Doorways to Everywhere (Tourist Trap Book 2)

Chapter 27

Max emerged from the bar looking a bit unsteady on his feet, but also much happier. "I can safely say that was the greatest and most satisfying five drops of booze I've ever had."

"It looks like your plan went off without a hitch," Sarah said.

"Couldn't have gone better," Max said as he let out a loud belch. "Esther here was the perfect partner in crime. That bartender never even saw me."

"We were having an interesting conversation about umbrellas," Esther shrugged. "It turned out he was quite knowledgeable on the subject."

"Shall we get to that alley now?" Dr. Octavius asked. "I'm anxious to examine this machine you told me about."

"Well then that's what we shall do," Max said. "To the alleyway!"

"Uh, I don't know where it is," Esther said.

"Oh yeah," Max said. "To the next intersection! From there we'll make a determination on which way is the best way to go based on traffic patterns and whether or not there's construction going on. Also I think I might know a shortcut, but there's a chance it's actually a shortcut to another bar and not to the alley which is, of course, our primary destination."

After a couple of wrong turns that Max described as "taking the scenic route" they finally arrived at the alley where they found Bobby searching all around with a worried look on his face.

Esther waddled up next to him and cleared her throat. "I believe I might have what you're looking for."

"No thanks, ma'am," Bobby said. "I'm about to pop the question to my girlfriend. No offense, but chickens aren't really my thing anyway."

"No, I mean I have your friends on my back."

Bobby blinked his eyes and peered closely at the chicken's back. "Well I'll be darned. I've been looking all over for you guys. I got all the way here and then turned around and you were nowhere to be seen. I was afraid you got squashed."

"Well long story short, here we are," Max said as he hopped off of Esther's back. "This is the place, Doc. Time to work your magic."

Dr. Octavius placed the door against the wall and went through. Max and Sarah followed close behind while Bobby and Esther waited out in the alley. Almost instantly they activated some sort of trap that sprayed a high power blast of seltzer water in their faces. It was a nuisance, but not much more than that.

They could hear the machine chugging away as they made their way down the hallway and Dr. Octavius let out a little involuntary whistle when he finally laid eyes on it. "My word. This is most interesting. Most interesting indeed." He studied it for a few minutes while muttering to himself. "I don't suppose either of you happened to notice this little conveyor belt coming out of the wall the first time you were here."

"Conveyor belt?" Max said as he walked around to the back side of the machine. The belt was moving from a square-shaped hole in the wall towards the machine. It carried watches, jewelry, eyeglasses, bags, and numerous other items that looked like they could have easily been pilfered from people. The items all disappeared into a hatch in the back of the machine. "Well, I'll be damned. I did not see this before."

"I do believe our little chihuahua friends are stealing objects in order to use them as fuel for this machine," Dr. Octavius said. "It seems that it requires a great deal of fuel, which is presumably why their theft ring has been so active lately. Also, they seem to be loading the items they've stolen onto the conveyor belt from somewhere behind that wall."

"Hey I think that's my flask," Max said as he nabbed it off of the conveyor belt. "Wait a minute my initials aren't S.J. And come to think of it my flask isn't gold-colored either. Oh well. I'll claim this one as compensation for my loss. Cheers to you, S.J. Thanks for my new flask." He raised the container and took a drink.

"Perhaps that door over in the back corner leads to the room from which the conveyor belt originates," Dr. Octavius said as he pointed towards it. "Aren't you supposed to be some kind of detective? Did you not see that before?"

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm the best detective you're acquainted with," Max said. "Besides, uh, I don't think that door was there before. You know how these doors have a habit of moving around. Speaking of which, that door's not going to take us to some kind of hell dimension, is it?"

"No, I believe that's an ordinary door. The kind you go through every day that doesn't change locations and most likely leads to an adjoining room."

"Max and I will check it out," Sarah said. "Why don't you continue to examine the machine in the meantime?"

"Why don't we open the door slowly, in case there's any traps behind it?" Max suggested. He opened it a crack and peered through. "I don't see anything." He opened the door wider and a bucket of orange paint fell on his head.

"Now you're not green at all," Sarah said.

"Gah," Max muttered. "Orange is worse than gray. I feel like a carrot or something. I sure hope we don't run into any giant bunnies when we get out of here."

"Never mind that," Sarah whispered. "This room is full to bursting with stuff. And look over there. There's a couple of chihuahuas who are loading it onto the conveyor belt. I don't think they know we're here."

"Then I'm going to utilize my excellent stealth skills to sneak up on them from behind and knock them out," Max said. "I'm well versed in the way of the ninja." He crept forward and almost instantly kicked the paint bucket that had fallen on him and was now lying on the floor. It flew into a large pile of stolen objects and caused it to tip over. Hundreds of items both valuable and otherwise crashed to the floor with an enormous clatter.

The chihuahuas gave a startled little yelping sound and looked over to see what had caused the commotion. Upon spotting Max and Sarah, they immediately dropped what they were doing and scurried toward the back wall. One of them whipped out a small door from its pocket and stretched it out until it was big enough for them to fit through. It slapped the door to the wall and they both hurried through it. There was a sound not unlike Velcro unfastening and the door disappeared into thin air.

"Well the bad news is they escaped. The good news is I've located your purse."

"You have?" Sarah asked. "Where is it?"

"It's somewhere in one of these piles, assuming it hasn't already been placed on the conveyor belt and incinerated in the machine."

"So what you're saying is you haven't actually found it," Sarah said.

"No. But this painting looks valuable. We could sell it at a pawn shop and get you a better purse."

"My purse has sentimental value to me," Sarah said. "You want to earn your floss and your drinks? Help me search through these piles."

"All right," Max grumbled as he tossed aside a suitcase that had undoubtedly been stolen from some unwary tourist. "Maybe there will be a few more flasks buried in here somewhere."