The Clover Siblings and the Evil of Desmal Read online

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE DISAPPEARANCE

  The little man, named Jemlock, drew his sword, richly decorated with jewels he’d earned during his many adventures. He pulled his arm back, ready to attack the fierce dragon hurling fireballs at him. Closing its eyes to slits, the dragon lowered its huge head level with Jemlock’s. With every ounce of strength in his body, Jemlock struck once, twice, three times. His sword sliced through the dragon’s chest, exposing the leathery creature’s massive heart.

  With a dreadful roar the dragon reared up on its hind legs, blood spewing from its neck. The massive beast crashed down on all fours and blew an enormous flame at Jemlock, who fell to the ground.

  The flames burned his skin and stung his eyes.

  The dragon emitted a low, evil growl. Jemlock covered his head with his arms, burying his face deep into the forest grass. Useless to him now, his beautiful sword lay at his side. The dragon stumbled to its feet. With one lunge it picked up the elf-man and swallowed him whole.

  “Oh, man! No way! I was pushing the B button!”

  Carter Clover yelled at his brother Mason, at the television, and their Beacon System 850. They were playing their favorite video game, Queen Zamora’s Ultimate Challenge. “I pushed it! The one that makes Jemlock use his healing powers. Did you see that? This stupid game cheats. I hate it! Let’s play something else.”

  “Get over it, Carter! Give me the controls. It’s my turn. Besides, we haven’t earned back the special healing powers. Remember? You lost them on the last level we played yesterday.”

  Carter held the control away from his brother and made a face. Mason socked him in the shoulder, pushed him down, and tackled him. As they wrestled with each other, they failed to hear the pitter-patter of their baby sister, Isabella. Before they could pull themselves off each other and pay attention to her, Izzy had unplugged the Beacon 850 System.

  It was Carter who noticed first. “Oh, my God! Izzy! No!!”

  Mason looked up. “Aw man! Look what she’s done.”

  “We’ve lost everything! Everything!! And we were halfway through. Now you’ve ruined it! We’ve got to start all over again. You’re so stupid, Izzy!” Carter yelled.

  Isabella began to cry, which usually meant their mom would arrive any minute to see what the fuss was about.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here before we get busted,” Mason said.

  “She is so dumb. I don’t know why Mom and Dad had to go and have her.”

  “Bad judgment on their part,” Mason said, parroting one of their mother’s favorite expressions. “Hurry, I hear Mom. Grab your board and we’ll skate down to the park. Bring the latest Beacon 850 ‘zine. We can read the hints and codes and the little twerp can’t bug us.”

  “Boys!”

  “Hey, Mom, we’re going to skate over to the park. Catch you later,” Mason hollered.

  “No, wait! Your dad and I have a meeting tonight at the school and the babysitter just canceled. I need you to watch Carter and Izzy. You’re twelve now and old enough to babysit. I believe we can give it a try. We’ll only be gone for about an hour or so.”

  “Oh, Mom!” Mason protested.

  “Mason…wait a minute, why is Izzy crying?”

  “Don’t know. Maybe she fell or something. Okay, no problem. I’ll watch them. But can we skate for an hour?”

  “An hour, but not one minute longer.”

  Mason winked at Carter. Whenever Izzy tried to tell their mom they’d yelled at her, she couldn’t do it very well since she was only two. Talking wasn’t her strong point. Poopy diapers were. Mason prayed he wouldn’t have to change any while his parents were away that night.

  The Clover siblings were opposites in lots of ways, except for a few. All three children had curly hair as black as a groundhog’s den at midnight, and turquoise-blue eyes. Their skin was very fair, so they needed to put on sunscreen, rain or shine. Unfortunately, since they lived in sunny Southern California, it was typically shine, which meant their mother made it a daily ritual to slather on the SPF.

  Mason Clover was the analytical one; a no-nonsense kind of kid who wore glasses. He made straight A’s in school. Also, he was an excellent gymnast. He’d been doing gymnastics for the past three years, since he was nine. The state competition was coming up in three months, and he spent much of his time after school at practice.

  Carter Clover was not nearly as serious as his older brother. Not one for studying, at least not willingly, his parents had to threaten him constantly with consequences to get him to do his homework. However, what Carter lacked in study skills, he made up for in creativity. A budding artist, he painted oil on canvas, sculpted clay into wonderful statues of animals, doodled on every free piece of paper lying around, and spent much of his time painting at his easel and mixing his favorite watercolors. He particularly liked to paint garden scenes. He’d learned about the extraordinary artist Claude Monet when he was in kindergarten and from that day on he’d decided he wanted to be a painter. Carter had made it quite clear to the world and his parents—especially when they hounded him about his school work—that he was only answering his calling to become a famous artist…and possibly a race car driver, too.

  As different as the boys were, and as much as they argued, there were a few things they agreed on completely. The first was that the invention of video games deserved an award for being the greatest of all time. They loved their games, and would play hour after hour if allowed, even forgoing gymnastics and art.

  However, their parents were not of the same mind, and they restricted the boys’ video play to 30-minutes a day, except weekends. They were allowed ultimate three-hour play on Friday nights if they’d earned it.

  For Mason this meant being nice to his siblings and doing his chores. He could be quite lazy when it came to chores, constantly complaining he was too tired from gymnastics. For Carter, it simply meant getting his schoolwork done and making sure it was legible.

  On Saturdays and Sundays they got an hour each. Every second they got to play was pure heaven.

  The other thing the boys totally agreed upon was their lives had been much better before their sister came into their world. She cried too much, messed up everything, and chewed on their video games. Worst of all, their parents were constantly carrying on about how smart, how cute, how sweet, and how funny she was. The little brat was totally obnoxious and drove the Clover brothers crazy.

  Free of their whiny sister, the brothers skateboarded down to the park, where they scoured their Beacon System 850 magazine, picking up hints on Queen Zamora’s Ultimate Challenge. They’d made it through the first Zamora game, conquering the evil queen herself, but this one was way more difficult. With the new system they got for Christmas, the game was now in 3-D. It was so cool. The object of the game was to get through the various levels to the evil, magical queen and lay siege to her castle. In turn, the land of Boysen and the Island of Desmal, which was under her control, would be saved and all inhabitants freed from her evil rule.

  But it was much harder than it sounded. In each level the boys had to outwit a particular beast—whether a raging tyrannosaurus rex, a mechanical, jaw snapping shark, or an enchanted fairy with a poison-filled stinger—and earn an award to advance them to the next level.

  And now, with Izzy turning off their machine before they could save the game, they would have to start all over again. It had already taken them several weeks to get to the halfway point.

  “It’s such a bummer Izzy did that,” Carter said. “Life would be so much easier without a little sister. She’s always messing with my paints, and now the game.”

  “Yeah. That’s for s
ure. She’s definitely a pain in the you-know-what. Speaking of the little monster, we better get back before we get in trouble. Mom said only an hour.”

  The boys arrived home just as their mom was setting out grilled cheese sandwiches, salad, and some baked beans. “Boys, I have to meet your dad. Clean the kitchen for me when you’re done, and get your homework finished. Carter…” She drew her brows together, looking at him suspiciously. “You’ve both played your time on the Beacon 850, and no painting until your homework is finished.”

  “I know, I know, Mom,” Carter replied.

  “Okay, good. Now you have Dad’s and my cell phone numbers, so call if there are any problems. Don’t answer the door or the phone unless...”

  “Unless we hear your voice on the machine. We’ll be fine. Remember, I’m almost a teenager,” Mason said.

  “How could I forget?” Mom replied.

  “Where’s the brat?” Carter asked.

  “Carter, don’t call her that! She’s your baby sister and she adores you. She’s upstairs. She must be exhausted.” Their mom put her hands on her hips. “Interestingly enough, she was crying her eyes out about the time you left to go skating. And something tells me it wasn’t from the fall you two suggested. But I’m sure you guys wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

  “No, nuh-uh,” the boys said in unison, shaking their heads.

  “Right. I didn’t think so. Anyway, I fed her and put her down. If she wakes up crying, you need to go in there and take care of her.”

  “No problem, Mom. It’s all cool,” Mason said.

  “Counting on it.” She winked at them and went around the table to give each of them a kiss goodbye. “Eat all your dinner,” they heard her say as she locked the door behind her.

  Once they heard the car pull out and the garage door close, they picked up their plates and headed straight for their room. They knew there would be serious consequences—their mom’s favorite saying—if they got caught eating there. But the game was calling, especially now that they’d read up on the new hints and codes in The Beacon System 850 magazine at the park. They also figured their folks owed them that much. The video game rule was so dumb. After all, their parents were the ones who’d decided to have another baby. If the boys had to watch her, then they should be entitled to more play time.

  “I can’t wait to try out these hints,” Mason said.

  “Yeah, especially the ones for the Enchanted Forest,” Carter replied.

  “No kidding. That level is so cool. And the fairy princess is hot.”

  “Dude, she’s a cartoon and a girl. You’re weird.”

  “She’s technically not a cartoon, but a three dimensional character, and she’s still hot.” Mason smiled.

  “Yeah, well, you’re still weird.”

  “And you’re a geek.”

  “Whatever. I’m first,” Carter said as they sat down in front of their TV.

  “No way. Izzy set us back and I can get us to the higher levels way faster than you.”

  “C’mon.”

  “Carter, just let me get through the first three levels and I’ll let you play.”

  “Flip a coin.”

  Mason rolled his eyes, but agreed knowing they could argue about this all night long. He could beat Carter up and win, but his brother would definitely tell Mom and then he’d be super busted. So flipping a coin was the only solution. He reached into his pocket to find a quarter. As he did, something caught the corner of his eye. There was a flash on the television screen. He turned to face it.

  “Did you see that?”

  “What?” Carter asked.

  “The TV. I swear it looked like lightning came out of it.”

  “Dude, you’re losing it. Flip the coin.”

  Mason shook his head and placed the coin in his hand. Just before he flipped it, loud, shrill laughter came from the TV. Both boys turned to look. Then they looked back at each other, their eyebrows raised. “What the…” Mason muttered.

  “What was that?” Carter asked, his voice shaking.

  “I don’t know.”

  They faced the screen again and another bright flash appeared. They covered their eyes. Then the laughter started up again and a face that looked like a shriveled-up cross between a vampire and a prune took shape on the screen. It was the freakish face of Queen Zamora. She was dark red, almost purple in color, and her face was covered in wrinkles. At the sight of her razor sharp teeth and black, evil looking eyes, Mason, who was not typically afraid of much, took a step back.

  “Hello boys,” she cackled.

  The two froze, fixated on the image on the screen.

  “I was waiting for you. I know how much you love a challenge, and I also know how much you can’t stand that whiny, brat sister of yours. So, I’ve done you a favor.” The boys looked at each other. “Yes, I’ve taken little Izzy off your hands. She now lives here with me, and soon, when the planets align and the volcano flows and the oceans are torrid, the time will be ripe for me to take over her body and soul. Then I can come into your world. I can be human. Won’t that be fun? You’ll have Queen Zamora for a little sister!” And she threw back her head, laughing even louder than before.

  Mason’s stomach clenched like he wanted to throw up. He had to do something. “You give her back! Give her back right now!”

  “Never! If you want her back you’ll have to come get her, and that, my boys, will be your ‘ultimate challenge!’”

  Carter ran into Izzy’s room, refusing to believe she was missing. “Mason! What kind of stupid trick is this? How did you do it? Come on, stop!” Izzy wasn’t asleep in her crib. In fact, she wasn’t anywhere at all. Carter started to cry. He ran back into their room looking frantic. “She’s not there, Mason. Where did you put her?”

  “I wouldn’t do anything to her!”

  Queen Zamora rolled her eyes. “Of course she’s not there, didn’t I just tell you that?! She’s really quite curious, and if she can figure out how to come through to the land of Boysen, then you can too.”

  And with that, the screen abruptly went blank. Mason choked back his tears. “Stop crying,” he ordered Carter. “We have to save her.”

  “But how?”

  “I don’t know. We have to figure out a way to get there.”

  “I’m scared,” Carter said.

  “I’ll go alone.” Mason pulled his shoulders back and stood straight as a soldier ready for battle.

  “Oh no you won’t. I’m not staying here alone. I’m going, too.”

  Mason nodded, relieved his brother had decided to go with him. The boys sat down in front of the TV and the Beacon 850 System, studying it, trying to figure out how to get to Boysen to save their baby sister from the vicious Queen Zamora.

  CHAPTER TWO

  SAGE ADVICE

  “Oh man, oh no! What are we going to do?” Carter cried out.

  “Shut up, first of all! Get a grip. I can’t think if you’re gonna go all whacky on me. Okay, okay, let me see the guidebook,” Mason ordered his younger brother.

  “The Beacon Guide?”

  “No, Mom’s dumb lady magazine! Yes, stupid, The Beacon Guide. Maybe there’s a code, a way to get through. Queen Zamora said if Izzy could do it, then we could too. I’m guessing Izzy woke up, climbed out of her crib, and…”

  “Started pressing buttons on the controller.” Carter finished his brother’s thought, something the two did quite often for each other.

  “You’re catching on, Scooby-Doo. Maybe I’ll give you a Scooby snack.”

  “Funny!” Carter threw the manual at Mason, then sat down with his head in the palms of his hands, trying hard to hold back his tears again.

  “Okay, here, remember when we started the game we punched in a code, then the start button?” Mason said.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Let’s try that again. Here’s the code 850XIJ. Punch it in and press start.”

  Carter typed in the code on the game’s keyboard, then closed his eye
s waiting to be transported from his room to someplace in Videoland.

  Nothing happened.

  “Okay, okay.” Mason sighed heavily. “Uh. Hold on.” He grabbed the Beacon 850 magazine, skimming through the hints and code pages. “Whoa, whoa, here, I think I’ve got it. It says here after you get halfway through the game, almost to the level we’re at, each level has a sage of some sort.”

  “Sage?”

  “Yeah, like a teacher, you know? And he or she will take you to the next land. In case you’ve missed something or overlooked something you’ll need to reach the queen in some of the past levels, and you can type in a level’s name and go there with the sage. Then he or she will give you directions on where to go.”

  “I don’t understand,” Carter said.

  “Figures. Look, I think if we type in the 850 code plus the words Boysen Land, we may get there.”

  “Really?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.”

  “But we haven’t reached a level where we meet that sage guy.”

  “Carter, we’re not playing the game exactly the way it’s supposed to be played. Something tells me this doesn’t happen to every gamer out there.”

  “Mason, I’m scared. This can’t be real.”

  Mason laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Even though he was terrified too, he couldn’t let Carter know. He wasn’t about to do this on his own. But he needed to let Carter know it was okay, even if he wasn’t so sure it was. The fact was, some evil queen from a video game—as crazy as that sounded—had kidnapped their baby sister, and they had to get her back. But it was the how that he wasn’t so sure about.

  Mason didn’t have time to think about it. They had to get to Boysen Land first. He took the controller and keyboard from Carter and typed in the code, plus the words Boysen Land.

  Their room began to spin like an amusement park ride. It started out slow, then picked up speed until everything turned into a colorful blur. Then the room filled with water, but oddly enough, they could still breathe. They both grew dizzy from the continued spinning. The sensation of falling overcame them, exactly like a dream when it feels like you’re falling and you can’t stop.