[Janitors 03] Curse of the Broomstaff (13 page)

She shrugged. “Come on, Uncle. You know Spencer should be here for this.”

“I make no guarantees,” Walter said. “I have no idea if this will work.”

“Of course it will,” said Penny. “Now get in there before the others wake up.”

Walter lifted the leaf blower from the table and crossed the room. He opened a small door, and Spencer saw that the area beyond was a tight concrete chamber. Everything had been removed, leaving the walls and ceiling bare.

“I’ll give you two minutes to tape me in,” Walter said. “When you hear the leaf blower start, you’ll know I’m about to begin.”

“Hold on tight.” Penny closed her uncle into the small, dark room. She lifted a roll of duct tape from a nearby shelf. Tearing off long strips, she taped along the seam of the door.

“Glopified tape will keep the door from imploding,” Penny said. Spencer was familiar with the tape. It was fingerprint sensitive and unbreakable. The only fingers authorized to peel it off would be the same ones that taped it down.

Penny stepped away from the door, a huge X crisscrossing the frame. No sooner had she finished than the leaf blower’s motor roared to life on the other side of the door. The sound that followed was a hundred times louder as Walter pierced a hole into the Vortex vacuum bag.

Spencer clamped his hands over his ears as the janitor’s closet filled with deafening suction. The walls shook and the shelves rattled. Even through the taped door, Spencer could feel the pull. He looked down to see his shoelaces standing straight out, stretching toward the door. Spencer leaned back, bracing himself against Penny.

In a moment, it was over. And the silence that followed seemed almost deafening in its own way. Penny raced forward, ripping strips of duct tape from the door. She crumpled the tape together and cast it aside, a silvery wad of stickiness.

Spencer hung back, his throat so tight with anxiety that it seemed he’d never be able to swallow again. Penny jerked open the door, and Walter Jamison collapsed into her arms. Spencer noticed the papery Vortex bag in his hand as she lowered him to the floor.

Unable to resist, Spencer leapt through the doorway and into the small concrete room. It was dark and, if possible, even barer than before. Spencer felt the smooth walls, noticing how chips of concrete had been stripped away by the suction force.

The room was empty. There was not even a speck of dust, let alone a big, burly janitor.

“I’m sorry,” Walter whispered.

“What happened?” asked Penny. “Why didn’t it work?”

“The leaf blower was ripped from my hand,” he said. “The Vortex sucked the air out of it before I could take aim. The blower wasn’t strong enough.”

But the leaf blower was powerful! Spencer had seen it blast the jaw off a giant Filth. Why hadn’t it worked?

“Nothing can match the Vortex,” Walter muttered, as close to despair as Spencer had ever seen him.

Footsteps in the janitor’s closet brought Penny and Walter to their feet.

“There you are!” Alan said, rushing to Spencer. The rest of the team was filing in behind him, still rubbing sleep from their eyes.

“Did you feel the earthquake?” Daisy asked. “Woke us all up!” Spencer decided he could tell her about Operation Vortex later. For now, he let her think the shaking was an earthquake.

“I woke up and you were gone,” Alan said. “What are you doing down here?”

The boy stared at his dad. Spencer had done his own thing for so long, why should he have to report to his dad now?

“He was helping us,” Penny answered for him. “We’re getting the gear together. Thought we should do a little training with the new equipment before we head into the danger zone.”

“Make it quick,” Alan said. “We should get on the road.” After finally opening that mysterious package, he was anxious to find Alsbury High School.

“Hold your horses!” Bernard said. “We’re not going anywhere till I make some repairs on the garbage truck. That Extension Grime shattered my window and ripped off the back hopper cover. It’ll be several hours at best.”

“Let’s just take the truck as it is,” Alan said. “It’s still drivable.”

“It doesn’t meet regulations,” said Bernard. “I’m not gonna risk getting pulled over. My extended cab is meant to hold four people. We’re going to be packing six. We don’t have seat belts for everybody.”

“We can duct tape ourselves down,” Daisy said.

“Duct tape, really?” Bernard tugged on the flaps of his aviator cap in frustration.

“Forget it, Bernie,” Alan said. “The truck is fine. We leave within the hour.”

The garbologist sighed in defeat. He opened his tweed coat to reveal an assortment of vending machine treats tucked into his overalls. “Can’t we at least have breakfast first?”

P
enny was so excited to explain the weaponry that she didn’t even join in the breakfast of cookies and candy bars. She waited until everyone was seated at the table before taking a janitorial belt from a hook on the wall.

“Everybody gets a belt,” she said. “Ultra lightweight, one size fits all.” She strapped it around her waist.

“No offense,” Bernard said through a mouthful of Snickers. “But shouldn’t the warlock explain the gear?”

“Penny’s my weapons specialist,” Walter said. “Whenever I Glopify something new, I give it to her. She learns how to use it and gives me feedback on how to improve.”

“I’m the guinea pig,” Penny said. Then she was back to the training.

She pointed to a pouch near the buckle. “On this side, you’ve got vacuum dust. The back pouches have a latex glove, chalkboard erasers, and duct tape. This other pouch has a razorblade.” She pulled the little blade from the belt. “Flip the button and you’ve got a sword.”

Daisy jumped as the razorblade extended. Penny held it out for everyone to see before closing the blade and dropping it back into the pouch. “If you’ve got a sword, you’ll need a shield.”

Penny reached for one of the U clips on the belt. The clips held anything with a handle, making it invisible and intangible while it was on the belt. Penny unclipped a short handle, and a dustpan shimmered into view. With a twist of the handle, the pan fanned out, metal pieces clicking together and expanding to form a circular shield. Penny thumped her fist against the dustpan shield.

“Nearly indestructible,” Penny said. “Good for picking up dust, too.”

She twisted the handle again, and the shield reverted to an ordinary dustpan. When she snapped the handle into the U clip, the dustpan disappeared. “These other U clips are for the usual gear.” Penny pointed at the handles in her belt. “Broom, mop, pushbroom, and toilet plunger.”

“And all of it’s Glopified?” Spencer asked, remembering how he and Daisy had stuck a regular toilet plunger to Walter’s back.

“Of course,” Penny said. She turned so everyone could see the other side of the belt. There were several nylon loops with plastic spray bottles dangling from their triggers.

“Orange one heals practically any injury,” Penny said. “I remember that one,” remarked Bernard.

“Green one causes deep sleep and erases your recent memory of the person who sprayed you.”

“I
don’t
remember that one,” Walter said.

Penny unclipped a bottle of blue spray and held it out for demonstration.

“Looks like Windex,” Daisy said.

“You’re right,” said Penny. “But what does magic Windex do?”

She aimed the spray bottle at the table and gave a few shots. The blue solution hit the wooden tabletop and shimmered briefly with an azure light. Spencer leaned forward, anxious to see the effect it would have.

The wet area of the tabletop changed almost instantly to glass! Spencer could see straight through to the floor.

“We believe this is the spray that was used to rescue Director Garcia from the dumpster,” Walter said. “Mr. Clean developed the Glop formula. He sprayed the side of the dumpster, it turned to glass, and he shattered it to free his warlock partner.”

Spencer had wondered how Garcia had managed to escape the dumpster. He’d seen the director in visions enough times to know that he was back at New Forest Academy, overseeing the education of his handpicked elite students.

“The Windex will temporarily turn anything to glass,” said Penny. “Once the spray dries, the surface will return to its original material.”

She hooked the spray bottle back into the belt and withdrew one more item from the nylon loops. It wasn’t a plastic spray bottle, like the others. This one was a slender aerosol can.

“Air freshener,” Penny said. “Vanilla scented.” She held out the can for everyone to see. “Uncle Walter made this for the kids.”

“Really?” Daisy said. “I didn’t think we were
that
stinky.” She lifted her arm and gave a sniff.

“Not for your smell,” Penny said with a grin. “For your minds.”

“You think our minds need freshening?” Spencer asked.

Walter finally cut in. “The air freshener will temporarily counteract the effects of Toxite breath. If you kids are going to fight alongside us, then we can’t have you getting distracted, falling asleep, and losing interest. A quick spritz of air freshener will help you stay focused in the middle of battle.”

“Thanks,” Spencer said to the warlock. Since adults weren’t affected by Toxite breath, the air freshener was truly an invention just for Spencer and Daisy.

“With the BEM Pluggers riding those giant Extension Toxites,” Penny said, “we’ll need all the weaponry we can carry.” She pointed to a row of belts on the wall. There was one for everybody, and each belt was heavily loaded and ready for use.

“The Extension Toxites are tough,” Penny said, “but they have a weakness. The Pluggers control the beasts with battery packs and extension cords. Cut the cord and the Toxites go free.”

“Free is good?” Bernard asked.

“We got an Extension Rubbish to turn on its rider,” Penny explained. “Cut the creatures free and they don’t know BEM from Rebel. They just want to kill.”

“I think we can stay ahead of the Pluggers,” Alan said. “It’s been over twenty-four hours since we’ve seen them. Alsbury High School isn’t a Rebel school, so they have no idea where we’re headed next.”

“Good point,” Walter said. “If we keep up our momentum, we have a better chance at shaking them off our trail forever.”

There were nods of agreement around the table, and Spencer knew it was time to break the news. “We can’t shake them,” he finally said. Everyone turned to him, curious about his sudden pessimism.

“The reason we haven’t seen the Pluggers for a while is because they stopped by New Forest Academy,” Spencer said. “Mr. Clean is outfitting the Extension Toxites for war.”

“What does that mean?” Daisy asked. “What kind of outfits do Toxites wear?”

“I don’t want to find out,” said Bernard. “If we hit the road soon, those Pluggers will never find us. They’re a day behind and two states over.”

“It doesn’t matter how far behind they are. Believe me,” Spencer looked at his dad. “They’re coming.”

“How can you say that?” Alan asked. “You don’t know for sure . . .”

“It’s
you,
Dad.” Spencer cut him off. “You’re leading the Pluggers right to us.”

“Now, wait a minute!” Alan leaned across the table. “Are you accusing me of treason? You think I’m telling the Pluggers where to find us?”

“You might as well!” Spencer said. Old anger about his dad’s absence was resurfacing, and for once, Spencer decided to let it flow. “Being with you puts all of us in danger!”

“Oh?” Alan stood up. “Is that what you think? Since you seem to have all the answers, why don’t
you
lead the mission?”

“Okay!” Spencer shouted. “We’ll start by fixing Bernard’s garbage truck. We’ll start by listening to other people’s ideas.”

Walter reached out and grabbed Spencer’s arm. The contact reminded Spencer that he and his father were not alone in the room.

“Why do you think your dad is leading the Pluggers to us?” Penny asked.

Spencer took a deep breath. “Leslie’s Filth is baited.” He relaxed his fists. “Mr. Clean had a scrap of my dad’s shirt, and he fed it to the Extension Filth. Now it’s tracking us and it won’t stop until it finds
him.
” Spencer pointed at his dad.

Alan ran a hand through his beard in momentary thought. Then he pushed back his chair and headed for the door.

“Where you going?” Bernard asked.

Alan paused at the threshold. “Spencer’s right. If the Pluggers have my scent, then it’s too dangerous for me to stay with you. I can lead them away from Alsbury High School and give you a better chance of finding the map.”

“This is lunacy!” Walter shouted. “We can’t send you out there alone with a pack of overgrown Toxites on your trail!”

“I’ll go with him,” Penny said, tightening the strap on her janitorial belt.

“We stay together!” Walter insisted.

Alan put his hands into his pockets. “Let Spencer decide,” he said. “What do you say, Son? Do I stay or go?”

Emotion tightened Spencer’s throat as he stared across the room. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He and his dad were supposed to be sharing grand adventures, not bickering and threatening. It wasn’t a question, really. Spencer knew he could never send his dad off to be hunted by the Pluggers.

“You stay with us.”

Bernard leaned forward and whispered urgently, “But we’re going to fix the garbage truck.”

Spencer nodded. “But we’re going to fix the garbage truck.”

I
t was well past midnight when the garbage truck pulled into the parking lot of Alsbury High School. Repairing Bernard’s vehicle had taken longer than anticipated, and the rest of the day was lost in travel to Austin, Texas.

The cab was crowded and uncomfortable with all six team members. And despite the car fresheners dangling from the mirror, the vehicle now smelled like onions from their late-night dinner from a food truck.

Bernard had dug through his steel briefcases of strange trash collections. He had a whole assortment of jewelry that he’d recovered from the garbage. A thin gold chain fit perfectly through the tiny dispenser key, and Alan had it hanging safely around his neck.