The Alchemaster's Apprentice - By Walter Moers Page 0,139
hiss of the rain.
No, wait, there was something else! Echo cocked his head and listened more intently. It wasn’t outside in the passage, it was here in the laboratory. Where had he heard that crackling sound before? When the Cooked Ghost nosedived into the stuffed fox. He looked over at it - and the fur on the back of his neck stood on end!
The creature was stirring. Slowly at first, it turned its head with a sound like gravel crunching beneath someone’s feet. The glow in its eyes intensified, then faded, but its brush was waving gently. It closed its gaping jaws and lifted its left forefoot from the base on which it had been mounted. An electrical crackle ran through its fur, which gave off sparks. Then it leapt down and landed in the middle of the laboratory.
‘This is too much,’ thought Echo. ‘Any more of it and I’ll pass out.’
The creature took three or four steps and came to a halt, sniffing the air. Having conducted an appraisal of all the strange scents in the room and homed in on the most interesting, it turned its head in Echo’s direction, bared its teeth and emitted a low growl.
‘Steady!’ Echo said involuntarily. ‘I won’t hurt you.’
But the fox displayed no interest in conversation. It slunk slowly closer, eyes aglow with a ghostly light and saliva dripping from its chops. Whatever had brought it to life had also filled it with murderous intent.
Echo strained in all directions, but the chain brought him up short every time. ‘I haven’t survived until now, only to be torn to pieces by a canine of the lowest order,’ it flashed through his head. ‘Not here! Not at this stage!’
Now only a few feet away, the fox was getting ready to pounce. It flexed its hind legs and bared its teeth still more. Its eyes had narrowed to slits.
Echo arched his back, lifted his tail and fluffed it out. He bared his teeth likewise and contorted his features into a mask of grim determination, looking twice his actual size. Then he hissed as loudly as he could.
Deterred by this sight, the fox uttered a terrified yelp and shot out of the door like a streak of red lightning. Echo relaxed, but only for a moment.
There, Ghoolion’s metallic footsteps were approaching once more! Echo could also hear other, unidentifiable sounds. Strange and alarming noises that might have been made by dangerous wild beasts.
Ghoolion burst in. ‘Quick!’ he said, more to himself than his prisoner. ‘We must hurry!’
‘What’s happened?’ asked Echo, skipping excitedly to and fro. ‘That fox the ghost dived into came to life.’
‘Only the fox?’ Ghoolion said breathlessly as he hurried across the room. ‘You’ve no idea what a can of worms you’ve opened!’
The Alchemaster darted over to the only wall in the laboratory not lined with shelves. He pressed some of the black stones and the masonry began to move as it had in the case of his golden treasure chamber.
‘The ghosts can’t achieve anything in the world of the living,’ said Ghoolion, who was now hurrying over to Echo, ‘but they evidently can in the world of the dead. They’re roaming all over the castle, awakening one mummy after another.’
‘You mean they’re bringing all your stuffed demons to life?’ Echo became more agitated still.
‘Yes, it’s enough if one ghost enters them. Sometimes two or three do, but they all wake up, and each of the creatures I stuffed has designs on my life!’
Echo didn’t know what to make of the situation. Ghoolion was frightened. That was good. Woodwolves and Hazelwitches were roaming around the castle. That wasn’t so good.
The Alchemaster opened the door of the alchemical furnace.
‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Echo demanded.
‘You may not believe me,’ said Ghoolion, picking him up, ‘but I’m not running away, I’m saving your life - temporarily. I refuse to be beaten so easily.’ And he thrust Echo into the cold furnace. ‘Hide in there and keep as quiet as you can.’ He closed the furnace door as tightly as the chain permitted.
‘Why not unchain me and take me with you?’ Echo asked anxiously through the bars. ‘Where are you going?’
‘I alone can do what I have in mind,’ Ghoolion said. ‘Just keep still and nothing may happen to you. And pray that I succeed.’
He went back to the wall, which had opened to reveal a small chamber.
‘What’s that little room,’ Echo asked, ‘a hiding place?’
‘It isn’t a room,’ Ghoolion replied, ‘it’s a lift. Wish me luck!’