Tricky Traps & Naughty |work| -

“Gluten-free and laced with a mild hallucinogen. You’ll think the sofa is singing show tunes. It’s not. The sofa is mute. But you’ll flail, and the floor will tilt, and you’ll slide into the chimney, which is actually a chute to the holding cellar.”

Finn watched through a peephole in the wall. Leo spotted the whoopee cushion first. He snorted and stepped over it. He saw the bucket of glue and rolled his eyes. Then he heard the Macarena speaker—which Morgause had left running as a decoy—and actually laughed.

“And naughty adults, though they’re harder to catch. Too much cynicism.” She handed him a leather apron. “I’m Morgause. You’ll start in the Hall of Temptations.” tricky traps & naughty

Marbles cascaded from the shelf. He yelped, hopping backward to avoid them. His heel landed on the rug covering the pit. The rug slid. Leo dropped two feet into a hole lined with foam pillows.

The first customer came at 3 p.m. A boy named Leo, age ten, with a rap sheet of naughtiness that included hiding his teacher’s coffee mug, replacing the sugar with salt, and teaching the class hamster to flip its water bottle at substitute teachers. “Gluten-free and laced with a mild hallucinogen

“Who makes a pit there ?” he shouted.

“Naughty people are creative. We must be more so.” Morgause led him deeper into the manor. “Your first solo trap is in the Reading Nook.” The sofa is mute

Finn smiled. Rent was safe. And somewhere in the manor, a bell rang—someone else had tripped a trap.