Chapter the 33rd
“The Plague of Darkness told in the Book of Exodus has come strangely alive for the citizens of a small town south of Pittsburgh in the Monangahela Valley,” Peter MacArthur announced on the evening news. “For what may very well go down in history as the strangest newscast in the history of television, we take you to Phil Carroway and Marcia Cummings in Milton, Pennsylvania.”
“Thank you Peter,” said Phil Carroway. “The dark screen you must have right now is not the fault of your receivers. The town of Milton, Pennsylvania is in the throes of a truly Biblical catastrophe, namely a plague of darkness. Whether or not this plague has been caused by God as was the plague inflicted on the Egyptians is not known at this time.”
“The darkness in this town is not caused by a power failure,” said Marcia Cummings. “All electrical appliances work as well as they ever did. Electric light bulbs receive current as usual. But no lights are working, not even the sun which should still be shining at this time.”
“The only exception to this failure are the colorful dots you see on your screen,” said Phil. “These lights are caused by bubbles that floated out of a fountain that appeared in the middle of street early this afternoon with no explanation whatever. Which is to say, there are many things besides the darkness that defy rational explanation. For the past several hours, children from all over town have been blowing these bubbles out of bubble pipes dipped in this fountain.”
Jack Bullinger took another swig of beer as he kept his eyes glued to the television. He remembered that Janie once told him that he would watch television even if the tube blanked out. Now he was proving her right. Jack had never have thought that an almost blank television would draw the whole family together in the living room for the first time in at least ten years but it had done just that.
“We asked some of the children where they got the bubble pipes and they pointed to a toy store that some insisted had appeared only today here on Main Street,” Marcia continued. “Maybe this store was new to Milton, but it sure looked old to me. When I entered the store to see it for myself, it appeared to have been ransacked by an army of Goths. A gentleman who was busy writing out a list directed me to the blow pipes and allowed me to take one for free, which I did.”
“Did you ask this gentleman how he plans to stay in business?” Phil asked.
“I must confess that I did not think to ask that question,” Marcia confessed.
“As if this town were not topsy-turvy enough,” said Phil, a tower appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the street just behind this fountain. All that you can see of it is this dark shadow right behind us. Needless to say, the appearance of this tower without warning was the cause of several automobile accidents for the hapless drivers who were coming along at the wrong time.”
“Change the channel!” one of the children hollered. Jack couldn’t tell which one.
“We’ve tried that,” Jack replied. “The other channels don’t come in at all.”
“Try it again.”
“No!”
“PLEASE!”
“NO!”
“During this time of confusion,” said Marcia, “several local children have been reported missing, some of them for two or three days. I wish we could show you their pictures, but we can’t in this darkness. Their names are Karen Rosskill, Kevin Rosskill, Scott Simpson, Sheila Armstrong, Shawn Harrison and Mark Clement. If anybody should have any information about these young people, please call the Milton Police Department immediately. Worse than this, we have also received word that Mark Clement’s father, the Reverend Paul Clement, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in this town, is also missing and, most seriously, Ted Sloane, the mayor, has not been seen since the middle of the afternoon. This has created a serious vacuum of leadership during this time of crisis.”
“Where’s Michael?” asked one of the children.
“He’s here, isn’t he?” another child replied.
“Michael?” Janie called to her son.
No answer.
“MICHAEL!” Jack yelled.
Still no answer. So much for having the whole family together, thought Jack.
“Should we phone the police?” Janie asked.
“Don’t bother,” Jack muttered. “He never wants to be here anyway. Let him go to the North Pole if he wants to.”
The police have also reported that many children who have never been seen in this town have suddenly turned up. Police Chief Everett McAlister has blamed these ‘alien children’ as he calls them for the disruptions caused by the colorful bubbles all over town. He wants us to warn all parents that if any of their children bring home any friends who do not belong to this town, the police should be notified immediately.
“Any strange children in this living room?” Jack asked his children.
His question was greeted with a couple of soft giggles.
“Well? Are there any strange children in this house?”
There was a brief pause.
“Jamie’s my friend,” said Tommy. “He’s not strange at all.”
“We have the Milton Chief of Police, Everett McAlister available for a few questions,” asked Phil Carroway. “Have you discovered how this fountain and this tower came to appear so suddenly in the middle of our town?”
“No we haven’t,” the police chief replied. “We’re still looking for the culprit or culprits who played this out-of-control prank—keep these bubbles out of my face!—these [blip] kids think its funny. It looks like an end-of-the-year senior prank to me—I said: keep these bubbles out of my face!”
The children in the Bullinger’s living room laughed at the police chief as he wiped his face and tried to drive away the children who were attacking him.
“Do you think these bizarre events have been caused by human agency?” asked Marcia.
“I don’t think that real life is like a bunch of fairy tales,” Everett replied, “and I’m sure that when we find the culprits, we will find out how they pulled off these terroristic events.”
“Have you explored this tower?” asked Phil.
“Well—er—we haven’t been able to get inside the tower as yet,” the police chief admitted.
“And why is that?”
“I don’t know why we can’t get inside!” the police chief snapped. “It’s just that every time any of us approaches the door to the tower, we end up walking away from it before we know it.”
“But I did see two people who aren’t police officers run past the police line and enter the door to the tower,” said Phil. “How come they could get in when you couldn’t?”
“If I knew the answer to that question, I would tell you!”
“Do you think there’s a hex on that tower, Everett?” Marcia Cummings asked.
“I don’t believe in hexes,” the police chief replied. “Since you can’t ask me sensible questions, I’ll get back to my job—get those bubbles out of my face!”
“Can we ple-e-ease change the channel?” one of the children whined.
“NO!” Jack yelled.
“Can we have our bubble pipes back?” asked Tommy.
“No,” said his mother.
Suddenly, the television screen brightened so considerably that the Bullingers could see the tower and the street around it clearly. The children gasped. At the same time, a pale light penetrated the house from outside.
“This is unbelievable!” Phil Carroway gasped. “I’m sure all of you viewers can see for yourselves that somebody has turned on a light!
“You know, Phil,” said Marcia Cummings excitedly, “Now that the tower is lit up, we can see that it’s a lighthouse!”
“Come to think of it, it does look like a lighthouse,” Phil admitted. “Let’s see if our cameras can give us a closeup of this.”
“I think I see a small group of people at the top of the lighthouse,” said Marcia.
“That’s Prince Pickleface!” cried the boy Timmy had brought home.
“Who are you?” Jack asked. “Are you one of those strange children the police chief was warning us about?”
“He’s not a strange kid,” said Tommy. “He’s my friend Jamie.”
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“I think I can see a small group of people at the top of the lighthouse,” said Marcia Cummings.
“Is that Mark?” asked Mary Clement, as she leaned toward the television. “Oh darn! They turned the camera away.”
“I didn’t get a good look,” said Lilly Armstrong, “but that one young man could be Mark. I just wish they had a girl up there who could be Sheila.”
“I know. And Marion must be sick with worry about her kids.”
“It does look brighter outside again,” said Lilly. “I hope that’s a good sign.”
“What is going on now?” asked Mary as she pointed to the television screen.
Most of the people on Main Street were screaming and heading for cover.
“I don’t know what’s happening now!” gasped Phil Carroway. “I hope we’re not being invaded by aliens from Outer Space!”
“I hope not, too,” said Marcia. “What we can tell you right now is that there is a flying object right above Milton, Pennsylvania.”
“It looks a bit like a blimp studded with glowing diamonds,” said Phil.
“And now I see something like a smaller blimp pulling the larger vessel,” said Marcia. “I can see that the police chief, Everett McAlister, is barking out orders like crazy, so I assume that this flying object is unidentified.”
“It’s starting to look more like a sailing ship than a space ship to me,” Mary commented. “I wonder what they’ll think of next.”
“I didn’t know that sailing ships could fly through the air,” said Lilly.
“Good God!” Phil gasped. “Unless my eyes are deceiving me, this vessel looks a lot more like a flying sailing ship than it does a space ship! I assure you that this is a live telecast of events as they unfold before us! I hope you can hear us over the sound of this crowd. I think this ship is coming down for a landing right in the middle of town and—My God! I can’t believe this! It looks like this ship is being pulled by some creature that looks like a bird—or a flying elephant or a giant seal of some sort with wings—“
“This creature has tusks coming out of its mouth,” said Marcia, “just like a walrus. But walruses can’t fly, so it can’t. . .”
“Good God!” cried Phil, “it’s a pirate ship! There’s the skull and crossbones on a black flag!”
“The men on board this ship do look like pirates, right down to the parrot on the shoulder of one of them,” Marcia remarked.
“And it seems that they have several children on board that ship as well,” said Phil. “I hope they aren’t the missing children being held for ransom.”
“The children on board are acting like kids out on a holiday,” said Marcia. “If they had been kidnaped, I don’t think they would be singing away so happily.”
“Everett McAlister has just ordered the policemen to aim their guns at the ship,” said Phil.
“And now we can see a struggle going on,” said Marcia. “Several armed men have attacked the police!”
“I sure hope we don’t have a full-scale military invasion on our hands!” said Phil.
“And now the ship is landing gently between the lighthouse and the fountain here on Main Street,” Marcia announced. “These boys are wearing black dresses and they are singing lustily.”
“That’s the strangest pirate song I’ve ever heard,” Phil remarked. “Listen to this!”
A man wearing a coat and tails jumped aboard the grounded ship and began directing the boys. Immediately any raggedness in their singing smoothed out.
“I don’t know what their singing, Phil,” said Marcia, “but it’s the most beautiful singing I’ve heard in a long time.”
“Good Heavens!” Mary Clement exclaimed. “Those boys are singing a setting of the Mass!”
“What are boys like that doing on a pirate ship?” asked Lilly Armstrong.
“Praying for buried treasure, I guess,” said Mary.
“I’ve read lots of sci-fi, myself” said Phil, “but I’ve never read a book about a flying pirate ship drawn through the air by a flying walrus where half the pirate crew is a bunch of choirboys.”
“I doubt that any science fiction writer could dream up a scene like that,” Marcia replied.
“Once again, real life has proven to be stranger than fiction,” said Phil.
“And the people who were in the lighthouse are coming out to greet the ship,” said Marcia.
“What another strange bunch!” Phil explained. “The boy in the front is wearing enough medals on his military uniform to sink a dozen pirate ships, and next to him is a young man with a harp. He looks like he’s dressed in a medieval costume of some sort. Behind them is an odd-looking couple and a young man—“
“Mark!” Mary Clement cried out. “I know that’s Mark!”
“Let’s go!” said Karen Armstrong. “Maybe Sheila will turn up, too!”
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“Cover that ship!” Everett McAlister barked.
Several police officers aimed their assault rifles at the strange ship as it descended on Main Street, but most of them dropped their pistols just as quickly.
“I see children on board, sir,” said one of the officers.
“I didn’t say: shoot, I just said: cover that ship,” said the police chief. “We have to be ready for anything—what the. . .?”
Everett’s own pistol went flying and the assault rifles were knocked out of the hands of his officers before the police chief even knew they had been surrounded by the same men in strange uniforms who had caused him trouble earlier.
“Don’t you dare fire at that ship!” ordered the commanding officer.
“And why NOT?” Everett yelled.
“Because the national pirates of Carelin and the Royal Carelin Boys Choir are on board, that’s why,” said the soldier.
“Why should I let pirates take over this town and terrorize its citizens?” Everett shouted.
“Those pirates our under the protection of our choristers, that’s why,” answered the commander.
“Arrest them for obstructing justice!” Everett ordered.
“Arrest them for resisting the crown of Carelin!” the commander of the invading army ordered in return.
To Everett’s fury, the police officers didn’t know what to do. Some of them kept a cautious eye on the ship as it landed in the middle of the street in front of the fountain. Other officers made sure that the frightened crowd stayed back and out of the way. Since he and his fellow officers had been disarmed and were being held at gunpoint, the rest of his police officers were wary of storming the soldiers. The scene before him was more than the chief of police could take in. The ship glittered as if it were made of rubies, boys in black dresses were singing the strangest music he had ever heard, and the animal that had lead the ship looked something like Dumbo the Flying Elephant. A man wearing a coat and tails jumped on board like a monkey and began to conduct the boys in their singing. The two newscasters who were embarrassing his town before the whole nation were chatting away right under the ship. As if all that were no enough, an odd assortment of people came out of the lighthouse and ran over to the ship where the boys and pirates welcomed them on board. A young man wearing a medieval costume and carrying a harp and a boy wearing a military uniform covered with medals led the way. Last of all was—of all people—Mark Clement, the priest’s son!
“Ho! Ho!” crowed the commanding officer of the other army. “It’s the Crown Prince Moroch himself come to set things to rights!”
“And the royal harpist with him!” cried out another soldier.
A few people were running away screaming. Everett didn’t blame them. Most of the people seemed too shocked and confused to know what to do. By default, they milled about restlessly at a small distance from the ship. Many of the children, however, moved to the front of the crowd and approached the ship as if they were a self-appointed welcoming committee. To Everett’s added dismay, many, but not all, of the children were strangers who had invaded the town the day before. Mark Clement held up his arms to ask for quiet. His presence reassured some people, and they cautiously moved in so they could hear him. As far as Everett was concerned, Mark had such a dazed innocent look that he was sure the boy’s brain had already been fried by the space aliens who were with him.
“You have nothing to fear!” Mark cried out.
Those words received a mixed reception, some of it amused, some of it puzzled, and some of it fearful. Mark had to hold up his hands a second time to get enough quiet that he could resume speaking. One of the newscasters held a microphone up to him.
“These people can’t be up to anything good,” the older man in a dark suit said the Everett.
“They must be hostile space aliens,” said the woman.
“That preacher’s kid has surely been brainwashed by this cult,” said the younger man.
“I know that you have all seen some strange sights,” Mark resumed. “I can hardly take some of this in myself. I’m sure you’ve all been frightened by all this darkness, but as you can see for yourselves, we’re starting to get the light back. The people with me and the people in that pirate ship are all from a different world. . .” Mark had to hold up his hands to quiet the crowd. “. . .But I assured you, these are humans beings just like me and you. I also assure that everybody from Carelin, as this world is called, is here to work with all of you to get all of the light back.”
The pirates and choirboys cheered and clapped loudly. A few people in the Milton crowd cheered timidly, unsure of what to make of it.
“I introduce to you Moroch, the Crown Prince of Carelin,” Mark announced. “Please let him explain what is going on and what we must do next.”
The boy with medals covering his military uniform stepped forward. At the same time, Everett heard a woman cry “Mark!” and Mark flew into the arms of his mother. At about the same time, Lilly and Harvey Armstrong had a reunion as noisy as if they had been separated for six months. Noticing that the soldiers were giving all of their attention to their Crown Prince, Everett inched his way closer to the ship and waved his men to do the same. He looked at the animal that had flown the ship into town and decided it looked like a walrus, but he had no idea how a walrus could have flown through the air the way this animal had done.
“In the absence of my father, King Perezvon the Twenty-Sixth,” announced the prince, “I represent the Kingdom of Carelin on his behalf. One of my responsibilities as the Crown Prince of Carelin is to restore the lost light to my kingdom. In honor of the Queen Mother of Carelin, who spent the last years of her life in exile in this town of Milton, I extend my responsibility as the Crown Prince of Carelin to bringing back the lost light to all of you as well. With the help of a petal of rose, which was created through the talents of Amarilla, Daughter of Martin and Edith and delivered to me by William the Hummingbird, we have received enough light for you to see the medals on my uniform.”
“And enough light to see your pickled face!” yelled a boy from the pirate ship.
The prince gave the boy as stiff and haughty a look as he could manage, but the boy was not the least bit intimidated.
“We’re much obliged to Amarilla for that rose of hers and its light,” called out one of the pirates. “Without it, we’d still be looking for this town, or we’d have crashed straight into this here lighthouse.”
“That preacher’s kid has turned against his town and against his church,” the older man spoke in Everett McAlister’s ear.
“We told you that girl Amarilla was up to no good,” said the woman.
“You are the one who will have to stand up to these invaders on behalf of your town, warned the younger man.
“As the Crown Prince of Carelin, acting on behalf of my royal father, I ask the current Chief Captain of the Kingdom’s national pirates if they have succeeded in their quest to bring back any of the lost light.”
There was a brief flurry of whispered discussion among the boys and the pirates, and then the heavy-set man with the black beard and a parrot on his shoulder stepped forward with a scroll in his hand.
“Speaking on behalf of Chief Captain Karen, I’ll tell you that we found Kevin’s Island, just like he’d drawn it on this here treasure map,” said the pirate. “Then we got to the spot he marked with this here X, and then, at the spot, we dug up this here treasure chest.”
“Do you mean to tell me, Captain Polly of the twenty-four seas, that you found a treasure chest drawn by Kevin the Map Maker?” asked Prince Moroch. “Bring it down so that I may see it with my royal eyes.”
“Karen and Kevin,” said the older man into Everett’s ear. “Recognize those names?”
“Karen and Kevin Rosskill, are among the missing children,” said the woman.
“Surely these pirates kidnaped Karen and Karen,” suggested the younger man.
Everett McAlister watched suspiciously and edged closer with his officers as a group of pirates lowered the plank to the street and a small boy carried the treasure chest by thin purplish ropes down the plank to the street. The rest of the crew disembarked right behind him, singing a chorus of “Yo-ho-ho and a Bottle of Rum.” The purplish threads the boy used to carry the chest looked so thin that the police chief didn’t see how they could hold up the chest.
“There is something suspicious about this treasure chest,” said the older man into Everett’s ear.
“There’s sure to be a bomb or something worse inside that chest,” said the woman.
“This town of Milton has nobody but you to defend it against these people,” said the younger man.
“On behalf of King Perezvon XXVI and the Kingdom of Carelin,” said the prince, “I, Prince Moroch, gratefully accept this treasure chest which you have brought back to us. May I assume that it is my royal prerogative to open the chest and bring out the light that you have collected?”
“Before anybody opens this chest,” said Everett McAlister, “I want my bomb squad to check it out to make sure there is not a bomb planted inside it.”
The boys and pirates exchanged puzzled looks.
“What’s a bomb?” asked one of the boys.
“How can you possibly live in this world and not know what a bomb is?” Everett exploded.
“Hey! Cool it, chief,” said Mark Clement. “I know these people wouldn’t bring a bomb to our town.”
“I told you that a preacher’s kid is the first to go bad,” said the older man.
“I think that—uh—it’s a little hard to explain,” Captain Polly stammered, “but—uh—I think we have to be careful as to how we open this here treasure chest.”
“And what is so hard to explain?” asked Prince Moroch in the same tone that Everett McAlister wanted to ask that question.
“Well—er—maybe Captain Hilary, can tell you—uh—what the problem is.”
To Everett’s surprise, Captain Hilary turned out to be one of the boys. He stepped forward and sucked in his breath.
“We opened the treasure chest,” Captain Hilary began in a wavering voice, “and we inside we found—we found—the Dark Lake.”
“The Dark Lake?” exclaimed the red-haired woman standing near Prince Moroch. “How is that possible?”
The prince and the harpist frowned at the news as if the Dark Lake were something sinister.
“I—I don’t know, Aunt Edith,” said Captain Hilary, “but that’s what we found.”
“My Great Aunt told me the Dark Lake can be anywhere,” piped up the small boy who had carried the treasure chest down the plank. “Tell him that Melanie’s Web is inside the chest, too.”
“Melanie’s Web?” asked Aunt Edith. “That’s some comfort. But I fear that you have some more bad news.”
Captain Hilary gulped and then said, “Well, our head chorister and first mate Captain Nigel reached into the treasure chest to try and get the light out of it—and Captain Edmund did the same, and—they fell in.”
Aunt Edith blanched, and several of the strange children gasped in horror. It grated on Everett that those kids seemed to know something he didn’t.
“What could Nigel and Edmund possibly be doing inside a treasure chest?” asked the man in the coat and tails, beside himself with anxiety.
“I hope they’re climbing Melanie’s Web,” said Captain Dennis.
“Oh!’ said the man in tails. “That is a great relief and an honor. Surely the boys are safe if they are climbing Melanie’s Web!”
“Where the Dark Lake is concerned, I make no assumptions for anybody’s safety,” said Aunt Edith.
“Come,” said the man standing next to Aunt Edith. “You must have more confidence in Melanie the Web Spinner than that.”
“Not enough confidence to keep from worrying,” said Aunt Edith. “I am hoping that there is not any more bad news,” said Aunt Edith, “but your faces tell me otherwise.”
Captain Hilary nodded.
“Chief Captain Karen tried to get Captain Nigel and Captain Edmund out, and. . .”
Captain Hilary burst into tears.
Everett stepped forward, close to the ship and stared hard at the boys and the pirates.
“Were you talking about Karen Rosskill?” the police chief asked them.
The boys looked at each other.
“No,” said Captain Hilary. “We’re talking about Karen Daughter of—of—I don’t know.”
“She’s the sister of Kevin the Mapmaker,” said another boy.
“Thank you Captain Geoffrey,” said Captain Hilary.
“I demand that you free Karen Rosskill and Kevin from that treasure chest immediately!” Everett yelled.
“We wouldn’t hurt a fingernail of Chief Captain Karen in eight million years!” the pirate with the parrot yelled back.
“We tried to get Kevin on board with us,” said Captain Geoffrey, “but he missed the boat.”
“That proves that you kidnaped both children,” Everett charged.
“What about Sheila?” asked Lilly Armstrong, obviously beside herself with worry.
“Do you mean Sheila the Music Finder?” asked the man in tails.
“Yes, we means our Sheila,” said Harvey Armstrong. Then he turned to face the choirmaster. “But do you still not know where she is?”
“I—I don’t know,” the choirmaster admitted.
“Sheila the Music Finder didn’t make it on board, either,” said Captain Hilary. “She must be on a different quest.”
“I’ll cut right to the cheese,” Everett announced with a look that dared anybody to oppose him. “My men are going to open this treasure chest and make sure that there is neither a bomb, or the dead bodies of Karen Rosskill and Kevin Rosskill, or both.”
“Be careful how you open the treasure chest,” Captain Hilary cautioned. “You might spill out the Dark Lake, or you might hurt Chief Captain Karen or Captain Nigel or Captain Edmund, or Melanie the Web Spinner.”
“And who is this Melanie the Web Spinner?” growled the police chief.
“My great aunt says that Melanie the Web Spinner spins her web to make connections,” said Captain Dennis. “Gertrude the Walrus sewed up our shipwrecked pirate ship with half of the web, but the other half is closed up inside the treasure chest. Now we have to give Melanie the Web Spinner and Gertrude the Walrus a chance to spin the web back together again. And then we can get Chief Captain Karen and Captain Nigel and Captain Edmund out of the chest.”
“What good are spiders and walruses at a time like this?” Everett McAlister yelled.
Captain Dennis collapsed in the street, tears streaking down his face. Captain Polly picked up the boy, cradled him in his arms and turned a fierce face toward Everett.
“I don’t rightly take to your insulting Captain Dennis, his great aunt, Melanie the Web Spinner, or Gertrude the Walrus!” Captain Polly yelled. “Where I come from, people have proper respect for those who hold up the world and tie it together. I guess where you come from, people don’t have respect!”
“I order everybody to make way for the bomb squad,” ordered the police chief. “Anybody who disobeys this order will be arrested.”
Prince Moroch stepped in between the police chief and Captain Polly.
“As the crown prince of Carelin,” Moroch’s voice rang out,” I order you to cease and desist from any activity in relation with this treasure chest as Carelin law does not allow a bomb to exist, neither do any of us know what a bomb is, neither are any of us capable of making something when we don’t know what it is.”
“You have no authority in this town!” Everett insisted. “There is no reason to obstruct the police department in its work. We will not hurt the chest if there is no bomb in it, so.”
“Everett McAlister!” yelled a woman Edna Speiser, who was suddenly full in his face. “Edith and Martin are the ones who took care of me when I got stranded in their world, and I’m telling you, they and everybody else from their town deserve better treatment than you’re giving them, They don’t even know what a bomb is, so how could they have planted a bomb in that chest? I insist that you apologize to these people immediately.”
“I’ll apologize if I find there is no bomb in that chest,” muttered the police chief.
“I’ll report this to the mayor,” said Edna.
“He’s not here,” said Everett. “He skipped town.”
“Then I am the one who speaks for the city,” Edna insisted.
“No, I have the responsibility of keeping Milton safe from these lunatics!” Everett yelled back.
“In the place of King Perezvon XXVI, I have authority over a treasure chest brought to me by my father’s subjects,” Prince Moroch announced.
“Arrest him!” Everett ordered with his finger pointed at the royal prince.
All of the boys and pirates from the ship and a bunch of other children surrounded the prince faster that the police chief could have snapped his fingers.
“As deputy head chorister acting in place of Head Chorister Nigel, I forbid you to lay hands on the Crown Prince of Carelin or on the treasure chest we brought to him.”
“Arrest him!” Everett ordered, pointing to the choirboy.
“Absolutely not!” cried the choir director at the first move by the police. “I absolutely forbid you to lay a hand on any of my choristers!”
“Arrest him!”
“Absolutely not!” insisted Edna Speiser.
“Arrest her!”
The police moved forward and the army from Carelin jumped in front to stop them. Within seconds, the choirboys, the pirates, and the police were locked in a melee that was sure to take hours to disentangle. Many people in the crowd panicked. Some ran away, others joined in the fray. The walrus barked at the fighters. Everett McAlister yelled orders that nobody could hear. The Crown Prince and the harpist and older couple who were with Mark Clement and Edna Speiser yelled at everybody to stop to no effect. Captain Polly held a sobbing Captain Dennis while tears ran down his own bearded face.
“You have done the right thing,” the older man assured Everett.
“If a bomb inside the treasure chest blows up this town, it will not be your fault,” said the woman.
“You had better get the treasure chest with its bomb out of this crowd,” the younger man advised him.
In a panic, Everett looked for the treasure chest but it was no longer in the place where he knew it was. He tried to force his way into the crowd to get the chest for himself but found himself entangled with a pirate who struck at him with a wooden hand shaped like an eagle’s claw.