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  Eric wondered what Salamandra was really up to. Why did she want a flying ship? She was already so powerful. What more could she want? Would they find out before it was too late? And, most important, could they stop her?

  He looked over at his friends riding their pilkas at top speed. He smiled. As long as they stuck together, things just might turn out okay.

  “Look,” said Keeah, pointing to the red-topped towers of a castle rising on a distant hill. “Zorfendorf Castle. And not a single thorn on it. We’re in time.”

  They rode quickly to the old castle. When the guards saw Keeah, they opened the gate wide.

  The chief guard bowed as they entered. “Prince Zorfendorf is not here now, but we are always happy when our princess visits,” he said.

  “Yeah, well, another princess is coming,” said Neal. “And you won’t be so happy to see her!”

  The children explained what had happened and that they were actually there to see Thog.

  “Thog?” The chief guard blinked. “But he hasn’t left the library since he came here!”

  “How long has he been here?” asked Julie.

  “Four hundred years!” said the guard.

  Eric frowned. “We still need to see him.”

  “In the meantime, prepare for an attack,” said Khan, tapping his little sword. “Salamandra is coming. And she’s angry.”

  “Plus, don’t look at that weird staff she carries,” said Neal. “She’ll take over your brain.”

  As the guards piled ten-deep at the castle gate and along the upper walls, the children hurried through one hallway, up a narrow staircase, down a wide one, around seven corners, and into a long tunnel.

  “No wonder Thog never leaves the library,” said Neal. “He probably can’t find his way out.”

  Khan chuckled. “I smell books up ahead.”

  After two more turns and one more set of stairs, they came upon a room the size of a school gym. From floor to ceiling were shelves holding thousands and thousands of books, their gold, red, and blue covers gleaming brightly.

  “Big library,” said Eric, peering up.

  Julie beamed. “What beautiful books!” She fluttered up to one of the high shelves to look.

  “The prince collects them,” said a low voice.

  The children turned to see a shelf move aside. Out of the darkness behind it, stepped …

  “Holy cow — a giant!” gasped Neal.

  Thog was as tall as a two-story house. The three floppy ears on his bald head brushed the ceiling as he entered. A fur wrap hung from his shoulders to his knees. His belt was made of thick rope.

  He gazed at the children with big round eyes. “Visitors? Come to see me?”

  Keeah bowed. “Galen sent us to find you, sir.”

  “Galen?” Thog put a large hand to his mouth to cover his toothy smile. “The good wizard Galen sent you? Oh, how is the dear man?”

  “Not so good at the moment,” said Eric.

  Thog’s large face changed from wonder to worry as he listened to the story of Salamandra and her attack on Galen’s tower.

  For a while he said nothing. Finally, he sighed. “Long ago, when we were both young, Galen let me borrow a book. This book!”

  He took a slender yellow volume from a shelf and handed it to Julie. “Do you like books?”

  “Very much,” she said.

  Thog smiled. “Then you may borrow it, too. Because of Galen’s kindness, I learned to love books. In thanks, I helped him hide something.”

  Eric glanced at Keeah, then back up at Thog. “By any chance did you hide … a flying ship?”

  Thog trembled, then nodded. “Four hundred years ago, Galen found an evil dragon ship. He tried to destroy it, but its magic was too old. So he took it apart, and together we hid the pieces. So that it could never be flown again….”

  Neal raised his hand. “I don’t get it. Salamandra already does pretty much what she wants. Why does she need a ship that flies around?”

  “Maybe because of where this ship flies to,” said Thog. “But, oh … I’ve said too much.”

  There was a sudden cry from outside, and a flash of green light shot past the upper window.

  “Don’t say any more,” said Julie flying down from the top shelf. “Don’t think it. She’s here!”

  “What about the guards?” said Neal.

  Wham! The door swung open with a bang. Salamandra strode in, her staff burning bright.

  “You don’t believe in knocking, do you?” said Keeah, her fingers glowing with bright sparks.

  “Not really,” said Salamandra. Then, just as she had done in Galen’s tower, she froze everyone right where they stood. Turning, she shot a sizzling beam of green light into Thog’s eyes.

  “Giant, you will take me to the dragon ship!”

  He wobbled on his big feet. “Oh, no. My hands were made for reading books. This is my home. I can’t leave here…. I … I …”

  Even as he tried to fight it, the light penetrated his big round eyes. “I will lead you to the ship,” he whispered.

  Salamandra grinned. “There, was that so hard? Come, Thog. We have a journey to make!”

  Laughing cruelly, Salamandra marched through the door again, the beams of her staff pulling Thog behind her like a pet.

  The giant looked back at the children, his lips silently forming the words, “I’m … sorry….”

  “It’s not your fault,” Keeah called.

  “After her!” said Eric as the green light faded and they could move again.

  They dashed through the castle hallways and stairs. When they got to the front gate, the guards were bowing as Salamandra stormed out.

  Khan grumbled. “Excuse me, guards, but whatever happened to not looking in her eyes?”

  “Ha! No one resists my power!” Salamandra snarled. “And to prove it, say hello to some friends from ancient Droon….”

  Then, with a wave of her hand — whoompf! — a thick gray fog suddenly appeared on the plain outside the castle. She spat out the words of a spell, then she and Thog vanished.

  “What did she say?” asked Neal. “It sounded like … ‘toast biters.’”

  The fog rolled closer, and a sound within it rumbled across the ground.

  “Guys,” said Eric, peering into the fog. “I’m not sure what Salamandra said, but I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with toast.”

  “I hear hooves,” said Khan.

  “Lots of them,” said Julie.

  Keeah gasped. “Ghost riders! Not toast biters — ghost riders!”

  Neal frowned as the hooves stomped louder. “Ghost riders is not as good as toast. I like toast.”

  “There’s a forest there,” said Khan, pointing to a dark mass of trees behind the castle. “Leave the pilkas. We can hide better if we go on foot.”

  “I agree!” said Keeah. “But we must hurry —”

  “Hurry fast!” added Julie.

  The friends raced to the forest, as the strange dark fog rolled closer, and the sound of hooves thundered louder and louder.

  Eric and Keeah crashed into the dark woods. Khan, Julie, and Neal hurried right behind.

  Tangled branches clawed at them and jagged rocks cluttered the path as they stumbled to escape the ghost riders.

  But the sound of bushes being ripped up and branches being torn down told them that the riders would stop at nothing to find them.

  “What are ghost riders, anyway?” asked Neal. “And why don’t they like us?”

  “I don’t think I want to stick around and quiz them,” said Julie breathlessly.

  “Me, either!” said Keeah. “Keep moving!”

  They ran as quickly as they could, stopping only when they reached the bank of a wildly rushing river.

  Eric scanned the white-capped waves. “It looks pretty dangerous. Should we cross?”

  Khan shook his head. “No, no. I get soggy in water. Besides, crossing now would only slow us down. The riders would catch us.”

  Kee
ah nodded. “Khan’s right. Let’s hide here. If they cross, we’ll double back to the castle.”

  Eric admired Keeah’s ability to take control. He was glad she was there.

  They ran along the bank until they came to a thicket of fruit trees. They huddled beneath them and waited.

  The pounding hooves slowed. Animal feet stomped and dug at the ground. There was the strong smell of dirt churning underfoot and low voices murmuring to one another nearby.

  Keeah grasped Eric’s arm. Her eyes grew wide as she looked over his shoulder. “The ghost riders,” she whispered. “They’re right here.”

  “But I don’t see them.” He turned his head.

  “No!” she said. “Don’t look at them! No one look at them. I just remembered what Galen once told me. They aren’t there till you look at them.”

  Khan’s brow wrinkled. “Say that again?”

  “They’re ghosts,” said Keeah. “They make all kinds of noise chasing you, but they become visible only when you look in their eyes. Then they take an awful shape. And become dangerous.”

  “Oh, ugly dangerous ghosts,” grumbled Neal, making himself as small as possible. “My favorite. All in all, I’d rather be eating toast.”

  “I agree,” whispered Khan. “With thick gizzleberry jam, shared with my wife and children —”

  “Shhh, you two,” said Julie. “Listen!”

  There was a sharp hissing sound to their right. It was answered by another on their left. A third whisper seemed to come from inches away. All of a sudden, the ghosts went silent, as if now they were listening for something.

  A moment later, they all heard what it was.

  Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Clip-clop!

  “A pilka,” whispered Julie, her eyes still shut.

  Then, a squeaky voice broke into song.

  Snibble-ibble-floot-boot!

  The world is upside down.

  A birdy wears a spider suit.

  The wizard is a clown!

  The voice was high-pitched and odd, but familiar. Eric opened one eye and caught sight of the pilka. On its back was a tall figure draped in a blue wizard’s cloak. Eric couldn’t see the figure’s face, but he knew who it was.

  After all, there was only one person who wore slippers on his hands and gloves on his feet, and rode facing backward on a pilka’s saddle.

  “It’s Nelag!” he whispered.

  Nelag was a pretend wizard Galen created to take his place when he was away. Even though he looked very much like Galen, Nelag had no real power, did everything backward, and was the exact opposite of the real Galen.

  Even down to the spelling of his name.

  The ghosts hissed in short, stabbing sounds.

  “Nelag doesn’t know about the riders,” Neal whispered. “He’ll hear them and look at them, and they’ll pounce on him!”

  “No they won’t. I won’t let them,” said Keeah.

  Eric trembled. “Keeah, wait —”

  Clamping his eyes shut, Eric tried to hold Keeah back but grabbed Khan instead. This threw him off balance, and he fell backward into Julie.

  The ghost riders’ animals whinnied loudly.

  The pretend wizard began to turn. “Good-bye, whoever is there. How terrible to see you!”

  “Don’t look!” Keeah cried, leaping up.

  “If you insist — I will!”

  Keeah jumped toward Nelag. “I really mean don’t look! No one look — no — one —”

  “Get them now!” yelled one ghost.

  Twigs crackled, branches split. Someone fell to the dirt with a thud, and someone else tumbled across the leaves.

  Nelag shouted, “This is very nice!”

  Keeah gave out a muffled cry.

  Eric stood up to go after her, but stumbled on a tree root.

  “Keep going, everyone!” cried Keeah, suddenly more distant. “Find the ship! I will see you — later!”

  There came a strange shriek from the ghosts’ animals, and an explosion of sparks.

  Khan jostled Eric. “Come! We must do as our princess says — run! With our eyes to the ground!”

  They lurched to their feet and started to run to the river. Rushing ahead, Eric could hear Keeah fighting with blast after blast of her powerful magic.

  A moment later, Khan stopped short, holding everyone back. “Oh, no. A waterfall!”

  Looking up, they saw the river coiling wildly and plunging suddenly downward.

  Neal glanced back around. “What about Nelag? Did they get him?”

  “I heard him shouting, but I don’t know,” said Julie. “Neal, don’t look back — wait — ahhhh!”

  The slippery bank gave way beneath her.

  Splurshhh! Julie fell into the water and was drawn instantly toward the waterfall.

  “Help!”

  Reaching for her, Khan also fell in. Splish!

  Hooves beat the ground behind them again.

  “Oh, man!” cried Eric, scrambling along the bank to the waterfall. “This can’t be happening.”

  “Tell that to the ghosts!” said Neal.

  The tramping hooves splashed into the water.

  Julie cried out once more when the river dragged her over the falls. Khan squealed as he went over, too.

  “We’ve got to follow our friends,” said Eric.

  Neal nodded. “Together, then.”

  With the ghost riders splashing closer, Eric and Neal leaped into the glistening, churning, ice-cold water.

  The raging river pushed and pulled at the four friends, hurling them roughly down the falls, and into a bubbling pool at the bottom.

  Splursh-sh-sh-shhhh!

  “Aim for the — blub! — shore!” cried Julie, bobbing up and gasping for breath.

  Khan’s thin arms flailed wildly at the water to keep afloat. “Someone — grab my tassels!”

  With all his might, Eric pushed across the water, grabbed Khan, and pulled him ashore.

  Neal paddled and splashed and finally dragged himself up with the others next to the roaring waterfall.

  For a while, no one said anything.

  Then, even over the water’s roar, they heard the stomping of heavy hooves.

  “Those guys just don’t give up!” growled Eric.

  “Quickly,” said Julie. “Behind the waterfall.”

  They darted behind the wall of rushing water and into a small cave inside. Holding their breath, they listened as the ghosts galloped down the riverbank and away.

  Julie unfolded the map and shook the water from it. “They’re going south along this river,” she said, pointing to a thin blue line near the castle.

  “It doesn’t matter,” said Eric. “We lost Keeah. We lost Nelag. We’re supposed to be following Salamandra and Thog, but we lost them, too!”

  “Keeah is a princess of great power,” said Khan, shaking dry. “She will fight back.”

  “How do we fight back?” asked Neal, peeling off his socks. “We don’t even know where Salamandra is.”

  Tap … tap.

  “Hush!” Khan raised a finger to his lips.

  Tap … tap … tap …

  Julie squinted into the cave. “I see a tunnel. The sound is coming from there.”

  Carefully, the four soggy friends picked their way into the tunnel. They wandered this way and that until they saw a dull glow shimmering off the rough walls.

  “A fire,” said Khan, sniffing with each tiny step. “But what else shall we find?”

  “Or who else?” Eric wondered aloud.

  Stepping quietly around the last bend in the tunnel, they saw a small candle sitting on the rough floor. In its glow was a little creature, whose fur was dotted with red and yellow spots. It had bright eyes, a big snout, and short arms with long, delicate fingers.

  In one paw it held a tiny silver hammer. In the other was a piece of shiny metal.

  The creature before them was an imp.

  An imp … they knew.

  “Hob!” whispered Julie. “It’s Hob!”


  After each tap-tap-tap, the imp turned the metal in the candlelight, saying, “Hob, Hob, does a good job. Making a mask is a happy task!”

  Hob was a great artist who once created a terrifying mask of power for the evil sorcerer, Lord Sparr. Hob had disappeared before he was caught.

  Eric stepped forward. “Hob?”

  The imp stopped tapping. He turned slowly.

  “Children? Hob remembers you! And welcomes you, unless you have come to capture him. Then you shall see Hob scamper away!”

  “Oh, no you don’t!” said Khan, blocking the tunnel. “I’ve heard about the mischief you cause. Helping Lord Sparr? You, sir, are one bad imp!”

  Hob hung his head, even as his eyes twinkled. “Some choose evil. Some don’t. Hob did what he had to, then escaped from Sparr. Hee-hee! Escaped from those ghosts, too, with their ugly faces —”

  Julie gasped. “Ghost riders? You saw them?”

  Hob nodded. “I spied them in the forest.”

  “But how could you see the ghost riders and not be captured?” asked Eric.

  The imp grinned. “Hob has … a secret —”

  “Which Hob will share, if he knows what’s good for him,” said Khan, glaring at the imp.

  “Very well …” Hob tugged lightly on his chin, then held out his hand. Glinting in the light of the candle was a mask hammered so thinly and delicately, it was nearly invisible.

  “Hob’s finest work so far,” the imp said gleefully. “Just as the ghosts are invisible until you look in their eyes, in this mask Hob was invisible to them! It was so easy to escape from them!”

  “Or maybe,” said Eric, “to fight them.”

  Julie touched the mask. “And … just maybe … Salamandra herself?”

  Hob grinned. “If you mean that creature with the tangled hair, it’s true! Hob saw her. She tried to read his thoughts. But couldn’t!”

  The children stared at one another.

  “This is awesome!” said Neal. “Masks like this would keep us from getting caught by the riders and nasty Miss Thornhead.”

  “We could find Keeah and stop Salamandra from flying Ko’s dragon ship,” said Eric. “Hob, I think we need masks for all of us.”

  “A job for Hob? Yes, yes, yes!” At once, the imp set to work, measuring the faces of the children, then tapping furiously with his hammer.