won’t have one to shut.”
“You give me your word you’ll let me go?” Adam asked.
“Of course,” she said.
“The promise of a witch is useless,” Watch said. “They’re all liars.”
“Are you just saying that because she isn’t giving you a last chance?” Adam asked.
“Maybe,” Watch admitted.
Adam considered a moment. “You won’t let me go,” he finally said. “The moment you have Sally, you’ll cut my eyes out. You may as well take them now and save us both a lot of trouble.”
A flash of anger crossed the witch’s face. But then she smiled and reached out and touched his chin with her long fingernails.
“It is no trouble for me to take my time with you,” she said softly. “And since you mentioned a pot of boiling water, I think I will have you take a bath before your operation. An especially hot one, one that will melt off your skin. What do you think of that?”
Adam swallowed. “I prefer showers to baths.”
The witch laughed and glanced at the knight. “Come, we must get everything ready for our brave boys.” She scratched Adam’s chin, drawing a drop of blood, just before she withdrew her arm and turned away. “We’ll see how brave they are when they start screaming.”
Watch spoke up. “I don’t like baths or showers, ma’am.”
“You have no choice in the matter,” the witch called over her shoulder as she strode away, the black knight following her. They disappeared into another room.
Adam apologized to Watch. “Sorry about volunteering you for the boiling pot.”
Watch shrugged. “There could be worse things.”
“Such as?”
Watch frowned. “I can’t think of anything worse at the moment.” He nodded to the hourglass. “That’s a fancy piece of magic there. The witch made a big deal of it. I wonder if it actually controls the movement of time in this dimension.”
“I wondered the same thing,” Adam said.
A minute of strained silence settled between them.
“What are we going to do now?” Watch finally asked.
“You don’t have any brilliant ideas?”
“No. Do you?”
Adam yanked at the chain that bound them. “No. It looks like this is the end.”
Watch pulled at his chains, getting nowhere. “It does look hopeless. Sorry I talked you into taking the Secret Path. It wasn’t the best introduction to Spooksville.”
“That’s all right. It wasn’t your fault. I wanted to go.” Adam sighed, feeling tears fill his eyes. “I would just feel a little better to know that Sally was safe.”
A voice spoke from above and behind them.
“Isn’t that sweet,” Sally said.
16
Sally was peering in through a barred window approximately twenty feet above their heads. She was dirty and tired-looking but otherwise no worse for wear.
“Sally!” Adam cried. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m trying to rescue you guys,” she explained. “But I haven’t found a way inside this stone house.”
“You should get out of here,” Adam said. “We’re doomed. Save yourself.”
Watch cleared his throat. “Excuse me. I wouldn’t mind getting rescued.”
Adam considered. “You’re right. If she can save us without getting caught, that might not be a bad idea.” He turned back to Sally. “Can’t you crawl in through those bars? They look far enough apart.”
“Oh, I can crawl through the bars all right,” she said. “But then what am I supposed to do? Fly down to you guys?”
Watch nodded above their heads. “There’s that chandelier there. You might be able to jump and catch hold of it.”
“It isn’t that far from the window ledge,” Adam agreed.
“Who do you think I am?” Sally demanded. “Tarzan? I can’t swing from a chandelier. I might get hurt.”
“That’s true,” Watch said. “But we’re about to be boiled to death. I think the time for caution has passed.”
“I agree,” Adam said.