Sally could see that she didn’t have many options. Watch was now only thirty feet away and closing. Whirling, Sally dashed into! the reservoir and began to swim frantically away from the shore. For a moment it seemed Watch would try to follow her. But like the creatures that fell in the witch’s moat, he seemed uneasy about the water. Plus he could not stay where he was. The oil was close on his heels. Watch was forced to run to the side.

Luckily for Adam, he ran to the other side.

Now Adam had a wave of oil between him and Watch.

And Adam had to make the toughest decision of his life.

The oil was flooding the reservoir at an incredible rate. In just a few minutes he should be able to ignite the oil slick with the box of dynamite. The only trouble was Sally had to stay in the water to stay away from Watch, and if she did stay there she would burn. Sally could not even circle around to reach Adam. The oil slick had already come between him and her. Sally could only swim toward the center of the reservoir.

Adam could not kill her. He knew this.

But he could not let all of Spooksville die either.

He knew that as well.

He pulled the case of dynamite with him as he crawled out of the truck.

He had a Bic lighter. He just had to set the case next to the shore. The oil would reach him soon. He just had to set the fuse, light it and crawl away. He could make the fuse as long as he liked. He could give Sally as many extra minutes as she asked for. The trouble was none of those minutes would be enough. Even if she could outswim the growing slick to reach the other side, Watch would be waiting for her.

Adam couldn’t believe how horrible the situation was.

And he was so cold. He couldn’t stop shaking.

But he had hit rock bottom before.

He should have remembered that when things were at their worst, they usually got better.

Adam looked up and saw a balloon in the sky. Not just any balloon, but one carrying Cindy and Bum. His friends seemed to understand the situation because they were heading straight for Sally. Their balloon was powered by what looked like hardware store fans. They had speed and steering ability.

Sally saw them and waved her arms frantically.

The oil slick was closing in on her.

Adam broke open the case of dynamite and pulled out his longest fuse.

The oil slick was moving his way as well.

The balloon dipped low. Cindy reached over the edge.

Adam set his fuse and grabbed his Bic lighter.

Sally reached up and grabbed Cindy’s hand.

The oil slick touched Sally’s foot just as she was pulled up into the balloon.