Babes In WENNLand, Part 11

The basement was a dark, scary place. Old toys, tools, and crates filled with ancient parts were scattered on rickety shelves. There were shadows and spooky creaking noises at every turn.

Rodrigo and Gonzolo stood on either side of a door at the very end of the room. They both stood to attention, holding what appeared to be pop guns...and looked very, very bored. They still had a little trash on them from the garbage room. Lisa could clearly see something key-shaped hanging out of Rodrigo's pocket.

Lisa pushed Alan behind a shelf. “How can we distract them?”

Alan grinned. “I know!” He whispered in his sister's ear.

Lisa giggled. “Well, ok! It's worth something.”

She went right over to Rodrigo. “Hi there!” She wanted to sound friendly, even though she was really scared.

“What are you doing here, kid?” Rodrigo made a face. “Shouldn't you be somewhere else?”

“Oh, no!” Lisa smiled. “How would you like to hear about Pittsburgh, where I come from?”

“Pittsburgh?” The fat man and the thin man exchanged looks. Rodrigo raised his eyebrows. “What's a Pittsburgh?”

“Oh, it's a place!” She grinned. “You wouldn't believe all the things they have there! There's carriages that go by themselves, with no horses or other animals pulling it. You can listen to a radio that'll play sound with no people around, and see baseball players that can hit a ball so far, it lands far away, and a department store that sells everything you can possibly imagine...”

Rodrigo and Gonzolo listened avidly to her words. After a while, their eyes started to glaze over, and their heads nodded. The moment they started looking comatose, Alan slid over and slipped the key from the skinny sailor's pocket.

“Whew!” Maple was the first out after Alan got the door open. “Thank goodness we're out of there! Now, let's find out what happened to my sheep.”

Rodrigo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Look at what you did, Gonzorgo!”

“What I did?” His plump friend poked him in the chest. “You're the one who just had to listen to the kid and all those wild stories!”

“Says who?” Rodrigo gave him a shove.

“I say!” Gonzorgo shoved him back. They were too busy arguing to pay attention to Jack, Jill, and Mackie bringing over a ball of twine from the utility closets. They had them tied up and shoved in the closet in no time.

“Now what are we going to do?” Lisa asked. “We don't know where Grandpa disappeared to, or what they did with the others.”

Jill nodded. “Jack and I need to get out to the Festival. We're a part of the Christmas show. So is Betty Blue, for that matter. Why don't Jack, Gil, and I go out and see if we can get help there, while the rest of you search for Scott, Betty, and Barnaby? I'm sure that nasty man has something terrible planned for them.”

Mackie gulped. “You know, maybe I'd better go to the Festival. I really need to announce the acts, and I'll be in the show, and...”

Maple grabbed the back of his nightshirt. “You're not going anywhere, except with us.”

“Please! We really need help!” Lisa begged.

Mackie sighed. “All right.” He pulled down his nightshirt. “Maybe I could use a little exercise. Those trolls aren't so tough. I'll bet I could take 'em down with one hand behind my back!”

“Let's get out of here, before we have to find out.” Maple escorted him and the kids out into the main basement.

“How are we going to find the others?” Lisa worried.

“I'm more worried about how we're getting out of here.” Wee Mackie Winkie looked around nervously. “I don't see any exit signs.”

“There has to be a way out!” Maple looked up as they heard grinding noises. “What's that?” She sniffed and then wrinkled her nose deeply. “And what's that smell? What died?”

Mackie Winkie ducked behind her. “It's the trolls! They're coming for us!”

Maple rolled her eyes. “They smell worse than that.”

“No, it smells more like...” Lisa sniffed, then wrinkled her own nose. “Garbage?”

Alan's eyes widened. He started running. “Lisa, do you remember what Scott said yesterday about the trash compactor? It only runs every other day?”

“And it didn't run yesterday!” Lisa hurried to catch up with her brother. “Someone must have just turned it on!”

Alan skidded around a corner. “And I'll bet that someone was Barnaby!”

They finally came to a door at the other end of the basement. “Whoa, kids!” Maple finally stopped behind them, Mackie bringing up the rear. “What's goin' on?”

“Someone started the trash compactor,” Alan said breathlessly, “and I think I know who!”

“Me too!” Lisa was thankful the door opened easily. She went in first, putting a finger to her lips. She could already hear Barnaby's nasty laughter.