except its head was round instead of triangular.
"A loyal friend indeed, to brave the unknown for your sake."
But she hugged the toy to her breast and softly cried. Atlach-Nacha hunkered down so that its gigantic face was level with hers.
"Why do you weep, child?" Its voice was gentle and compassionate, at odds with its horrific appearance.
She sniffled a few times as she sought to control herself. "I miss my real Sheba Cat." She wiped away her tears.
"I do not understand."
"A year ago, Mom got me a kitten for my birthday, for company; she called her Sheba. Eric killed her just a month ago. He hit her with a baseball bat and then strangled her. He hit me when I tried to save her."
"You spoke of this Eric before. Who is he, and why would he commit such a senseless act of violence?"
"He's my Mom's boyfriend. My Dad's dead; he died in a car wreck when I was five. Mom met Eric a few months ago. We didn't like each other, but he made Mom happy, so I tried to get along with him. But he sometimes drinks too much, and when he does he hurts my Mom if she makes him mad, and he gets mad real easy. He came over one night, when Mom was working late. He was drunk, and he got mad because Mom wasn't home. He tried to hurt me, and Sheba Cat bit and scratched him. So he killed her. He beat up Mom when she got home. He then dragged her into her bedroom and locked the door. I don't know what he did to her, but I could hear her crying all night. When he left in the morning I went to see if she was alright. She was pretty badly hurt, so I called Uncle Timothy and he took her to the hospital. I didn't hear what the doctor told him, but later he and Mom had an argument. He wanted to call the police and she wouldn't let him, but she asked him to take me to live with him for awhile. That's when he started telling me about you and how you could help protect us from Eric."
"Did he give you your new friend?"
"Yah, just a couple of weeks ago. He said it contained the spirit of my real cat, and that she could help me be brave. Sometimes, when I hold her close, especially at night, I can hear her purring."
"Why did your uncle not come to me himself?"
Her lips trembled as she fought back new tears. "He was going to, but just tonight Eric came to get me, saying Mom wanted me back. When Uncle Timothy wouldn't let me go, he got real mad and beat him up until he couldn't move any more. I got scared and ran away, into the woods behind his house, and hid where Eric couldn't find me. After he went away, I called the police, so they could take Uncle Timothy to the hospital, but I hid in the basement so they couldn't find me. I didn't want them to take me away from the house until I had a chance to see you. Then after they left I did the magic spell to come here."
The spider lord narrowed its eyes and its voice turned grim and cold. "So you know not your uncle's fate?"
"No, Mr. Nacha, but I'm afraid he might be dead. Even if he isn't, I'm scared of what Eric will do to him or my Mom unless you help us. Please, can you?"
"Why do you believe I can?"
"Because Uncle Timothy told me you can."
"And why do you believe I would?"
She felt bewildered again. "Because you're a spider, and spiders help people, just like Charlotte helped Wilbur."
"Who?"
"Don't you know about Charlotte's Web? It's a book about a spider who saves a pig from being killed by writing messages in her web. All my friends at school have read it. I can lend you my copy if you want to read it."
"I thank you, yes."
"Then what about Eric?"
"What would you like to happen?"
"I want him to leave us alone; to go away and never come back. Can you make him go away?"
"I can." Its voice was once more grave. "But there is something you must do for me."
"I'll do anything!"
"You must bring him here, to me; can you do that?"
She was surprised. "Is that all?"
"Yes. You can send him to me the same way you came."
"He wouldn't say the magic words."
"Then say them yourself; he will come with you as long as he is in the web beside you."
"Yes, I think I can do that."
"Good. Wait until tomorrow night; by then I will have completed all my preparations. And take this with you." One of the rear legs came forward. In its claws it carried what appeared to be a large chunk of green glass; it dropped it between them.
She bent over and picked it up. "It's pretty; what is it?"
"An emerald. It is nothing special, but humans like Eric consider such junk to be very valuable. If you show it to him and tell him that your uncle has more, you can get him to follow you anywhere."
"Thank you."
"And now, I shall send you back. Remember: wait until after nightfall, and bring your friend with you again."
Wendy watched as Eric pulled into the yard in front of Uncle Timothy's house. It had been no problem getting him to come for her. All she had done was call home and tell him she was ready to come back. Her only worry was that he would send her mother instead, so she was relieved to see him behind the wheel.
Atlach-Nacha had returned her to the basement even as it said it would. It was dawn, so the first thing she did was take a bath, and then she had some cereal and toast. Finally, she went to bed and slept until after noon. When she awoke, she pondered how to get Eric down to the basement and into the center of the web drawing, and as evening approached she figured out how to do it. It was then a simple matter of erasing the first drawing and making a new, larger one in a different spot along one wall. As night came on, she called home and, pretending to be frightened, lonely, and hungry, begged him to come get her. Afterwards, she went to sit on the front porch to wait for him, with Sheba Cat beside her and the emerald cradled in her arms.
He got out of the car, his face wrinkling in distaste at the sight of the house. He stood by the open door and shouted. "Come on, then, I don't have all night."
Feeling anxious, she stuffed Sheba Cat under one arm, stood up, and walked over to him, holding the raw gem in her hands. At first he looked puzzled by the sight of her carrying a large, rough green stone, but as she got closer his eyes widened and seem to light up like headlamps.
He stepped away from the car and hurried up to her. Snatching the uncut gem from her hands, he examined it closely, and began to tremble. "Where did you get this?"
"Uncle Timothy gave it to me." She took Sheba Cat into her hands.
"And how did he get something like this?"
"That's simple; he knows magic. He just conjures it up out of thin air."
His face clouded as his eyes narrowed. "Don't you lie to me, brat."
"I'm not lying!" Despite her nervousness, his accusation made her mad. "Uncle Timothy's got lots of them, more than he wants, so he gave that one to me."
His eyes seemed to shine brighter as a cruel smile pulled at his lips. "You say he has more? Where?"
"In a secret room he keeps in his basement, where he does his magic work."
That was the moment of truth. She understood that he wouldn't believe her about the magic part, but that wasn't important. All that was, was whether he believed her about the emeralds. If he did, he would ask her to take him to them, to see for himself. Otherwise he would just take the one she had and leave.
He licked his lips as he stared at the raw gem. "You say they're in a secret room? How many?"
"I don't know; maybe five or six, maybe more."
"Where is this room?"
"I can't tell you; you'd never find it by yourself, but I can show you where it's at."
He gave her a searching look, as if trying to ascertain whether she was being truthful. Finally, however, his greed overcame his caution. Going back to the idling car, he tossed the emerald onto the front seat and reached in to switch off the engine. Pocketing the keys, he came back. Reaching out, he grabbed her by the arm. "Show me where this room is, and you'd better not be lying, brat." He gave her arm a rough pull as he spoke.
She muttered a meek, "Yes, si
r," but inside she was ecstatic. Doing her best to hide her excitement, she led him into the house and down to the basement. Pausing long enough to turn on the light, she walked right up to the edge of the chalk web. "Right here's the door to the room."
All he saw was a bare section of the cement block wall. "You sure this is the right spot?" He sounded skeptical.
"Yah, Uncle Timothy showed me what to look for."
"Well, then, open it."
"You've got to stand right in front of it and say the magic words."
He jerked her arm in annoyance. "Don't play games with me, brat."
"I'm not!" Tears brimmed in her eyes from the pain. "Uncle Timothy said the door would open when the right words were said."
He grunted. "Probably some kind of voice recognition system. Alright then, do it."
Feeling calm, she took a couple of steps into the center of the web and, as she expected, he followed. Facing the wall, she spoke the incantation.
The transference was as instantaneous as it had been the first time, so before Eric knew what had happened, he and Wendy stood on the ledge overlooking the chasm. At first, he only looked confused, but when the nature of the altered surroundings finally dawned on him, he cringed in terror.
"Where the hell are we?"
She grinned, being immensely proud of her accomplishment. "We're in Uncle Timothy's secret room."
"How did we get here?"
"By magic of course; don't be dumb."
Enraged by her insolence, he whipped her around and grabbed both her arms just below the shoulders, causing her to drop the toy Siamese. "I've had it with your games!" He shook her hard. "Now, tell me where the hell we are or so