[Janitors 03] Curse of the Broomstaff (17 page)

The Extension Grime’s tongue lashed out in hunger, but Spencer and Daisy were already in full retreat, flying backward down the stairwell. They fled, haphazard and reckless on their brooms.

They turned into a dim hallway and Spencer paused, gasping for breath. The kids were hopelessly lost in the heart of Alsbury High School with sounds of pursuit coming from all directions.

Spencer glanced over his shoulder. A shadow flickered, followed by the nearby croak of an Extension Rubbish. Suddenly, Daisy shoved into him.

“What are you doing?” Spencer whispered. Daisy pushed him against the wall of lockers. One of the tall metal doors was slightly ajar, and Daisy dug her fingers in, popping it wide open. She hastily guided Spencer into the opening, sounds of the Extension Toxites drawing nearer by the second.

The locker was tight, and Spencer fit only with his arms pinned at both sides. There would be no chance to defend himself if the creatures found him hiding in the darkness.

If it was a tight fit alone, it suddenly got even tighter as Daisy grabbed the locker handle and squeezed in beside him. The hinge squeaked, and Daisy slammed the metal door.

Then the hallway was overrun by Pluggers.

T
hrough the tiny vent slots, Spencer watched an Extension Grime and a Rubbish pace the hallway. It didn’t matter how well concealed he was in the locker, Spencer held perfectly still, not even daring to breathe.

“Where’d they go?” one of the Pluggers said. “I was right behind them.”

“They can’t be far,” said the other. “Let the monsters sniff them out.”

Spencer felt his legs begin to quiver. The last thing he needed was for his knees to knock against the metal locker. From his limited viewpoint, Spencer saw the Extension Grime leap across the hallway. There was a resonant
clang
as the monster’s sticky fingertips latched onto the bank of lockers.

Daisy’s heavy breathing suddenly changed to a faintly hummed tune—a Disney princess song, to be exact. The Extension Grime was too close. Its breath was distracting Daisy! Spencer reached for his can of air freshener, but the locker was too small, pinning his hands at his sides.

Then his view was blocked entirely as the Grime’s huge head slid across the locker. Spencer pinched his eyes closed, waiting for the massive Extension Toxite to rip open the lockers and eat him and Daisy in one gulp.

The locker door rattled. Spencer opened one eye and instantly wished that he hadn’t. The Grime’s snakelike tongue had slithered through the vent slot. Daisy was getting louder as her humming neared the chorus. The forked tip of the monster’s tongue brushed her cheek, and she giggled.

“Where have you morons been?” asked a new voice from the hallway. The Grime’s tongue withdrew, and the rider directed it away from the lockers.

Spencer, trying not to let his panting breath betray him, leaned his head forward and peeked through the vents to see an Extension Filth sauntering down the hallway. The man on its back looked annoyed to find his companions.

“We were searching for the Rebels,” answered the Rubbish Plugger.

“We already
caught
the Rebels,” said the Filth Plugger. “Leslie’s holding them in a classroom on the main floor. Wants everyone there.”

The Extension Grime cast a final hungry look toward the lockers, but the Plugger twisted the dial and steered the monster away. Daisy’s humming came to an abrupt stop, and the dim hallway was totally silent.

Spencer finally sighed, the muscles in his shoulders relaxing a bit. “Daisy?” he whispered, his lips less than an inch from her ear.

“Yeah?”

“I think you locked us in.”

“That’s okay,” she said. “We can Windex the door and break out.”

“Except,” Spencer strained again to reach the items on his belt, “my arms are pinned.”

“Here,” she said. “Maybe I can reach yours.”

Spencer’s heart was still hammering. Luck had saved them this time. Another moment and the Extension Grime would have alerted its master. If it hadn’t been for that Filth Plugger calling them back . . .

Leslie’s patience was no doubt wearing thin. Spencer didn’t know how long he could keep her interest on the paper-towel map before she decided to take Alan and leave.

Spencer needed to figure out what classroom the Rebels were being held in so he could lead a rescue. While Daisy managed to grab his bottle of Windex, Spencer squirmed his hand into his pocket. The bronze medallion was still there. If he could reach it, Spencer might be able to see through Walter and find out exactly where the others were.

The darkness of the locker dissolved into white light as Spencer’s fingers brushed the medal. As the light cleared, he got an instant fix on Walter’s location. He was on the main floor of Alsbury High School, room 18.

Looking through the warlock’s eyes, Spencer saw Leslie Sharmelle dismounting her armored Filth. Half a dozen Pluggers were perched around the room, making any kind of escape impossible.

Leslie approached the Rebels with a plunger in hand. The extension cord stretched between her and the beast, its orange color matching her prison jumpsuit. She reached to her belt and unclipped a walkie-talkie. Lifting the device to her lips, she pressed the button.

“We have them, Mr. Clean,” Leslie said.

“Mr. Clean.” Bernard scoffed. “Kind of a cheesy name for the arch villain—”

Before he could finish, Leslie brought the wooden handle of her plunger across his face. Bernard slumped forward, blood on his cheek.

The walkie-talkie made some noise, and Spencer recognized the voice of the third warlock. “Eliminate them all.”

Leslie pressed down the button to respond, but Alan shouted, his voice carrying through the device. “Hey! Leslie made me an agreement! You’ve got me now, so let my friends go free.”

Mr. Clean’s voice came through again. “Leslie isn’t in a position to make agreements. Besides, there’s been a complication.”

“What complication?” Alan asked as Leslie pressed down the button.

“Leslie was supposed to stop you
before
you solved that thirteenth clue. I don’t like loose ends,” he said. “Your kid has the map to the landfill. And that’s a loose end.”

Alan grunted in frustration. He beckoned for Leslie, and she held the button on the radio once more. “Why don’t you do this yourself?” Alan taunted. “Why send Leslie? Too comfortable in your office to come down and get your hands dirty? Why don’t you show your face, coward?”

The response was laughter, so loud that the speakers crackled. “Once you are out of the equation, everyone will know my face.”

There was a flash of white light, and Spencer stumbled out into the hallway. He almost collapsed to the floor, but Daisy threw her arms around him for support. While he had been swept up in the vision, Daisy had Windexed the locker and shattered the doors.

Spencer groaned in pain as his bare feet scuffed across the floor. Looking down, he saw a streak of blood on the tile and felt the sting of broken glass in his heel. In no time, Daisy had him seated on the floor. She squinted one eye shut as she pulled out the glass fragment. Her orange healing spray misted over his foot, and Spencer felt the wound seal instantly.

“I just checked on Walter,” Spencer said. “Mr. Clean doesn’t want us getting away with the map.” He held out the paper-towel roll. “Leslie’s going to kill the others.”

“Everybody?”

Then Spencer realized who had been missing from his warlock vision. “Not everybody.”

It took longer than Spencer wanted to find the secret bathroom. The hallways were clear, which meant that the Pluggers were still in room 18 with Leslie. But there was no way of knowing how long that would last.

Spencer and Daisy entered through the broken brick wall. The hidden bathroom was a mess! Leslie’s Extension Filth had destroyed several stalls, and there were deep claw marks in the tile. But one thing remained untouched. In the middle of the bathroom, an inch of cardboard tube jutted up from the floor.

Penny was still under there.

It wouldn’t be easy to free Penny from the hard floor. Spencer remembered his dad’s warning. If they weren’t careful, the Windex might accidentally turn Penny to glass.

They started with a gentle mist. The floor shimmered in iridescence before turning transparent. Penny was lying several inches under the surface, her eyes closed tightly and her body stuck in a tensed position.

Spencer used his razorblade to smash out the first layer of glass. Then, with the Windex nozzle set to a fine stream, he and Daisy targeted the floor around Penny’s body.

Spencer had broken out a few more pieces when, suddenly, Penny’s hand burst free. She twisted sideways, the transparent floor around her cracking like ice. At last, she sat up and spat out the cardboard breathing tube.

“I was beginning to think that you guys had left me,” Penny said, shaking bits of tile from her short red hair.

“We did,” said Daisy. “But then we came back.”

Penny blew a chunk of floor from her nose and rose on shaky legs. “What happened? Where’s everyone else?”

“Leslie’s here,” Daisy explained. “And she’s got a gang of Pluggers with her. Their Extension Toxites are covered in armor!”

“They captured Walter, Bernard, and my dad,” Spencer said. “I hope you’ve got a plan, because I’m fresh out.”

Penny checked her janitorial belt. “I’ve been lying under the floor for the past half hour, brainstorming worst-case scenarios.” She nodded. “I’ve got a plan. But Bernard’s not going to like it.”

S
pencer and Daisy crept down the hallway, staying close to the wall. Spencer checked his watch and realized that Penny was probably in position by now.

“Are you sure this is the right wall?” Daisy asked.

Spencer held a finger to his lips and nodded. On the other side of that wall was room 18. Leslie and her gang of Pluggers were still brooding over the captives. If Spencer listened closely, he could hear Leslie’s voice demanding more answers from his dad.

“Ready?” Spencer whispered.

Daisy nodded and held up two bottles of Windex. Spencer drew his as well, noticing that all three bottles were nearly empty. They had turned so many walls to glass, Spencer was amazed they had any blue spray left.

Spencer glanced over his shoulder at their handiwork. Instead of solid brick, the wall across the hallway was transparent glass, giving him a clear view into an empty classroom. And his view did not stop there. The far wall of that classroom was also glass, as well as the wall after that, and the wall after that. Spencer and Daisy stood at the center of the high school, looking directly through a dozen glass walls and out into the parking lot.

A hundred yards away, vehicle headlights flashed, and Spencer knew that Penny was in position. Spencer nodded at Daisy, and they both opened fire on the last solid wall— the entrance to room 18.

The wall turned a magical blue, but Spencer didn’t even wait for it to become transparent. He grabbed Daisy’s arm, pulling her down the hallway and away from the glass walls.

There was a horrific crunching and crashing that grew louder with each passing second. A safe distance away, Spencer and Daisy flung themselves to the floor and covered their heads.

At the same moment, the garbage truck burst through the hallway and shattered the wall of room 18. Penny was gritting her teeth behind the wheel. Bernard’s truck was hammered, having just plowed through a dozen glass walls. The leg of a desk was wedged in the truck’s grill, and a broken bookshelf stuck through the windshield.

For added effect, Penny slammed on the truck horn, filling the hallway with an obnoxious blast of noise. She stepped on the brake, and the truck lurched to a halt. The front of the vehicle was embedded into room 18, leaving the body of the truck straddling the hallway.

All manner of chaotic noise was coming from the classroom. Toxites were shrieking and roaring while their BEM riders screamed commands. Spencer and Daisy sprinted back toward the action. If the plan worked, then Penny wouldn’t be parked in the hallway for long. Spencer and Daisy had to get on that truck before it departed!

Penny threw the garbage truck into reverse and stepped on the gas. The large vehicle heaved through the rubble and began a backward retreat. The cab was in the hallway now. Spencer and Daisy drew their brooms and flew forward. The passenger door swung open, and Spencer saw that Walter, Bernard, and his dad were already inside with Penny.

Alan reached out, pulling his son into the crowded cab. The paper-towel map tumbled from Spencer’s grasp and into Walter’s lap.

Daisy’s broom, only a split second behind Spencer’s, went off course as an Extension Rubbish swooped into the hallway. Daisy collided with the side of the garbage truck, her broom getting pulled under the dangerous wheels and crushed to bits.

“Daisy!” Spencer leaned out the open door and grasped the girl’s hands. Her feet found the bottom step of the truck, and she dangled off balance for a moment.

Snarling and barking, an Extension Filth pounced from room 18. Leslie’s arms shot out, and she caught hold of Daisy’s long braid. Daisy screamed as her head whiplashed back. Spencer struggled to hold her with the garbage truck crawling backward.

One of Daisy’s hands slipped from Spencer’s. But instead of trying to hold on, Daisy reached back and drew something from the pouch of her janitorial belt.

Of all the weapons, Daisy chose that?

Baybee flashed into view, held by one leg like a war club. Daisy brought the doll down, slamming the plastic head into Leslie’s face. She struck again and again, battering back the substitute teacher with Mrs. Natcher’s hall pass.

At last, Leslie’s grip failed. Spencer yanked Daisy into the safety of the cab just as the passenger door snapped off against the wall.

Bernard pulled his leather aviator cap over his eyes, muttering in despair about the damage to his truck. Penny’s backward bulldoze was reckless. Desks, computers, filing cabinets . . . anything in the truck’s path was scattered or crushed. But still, Leslie and her gang of Pluggers were advancing faster than the garbage truck’s retreat.