this?” Elliot asked.
Kyle shrugged. “We were home when it disappeared. It happened right after you usually get home from school. If you had been in your room when it happened, you would’ve disappeared too.”
“So you saw it?”
Cole shook his head. “I don’t know if you can see something disappear. It’s just that we were in your room looking at that shiny bracelet you had, and then your room started to shake. So we ran out really fast. We shut the door and turned around, and the door was gone.”
“Where’s Agatha?” Elliot asked. Maybe one of her curses had worked. Could she do that? Did she have that much magic?
“Agatha hasn’t been here all day,” Cole said. “She said she was tired of cursing our family and wanted to curse some of the other people in town for a while.”
Elliot’s shoulders slumped. He had hoped this would have been Agatha’s doing. Because if it wasn’t her, then the Goblins were already trying to kill him again. It was a warm Friday afternoon, the start of what should have been a nice weekend. He’d gotten all of his homework done in detention, and wherever in the universe his room was, he’d already cleaned it this morning…so he was really looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
But as you well know, Dear Reader, nothing ends the fun of a weekend faster than someone trying to kill you all the time.
“Anyway, you’re going to be in trouble when Mom comes home,” Kyle yelled to Elliot as he and Cole ran away.
“What for?” Elliot yelled back.
“Remember that time we lost our gloves at school? We were grounded for a week. But you went and lost your whole room!”
As soon as his brothers had left, Elliot turned and shouted, “Mr. Willimaker!”
“No need to be so loud, no need for that,” said a voice from the trees in Elliot’s backyard. “I’m already here.”
Elliot trudged into the trees a little ways. He found Mr. Willimaker sitting on a fallen tree stump, his head in his hands and a wide frown on his face.
“I’m so sorry,” Mr. Willimaker said. “This is all my fault.”
Elliot pressed his eyebrows together, wondering why Mr. Willimaker might need to apologize. After all, he hadn’t scared Elliot half to death or made Elliot’s room disappear. Elliot didn’t know that Mr. Willimaker was actually thinking about how he had written Elliot’s name in as king. Queen Bipsy had been one of Mr. Willimaker’s last friends in the entire Brownie kingdom. She had believed in him when no one else did. That’s why she trusted him to choose the name of the next king. She would be so disappointed now to see that once again, instead of making things better for the Underworld, he had only made them worse.
The future wasn’t looking too rosy for Elliot now either.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Mr. Willimaker repeated.
“You didn’t do this,” Elliot said. “Was it the Goblins?”
“It must have been, but I don’t understand how they could’ve done it on their own. Making an entire room disappear needs Pixie magic. But Goblins can’t use other creatures’ magic. They can only use their own. So they must’ve had help.”
“Whose?”
Mr. Willimaker sighed. “I wish I knew. I hate to say it, but I fear it might be a Brownie who has done this. We don’t have a lot of magic of our own, but we are very good at borrowing it from other creatures. If only we had Patches back. She could help us figure this out.”
“Can I help to get her back?” Elliot asked.
“I wish you could come with me to the Underworld. The Pixies could poof you there. But since they just helped the Goblins, I don’t think they’d help us.”
Elliot nodded. “I don’t think I’m allowed to go to the Underworld anyway. My parents don’t like me to go to new places by myself.”
Mr. Willimaker smiled sadly. “King of the Brownies, and you still need permission from your parents.”
“But if my parents knew why I was going to the Underworld, they’d
Kyle shrugged. “We were home when it disappeared. It happened right after you usually get home from school. If you had been in your room when it happened, you would’ve disappeared too.”
“So you saw it?”
Cole shook his head. “I don’t know if you can see something disappear. It’s just that we were in your room looking at that shiny bracelet you had, and then your room started to shake. So we ran out really fast. We shut the door and turned around, and the door was gone.”
“Where’s Agatha?” Elliot asked. Maybe one of her curses had worked. Could she do that? Did she have that much magic?
“Agatha hasn’t been here all day,” Cole said. “She said she was tired of cursing our family and wanted to curse some of the other people in town for a while.”
Elliot’s shoulders slumped. He had hoped this would have been Agatha’s doing. Because if it wasn’t her, then the Goblins were already trying to kill him again. It was a warm Friday afternoon, the start of what should have been a nice weekend. He’d gotten all of his homework done in detention, and wherever in the universe his room was, he’d already cleaned it this morning…so he was really looking forward to a relaxing weekend.
But as you well know, Dear Reader, nothing ends the fun of a weekend faster than someone trying to kill you all the time.
“Anyway, you’re going to be in trouble when Mom comes home,” Kyle yelled to Elliot as he and Cole ran away.
“What for?” Elliot yelled back.
“Remember that time we lost our gloves at school? We were grounded for a week. But you went and lost your whole room!”
As soon as his brothers had left, Elliot turned and shouted, “Mr. Willimaker!”
“No need to be so loud, no need for that,” said a voice from the trees in Elliot’s backyard. “I’m already here.”
Elliot trudged into the trees a little ways. He found Mr. Willimaker sitting on a fallen tree stump, his head in his hands and a wide frown on his face.
“I’m so sorry,” Mr. Willimaker said. “This is all my fault.”
Elliot pressed his eyebrows together, wondering why Mr. Willimaker might need to apologize. After all, he hadn’t scared Elliot half to death or made Elliot’s room disappear. Elliot didn’t know that Mr. Willimaker was actually thinking about how he had written Elliot’s name in as king. Queen Bipsy had been one of Mr. Willimaker’s last friends in the entire Brownie kingdom. She had believed in him when no one else did. That’s why she trusted him to choose the name of the next king. She would be so disappointed now to see that once again, instead of making things better for the Underworld, he had only made them worse.
The future wasn’t looking too rosy for Elliot now either.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Mr. Willimaker repeated.
“You didn’t do this,” Elliot said. “Was it the Goblins?”
“It must have been, but I don’t understand how they could’ve done it on their own. Making an entire room disappear needs Pixie magic. But Goblins can’t use other creatures’ magic. They can only use their own. So they must’ve had help.”
“Whose?”
Mr. Willimaker sighed. “I wish I knew. I hate to say it, but I fear it might be a Brownie who has done this. We don’t have a lot of magic of our own, but we are very good at borrowing it from other creatures. If only we had Patches back. She could help us figure this out.”
“Can I help to get her back?” Elliot asked.
“I wish you could come with me to the Underworld. The Pixies could poof you there. But since they just helped the Goblins, I don’t think they’d help us.”
Elliot nodded. “I don’t think I’m allowed to go to the Underworld anyway. My parents don’t like me to go to new places by myself.”
Mr. Willimaker smiled sadly. “King of the Brownies, and you still need permission from your parents.”
“But if my parents knew why I was going to the Underworld, they’d
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