�There is a fell voice on the air!� cried Ryan.
�It�s Merrill,� shouted Papa Resek over the roaring wind and blinding snow.
�We must turn back,� said Zullo. �We must get off the bleachers!�
�We should make for the middle school path,� suggested Kevin.
�If we cannot go over the bleachers, let us go under them,� said Nokuma. �My brother Kokuma would give us a royal welcome in the Concession Stands.�
Papa Resek hesitated, knowing that the bleachers were no longer safe, but also that the middle school path was watched by the spies of Merrill and recalling to hand his last disastrous trip through the Concession Stands with Susan Glassburn, when he had been beset by members of Student Council and urged to buy bags of confetti. At last, he turned to Chris, his face troubled.
�Let the Disk-bearer decide,� he said heavily.
�Let us go through the Concession Stands,� decided Chris. Papa Resek sighed wearily.
Defeated, they trudged back down the bleachers, and it seemed they heard mocking laughter on the wind following them. When they approached the entrance to the Concession Stands, it was ominously quiet. A large wooden gate with a small wooden turnstile stood barring their way. Papa Resek sat down with his back against one of the pillars, wondering how they would get past this new obstacle. Everyone stared at him, waiting at first patiently, and then not so patiently.
�Um, Papa Resek?� asked Chris. �How do we get through?�
�Well, in theory it�s simple,� replied Papa Resek. �If you know the secret, you can get through the turnstile without paying the quarter you would need to operate the turnstile in the normal fashion. Unfortunately, I have forgotten the secret.�
�Couldn�t we just pay the toll and go through?� Chris pointed out. �It�s only $2.25.�
Papa Resek looked at him testily.
�We�re in a war for the salvation of North Olmsted. The nine of us against all the cunning power and great evil of Conner. Currency wasn�t exactly high on my priority list of things to bring on this trip.�
�Maybe not on yours, but I brought money,� Chris said calmly. He dished out a quarter to everyone and they passed through into . . . the Concession Stand.
* * *
Long they traveled through the darkness of the Concession Stand. Nokuma rambled at length about the �fabled hospitality� of the Gym Teachers, but no sign was seen of them. Suddenly, Ryan gave a cry and leaped to the side. The moldering corpse of an unidentifiable person, clearly a gym teacher from the short, compact stature and the tattered remains of a jumpsuit, lay against one of the pillars, the broken haft of a mop pinning it to its seat. Ryan pulled the mop from the body, which promptly disintegrated. Everyone looked at him, puzzled.
�What is it?� Becky asked.
�It�s a mop,� Ryan explained, rather self-righteously. �This place is infested with janitors.�
�We must be on our guard,� Papa Resek spoke up. Brad and Becky turned to stare at him.
�Well, duh,� Brad said.
�What did you expect us to do?� Becky added. �Shake hands with them?�
At long last they came to a fork in the road; one way led across a small stream, while the other disappeared into a forest. Papa Resek stopped and looked hesitantly down both roads.
�Some guide we�ve got,� Becky murmured to Brad.
Suddenly, janitors burst out from the trees and more came up from behind them, waving mops and brooms, some carrying bottles of window-washing fluid. Chris and the other students drew their pistols and huddled in a circle, looking afraid but determined. Zullo and Kevin unlimbered their swords, while Ryan unslung his bow and Nokuma hefted his tennis racket. They realized that there were far too many janitors, but they prepared to make a final last stand. Everyone started as a loud, rhythmic thumping sounded from behind them, getting nearer with every thump. The janitors and the members of the company stared uneasily at each other, and suddenly the enemy broke and ran, retreating back into the trees. Nokuma laughed triumphantly, shaking his racket at the retreating backs of the foe.
�Ha!� he exulted. �They are no match for the accuracy and power of a Gym Teacher�s tennis racket!� He winced as Kevin slapped his head.
�What are you, dumb?� he asked. �You think thousands of janitors fled just because of nine people, however powerful their weapons? You don�t think maybe it had something to do with that loud thumping that, I might add, is still coming closer? Or maybe with those large flames which are also, coincidentally, getting closer? Or maybe -�
Papa Resek cut him off.
�This is a foe beyond any of you, and guns will be of no use. Our only hope is to run and get across the bridge, with someone staying behind to destroy the bridge so it can�t come across after us, in all likelihood dying himself.� Everyone stared at him, and then Chris spoke up.
�Thanks for volunteering, Papa Resek. But before you go, could you tell us what it is?�
�It is a Sebring - a demon of the ancient world, created by Frazier, former master of Conner, in the pits of Angband to aid in his fight against the gods. Only I can stop it. You must go while you can.� He let everyone pass, then planted his feet resolutely on the bridge with his staff in one hand and a copy of Winesburg, Ohio in the other. He turned slightly, to see the rest of the company standing on the other side of the bridge, and not in fact running as he had told them to.
�What are you doing?!?� he yelled. �I told you to get out!�
�Yes, you did,� Nokuma replied. �But we wanted to see your noble and heroic self-sacrifice.�
�Oh.� said Papa Resek. He turned back as the Sebring appeared, at least 25 feet tall and wreathed in flames as it wielded a fire whip and a sword.
�On second thought, I think maybe this is too big for me to handle,� Papa Resek said. And without another word, he dived over the side of the bridge. The Sebring stopped, stared hard after him for a moment, and then jumped off the bridge after him.
�Well, that�s that,� said Zullo. �We must not let Papa Resek�s sacrifice be in vain, however cowardly and inane it was. We must move quickly and get to the Bando practice field. When word gets out that the Sebring is defeated, these bleachers will be swarming with janitors.�
He hurried off, and the others fell in behind him.