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

he was floating in space.
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    He heard Nell's voice. "Erec? Where are you?"
    "I got him," Danny said. "What is this thing? Don't you think we should have just listened to Mrs. Smith?"
    "I don't like this place," Trevor said.
    "Listen, guys, I've been here before," Erec replied calmly. "I'm taking us somewhere safe. Just let your minds go blank and hold on tight."
    Erec shut his eyes and concentrated on the home of his father, King Piter. It was hard not to think about Bethany, but he closed her out of his mind. If he did concentrate on her, even by accident, the Substance Channel would take him to her and, at the same time, right to Baskania.
    King Piter's home. His castle no longer existed. It had been destroyed. But his father's home would be safe. They could stay there until he figured out what to do next. Maybe his mother could even come stay with them.
    Take me to my father's home.
    If only he knew what he would find waiting there.
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    CHAPTER THREE King Piter in Chains
    HE SUBSTANCE CHANNEL worked. In moments, Erec and his siblings were whizzing through space. Erec could feel a tunnel forming around him, opening and shutting as he went through almost as if he was being swallowed. The warm material around them was the Substance itself: the network of magic that filled the world. Without it, life could not exist. But in our everyday world of Upper 31 Earth it had thinned so much that magic was no longer possible.
    He was having trouble holding onto Nell's walker, which kept wanting to yank out of his grip, and keeping Danny's hand in his. Then, with a sharp jerk to his left, Erec was spit out through the ring of light. His siblings toppled onto the floor after him. The ring glimmered a moment in the air and then disappeared.
    Erec sat up and gasped. A shocked face stared straight back at him. After a moment he came to his senses and recognized that it was his old friend and butler, Jam Crinklecut. Gray-green eyes twinkling, Jam sported his usual black butler suit with tails, gray vest, and white gloves.
    "Young sir? I was . . . not expecting you." He looked around. "Danny and Sammy, I presume? And Trevor and Nell? I remember you from my wonderful visit at your home. What a pleasure. Welcome, sirs. Modoms." He bowed low.
    "Jam!" Erec sprang to his feet and threw an arm around the butler.
    At first Jam looked surprised, but he quickly smiled. "And how is young sir doing?"
    That question brought everything home for Erec. He had not had time to process what had happened to his best friend, and now he found himself choking on his words as he tried to speak them. "Is . . . Bethany . . ."
    "Bethany?" Jam smiled. "She must be in her suites. Shall I ring her?"
    A ray of hope lit within him, but he was afraid to believe it. Had his vision been wrong? Maybe nothing had happened yet . . . and he still had time to stop her.
    But the phone rang and rang in Bethany's suites. Jam frowned. "I don't know where else she could be. I thought she had been working on her book. That's mostly what she's been doing since she's been stuck inside here."
    Erec's stomach turned over, and his last hopes blew out in a
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    long sigh. It was no use. He knew exactly what had happened to her. How could he tell Jam? And worse, her brother Pi?
    Even the air felt thick and heavy. It seemed to drip sadness. Then he remembered that there was another reason it was hard to breathe here. Each time he returned to the Kingdom of the Keepers after being away awhile, he would notice this feeling. The Substance here was thicker, and it gave off a depressing aura that he grew used to after a day or two.
    Trying to ignore it, Erec glanced out the window, as if Bethany might be outside walking with her pink kitten, Cutie Pie. Of course she wasn't there. What if he never saw her again? Why hadn't he just come back a month earlier when she wanted him to?
    Something caught his eye on the grass. It looked like a growing drop of blood. In a moment it started wiggling, and