17
Since Maggie lived within walking distance of the Olmstead estate, Eddie asked his father if he would drive them all to her house so they could watch a movie. Eddie’s father looked like he didn’t believe them-especially since, a few minutes earlier, they’d been acting so weird about Mom’s “pen”-but he drove them anyway.
Eddie knew his mother planned on using the pendant to finish writing her book, and rather than explain everything and why that might be a bad idea, he’d simply taken it without her noticing. He hoped she wouldn’t be too upset with him when he came home again. If he came home again.
The journey through the hills was the same as always. The roads went up and down. They twisted and turned. With every dip in the road, with every sighing rise, Eddie’s anxiety grew. For some reason, he felt guilty-if he hadn’t been interested in Nathaniel Olmstead books, would his mother still have tried to write her own? Then he thought about the pendant she had found, and Eddie tried to convince himself that what had happened was no one’s fault. Whoever came into possession of the object would be drawn toward the gate-especially a writer looking for a story to tell, like Nathaniel Olmstead… or his mom.
The pendant was dangerous, and he understood now that it seemed to have a life of its own. He could feel the thing almost vibrating at the bottom of his backpack. There was something in its nature that instinctively needed to be near the gate. And it seemed to have a talent for making people do what it wanted.
Dad dropped them off at the end of Maggie’s driveway. They waved goodbye and watched until his red brake lights disappeared around the bend, then they walked up the driveway to Maggie’s house. Once inside, she led them to a table in the corner of the kitchen.
“What should we bring with us?” she asked.
“I’ve got the hammer and the pendant in my bag,” said Eddie. “We’ll definitely need some extra flashlights.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Maggie, getting up and opening the cabinet under the sink. “I think my dad keeps some in here.” She pulled out two small plastic flashlights and placed them on the table.
“Nice,” said Harris. “We’ll need those to keep away the Watchers. But what else can we use… you know… in case some of Nathaniel’s other monsters are waiting for us?”
“I guess it would be helpful to come up with a list of creatures from his books,” said Eddie. “Then we can match them up with whatever the characters used to defeat them. Hopefully, we can find whatever we’ll need here in Maggie’s house.”
“Hopefully,” said Maggie.
A few minutes later, they’d put together a list of things to take on their journey into the woods. Wind chimes for the Wendigo. Glass marbles for the weeping spirits. A stapler for the shadow-stalker. An egg timer for the sand-suckers. Chicken bones for the monster lake-dogs. Plus much more. “Who knows if most of these monsters are still hanging out in Gatesweed,” said Eddie, “but at least this list will get us started.”
“Scavenger hunt!” said Harris, standing up from the table.
“Shhh,” Maggie answered. “My parents are upstairs, probably watching television. We don’t want them asking any questions. If they see me leave the house again tonight, they’ll want to know where I’m going, and they’re not going to buy the ‘watching a movie at Harris’s house’ excuse. Just look around, see what you can find, then we’ll sneak out.”
They quietly went through the kitchen drawers, refrigerator, pantry, and china cabinet in the living room, taking what they thought would be useful. When they had finished, Eddie’s bag was heavy, but he hiked it up on his shoulder and took a deep breath.
“Ready?” said Maggie as they slipped out the front door.
“Ready,” said Eddie and Harris.
They crept down Maggie’s driveway to the street, then down the hill to Nathaniel Olmstead’s estate.
The clouds parted. The full moon emerged. And suddenly the house rose before them, glowing on the barren hillside like a second moon in a second sky.
They parted the vines and crept through the gap in the broken fence. The driveway stretched up the hill. They began the long walk, shining their flashlights into the shadows. Harris kept his eyes forward, Maggie scanned the woods on either side, and Eddie looked over his shoulder at the driveway behind them. That way, they had all directions covered. The moon was so bright that they almost didn’t need the flashlights, but they kept them turned on anyway, in case the Watchers were lurking.
Eddie was careful not to look at the house. He almost expected to see the old woman’s face in an upstairs window. They crept around back and hesitated only briefly before heading down the hill to the orchard. As they made their way up the next ridge, Eddie couldn’t clear the thought of those tall figures in shadowy robes.
At the top of the ridge, a bird fluttered from a nearby branch, and Eddie nearly flew away as well. He thought of those dogs, the gremlin, and the thing his father had struck with the car a month ago. He wondered if coming here was really worth the danger? Then he thought about the Woman in Black being released into the world, and he stopped questioning himself.
He continued to follow Harris and Maggie quietly through the brush. They came down from the ridge, and the entire forest seemed to shudder. Tonight the trees looked different-they were larger, more gnarled, more threatening. The leafy ground seemed to ripple in waves like whitecaps in the ocean, but whenever Eddie looked directly down, it stopped moving. The light shining through the treetops was almost green. Eddie thought it might be an illusion, possibly sent by the Woman in Black to frighten them, but still, it looked so real.
Above them, something rustled through the treetops, scattering leaves and twigs to the forest floor like hail. The three of them froze where they stood. Looking up, Eddie couldn’t see anything but the silhouette of the black branches against the starry sky. Wide-eyed, Harris pointed at Eddie’s backpack. “Wind chimes,” he whispered.
Cautiously, Eddie unzipped his bag. The small cluster of chimes was buried halfway down, underneath a plastic baggie filled with pieces of leftover roasted chicken from Maggie’s refrigerator. As he pulled out the chimes, they rang. The noise was especially loud in the surrounding darkness. He tied the string to his belt loop, allowing the chimes to dangle next to his front pocket, where they jingled and jangled with every step.
“Won’t that sound draw attention to us?” said Maggie.
“Maybe,” said Harris. “But that’s better than being snatched up into the sky by a Wendigo, don’t you think? Remember the schoolteacher found in the-”
“If he’s up there watching us,” Eddie interrupted, “the chimes will keep him away. That’s why we brought them.”
Maggie closed her eyes and shook her head, as if trying to block out a terrifying vision. They kept walking.
A few minutes later, Harris held out his hands, stopping Maggie and Eddie in their tracks. To their left about twenty feet away through the trees, Eddie could see vague movement. Harris swung his flashlight toward the shifting shadows, and several pale faces appeared. “They’re here,” he whispered. “Keep your lights on them.”
The Watchers watched from between the trees, trapped between the shadows and the moonlight-their white heads seeming to hover far above the ground, like balloons. Eddie kept his eyes on the creatures as Maggie and Harris led him forward. Slowly, the three kids continued to make their way through the woods. Eddie trudged over the brush, trying desperately not to trip. Finally, he could no longer see the skulllike faces. He made sure to keep his flashlight shining behind them as they continued their walk, so the creatures could not follow.