Henry Rider: Clown Hunter

Chapter Twenty Four

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Chapter Twenty Four

"Okay, ready?" I whispered. "Left, righ-aaaAAAAH!"

Ethan's foot didn't move in sync with mine, and down the stairs we went. Stars flashed in front of my eyes as what felt like every step in the neighborhood was suddenly magnetically attracted to my skull. And spine. And butt. We landed in a heap at the bottom, and I cringed, waiting for my parents to come rushing in to see us apparently having an extreme cuddling session. But when my ears stopped ringing, I realized they were still in the living room, laughing so hard at their movie that they hadn't even heard us tumbling down the stairs. Ethan groaned beneath me, and I slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Come on," I hissed into his ear. "Get to the door before they see us! Now!"

Together, we slid and rolled painfully across the entryway.

"Why don't we just tell them?" Ethan asked while I used the doorknob to hoist us to our feet. "They can give us a ride to the station!"

"Sure, great idea. And when they ask how this happened, we'll tell them you were illegally practicing magic with a stolen spellhammer!"

"I can live with..." He paused. "Wait, illegally?"

"Right. So unless you want to find out what clown prison is like, I suggest we keep this little shenanigan between us."

Ethan's face went as pale as mine. "C- Clown prison?"

I nodded. "Clown prison."

I put my hand on the knob and gestured for Ethan to get ready to move. Taking a deep breath, I gave the knob a twist, threw myself forward — and ran face first into the door. It was locked!

"Ow!" Ethan yelped when our heads knocked against each other.

"Shh!" I frantically hissed, but it was too late.

"Ethan?" my mom called from the living room. "Is that you?"

I clenched my fist, fighting the urge to slam Ethan's head into the door a few more times, and called back, "It's us, Mom. We're, uh, heading out for a little bit."

"You absolutely are not!" Dad argued. "It's past nine, and you both have school in the morning!"

"It's, uh, council stuff. They need to see me. Like, right now."

While I talked, my hand was fumbling blindly for the lock.

"At this time of night?" Mom asked. "They do know you're a teenage girl, right?"

"Oh, trust me," Ethan whispered, "I am more than aware of that right now."

My mouth fell open, and I gave him my best I'm-going-to-strangle-you-later glare.

"Yeah, yeah," I finally said. "But you know how it is."

Mom still sounded hesitant. "I know, but..."

"Mom," I said firmly, "we all knew what I was getting into when McGus offered to take me as his apprentice. This isn't just about me. This is for all of klaonkind."

"Well, try to be back at a reasonable time," Dad finally gave in. "The last thing you need is for your grades to start dropping."

"I will," I promised, just as I managed to get the door unlocked. "Love you both! Bye!"

I heard Mom get up. "Do you need a ride to the station?"

"No!" Ethan and I yelled at the same time, followed by a mad dash...well, a mad waddle out the door. We were halfway down the driveway before I remembered to honk my N.O.S.E. and activate my disguise.