finding a way down to the old maze was no easy task, as it had been long sealed off. In fact, after hours and hours of struggling and failing to locate the manner in which Miss Flapper, Tab Bee, and Ramses had entered, it was decided that they would simply have to burrow into the old maze using a mechanical drill from Grind ’n’ Gears.

“Drills and chills! Am I the only one worried that we might accidentally tunnel straight into Headmistress Bloodgood, Wydowna, Cleo, or Toralei?” Robecca asked with steam pouring out of her ears.

“Non-adult entity, for the last time, do not talk while I drill,” Miss Sue Nami said as she manned the large metal contraption in the middle of one of the maze’s many paths.

“Madame Sue Nami has assured me that this operation is safe. For as you know, safety is always my first priority,” Rochelle calmed Robecca. “Now, might it be that you’re feeling extra anxious right now because you’re worried about your father?”

“My father?” Robecca repeated.

“Yes, I imagine you are frightened that he might not be in there,” Rochelle responded.

“It’s just that with Ramses de Nile, Tab Bee, and Miss Flapper having disappeared back to the Old World, if he isn’t in here, we’ll have no leads. I may never find out where he is,” Robecca fretted.

“Scariff Fred said he has two of his best deputies on Miss Flapper, Ramses de Nile, and Tab Bee’s trails. I’m sure they’ll eventually catch them,” Venus reassured Robecca as Miss Sue Nami paused for one of her infamous water-spraying shakes.

“How’s it looking, Miss Sue Nami?” Cy asked as he wiped droplets of water off his cheeks.

“Just about through,” Miss Sue Nami responded, and then resumed drilling.

And indeed she was. Within minutes, Cy, Robecca, Rochelle, Venus, and Miss Sue Nami were lowering themselves through a root-filled hole into what looked like an abyss of vines, both dead and alive.

“This is what happens when monsters ignore their gardening duties, when they turn their backs on their plants,” Venus said as she shook her head.

“I am highly concerned about what might be living within these vines,” Rochelle said as she used her flashlight to investigate. “Rats? Snakes? An underground hybrid?”

“Snats?” Robecca chimed in.

“Pardonnez-moi?”

“That’s what we could call the hybrid. Snats! Or rakes!” Robecca offered enthusiastically.

“Non-adult entities, I hate to rain on this parade of faulty science, but there is absolutely no way that snakes and rats could crossbreed, as snakes eat rats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now that is not to say that there couldn’t be snakes and rats residing separately, that is absolutely possible.”

“Great,” Venus moaned sarcastically as Miss Sue Nami started to pull back the vines so that the group could move forward.

Miss Sue Nami, followed by Venus, Rochelle, Robecca, and Cy, started through the labyrinth-like setting, all the while each of them hoping the same thing: that Miss Flapper had been telling the truth when she mentioned the old maze, that it wasn’t a ploy to throw them off the right path.

“Deary me, I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t think anyone’s down here. Not even any snakes, rats, or hybrids!” Robecca yelped to Cy.

“But if they’re not down here, where are they?” Cy asked.

“That’s the problem. We have no idea,” Venus grumbled.

“Stop whining, non-adult entities. You haven’t come this far, battled this much, to give up before the mission is complete. Now, we can turn around like quitters or we can search every corner of the old maze until we are certain that ma’am and the others aren’t down here,” Miss Sue Nami barked.

“Madame is most correct. We have fought very hard to get to this point and now we must persevere until we find them, until we bring them home,” Rochelle responded.

Covered in a wide variety of splinters and scratches, the group trudged forward, pushing through dried-up hedges and tangle upon tangle of overgrown vines.

“There’s something up ahead,” Miss Sue Nami called out to the others. “A clearing.”

There, among the dried brown hedges and wildly growing vines, was a circular dirt patch, which bordered on an old metal door covered in soil, dried leaves, and spider webs.

“It looks like no one’s opened this door in years,” Venus mumbled at the sight of it.

“Sadly, I agree,” Rochelle seconded.

“Rusty gears! What a disappointment!” Robecca squealed, and then kicked at the door, her copper boot banging loudly against the metal.

“Chérie,” Rochelle started to reply, when a knocking sound emanated from the door.

“Did I just imagine that?” Robecca yelped as she looked to the others.

“No!” Venus screeched happily as she ran toward the door. “Robecca? What do you say you give this thing a quick steam cleaning?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Robecca replied as her nostrils flared and steam began pouring out.

Once the lock was clean, Venus assessed it, even trying to use her vines to open it.

“Allow me,” Rochelle said as she wiped her claws against her shirt.

But after fiddling with the lock for a few minutes, the granite ghoul sighed loudly.

“Zut! I am not making any headway!”

“Move out of the way, non-adult entities,” Miss Sue Nami announced as she ran full speed toward the door.

But even after the wall of water smashed against the metal door, the lock remained in place.

“I think I have an idea. It’s far-fetched, but you never know,” Cy offered.

“Run at it again?” Miss Sue Nami suggested.

“No,” Cy said as he turned and looked at Robecca. “What did you do with that key we found in the catacombs? The one you said might unlock the mystery to finding your father.”

Robecca slowly pulled out a chain from under her shirt, on which hung the rusted key.

“I held on to it like you told me, so I always remember to keep the faith,” Robecca explained.

“The odds are not in our favor,” Rochelle added. “But I certainly am hoping that we defy the statistics.”

Robecca slowly walked up to the door and removed her necklace.

“Please be in here, Father,” Robecca whispered as she inserted the key into the lock.

Never had the faint sound of a lock clicking seemed so loud and thunderous.

“I’m speechless,” Rochelle mumbled as the heavy metal door creaked open.

“Absolutely shocked, but in the best possible way,” Venus added, and then winked at Robecca, who was first to enter the space.

Behind the door was a small but charming room decorated as if it were the inside of a genie’s bottle, with purple satin walls, large gold pillows, and strands of beads dangling from the ceiling.

“Thank heavens you found us!” Cleo moaned as she walked toward Robecca, Cy, Rochelle, Miss Sue Nami, and Venus clad in an elegant hand-woven gown. “Not that it’s been all bad. Check out what Wydowna made me. I mean, I have to tell you, she’s more talented than Moanatella Ghostier and Calvin Cry’in combined.”

“It’s true. And now we feel super bad that we were so mean to the spider ghoul. She’s actually pretty cool. Obviously not as cool as me, but then again that’s impossible,” Toralei admitted as she flounced across the room in a spooktacular lace dress.

“Um, actually it isn’t, because I’m way cooler than you are. I’m royalty, in case you forgot.”

“So? I’m a celebutante.”

“Ghouls, sorry to interrupt, but is there anybody else here?” Robecca asked nervously, wringing her copper hands together.

“Of course, Headmistress Bloodgood and Wydowna are trying to break down the other door, the one that exits into the catacombs,” Cleo answered.

“Wydy? Heady? Come in here, we’ve been rescued! And you’ll never believe by whom! Those ghouls who used to drive me crazy, the wet lady, and the boy with the big eye,” Toralei cried into the other room.

“Wow, those are some pretty colorful descriptions of us,” Venus said with a laugh.

“Wydy? Heady?” Rochelle repeated back.

“Like I said, we’ve really bonded,” Toralei explained.

“While I am very pleased to hear that, I would very much like to encourage you to find new nicknames for them both. I am sorry to say that Heady and Wydy are not very becoming,” Rochelle advised Toralei.

Wydowna and Headmistress Bloodgood, who was also clad in a webbed creation, walked into the room and immediately broke into the biggest smiles possible.

“My ghouls! I knew you would find us!” Headmistress Bloodgood exclaimed.

“What about me, ma’am? Didn’t you think I would find you?” Miss Sue Nami inquired.

“Not really, but only because I knew you would be terribly busy running the school,” Headmistress Bloodgood responded diplomatically.

“Wydowna, how are you holding up?” Cy asked, and then motioned toward Cleo and Toralei, who were both checking their makeup in a nearby mirror.

“You know, it’s a funny thing, but once you get to know them you realize that they don’t mean half the things they say. And, well, that makes it a whole lot easier to be ghoulfriends,” Wydowna explained candidly.

“Robecca, dear, you needn’t worry anymore,” Headmistress Bloodgood said as she looked at the downcast ghoul. “We are all safe and sound.”

“Yes, but is anybody else in here?” Robecca asked as steam started to pour out of her eyes.

“What do you mean? Like our pets?” Cleo chimed in.

Rochelle and Venus instantly engulfed Robecca in their arms, holding tight, trying with all their might to absorb her disappointment.

“We won’t give up!” Venus whispered in her friend’s ear. “Not until we find him.”

“Really?” Robecca blubbered.

“Really. We’re ghoulfriends forever, remember?” Rochelle added.

“Yes, ghoulfriends forever,” Robecca repeated back with a smile.