Touch of Fear ▸ House of Anubis [2]

chapter eighty-one. house of strategy

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            "Guys, help!" Alfie grabs a hold of the ankle nearest to him, which happens to be Patricia's, as he tries to keep from falling in the hole entirely. She lets out an exclamation of pain and he shouts rushed, "Patricia, don't just stand there! Help me!"

            Patricia grabs his hand, pulling him up and out of the hole as quickly as she can. I doubt that our yells for her to hurry up and get him out aren't helping at all to speed things up. When he finally does get out, collapsing on the floor, I breathe a sigh of a relief. That was way too close and I'm really glad we didn't lose him like we lost Nina.

            "Trixie, you are freakishly strong," Alfie tells her.

            "You're welcome," Patricia replies.

            Amber says delicately, "Alfie, are you okay?"

            Alfie stands up, declaring to us, "The Amazing Alfredo lives to fight another day." He steps backward slightly, nearing falling into the hole again. As we shout, Patricia grabs his arm before he slips and falls into it. He needs to notice his surroundings.

            "Okay," Fabian states. "Look, let's get back to the drawing board. Everyone retrace your steps. Let's get out of here."

—

            I reach for an apple at breakfast, only for Amber to take it out of my hand and throw it into her bag. I look at her confused as she throws all of the fruit on the table in her bag, therefore taking away everything I wanted this morning. "Amber, what are you doing?" I ask, but she only makes a humming sound in response. "Can't I have an apple at least?"

            Patricia enters and questions, "Are you planning a picnic?"

            "Supplies for Nina," Amber explains. Ohhhh. That makes a lot of sense now, although did she have to take the apple right out of my hand? I snap my fingers and she exasperatedly gives me the apple back. "We need to get into Sweetie's office and throw them down the grill to her. She'll be starving."

            "Or we could spend that time trying to work out how to save her," Patricia retorts, taking the banana she was holding.

            "We can't save her if she starves to death first," I point out.

            Amber nods and snatches the banana back. "Nina needs her fruit and veg. Do you want to get scurvy?"

            Fabian enters for breakfast and Patricia changes the subject, inquiring, "Anyway, how's the practice going?"

            "All right," he answers as he takes his bag off his shoulder and sits down in his usual spot, which is an empty chair away from mine. He's got the senet board in his bag and pulls it out a little to show us. "Well, there are a few subtle differences between this game and the one in the task tunnel."