Slutter points. There, in the floor, near one of the walls, is a trap door.
'There's a cellar under this house,' he says, 'and that's where the booming and the screeching must be coming from. Do you think we should go down?'
Stobey thinks for a moment. 'Well,' she answers, 'it's the only way to find out who, or what, is making that noise. Also, what about the shadows that crossed the window, and what about that crazy smoke that went down and back up out of the chimney, and then twisted and curled and raced away? I'd like to find out what's going on.'
Slutter walks to the trap door and lifts it. A staircase stretches down into darkness. Stobey stands beside Slutter and looks; nothing but darkness.
'Let's go,' Stobey starts down the narrow stairway.
Slutter is close behind her, followed by Chug, Suzanne and Roger, and at the end Sir Lumpalot on Kick-Pow. Being a unicorn, Kick-Pow has no trouble at all going up and down stairways. He does have to be careful, though, so that his horn doesn't scrape the walls or bump into the overhead.
The stairway takes one turn and then another. The turns explain why Stobey and Slutter couldn't see much from the top. At the bottom is a small square space lighted by a tiny lamp. Leading off from the space is an opening to a narrow passageway.
Stobey doesn't wait. She enters the narrow passageway, followed by the others. They advance only a short distance and, again, the weird screech bursts out, this time from up ahead and much louder. A booming, rasping noise follows the screech. It sounds like heavy chains being dragged across rocks.
'Be careful,' Slutter warns from behind Stobey.
'Yes,' Chug says, 'let's all be careful.'