Read Online Beyond the Knock Knock Door by Scott Monk - Free Book Online

even more, she snapped her pirate coat around herself and sat on the steps to fume.
    The boys stayed put. Their guesses grew more desperate until boredom set in. Luke searched the cavern for more clues while his sister nagged him about why he didn’t bring a spare battery for his shoulder flashlight. Half an hour later, a bang echoed from the sewers above. Their excitement faded when no one answered their calls for help.
    â€˜Give up, Squirt,’ she said, ‘or we’re going to freeze down here.’
    But Michael refused to walk away. He knew he was close. Like all riddles, the answer was simple. It was just a matter of deduction. Five orphans. Not foundin summer, winter, autumn or spring. Near the start of every morning. Near the end of every afternoon.
    What was missing from summer, winter, autumn or spring?
    What was near the start of morning?
    What was near the end of afternoon?
    Mo –
    Afterno –
    And then he saw them. The five orphans: a, e, i, o and u. Vowels. Of course! Quick, which one was missing from summer, winter, autumn and spring?
    â€˜Door, it’s the letter “o”!’ Michael jumped up and rejoiced as the whistles shrilled, more cogs rolled and the double door shuddered open. One last cuckoo bird printed a final message: See you on the other side.
    Just as he finished reading it, the metallic cuckoo bird launched into the air and flew out through the plaster crawlspace. They didn’t see it again.
    â€˜Other side of what?’ he whispered to himself.
    Luke stood next to him, staring silently at the now open door. Beyond it, and, unlike anything they’d ever seen, a long tunnel formed from spinning stormwater. ‘Wait!’ Samantha yelled as they walked inside.
    Michael combed his fingers along the spinning tunnel’s wall, letting its icy sharpness drag his arm upwards. He plunged his whole fist in but quickly withdrew it when he was almost pulled off his feet. Luke also touched it. He skidded his palm on its coarse wetness and sprayed the water everywhere. But rather than being hit in the face, the beads hovered andmerged into a giant glob. Finally, when it grew large enough, the wall slurped it back in, and the brothers glanced at each other. They kept to the middle of the tunnel, sensing something way too powerful to be built by human engineers.
    At the far end was a huge black sphere. It measured one hundred metres across and was engulfed within more churning stormwater, like a bubble. They didn’t need any more proof it wasn’t of this world. Bigger droplets suspended in midair formed an enormous star map of planets, suns, moons, asteroid belts and dust clouds, which drifted past their faces. They recognised Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the rest of the solar system. But as for the thousands of other worlds, everything was alien. Michael followed two comets spiralling around each other, while Luke watched a supernova. Wow! Were these actually real?
    Michael reached out to touch an ice planet when he lost balance and tumbled into the mini-universe. Rather than fall, he floated. He was flying! He was actually flying!
    â€˜No way!’ Luke shouted. He took a running start and launched into the star map, spraying planets and suns everywhere. The droplets returned to the walls, while new ones leaked from the roof and reformed into galaxies. ‘Incredible!’ he laughed as they swam through the air.
    â€˜Get back here now!’ Samantha ordered, standing on the lip of the tunnel. She was wobbly on her feet, frightened she’d be swallowed by the swirling stormwater.
    â€˜Make us!’
    She poked her foot into the bubble, only to grab hold of the edge in fright. However, there was nothing to cling to and she slipped, falling into the star map. ‘It’s not funny!’ she harrumphed, floating past them in zero gravity.
    â€˜Hey, what’s that?’ Michael asked, noticing an electronic red ring encircling a blue