I think so, too!” said Neal.

  The three friends dashed across the street to Eric’s house. Bursting into the kitchen, they found — blam! clonk! slam! — the kitchen cabinets banging open and shut, and the pots and pans clanging and clattering off the shelves.

  Neal dodged a flying saucepan. “Yikes! Things are sure getting turvy-topsy around here!”

  “Don’t you mean topsy-turvy?” asked Julie.

  Neal laughed. “Sure, on a normal day!”

  “Gang, let’s go!” said Eric. “Now!”

  In a flash, they were down the basement stairs and heading straight for the closet underneath.

  Opening the closet door, Julie switched on the ceiling light, and the kids piled in. Eric closed the door and turned off the light. Click.

  The closet went dark, then — whoosh! — a staircase stood curving down from the house, shimmering in every color of the rainbow.

  “The wand created these stairs ages ago,” said Eric. “I shouldn’t have used it.”

  Julie turned to him. “We all wanted to use it. So, okay, Pinky barked and we saw a flying lizard. I’m still glad you used it to keep me here.”

  “That was the easy part,” he replied. “The hard part will be fixing things —”

  Clang! Blam! Pans were still flying upstairs.

  “And cleaning up!” said Neal. “Let’s go!”

  Sticking close together, the three friends descended the stairs. Just as the rainbow light began to fade, they spotted a yellow circle of light.

  It was the outline of a small round door.

  “Should we knock?” asked Neal.

  “Let’s be careful and just peek in,” said Julie.

  Eric stepped off the stairs and quietly opened the door. Beyond it was a room cheerily decorated with a small bed and pink walls. “Hey, it looks like Keeah’s room in Jaffa City —”

  Suddenly, the far door burst open and Princess Keeah dashed in, bolting the door behind her. Her golden hair was a mess, her clothes torn and dirty, her eyes wild.

  “Keeah?” said Eric. “Is everything okay?”

  She whirled around. “No! Here they come!”

  Julie blinked. “Here who come —”

  “The marmets!”

  Blam! The far door blasted open and a horde of furry little orange creatures leaped in. They were squealing and yelping and shouting and crying a single word.

  “CHEEEEEEESE!”

  “They’re all over the palace,” cried Keeah. “Help me catch them!”

  But already the fuzzy marmets were everywhere. They swung from the ceiling lights and hung from the bedposts. They crawled over the windowsill and scurried under the chair.

  “Cheeeeeese!” snarled one marmet, leaping onto Keeah’s bookshelf.

  “Get off there!” Keeah snapped, grabbing a broom and whisking the marmet away.

  As Eric jumped to join her, Keeah saw the wand hanging from his belt. “Eric, is that —”

  He grinned at her. “Yes, the Wand of Urik! It sort of followed me to my house.”

  “I can’t believe you found it!”

  “Found it,” said Neal. “And used it. And —”

  “Woo-hoo!” came a booming laugh.

  King Zello, a huge Viking of a man, came bouncing in, practically filling the room with his hugeness. “Get these pesky varmints off me!”

  Two marmets dangled from his helmet.

  Laughing, Neal grabbed one marmet in each hand. They turned to him, stuck out their tongues, and licked his face.

  “Yuck!” he cried, letting them go.

  “Tricked you!” said one marmet, scurrying away. “Now to find some cheese!”

  Queen Relna, Keeah’s mother, dashed in with Max, the spider troll. Max carried a large sack with his two front legs.

  The queen nabbed three creatures and tossed them over her head, where Max caught them in his sack. “So much for you!” she shouted.

  “Where did the marmets come from?” asked Eric, grabbing one that dropped from the ceiling.

  “From there!” said Max, pointing out the window. In the center of the palace courtyard, where a fountain usually ran with sweet, cool water, there was now a rocky, earthen hole. A steady stream of marmets was pouring from the hole.

  “An earthquake rumbled through here early this morning,” King Zello said, tossing three chittering marmets into the sack. “The whole countryside’s been hit.”

  Max jumped to the ceiling light and swatted two large marmets to the floor. “We’ve been so busy, we haven’t had a chance to find out why!”

  “Cheese! Cheese! We won’t leave until we get some!” cried the marmets as more poured in.

  Suddenly, a man in a blue robe bounded in backward, shouting, “If only there were some marmets around here!”

  “Nelag!” said Julie. “Please help us!”

  Nelag was the mixed-up look-alike that Galen had conjured to take his place while he was chasing Sparr in the underworld.

  “Wake me when they come!” said Nelag brightly. Then he sat in a chair and fell asleep.

  “Oh, this is ridiculous!” the queen said finally, jumping on the bed. “Keeah, Max, go with your friends to the Farne Woods. Find dear old Portentia. Ask her about these earthquakes. Find out when Galen is coming back. And ask her what to do about these marmets!”

  Portentia was a truth teller who lived in a rock. The children had sought her advice once before.

  “People, let’s go!” said Keeah. Using her broom to make a path through the squealing marmets, the princess led her friends through the palace to the royal stables.

  As they raced across the courtyard, the ground rumbled again, sending more marmets leaping up from the ground.

  “Oh, dear, dear!” chittered Max, scampering alongside Keeah. “I fear for our poor Droon if these earthquakes continue!”

  Julie looked at Eric. “I hope this isn’t going on back home,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” asked the princess as they entered the stable. “Is something strange happening in the Upper World, too?”

  The children looked at one another.

  “Only if you think a flying lizard is strange,” said Neal. “Because we saw one. A big one. And crazy guys in hoods who said nutty words.”

  Keeah hitched up Galen’s six-legged pilka, Leep, then stopped. “Is this true?” she asked. “Eric?”

  Eric felt his heart race suddenly. “I used the wand to keep Julie from moving. And it worked! It worked unbelievably great! Then … stuff started to happen.”

  “Julie’s cat started barking,” said Neal.

  “I didn’t know what to do, but I had to do something,” said Eric, glancing at the wand again. “I guess I shouldn’t have used it.”

  The princess hitched up a pilka for each of them. “I might have done the same thing. But what you saw — the creatures, the flying lizard — appeared because you changed the normal course of events.”

  “And how do I fix that?” asked Eric.

  Keeah shrugged. “I don’t know what it means, but Galen once said he went back to the time before a thing happened to make it not happen.”

  Eric frowned. “The time before a thing happens? Now you’re giving me a headache. Maybe you’d better keep the w
and.”

  Pulling it from his belt, he handed it to her.

  Fwoot! It shot right back into his hand.

  “Whoa!” he gasped. “Sorry. Here.”

  Fwoot! It returned to him again.

  Keeah frowned. “The wand has some kind of possession spell on it. We’ll ask Galen about it when we find him —”

  “If we find him!” said Max. “Please hurry.”

  Eric swallowed hard. “Keeah, let’s stick close on this trip. I don’t want to get into more trouble with the wand.”

  The princess returned his smile. “It’s a deal. Now, everybody, take your reins and snap them once. We’re on our way to see Portentia!”

  The kids mounted the pilkas. With a quick snap of leather, the shaggy camel-like creatures dashed to the city gates.

  “Hurry!” King Zello shouted from Keeah’s window as he pulled two squirming marmets from underneath his armor. “I’m … ticklish!”

  Waving to her giggling father, Keeah turned Leep away from the city.

  Another quake rumbled beneath them as the small group galloped straight for the dark green fullness of the Farne Woods.

  Minutes later, the small band entered the forest. The towering pines near the outer edge soon gave way to gnarled oaks whose thick, drooping branches hung with vines.

  “I love these woods,” said Keeah, slowing her pilka to a trot on the twisting paths. “They go back to the very beginning of Droon.”

  “When my master was just a boy,” said Max.

  “My mother wants me to start keeping a diary of everything that happens,” said the princess, patting a pouch on her belt. “I’ve got my notebook here. Maybe someday it’ll be in Galen’s library.”

  “I love our library at home,” said Julie. “I’m glad I don’t have to leave it behind. Very glad.”

  Eric was happy for Julie. But he felt nervous and angry with himself. While they rode along the shadowy paths, he couldn’t get his mind off what might be going on back in the Upper World. And he kept seeing the wand’s purple petal fall off and disappear.

  He wondered why he hadn’t told anyone about the petals.

  Later, when I understand it more, I’ll tell Keeah, he thought. No, now. I’d better do it now.

  Pulling his pilka alongside the princess, he said, “Um, Keeah —”