Theta shook Henry. “Wake up! Come on, Hen! Please.”
In the eerie silence that followed, Theta stood and faced everyone. “Well, I’m not sitting here while that witch kills my best friend. I say we go into the tunnels and find that train station and whatever is so damned important down there. I say we burn it if we gotta. Whaddaya got around this Creepy Crawly to help us out?”
Mabel rifled through drawers, pulling out all manner of things—ceremonial knives, protective charms, a wooden stake, stones, and a wooden box.
“Any of these things work?” Theta asked, examining a woven wheel with feathers attached.
“Possibly,” Jericho said. “The trouble is, we don’t know how they work. And Will has always said that each culture has its specific beliefs about ghosts. You can’t guarantee that a gris gris bag will keep you safe from a Chinese ghost, for instance. You’d need to know more about what you’re up against.”
“How can we find that out?” Theta asked. “The two people who know the most about our ghost are out cold.”
“Maybe if we had somebody who could get a read on the situation once we’re down there?” Sam said and looked over at Evie, slumped in her chair.
“I don’t think Evil could read the directions on a can of beans right now,” Theta said.
“I am perfectly capable, I can assure you,” Evie sniffed.
“Swell. Somebody get the Great Blotto some coffee.” Sam opened the weapons cabinet. “And a few of these knives couldn’t hurt.”
“Agreed. These flashlights will also come in handy,” Memphis said, testing the batteries in each one.
“Jericho, you and Mabel stay here and keep trying to wake them up,” Sam said as he grabbed for his jacket.
“I should come with you,” Jericho protested. “I’m bigger.”
“Yeah, I know. I got eyes,” Sam sniped. “But if something goes really south with Ling and Henry, we need somebody who could drag them off to the showers. Or fight whatever comes in here.”
“I don’t like it,” Jericho said.
“I don’t like any of this, pal!” Sam yelled. “If you got a better idea, let me know.”
Jericho didn’t have a better idea, but he resented being stuck at the museum instead of where the action was. That was always his role, and he was tired of it. “Fine,” he grumbled.
“Theta, I’d feel a whole lot better if you stayed here,” Memphis said.
“Nothing doing. Henry’s my best friend, my only family. He’s all I got.”
“You’ve got me,” Memphis said softly.
“Poet, I didn’t mean it that way.…”
“Mabel shouldn’t go. Theta shouldn’t go. Why is no one being chival… chivaroos… how come none of you bums is looking out for me?” Evie pouted as she sprawled across her chair.
“I am,” Theta said. She yanked Evie to a sitting position, put a cup of coffee to her lips, and practically poured it down her throat.
By the time Theta, Memphis, Evie, and Sam reached City Hall Park, the rain was coming down steadily. Gutters ran with leaf-clogged, muddy rivers, all of it pouring down into the sewers and drains. From here, they could see the police lights still shining on Chinatown, but the park was empty.
“Remember, people have been disappearing in these tunnels,” Memphis said. “Keep your wits about you.”
“If that’s supposed to make me feel better, you better find another line of work,” Sam said.
“Then here’s something else to cheer you,” Memphis said. He held the lapels of his coat close to his neck and looked up at the stormy gray clouds in the night sky. “We better hope those tunnels don’t fill up.”
“Let’s ankle. I want this over with and Henry safe,” Theta said, shivering in the cold rain.
“I’d say our best bet is to try getting there through the City Hall station,” Memphis said.
“We really gotta go through those tunnels?” Theta asked.
Memphis offered an apologetic shrug. “I don’t see any other way.”