04 The Edge of Darkness Read Free

the grove of trees, wide enough apart for equipment to pass between them. As he reached the center of the clearing, he saw that the matted tangle of leaves there had been disturbed. He began to kick back the leaves, revealing old eight-by-eight-inch timbers. He kept removing leaves until he saw the hinges to some kind of door. He cleared away more leaves, until he spied a latch and what looked to be a fairly new padlock.
    Methuselah
.
    Murphy was glad that he had loaded his backpack. He removed a hatchet and chopped away at the wood around the latch and lock. It took him about ten minutes before he could loosen the latch enough to pry it off the wood. He pulled up the door, revealing a set of stairs about ten feet wide, disappearing down into the earth.
    East and Kalance must have been very close to finishing their fun house. You sure you really want to go down there?
    Murphy put away his hatchet and took out a large flashlight. He started down the winding stairs into the darkness. Alongside the stairs was a cast-iron hand railing. The wood on top of the railing was weathered and covered with a growth of moss. Running the flashlight beam along the railing, Murphy could see a number of places where the moss had recently been knocked away. It was as if someone had grabbed on to the railing to steady himself. He shined the light on the stairs, revealing innumerable footprints in the dirt and dust. Murphy guessed he was about two stories underground.
    Methuselah
, he thought,
what are you up to now?
He squinted in the darkness.
I’ll bet there’s more than one entrance to this place
.
    At the bottom he shined his light around. He could see a large archway about fifteen feet wide. Above the arch was an old signboard with faded colored paint. It read:
    Welcome to the Lakeside Fun House
Come in for the time of your life

    As Murphy stepped under the arch, dim lights came on. He shined his flashlight back toward the arch and located a pair of sensors. He could see that he had broken a beam of light that must have activated the power for the fun house. He then heard the whir of some kind of machinery going on.
    That old man must have money to spare to fix up an old fun house buried underground
.
    As he pressed on, there was a startling sound. Shining his light upward, he saw a large mechanical clown with its head rocking back and forth in laughter.
    It’s not funny yet, Methuselah
.
    He moved through a doorway under a sign that read:
    Have a barrel of laughs

    The only way forward was through a series of three large barrels that were lined up on their sides in a single row, like a tunnel. Each barrel was about eight feet in diameter and about fifteen feet long. The first barrel was rolling to the left, the second barrel to the right,and the third barrel to the left. Grinding motors and chain drives made the barrels roll over and over.
    Murphy remembered another fun house he had gone through when he was about ten years old. It was in Denver, Colorado, and also had rolling barrels. His father had shown him that the only way through was to walk in the opposite direction from the roll of the barrel, like being on a giant treadmill. Otherwise, you would end up rolling around the inside of the barrel.
    The dim light illuminated the inside of the fun house, so Murphy put his flashlight away in the backpack. He held the pack in his left hand to balance the impact-resistant case that contained Laser in his right. Murphy took a deep breath and entered the first barrel, walking in the opposite direction of the roll.
    As Murphy reached the center barrel, an Asian figure in a black ninja outfit entered the third barrel. He resembled a young Bruce Lee and moved toward Murphy with the agility of a cat. He did not look too friendly.
    Okay, here’s where it gets interesting
, Murphy thought.
    A quick glance behind Murphy revealed another Asian, dressed in a dark brown outfit. He had entered the first barrel after Murphy and was quickly gaming