Free The Secret Path by Christopher Pike Page A

earthquake. The noise was incredible.The castle’s stone walls began to crack, the dust from the splintering stones showering down on them. But best of all, the iron pole around which Adam and Watch were bound cracked in two. They were able to pull their wristbands up and over the pole. Deep in a lower room, they heard the witch howl in anger.
    â€œWe’d better get out of here quick,” Adam said, grabbing hold of Sally, his hand still somewhat tied by the handcuffs. “She sounds unhappy.”
    â€œThat’s putting it mildly,” Watch remarked, straightening his glasses. They raced toward what they hoped was the front door. Then Adam stopped them.
    â€œWait a second,” he said. “We can’t just leave the others in the dungeon.”
    â€œWhat others?” Sally demanded as the ground continued to rock. It was as if the castle were being ripped apart at the seams.
    â€œThere’s a bunch of kids in the dungeon,” Watch explained. “They seem nice.” He added, “Except they’re missing a few parts.”
    Sally made a face. “I do hope they have plastic surgeons in this dimension.”
    â€œWe have to get them out before the whole castle caves in,” Adam said.
    Sally and Watch looked at each other. “He’s really into this hero thing all of a sudden,” she said.
    â€œWe should never have called him a coward,” Watch agreed.
    Adam was impatient. “I’m going back for them.”
    Sally didn’t protest. “We may as well. All we have waiting for us outside this door is a bunch of hungry crocodiles and alligators.”
    Just before they left the living room, Adam stooped and picked up a handful of the diamond dust that had fallen from the cracked hourglass. It sparkled in his hands like a million tiny suns. Like magic, really. He stuffed it in his pockets.
    Running, they found the door to the dungeon and hurried down the winding stairway. But when they reached the dungeon, they discovered that all the cells had burst open. The prisoners had already escaped.
    â€œBut where did they go?” Adam wondered aloud.
    â€œThis hallway must lead to a way out,” Watch said, nodding ahead. “Or at least it must lead to one now. I feel a draft of outside air.”
    â€œI would rather go under the moat than try to swim across it,” Sally said.
    â€œHow did you get across it in the first place?” Adam asked.
    â€œI told the guard I was a personal friend of the witch and that I had an appointment.” Sally shrugged. “He was a troll. He was pretty stupid. He lowered the drawbridge for me.”
    The ground convulsed again. All three of them were almost thrown to the floor. Behind them the stairway collapsed in a pile of rubble. Adam helped Sally regain her balance.
    â€œThat decides it,” Adam said. “We have to go the way the others went. It’s probably the smart thing. They know this castle better than we do.”
    â€œYeah, but half of them are blind,” Watch remarked.
    Yet they had no choice and they knew it.
    They raced forward, down the dark underground hallway.
    Up ahead, they could feel fresh air.
    Yet behind them, they could hear the witch.
    Her echoing cries. Cursing them.

17
    T he passageway emptied onto the surface of the cemetery. That was both good and bad. Good because they had to get to the cemetery if they were to escape through the interdimensional portal. Bad because the remaining corpses under the ground were climbing to the surface now that the world was coming to an end. As they ran toward the tombstone, a bony hand clawed up out of the mud and grabbed Sally’s ankle.
    â€œHelp!” she cried as the hand began to pull her under.
    Adam and Watch leaped to her aid. Unfortunately, the skeleton had lost none of its strength with the loss of its muscle tissue. He was one strong corpse. They couldn’t pry Sally free. Her right leg vanished up to her