Then the vines broke.
I slipped, skinning my hands, but managed to get a grip with my knees and feet.
I looked up. Already the roof seemed a long ways away.
I let myself down a little more. And a little more.
The drainpipe creaked and complained. It was old and brittle and pieces of it flaked off as I made my way down.
I twisted my neck to see where the tree branch was. I was close.
But it looked a lot farther away from the house here than it had from the roof.
No way I was going to be able to reach it.
I’d have to try and slide down the drainpipe the whole way.
My shoulders and arms were already burning with the effort and I couldn’t even feel my knees any more.
I looked down. The ground was very far away.
But it was too late to get back to the roof.
If only there was someplace I could rest for a few minutes! Just long enough to get the feeling back in my arms and legs.
Above me there was a sharp CRACK!
The drainpipe jolted and I lost my grip.
I dug in my heels and grabbed the pipe again, pain shooting through my hands as I slipped.
The pipe was shaking! It was trying to throw me off!
One foot slid off into thin air.
I was falling!
39
I struggled to hold on but my hands were slipping.
My whole body was swinging and I couldn’t get my foot back on the pipe.
Then my other heel hit something hard. The pipe shuddered. I came to a stop.
For a second I just held on, trying to get my breath. My heart was pounding.
I looked down. My foot had caught on one of the brackets that held the pipe to the house.
Above me there was another CRACK! and a POP!
Something small and heavy smacked the top of my head, hard.
It fell into a fold of my shirt and I could see it was a bolt.
I looked up in horror.
The brackets that held the pipe to the house were giving way under my weight.
Slowly the pipe sagged away from the house. With every groan my section pulled farther from the wall. I could do nothing. Just watch it happen.
Then, with a final loud POP! the whole thing gave way at once and I was sailing through the air, headed for the ground with the pipe still clutched to my chest.
I was falling faster and faster!
Maybe I would only break a leg. That was the best I could hope for.
Then all of a sudden I wasn’t falling anymore.
I wasn’t on the ground either.
I was suspended in midair, high over the backyard.
Very carefully, I turned my head to look.
The outer branches of the cherry tree had snagged the pipe. Its weight was resting on one of the thickest branches. I could almost reach out and touch the branch from where I was.
A few more inches, if I could only work my way along the pipe that far. A few more inches and I would almost be safe.
Cautiously I worked my way along the pipe to the tree, holding my breath as the pipe dipped and groaned.
I grabbed the branch and swung my leg over. The branch swayed and held me. As I let go of the pipe it snapped and crashed to the ground.
Shuddering, I inched my way up the branch to the thick trunk of the cherry tree. Hugging the tree, I started down. The branches seemed to come up to meet my feet.
In no time I was on the ground.
I was shaking so hard my legs wouldn’t hold me. I tried to shout to Sally to let her know I was all right but all that came out of my mouth was a croak.
Once I got my breath back, though, it was time to go on. I reminded myself this was the easy part.
I still had to go back inside the house. And the witch-thing was waiting for me.
40
Dark clouds moved across the moon, casting huge shadows on the house.
I walked up to the front door. It felt as if my insides were shrinking away from my skin.
What would happen when I opened the door?
Would the wind drag me back up into the attic? Even from the porch I could still hear banging and shrieking going on up there.
The rest of the house seemed quiet.
As if it was just waiting for me to open that door so it could swallow me whole.
But I had to. Katie needed an ambulance. If she didn’t get one …
I shuddered. I couldn’t think about that.
The front door creeeeeaked open when I pushed it.
I stepped into the dark hallway. Nothing stirred down here. But from upstairs came the thump of a hammer smashing the walls.
The witch-thing was still going nuts up there.
As quietly as possible I tiptoed toward the phone, wincing at the noise my sneakers made on the broken glass. If the witch heard me I didn’t think my chances of getting out were very good.
But she was making so much noise I didn’t need to worry.
I brushed glass off the phone and picked it up, punching 911 in the dark.
“Send an ambulance to the big old house on Cherry Street,” I whispered. “It’s an emergency.”
Then I hung up and got out of there fast.
I needed to get back to Sally and Katie.
I remembered there was a ladder in the garage. There was also a ton of junk. Without a light I had to pick my way back to where the ladder was.
With the help of the moon I managed to find it okay but I still had to get it out of there. It was too heavy for me and I kept falling over old tools and broken outdoor furniture.
I was panting with exhaustion by the time I had it free. As I paused to rest, I saw whirling lights coming up the road.
The ambulance.
We were safe.
The ambulance team took over. They set the ladder up and got Katie and
