GAIL, NANCY, AND JERRY continued to object, but Old Lady Witherton could not be swayed. She led them out of her house on Turnabout Lane, pointed them in the direction of their homes near the top of Hardscrabble Street, gave them a stern warning about trying to follow her, then set off through the surrounding backyards toward the lair of Dr. Fell and whatever fate awaited her there.

The children walked home in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. The revelations from Old Lady Witherton had put them in a somber mood, and each of them secretly wanted to put the whole matter behind them, if only for a moment.

Determined to honor their promise and not interfere with Old Lady Witherton’s attack on Dr. Fell, they kept to the streets, taking the long way home rather than cutting through yards. So it was that five minutes later, they turned onto Hardscrabble Street and prepared to go their separate ways. Without saying a word, Nancy stepped out to cross the street and head home, when Gail stopped her.

“Do you think she’ll do it?” she asked. “Do you think she’ll stop him?”

Nancy paused a moment before answering, taking the time to gaze through the graying light of evening toward the large brick house at the end of Hardscrabble Street. “No,” she said, finally.

“Really?” asked Gail. “And you’re OK with that?”

“What can we do about it? Old Lady Witherton is right. We’re just kids. Dr. Fell is…he’s something bigger than the three of us.”

“We escaped from him,” reminded Gail.

“Only with her help,” reminded Nancy right back. “Look, I hope I’m wrong. I hope Old Lady Witherton has what it takes to stand up to Dr. Fell and his…his darkness. But I’m not holding my breath.”

The two friends again looked down the street at the home of Dr. Fell, each imagining Old Lady Witherton alone in that dark, unfinished basement going up against the horrible creature and/or Dr. Fell. It was not a happy imagining.

Suddenly Jerry, who Nancy and Gail had almost forgotten was there, spoke up.

“A gold bracelet.”

“Huh?” asked his sister.

“When she told us her story, Lady Witherton mentioned that Dr. Fell wore a gold bracelet. I don’t remember ever seeing him wear a gold bracelet.”

“It was a long time ago,” said Nancy.

“Yeah, I know,” said Jerry. “But everything else was so much the same. The black suit. The purple top hat. The black bag with the white bone handle. Even in those pictures in the book. Always the same, and always with something gold. Why would this time be different?”

Neither of the girls had an answer. “Is it important?” asked Gail.

“I don’t know,” admitted Jerry. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

The conversation petered out at that point. The kids all knew they should probably head home, but none of them wanted to leave the other two. They stood motionless on the street corner, at once worried and nervous and anxious. They knew there was a very strong likelihood that something was going to happen that evening, but they weren’t sure what it would be, or if they should try to be a part of it.

Above them, the sky darkened as the last rays of the sun sank beneath the horizon, signaling the official beginning of night.

And something happened.

The streetlights all blinked on at once, of course, but that was to be expected. None of the three children so much as noticed the sudden illumination of dozens of pale bulbs—none of which was strong enough to fight back the oppressive darkness descending onto the neighborhood. What did draw their attention, however, was the sudden opening of every single front door on Hardscrabble Street. This was quickly followed by every single man, woman, and child stepping out of his or her home and turning as one to walk down the street toward the home of Dr. Fell.

“What’s going on?” asked Nancy, despite seeing events unfold before her eyes.

“Where is everyone going?” asked Gail, despite the sudden crowd’s obvious destination.

“Why does everyone look like zombies?” asked Jerry, despite knowing full well the power of the spell cast by Dr. Fell.

“Mom! Dad!” cried Gail, breaking into a run to catch up to Jonathan and Stephanie Bloom, who were mindlessly strolling down the sidewalk. Nancy and Jerry quickly followed.

The first thing Gail noticed when she caught up with her parents was the whisk clutched in Stephanie Bloom’s hand. The second thing she noticed was the frying pan carried by her father. The third thing was the look of blissful ignorance etched on the faces of both of her parents. “Mom!” she said, stepping in front of her mother. “What are you doing?”

Stephanie Bloom looked down at her daughter, and for half a second, Gail wasn’t even sure her own mother recognized her. But then the dazed woman blinked her eyes, smiled, and addressed her daughter. “Dr. Fell is in trouble,” she said without stopping. “We need to rally around him. You and your brother need to run in and grab one of the heavier skillets or rolling pins and join us.”

“I…but—but…,” stammered Gail, her need to obey her parents fighting her need to stop Dr. Fell.

“Go on,” said her dazed father. “Be a good girl.”

Gail took a step back, and Jerry could see his sister start to give in. But then she clenched her fists and jumped directly in front of her parents.

“No! We have to stop Dr. Fell. He’s evil!”

“Evil?” asked Stephanie Bloom curiously. “No, I don’t think so. Not at all. What a nice man is Dr. Fell.”

Gail was shocked into silence at this reply. She stood rooted to the spot as her mother and father calmly continued down the street with their kitchen tools.

“Is that a whisk?” asked Nancy.

“Dr. Fell has sent out some weird telepathic call,” said Gail. “They’re all running to his defense.”

“Walking,” corrected Jerry.

“Old Lady Witherton!” cried Gail. “We have to warn her!”

“How?” asked Nancy.

“We could…I mean…we…” Gail struggled for an idea. “What if we…well, how about—”

She was suddenly interrupted by a deafening explosion that knocked all three children—as well as everyone walking toward Dr. Fell’s—to the ground. A deep boom reverberated from the far end of the street, and a ball of eerie green fire rolled up out of the large brick house at the end of Hardscrabble Street and into the sky.

“Nancy? Jerry? Are you all right?” called Gail as she forced herself up onto her wobbly feet.

“I’ve got a bruised butt, if that matters,” said Nancy. “But otherwise I’m fine.”

“It’s happening, guys,” said Jerry, eyes wide with panic. “It’s actually happening!”

“What’s happening?” asked Nancy.

“The end! This is the end! If we don’t do something now, Dr. Fell will finish what he’s doing here and disappear, and our school, our street, our friends, our family—they’ll all be ruined!”

Gail and Nancy wiped dust and debris out of their eyes and looked hopelessly at each other.

“We can’t just stand here and do nothing!” pleaded Jerry.

“Jerry’s right, Nancy,” said Gail. “Whatever is going on at the end of the street, it can’t be good. Old Lady Witherton is only one woman—she can’t defeat Dr. Fell all by herself.”

“We’re just kids!” argued Nancy. “He’s five hundred years old and has a creepy monster of darkness working for him. What can we do?”

“It doesn’t matter, because we’re the only ones who can do it,” said Gail. “Everybody else is under his spell. If our community is going to be saved, it’s up to us.”

She thrust out her hand toward Nancy and Jerry. Jerry immediately placed his atop his sister’s. The Bloom children stared at Nancy Pinkblossom, waiting.

Finally, Nancy thrust her hand out to meet the other two in solidarity. “I can’t let you and Dorknose look brave while I run away like a coward,” she said.

The three children gave one another a confident nod, then turned and ran as fast as they could toward the chaos that was quickly encompassing the world of Dr. Fell.