Doorways to Everywhere (Tourist Trap Book 2)

Chapter 21

"What do we do now?" Sarah asked.

"Let's secure the door first," Dr. Octavius said. "Then we'll attempt to figure out a way to liberate Max from that giant boy's clutches."

"Okay, I see the door," Sarah said. "I'm going for it." She dashed forward and pounced upon the door. She hugged it in both arms and stood up looking around to make sure she wasn't in danger of being stepped on. "I've got it and I'm not going to let it go. So should we rescue the frog?"

"He may yet prove helpful," Dr. Octavius said. "I have an idea. I'll dial in my pocket laser to its maximum setting. I'll attempt to give the boy what we used to call a 'hotfoot' back in my days at the Mad Science Academy. I can't see up high enough to tell what the boy is currently doing with our amphibian friend, but if he's holding him in his hands this may startle him enough to let go."

"Won't a fall from that height splatter Max?"

"We'll drag what's left of the blanket over first and spread it on the ground. Hopefully it'll provide a soft enough landing."

At their present height the blanket proved to be quite heavy, especially since it was weighted down with water. They managed to pull it over near the boy's giant foot.

"Now then, let's see what we can do," Dr. Octavius said as he focused the laser on the boy's heel and powered it on. After a few seconds smoke began to waft up from the boy's shoe. "We've breached the outermost layer of his footwear. At our present rate we may succeed in reaching his foot with the laser in approximately five minutes. Hopefully he will hold still for that long."

*

"I can't see a damn thing in here," Max grumbled to himself. He felt around with his hands and along with the fabric of the pocket he felt something wet and sticky. "Do I want to know what that is? Probably not. On the other hand, a little light would be nice. I could also use a smoke about now. And a drink. I somehow doubt this kid's harboring a mini-bar in here, but I at least have cigarettes in my pocket. And a lighter. We'll just have to kill two birds with one stone, as the old saying goes."

He patted himself down until he located his pack of cigarettes. He pulled one out and held it in his mouth. He flicked his lighter three times before it produced a flame. He lit his cigarette and took a big puff. Then he held the lighter up to try to take a look around.

"What the hell does this kid have in his pocket? That looks like a rotten piece of asparagus over there. And is that oil? Why in fuck's name would someone go around with an oil spill in their pants? Surely it must be something else."

Whatever it was he was looking at, it proved to be flammable as a spark from his cigarette hit it and it went up in flames.

Max looked around in every direction. There didn't appear to be any obvious exits and the fire was starting to spread. It was getting noticeably hotter already. "I'm beginning to get the feeling this might not be good. In fact, it might be really quite bad." He let out a loud gulp as he wiped off the sweat that was beginning to drip profusely from his brow.

*

Sarah was watching her uncle burn an increasingly sizable hole in the boy's shoe when she felt a strong tugging on the door. Before she was aware of what was happening it was ripped out of her hands. She whirled around to see a red ant holding it admiringly. It was a regular-sized ant, but at her present height it seemed to be the size of a large dog.

"This door will make the perfect entrance to my colony's new anthill," the ant said. "Well, tally-ho then." It turned around and started to saunter off.