Page 29 (1/2)

He looked around him None of the kids who had been near him before were near hihbors In fact everyone was chatting; those who re themselves This was more life than any of these kids had shown for years Even the screamer, who had pouted ever since Allie forbid hile brought so existence, it hadn’t freed anyone Nick had to think--there had to beall the chatty voices he heard one kid ask:

"What tih the interwoven ropes, he saw the kid in pajamas who everyone called Hammerhead An idea ca cha so deep and docile in their upside-down ruts But then, Nick hi outside the box until today, had he? There "wasn’t h the clog of kids, and got the him to inch forward until finally he was just a few feet away fro his pointy teeth "This is ht Hey, how’d you like to help me out?"

"Sure What do you want naw through Nick’s rope

"There’s a proble chamber," a nervous crewman told the McGill

The McGill sat forward in his throne "What kind of probleled"

"So untangle them"

"Well…it’s not as easy as it sounds"

Frustrated, the McGill ca chamber He pulled it open, and looked down into the depths to see the situation for hi

They sounded…happy This was entirely unacceptable

"Do we have soo check," said the crewman, and he ran off

The McGill looked down at the tangled ain "They look very unco now, but in tirow tired of this new situation, and realize howupside down

"Pour so on them, then let them be," the McGill told the crehen he returned "They’ll be h"

As he walked off, for an instant the McGill thought he caught a whiff of chocolate somewhere on the open deck, but decided it ination

Chapter 22

Member of the Cabinet Nick had made it out, but there was nowhere on the Sulphur Queen for hiangway, every hatchas so True, the ship was full of dark corners in which to hide, but dark corners were useless to hilow A corner was no longer dark once he was in it He didn’t have a plan yet for getting off the ship, but ether

By now she must know the ship better than he did The problem was, he had no idea where she was, and he wasn’t in any position to go traipsing around the ship looking for her In the end, he retreated back into the bowels of the ship

Not the chi chamber, but one of the treasure holds It was the best place to hide, for no one dared to come down and disturb the McGill’s possessions He would hide here until the night hours, when the creas down below, engaged in games, or brawls, or whatever Those were the hours when he could more easily sneak around the ship Then he would search for Allie But for now, he found hie oak cabinet He slipped inside, pulled the doors tightly closed and waited

The dragon’s hoard in the central treasure hold was a treacherous mountain of mis for books worth reading and other things to pass the time, knew she had seen an old-fashioned typewriter, she just wasn’t sure ‘where The stuff in the chamber was a mixture of pure junk and treasure The McGill did not discriet his hot little hands on it, it caot dumped here Jewels sat side by side with empty beer bottles

The McGill was currently in his "war roo party to a Greensoul trap in Rockaway Point As he was occupied, this gave Allie ti cabinets and car tires, coat racks, and bed frauide her through the debris, it was rough going She nearly got pinned beneath an airplane propeller, and flattened by an iron lung, but finally she found the typewriter beneath an old table It was made of black dull metal The keys were faded from many years of use before it had crossed over A little erandmother had an old-fashioned typewriter like this one--she still used it

"Words aren’t words unless you pound the the ured out how to load it into the , Allie discovered, was a lot like key-boarding, with none of the speed and five ti day after day plunging their fingers against the little circular keys, which sank dohole inch before flinging up an iron arle letter ie She was thankful she had only a short phrase to type, but even so, shear to fit through a door It took her four attee perfectly, then she put the typewriter back where she found it, and went looking for scissors

In the end she had to settle for the tiny scissors on a Swiss Army knife she had found on the floor When she was done, she slipped the little piece of paper into her pocket She was about to put down the Swiss Army knife when she heard the voice behind her

"Ad my treasure?"

She spun so fast, the Swiss Army knife flew fro eye He pulled it out and dropped it to the floor The wound healed instantaneously, as did all wounds in Everlost

"Careful," he said "You’ll put out an eye with that thing"

Allie gave hi to steal so, I wouldn’t if I were you," he said

"Anything you steal I willheavy in your sto," Allie told hi"

The McGill turned to look toward the door leading to the chi your friends’ "I don’t need to visit theh"