“What is it Eddy?” I could sense the wonder in his voice as Baco stood in front of

my box not five feet from me.

“I don’t really know what it is,” said Eddy. “It’s my brother’s.” He said it as if it would answer all Baco’s questions.

“I want it!” hissed Baco. “For my collection!”

“No,” whined Eddy, “I just wanted to show it to you, Tommy would kill me if I let you take it!”

Baco just laughed and I learned first hand why Eddy didn’t like the sound. It was sinister and mean and scary all at once. Then I heard the cape swirling around the sides of the box and I could no longer hear anything going on in the room. Some light coming in through the seams and slots had softened the darkness inside the box, but now, underneath the cloak, the blackness was complete. It got much colder too, and there was a musty smell, like old books that had gotten wet and dried several times.

Baco dropped the box none too gently in his hideaway, and I could immediately hear his fingers, like tree branches dragging on a sidewalk, inspecting it’s face. Just as the fingers were reaching the seam for the lid, I heard Little Eddy call out to Baco again, the way we had planned. Baco seemed irritated by the intrusion. He wanted to spend more time inspecting the newest addition to his collection, but finally, after Eddy had called out three times, he reluctantly left. I had to hope that Eddy had come up with a plan to sufficiently detain Baco. I slid back the latch bolt as quietly as I could and raised the lid very slowly.

The room in which I found myself was gigantic. Three of the walls I could not even see, and the ceiling seemed at least thirty feet high, and there were rows and rows of shelves from floor to ceiling stretching out as far as the dim light allowed me to see. The shelves were crammed full of stuff. Baco’s collection was as varied as it was large. There were toys, books, games, tools, and articles of clothing, pieces of unidentifiable machinery, plants, foods, road kill, and garbage. I would have liked to spend some time actually looking through it, but that was out of the question.

Thankfully, the most recently acquired articles in his collection were close at hand. Sitting amidst the pile of all the items that Baco had taken from our house was Elliot. He did not react at all to my presence, but at my careful urging was able to stand. In the one wall that I could see, way down low, there appeared to be an opening. It seemed to shine like a beacon in the night from the light in the room beyond. Framed by the opening I could see the edge and part of the back of the bookcase in Eddy’s room. Leading Elliot by the elbow I tried to make good our escape. The closer we moved toward the opening the more animated and alert Elliot seemed to become. Whispering, I urged him to remain as quiet as he could while picking up the pace until he was jogging, almost running alongside me. Periodically, I would peer back over my shoulder, concerned that Baco, interested in his new plaything, might materialize behind us. However, I was not looking back at the moment when Baco did just that and quickly realized what Eddy and I had done. His loud, angry shriek rang through the giant chamber.