Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter twenty-five. house of sibuna

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            Move!

            Amber and I push each other out of the way of the falling crocodile bridge, holding onto each other's arms as it falls between us and Fabian and Nina with a loud thud that echoes through the tunnels. Nina and Fabian cough from all the dust that floats around. My heart is beating loud in my ears after that near-miss, but I still manage to hear Amber say, "Okay, now I see it."

            "That bridge just almost killed us," I comment, pointing at it. "Frobisher-Smythe couldn't have made this any easier for us?"

            "This is crazy," Nina adds. "We're never gonna outsmart Sarah's father."

            "We don't have a choice," Fabian reminds her. "Your life depends on us finding that mask." He stands up from the crocodile jaw with the lever inside of it with a grunt, going over to the bridge. "Grab back here at the tail, Ashley and I'll get the head."

            I nod, going to the head of the crocodile while Nina and Amber go to the tail. With all four of us trying to lift it up and move it, it only moves a grand total of two centimeters. And that's with our collective strength. It's too heavy to move. If it had hit Amber or I, we probably would've been dead on impact.

            "This thing weighs a ton," Fabian comments.

            "There is no way we're gonna get that to the edge," Nina adds defeated, "let along over the hole. It takes five men to lift that."

            "How about four girls and two men?" Amber suggests casually, a smile playing at her lips. "Well, boys."

            Four girls and two men. She wants to regroup all of Sibuna and not just the original four. I grin at the suggestion, all too happy to agree with it, while Nina asks to make sure, "Sibuna?"

            "Sibuna," I state.

            Amber exclaims, "It's time to get the gang back together!"

            Nina glances at us. "I guess six heads are better than four, right? Do you think it's fair? This is pretty dangerous stuff."

            "I say share it 'round," says Amber. "Let's not be selfish."

            "And," I say, "Patricia and Alfie would totally agree to do it. All six of us, we're good together. And like you said, six heads are better than four."

            Nina still looks reluctant to agree, which I do understand, even if I'm all for regrouping Sibuna. "I just...I just need some time to think about what I'm asking them to do for me."

—

            The next morning at breakfast, everyone is quiet. Like, unusually quiet. Typically at least two people are talking even if the rest of us aren't. The last time the table was this quiet was after Patricia poured water on Amber after she told us Trixie was going through our things. Although Trixie hasn't done anything like that in a while, so I don't really think this is her fault.