The Three Furies (Erec Rex) Read Online Free Page A

not safe in here," Sammy said. "Those letters were clear. We have help out there. We need to go now." She linked her arm around Trevor's and tried to wave Nell toward the door. Trevor and Nell didn't look excited about leaving.
    Erec blocked the doorway. "Nobody is going anywhere." Reasoning with them wasn't going to work. He would have to use force. But Danny might overpower him.
    Everyone stood still, watching one another. Tension surged through the room. Nell slowly walked next to Erec, swinging her walker around to face the room. She might not have been strong, but it felt good to have something big and metal blocking the door.
    Loud knocks pounded on the door at his back. The vibrations hammered through his spine. A familiar voice, like a rake scraping through gravel, called out, "Open up, Sorry. Danny and Sammy, are you okay in there?"
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    Erec remembered that Mrs. Smith had thought his name was Sorry. It was obviously her.
    Sammy shouted, "We're fine. We'll come out in a second," and hurried to the door.
    Nell held up her walker, and Trevor stood at her side. The door started to shake behind them. Danny was trying to reach for the doorknob.
    Erec shoved Trevor in front of the doorknob instead. "Hold on to it for dear life, Trev. I'll be right back."
    Erec ran into his mother's room and madly fished through her drawers. He found what he was looking for under a blanket. It looked like a small silver ring, but it was the Substance Channel, an item his mother had bought from that magical store called Vulcan. It could transport people anywhere. All they had to do was concentrate on where they wanted to go.
    He took the Substance Channel out of its box and rubbed it in his hands like he had seen his mother do. Soon it glowed with a greenish light. More rattling and shouts came from the front door. He had to hurry.
    How had his mother made this ring big enough to climb through? She had pulled it somehow. Erec latched his fingers around the ring and tugged--it grew wide. The metal was soft and sparkly now, and stretched easily in his hands. It opened into a huge hoop. Sparks of electricity shot from it, jolting him so that he had to pull his hands away. Still, it hung in the air on its own.
    The commotion in the living room was growing louder. Stomping and urgent shouts carried down the hall. Mrs. Smith sounded like she was coming inside.
    Erec took a breath. The Substance Channel started to spin so fast that the air whirling around it blew his hair back. He had to get everyone in here fast before it was too late.
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    He ran into the living room but stopped short. Mrs. Smith's round frame filled the entryway. A sickly white powder made her look ghostly, and her generous cheeks were decorated with sharp circles of bright red makeup. Black hair was slicked tightly down each side of her face, meeting under her fourth chin and giving her face the shape of a wobbly heart. Thick layers of toothpaste-blue eye shadow encased her narrow eyes. She was eating a handful of what looked like the same greasy dumplings that had been thrown through their window.
    After polishing off the last dumpling, she wiped her slick hands on her bright yellow overcoat, stepped forward, and grabbed Sammy's and Danny's wrists in her thick paws. Erec was amazed to see that neither of them struggled. Trevor, however, began to kick at one of her staunch legs. Mrs. Smith did not seem to notice.
    Also in the room were two other very unusual-looking people. A skinny man who looked about seven feet tall was juggling some small balls--at least they looked small compared to his hands. Half of his shocking red hair was slicked down onto his head with thick grease. The other half had escaped its oiled jail, standing a foot above his head and sprouting wild curls in all directions.
    The other man was short and normal-looking--except for the tall top hat on his head and the huge wooden barrel that he wore, hanging with thick straps over his shoulders so only his head,