فصل 13

A Night in Terror Tower - Chapter 13

I pulled the coins away from him and raised them close to my face. It was dark in the back of the taxi, and hard to see.

The coins were large and round. They felt heavy, made of real gold or silver. It was too dark to read the words on them.

“Why would my parents give me play money?” I asked the driver.

He shrugged. “I don’t know your parents.”

“Well, they will pay you the fifteen pounds,” I told him. I struggled to shove the big coins back into my pocket.

“Fifteen pounds, sixty—plus tip,” the driver said, frowning at me. “Where are your parents? In the hotel?” I nodded. “Yes. They were at a meeting in the hotel. But they’re probably up in the room now. We’ll get them to come down and pay you.” “In real money, if you please,” the driver said, rolling his eyes. “If they’re not down here in five minutes, I’ll come in after you.” “They’ll be right down. I promise,” I told him.

I pushed open the door and scrambled out of the cab. Eddie followed me onto the sidewalk, shaking his head. “This is weird,” he muttered.

A red-uniformed doorman held the hotel door open for us, and we hurried into the huge, chandeliered lobby. Most people seemed to be heading the other way, going out for dinner, I guessed.

My stomach grumbled. I suddenly realized I was starving.

Eddie and I made our way past the long front desk. We were walking so fast, we nearly collided with a bellman pushing a big cart stacked high with suitcases.

To our right, I could hear dishes clattering in the hotel restaurant. The aroma of fresh-baked bread floated in the air.

The elevator doors opened. A red-haired woman in a fur coat stepped off, walking a white toy poodle. Eddie got tangled in the leash. I had to pull him free so we wouldn’t miss the elevator.

We stumbled into the elevator. As the doors slid shut, I pushed Six. “What was wrong with that money?” Eddie asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess Dad made a mistake.”

The doors slid open on six, and we hurried side by side down the long, carpeted hall to our room.

I stepped around a room service tray on the floor. Someone had left half a sandwich and part of a bowl of fruit. My stomach rumbled again, reminding me how hungry I was.

“Here we are.” Eddie ran up to the door to room 626 and knocked. “Hey, Mom! Dad! It’s us!” “Open up!” I called impatiently.

Eddie knocked again, a little louder. “Hey—!”

We pressed our ears close to the door and listened.

Silence. No footsteps. No voices.

“Hey—are you in there?” Eddie called. He knocked again. “Hurry up! It’s us!”

He turned to me. “They must be out of that meeting by now,” he muttered.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Mom? Dad? Are you there?” I called in.

No reply.

Eddie’s shoulders slumped, and he let out an unhappy sigh. “Now what?”

“Are you having trouble?” a woman’s voice asked.

I turned to see a hotel maid. She wore a gray uniform and a small white cap over her short, dark hair. She had been pushing a cart loaded with towels. She stopped across from Eddie and me.

“Our parents are still at a meeting,” I told her. “My brother and I—we’re locked out.” She studied us for a moment. Then she stepped away from the cart and raised a large keychain filled with keys.

“I’m not really supposed to do this,” she said, shuffling through the clattering keys. “But I guess it’s okay to let you kids in.” She put a key into the lock, turned it, and pushed open the door for us. Eddie and I both thanked her and told her she was a lifesaver. She smiled and moved on down the hall, pushing her towel cart.

The room was dark. I clicked on the light as Eddie and I stepped in.

“They’re not here,” I said softly. “No sign of them.”

“They probably left a note,” Eddie replied. “Maybe they had to go out with people from the meeting. Or maybe they’re down in the restaurant, waiting for us.” Our room was actually a suite. A front room and two bedrooms.

Turning on lights as I went, I made my way to the desk in the corner. A writing pad and pen rested in the center of the desk. But the pad was blank. No message.

No message from Mom or Dad on the bedtable, either.

“That’s weird,” Eddie muttered.

I crossed the room and stepped into their bedroom. I clicked on the ceiling light and glanced around.

The room had been made up. The bed was smooth and unwrinkled. There was no message for us anywhere. The dressertop lay bare. No clothes tossed over a chair. No shoes on the floor. No briefcases or notepads from their meeting.

No sign that anyone had even been in the room.

I turned and saw that Eddie had moved to the closet. He pushed the sliding door open all the way.

“Sue, look!” he shouted. “No clothes! Mom’s and Dad’s clothes—our clothes—they’re all gone!” A heavy feeling of dread started in my stomach and weighted down my entire body. “What is going on here?” I cried.