and surveyed the room, looking for anywhere they could all hide. He knew from being up here on a few occasions, including one just several hours before, that it lacked options. The room was a large circle with six arched leadedglass windows letting moonlight in.

To his left was the bench and he eyed it critically, wondering if it might be large enough to house Theo and keep her out of sight, but he worried about how close it was to the staircase, and if the beast had smashed the front door to smithereens, it could surely reduce the bench to kindling.

He then focused on a small pile of broken old desks, cots, chairs, and such that Landis kept up here to use for spare parts when newer furniture was broken.

Getting an idea, Ian gave Madam Dimbleby one final pat and walked quickly over to the frightened pair across the room. “Carl,” he said, “come help me make a barrier.”

Carl hurried with Ian to the pile of wood while Theo ran to sit with Madam Dimbleby. Somewhere below them, they all heard the crashing of furniture breaking and the smashing of porcelain. From the sound of it, the beast was quickly and thoroughly destroying their home.

Ian and Carl worked several of the desks and chairs into a wooden fort of sorts. It wouldn’t keep the beast out for long, but it was better than nothing. Ian motioned to Madam and Theo with a deep bow. “Come, my ladies,” he said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. “Your fortress awaits.”

Just as Theo and Madam crossed the room, they heard a particularly loud crash that sounded too close to be on the first floor. “It’s upstairs!” hissed Carl.

“Quickly, then!” Ian said as Madam Dimbleby and Theo hurried into the little fort, crouching down and huddling behind the pile of desks and chairs that Ian and Carl had stacked haphazardly.

Next Ian motioned to Carl to duck in after Theo and Madam, then he carefully pulled the large desk on the right of the entrance and squeezed into the space behind it next to Carl, who helped him pull it back, enclosing the foursome. “Quiet now,” he whispered, and the four of them listened to the thump, thump, thump of their pounding hearts and the crashing sounds coming from the hallway at the bottom of the stairs.

They tracked the beast’s progress by following the awful noises of breaking furniture and glass, the tearing of cloth, and the scratching of claws dragging along the wooden floorboards. With small gasps they listened closely to the splintering of wood that indicated that the monster had pushed through the thinner doors inside the keep with ease.

With a heavy heart, Ian realized that the chaotic smashing of their belongings came closer one bedroom at a time. He knew that the beast had destroyed his room, then the linen closet, and was edging closer to the nursery and Madam Scargill’s room.

As if to confirm Ian’s thoughts, the awful sounds filling their ears now seemed right below them. “It’s in the nursery,” cried Madam Dimbleby, and she put a hand to her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. “Oh, Heavenly Father,” she wept, “please, please spare us!”

Suddenly, there was another tremendous crash. This one seemed to come from someplace across the hall. “It’s in Madam Scargill’s room now,” said Ian, and he gulped as he realized what was coming next. “He’ll only have two more doors to break down after that.”

Theo buried her face in Madam Dimbleby’s skirt. “This is horrid!” she cried.

More crashing suggested that Madam Scargill’s belongings were being torn to shreds. Then, quite abruptly, the world outside the tower room went deathly quiet. And the silence was more terrifying than all the other noises combined. Ian quickly looked about their small cramped space for a weapon. There was nothing within the small fort he and Carl had built that might be suitable to use for defense. With a grunt, he pushed the desk a little and poked his head through the opening to scan the room again. His eyes settled on something across the floor that he hadn’t noticed before. There was a broken axe handle leaning against the far wall by the staircase.

Without a second thought he squirmed out of the fort and hurried over to the handle. “Ian!” Madam Dimbleby whispered. “Come back here at once!”

But Ian wasn’t listening. He knew he was responsible for leading the beast to the keep, and if they