Chapter 37

Fearing that the dog would attack, Julie flicked her wand and said, “Greasel,” casting the slippery spell to make the ground greasy beneath the dog. They could see a slick film appear over the dirt like oil, and then the dog’s legs collapsed out from under it. The dog slid about 50 feet past them, whimpering as it went. It let out a cry as it bounced off the stone archway where the portal was that they came through.

Julie and Ryan were momentarily relieved, but then they heard loud barks coming from the direction that the first dog emerged from. There were still four other phantom dogs, and they heard the cries of the dog that Julie cast the spell on. The other dogs formed a pack and began to race in the kids’ direction. It was like a stampede of wild animals. The dogs seemed to gallop, their front legs sometimes reaching up as high as the height of a grown man, then crashing back down to the earth. When they got closer, Julie could hear the dogs h