The building had only one story, its entire structure made from warped, sun-faded wooden boards with thousands of splinters poking out. The two-sided roof peaked in the middle, slanting steeply downward until it overhung the walls in eaves that almost touched the ground. To handle all the snow in the winter, Tick thought. The place had no windows, and its door was a simple slab of wood, the only thing on the shack that had ever been painted. Only a few streaks of dull red had survived the weather. A rusted doorknob hung loosely from the warped door.

“Looks just like Grandma’s house,” Paul said. His voice was so tight Tick couldn’t tell if he was joking.

“I bet whoever lives here has never heard of Pacini spaghetti,” Sofia said.

Tick was about to respond but stumbled on his first word. They were close enough for him to notice something creepy about the door. The red paint he’d seen wasn’t the remnants of an age-old decorating scheme after all.

They were words, scrawled across the entire face of the wooden door from top to bottom.

“Look!” he shouted, already sprinting ahead to see what it said.

“What?” Sofia yelled from behind him. Tick ignored them, and soon they ran to catch up.

Tick stopped just a few feet in front of the door. At first, he couldn’t make out the words of the message, the writing hasty and messy, some of the paint having run down like blood into the other letters. But there was no mistaking Tick’s name, and soon everything else became clear.

He tried to speak, but his mouth had dried up and his tongue wouldn’t move. He felt like someone had rammed a glob of cotton down his throat with a wooden spoon.

Sofia read the words out loud.

Only two people may enter this door.

Atticus Higginbottom and Mistress Jane.

All others will die a horrible death.

Do not test me on this.

Chapter

34

~

The Antidote

Tick could only stare at the message, the world around him shrinking away. He felt like an entire hour had passed, but he knew it had only been a minute or two since Sofia had read the words aloud.

He could only stare.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Paul said, though his voice sounded to Tick like it came down a long tunnel.

“What do you think, Einstein?” Sofia replied, her tone full of anger. “Chu wants Tick to go in there, but not us!”

“I know, but what does that mean?”

“Looks like ya’ll hain’t got nuttin’ but trouble comin’ down dem gullets a’yorn.”