Floors #2: 3 Below Read Online Free PDF Page B

against it. Remi was a little bit on the round side, and before Leo could get over the fact that a wall of the duck elevator was no longer there, Remi was falling backward through the opening.
    Leo was a lighter boy by almost half, but he grabbed Remi by the ankles, hoping he could somehow hold on. Remi’s tube socks rolled down in Leo’s hands until hisfingers reached the shoes and the shoes popped off like two bottle caps.
    “Oh no!” Leo yelled. For a split second he thought he’d gained a brother only to lose him one day later in a horrible elevator accident. But then Betty jumped through the opening, too, and Leo heard the sound of a duck bill chomping on something crunchy. Maybe the duck elevator was closer to the bottom of the hotel than Leo had thought. He peered slowly over the edge and found Remi and Betty four or five feet below. Both of them were eating.
    It’s a known fact that Whippet Hotel ducks love animal crackers more than any other treat. And Remi liked them, too. They’d landed in what appeared to be a separate shaft, next to the duck elevator and filled with animal crackers. Remi dug deep and threw handfuls up into the air. The crackers rained down on Betty, who caught one on the drop and swallowed it whole.
    “I thought I was a goner there for a second,” said Remi, popping a crunchy, monkey-shaped cracker into his mouth. “Best cookies ever .”
    “No wonder Betty wanted to come in here.” Leo smiled. “She must have known about the card and the cookies.”
    “C’mon down, there’s something you should see.” Remi’s words were garbled because his mouth was so full.

    Leo wasn’t so sure about leaving the safety of the elevator. What if it left without them? How long could they live on animal crackers with no milk to wash them down?
    Instead, Leo hung his head into the open space, the blob of curly hair on his head nearly reaching the pile of cookies below. He saw what Remi saw, only upside down.
    There were two slots in the bottom of the elevator, like the ones on a hotel door where a key card could be inserted to unlock the door. To the right of each slot was a symbol. The symbols were these:
     
A tree
A glass beaker
    “What’s this do?” Remi asked, reaching toward something that was on the wall.
    “No, don’t!” Leo said. He was worried the button Remi was reaching toward might send the elevator wall back up and cut him right in two, like a magic trick gone terribly wrong. But Leo was too late to stop Remi and his insatiable curiosity.
    Leo closed his eyes, waiting for the wall to slam into his chest, but instead he heard a familiar voice.
    Merganzer D. Whippet was back.

    “Don’t let Betty eat too much or she’ll throw up in the duck elevator. And I hope you brought gloves. If you haven’t . . . actually, never mind. It will be fine.”
    It was Merganzer’s voice, but he wasn’t there. The voice had the scratchy sound of a recording, and Merganzer was acting distracted, like he was doing nine things at once and his mind was only partly on the task of leaving a message. There was a pause in which Merganzer yelled something out of range, probably to Mr. Powell.
    Leo dropped his arms over the edge and craned his neck so he could look at Remi. He pointed to one of his hands. What did he mean about the gloves? Leo said with his eyes and his hands, but Remi just shrugged, picked up a handful of animal crackers, and set them in Leo’s outstretched hand. Betty stole one with her lightning-fast bill. She was eating a lot.
    “Can’t talk long, much to do!” Merganzer’s voice was back. He was always busy, but Merganzer D. Whippet was never specific about anything he was doing, only that it was all very important and there was never enough time.
    “If you’re not Leo and Remi, then you’ve gotten extremely lost in the hotel. Push the green lever down. And never get in a tiny elevator again.”

    Merganzer started banging on something Leo and Remi couldn’t see. It