Lord of the Hat Page 6

  I felt the same way about them.

  CHAPTER 15

  SICK

  The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and took the train back down the mountains. As we got onto the train, Jack asked:

  Actually the train did go a lot faster on the ride down. Me and Seussol spent some time at the back of the train watching the mountains disappear. I wasn’t certain, but I thought I could see the fire on top of Bartholomew’s Hat.

  We all ate lunch in the dining car, and before we knew it, the ride was over. We walked back to our RV and started the long drive home. We were taking a different way home. As my dad put it …

  We stopped in a town called Thidwick, New Mexico, and parked for the night. We ate dinner at a restaurant shaped like a boat.

  The food was greasy and delicious. We ate tons of it. I even fed some to Seussol under the table.

  We probably shouldn’t have eaten there. That night we all began to get horribly sick. It started with Libby.

  The trip home was a blur. Everyone was ill. My father could barely drive, and the rest of us were sweating and throwing up. I know we drove the next day and parked somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you where. Plus, Seussol was a mess.

  I couldn’t see straight, stand straight, or sleep straight.

  When we finally arrived home, everyone stumbled out of the RV like characters from The Walking Dead.

  I went straight to my room to lie down and maybe vomit. I closed my door and Seussol appeared. He looked worse than ever.

  Seussol was so sick he was ready to go back into the closet.

  Seussol reached into his pocket and pulled out the small metal object he had shown me in the hotel.

  He explained that if I used the object on Beardy, it would let me know when the next time my closet was going to send a visitor.

  Seussol took off his hat and dumped it on the floor. There were all kinds of objects. In fact, I think Seussol might have been the Temon Taker. I could see Wonk’s cane and one of the garden gnomes from Trevor’s front yard. Most surprising was when Jim flew out.

  I opened my window, and Jim flew out, cursing Seussol. While I was turning around, I heard Beardy click open.

  Seussol handed me ring number seven. I had been given some cool things by my past guests, but the ring was definitely my favorite.

  And with that, Seussol was gone. The closet door closed and snapped. I tried to open it, but Beardy was locked tight. I took the weird object that Suessol had made in the fire. I pushed it up against the four corners of Beardy’s head and it clicked. Then I turned it slightly, and the front of the doorknob swung open like a pocket watch. There, behind it, was a date.

  If this date meant what I thought it did, I had over a month before my next guest would arrive. I hoped I would feel better by then.

  CHAPTER 16

  MUCH BETTER

  I actually got better a couple of days later. It was nice to be back home. It also helped that Janae brought me a get-well basket. I told her all about my trip, leaving out the parts about Seussol and everyone throwing up. But I wanted her to know that I was close to death because she had told me she liked books where the boy died.

  My other friends came over and tried to make me feel as bad as possible about getting sick.

  When Trevor got better, he edited all his film into a movie and showed it to everyone at his house.

  It wasn’t at all epic. It was actually really awful. The editing didn’t make sense, and the story fell apart after about a minute. The only part I liked was the one scene where I could see a bit of Seussol.

  Now that Seussol was gone, I no longer had the urge to rhyme. I was okay with that, but I missed having him hang out on my shoulder. Sometimes I would just pretend he was there.

  I liked knowing when a new creature was coming. It allowed me to enjoy a little calm before the next storm. I have been reading the Lord of the Rings. I finished The Fellowship of the Ring, and I’m currently halfway through The Two Towers. I can’t believe how good the books are. I also can’t believe that I don’t want them to end. I suppose there’s no such thing as a book that’s too long, if the characters are great and the plot is so strong.

  A few days ago, I was sitting in front of the window in the family room when my mom came in from getting the mail.

  She had a question for me. She had just received a letter from the Grand Hotel claiming that we owed them for a couple of broken plates, a bent fork, and a cracked lamp they found on a beat-up food cart. She wanted to know if I knew anything about it.

  Should I tell her about it?

  Now, what should I do?

  Well … what would you do

  if my mother asked you?

  Obert Skye is the author and illustrator of the bestselling Creature from My Closet series, including Wonkenstein, Potterwookiee, Pinocula, and Katfish, and the author of the Witherwood Reform School series. He has also written the popular children’s fantasy adventure series Leven Thumps and Pillage. He lives with his family in Idaho.

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  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT NOTICE

  DEDICATION

  1. CALM BEFORE THE STORM

  2. THE ANNOUNCEMENT

  3. NOTES

  4. MISSING

  5. MUSTARD BURGER

  6. HAPPY INSTEAD OF SAD

  7. RECREATIONAL VEHICLE

  8. ON THE ROAD

  9. BUMPS IN THE NIGHT

  10. ALL ABOARD

  11. TRAINING

  12. THE TOWN OF TOLK

  13. THE EPIC QUEST

  14. HOTEL ALONE

  15. SICK

  16. MUCH BETTER

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  Copyright © 2015 by Obert Skye

  Henry Holt and Company, LLC

  Publishers since 1866

  Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

  mackids.com

  All rights reserved.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

  Skye, Obert.

  Lord of the Hat / Obert Skye.—First edition.

  pages cm.—(The creature from my closet; book 5)

  Summary: “Rob Burnside is visited by an especially strange closet creature: the CAT IN THE HAT mashed with GOLLUM from The Lord of the Rings”—Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-62779-162-5 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-62779-550-0 (e-book)

  [1. Monsters—Fiction. 2. Books and reading—Fiction. 3. Humorous stories.] I. Title.

  PZ7.S62877Lo 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2015008295

  Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

  First hardcover edition 2015

  eBook edition October 2015

  eISBN 9781627795500