It's "Chance and the Magic Staircase"

Chapter One

“Good luck.” said Chance.

“Good luck.” said Phil.

They were both feeling very proud of themselves for being so brave. Phil picked up the porcupines,

which had been the start of this whole mess, and told Chance, “If we get out of this

in one piece, I’m never going to tell another lie as long as I live. I promise!!!”

Just then, the heavy wooden castle door started to slowly open.

Crrrreeeaak.

A huge rhinoceros wearing bright silver armor and standing on his hind legs stepped out

from behind the huge door. He stared at the two of them without saying a word for a long

time. It made both of them feel very uncomfortable.

Finally, Chance spoke up, “We’re… uh… here to see the king… if… uh… if he’s

available…”

The big rhinoceros stared coldly at Phil, then looked down at the porcupines.

“He’s been expecting you,” he said in a very uninviting voice, “You’re to follow

me.”

He turned, and marched back into the castle. Chance and Phil looked at each other. Phil

raised his eyebrows and tried to force a grin onto his face. It didn’t work very well.

“YOU’RE TO FOLLOW ME!!!” the rhino bellowed from inside the castle.

But maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Let me back up a little, to the beginning

of the story. But pay attention, you won’t want to miss a thing.

Anyway, it goes like this…

Chance awoke happily as the first streams of sunlight trickled through his bedroom window,

and once again brought his room back to life.

There was no holding back his sleepy smile when he remembered what day this was. The

endless weeks of waiting were finally over.

The happiest day of every child’s life had finally come. The first day of summer vacation

was actually here!

But if Chance had even dared to imagine how magical this summer was to be—how many wonderful

adventures were in store for him—he would have already been galloping down the stairs

as fast as his eight year old legs could carry him. But of course, you never really know

when an adventure is going to pop up.

So Chance simply rolled out of bed, and started this summer like he had started all the other

ones he could remember—which was four of them—by pulling on his clothes and heading

straight for the kitchen, where he could already smell his favorite breakfast being cooked,

like only his mom could do it.

After rinsing down his last bite of waffle with a gulp of cold milk, Chance started wondering

what he could do for the rest of the day.

Since his family had only moved from the city a little while ago, Chance hadn’t had much

opportunity to make new friends. And his one new friend, Billy Montgomery, was going on

a family trip for three whole weeks!

But after a few pretty boring suggestions, his mother came up with a great one; looking

around in the woods behind their house for a tree just perfect for a tree-house!

“That’s a great idea mom! I can build on it while Billy’s gone, and won’t he

be surprised!” Chance said with delight, “Then we can play on it the whole rest of

the summer!”

With this thought fresh in his mind, Chance headed straight through the door. As he hopped

over their wooden fence, he could hear his mom yelling from the back porch, “Make sure

you’re back before dinner, and be sure to remember where you found your tree!” Chance

really did love his mom.

After walking a short while, he grew tired of staying on the path that led from the back

of his house, and decided to himself, Any tree that’s worth finding has got to be

deeper back in the woods, where no one has seen it for years. That’s where I’ll find

my perfect tree!

So Chance headed off through the bushes and trees, up hills, over rocks and creeks, and

after traveling for some time, he noticed that the deeper he got into the woods, the

darker it became. Which, he had to admit, made him a little more nervous than usual.

Every tiny sound that he heard started to worry him more and more. And he was just about

to turn around and look for a tree a little closer to home when he spotted a raccoon scampering

underneath a long, ivy covered bush just up ahead of him. Chance decided to follow and

see if just maybe his special tree was behind that bush, but he couldn’t find an opening

to go through. The bush was far too tall to see over, and he grew more and more curious

the longer he walked along the edge of this overgrown bush, which seemed very out of place

here in the middle of the woods.

It wouldn’t be easy, but he decided that the only way to get through this to the other

side was to slide underneath on his stomach. As he squirmed through the first set of branches,

he tried looking through to the other side, but all he could see was more bush. Not a

hint of daylight from the other side. He started wondering if this was such a good idea after

all, but his curiosity got the best of him, and he kept pushing through.

“Finally!” he said after what seemed to Chance like forever, “Finally a few specks

of light!”

So pushing, tugging, crawling, he made it to the other side at last. And as he got back

up on his feet, he couldn’t believe his eyes!

There, towering over him was the biggest house he’d ever seen. The biggest, and the oldest,

it looked like no one had been there for a hundred years. The dying grass in the lawn

was nearly as tall as Chance, and the outside of the house was absolutely covered in ivy.

There were two huge trees in the front yard that seemed to cover the sky with their long,

wandering branches. There was a large white statue near the front steps, and an old rusty

car with no windows parked around the side of the house. He surely never expected to

find all this so far away from the rest of the houses. But maybe this sort of thing was

perfectly normal to find out in the country. After all, he had never really explored anywhere

but in the city where his family had moved from.

Maybe, Chance thought to himself, but it sure seems weird to me!

Then he noticed something very strange, the statue near the front door, that he was sure

was white only a few moments ago, was now a kind of see-through green. As he started

walking towards the front of the house, a flock of crows suddenly shot from the tall

grass! All squawking and flapping their wings so loudly that Chance nearly screamed, until

he realized what was really happening.

He was starting to wonder if he was doing the right thing, when he noticed that the

same statue was now a bright pink! Of course he had to find out what was going on now.

By the time he made his way through the tall grass up to the statue, it had changed into

the most beautiful clear blue he had ever seen. It was then that he noticed what this

was a statue of. It was like nothing he’d ever seen before. It was a big, fat, funny

looking bird, about as big as an elephant. When he reached out to touch it, he felt that

it was very warm. When he pulled his hand away, it left a white handprint which faded

back into the beautiful clear blue.

“Wow,” he whispered to himself, “I wonder what could be inside the old house.”

With this in mind, Chance started up the stairs that led to the front door.