Gustav Gloom and the People Taker (9781101620748) by Kristen (ILT) Adam-Troy; Margiotta Castro Page A

hadn’t just been chased by a monster.
    As he drew close, Fernie asked him, “Is it dead?”
    â€œUnfortunately,” Gustav Gloom said, “you can’t kill a shadow by flattening it.”
    Fernie thought about that and said, “I guess you couldn’t. They’re flat already.”
    â€œOn the other hand, being buried by tons of shadow statue should put this one down for a little while.”
    â€œHow much of a while?”
    Gustav performed some mental calculations. After a few seconds he held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “A
little
while.”
    â€œThat little, huh?”
    He examined just how far apart his two fingertips were and after some more consideration, moved them a little bit closer together. “No. Maybe
this
little.”
    Some of the smaller pieces on the surface of the wreckage shifted. Was it because they were still settling from the fall, or because something dark and dangerous underneath the pile was digging its way out? “You don’t happen to have any other big statues around here in case we need to bury it again?”
    â€œI know of one even larger. It’s four heads carved into the side of a mountain, all of them with very serious expressions except for the bearded man, who’s sneezing. I suppose that if we could get the whole mountain to collapse on the Beast all at once, we might be able to imprison it for a long time.”
    â€œThen let’s do that,” Fernie suggested.
    â€œUnfortunately, the mountain’s also a long way from here and not in the direction we’re headed. Besides, I’m not sure I have any idea how we’d go about bringing down a whole mountain. It probably isn’t even possible.”
    Fernie realized that the last thing she wanted to do was make burying and reburying the Beast a lifelong job. “How about we just return to getting me out of the house? How far is this Too Much Sitting Room?”
    â€œNot far. We got a little sidetracked just now, but we should be there in a few minutes if we walk quickly.”
    â€œSounds like a plan,” she said.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    THE TOO MUCH SITTING ROOM
    Fernie didn’t ask Gustav how the Too Much Sitting Room could possibly be anywhere nearby when the Gallery of Awkward Statues seemed to stretch for miles in every direction and there weren’t any walls in sight, let alone doors. She just assumed by this point that Gustav knew where he was going.
    This turned out to be true, and the border between one room and the next had nothing to do with walls or doors or hallways. If you stood in one place, the gallery seemed to go on forever. But if you walked in a certain direction following somebody who knew the way, the awkward sculptures started to fade out and a dark, dusty little room lined with books and wooden paneling and filled with overstuffed, high-backed comfy chairs started to fade in to replace it.
    Many of the chairs were occupied by silent, unmoving people who had sank partway into the big plush cushions. They all looked like real people, not shadows, but though none of them looked dead, none of them looked like they were ever going to get out of their chairs anytime soon. A burning fire in a nearby hearth made it hard to blame them for staying put, as everything about the room made it look like a perfect place for a nice, long sit, even if
nice
and
long
were just different words for
forever and ever
.
    Before the last of the awkward sculptures faded all the way out and the last of the comfy chairs faded all the way in, Gustav warned Fernie not to sit down, no matter how tired her legs were from all the running, or how inviting the chairs looked.
    Fernie suddenly felt the need to say, “I think I owe you an apology.”
    â€œFor what?”
    â€œFor saying that your house is stupid.”
    Gustav shrugged. “Sometimes it is stupid. Sometimes your world is stupid.”
    â€œI didn’t mean to apologize