The Phantom Tower by Keir Graff

Author:Keir Graff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2018-08-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A CHILLING REALIZATION

“WHAT?!?” MAL, TAMIKA, and I gasped in unison.

Below us, the Professor shifted in his chair and looked up at where we were crouched on top of the boiler.

“Don’t you get it?” asked Teddy. “People who move into this building stay here forever.”

“I thought that was only if they died,” I told him.

“While they were living in the building,” added Tamika.

“It’s a lot worse than that,” he said. “If you ever live here—for any length of time—you’ll always live here.”

“Well, that’s ridiculous,” said Mal. “We’ll just move out. Brunhild Tower is filled with empty apartments of people who’ve left.”

Teddy blew and popped a small bubble. “I don’t know anything about that. All I know is that we’re sure running out of room in here.”

Nobody said anything. I remembered how I once, for a minute, wished I could live in Brunhild Tower forever. Had I jinxed us?

“Teddy is right,” boomed the Professor from below, startling us. “You will be quite unable to leave. And Brunhild Tower’s unleased apartments have more to do with its . . . unwholesome reputation.”

I looked over the edge to where he was sitting, calmly rubbing the gold beak of his eagle’s-head cane with his thumb.

My blood was hot as lava, and I felt ready to explode. “How could you tell my Mom we should move in here when you knew all of this?”

“I need your help resolving the problem your friend has explained,” said the Professor quietly. “Come down here and I will explain.”

“That seems reasonable,” said Mal, inching toward the ladder.

“Wait!” said Teddy. “This is what I was trying to tell you earlier: He visits the man who made this place. What could you possibly do that he can’t?”

“Don’t go, Mal—it’s a trap!” hissed Tamika.

“But don’t you want to know?” asked Mal, his urge to understand more powerful than any fear he was feeling.

In the silence, I heard Dad’s watch ticking. We only had twelve minutes left. I didn’t trust the Professor, and even if Teddy was right and we were all doomed to spend forever in the Phantom Tower, I didn’t want to be stuck there for the next twenty-three hours if I could help it.

“Well, I guess eternity gives us plenty of time to figure this all out,” I said. “But right now, we need to get to the elevator, and, Teddy, we need your help.”

Teddy chewed his gum slowly. “I’m sorry I had to give you the bad news. Will you still come back before you die?”

“Yes,” I told him. “We’re coming again tomorrow. But first we need to get back to the elevator.”

“Okay,” he said. “There may only be one door, but if you’re desperate, there are actually three ways out of this room: through the door, the coal chute, and the boiler itself.”

“I’d prefer the door, if that’s all right,” said Tamika.

“Don’t worry, there’s no fire in the boiler,” said Teddy. “The Phantom Tower, as you call it, is always comfortably warm.”

“So the coal chute isn’t full of coal?” asked Mal.

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