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extraordinary talent and magical inspiration.”
    “Exactly,” Ratchet said.
    “Well, it’s settled then,” Professor Bumblebean declared cheerfully. “We’re all agreed to form a company to go out and find this Door to Unger!”
    “Er . . . Uncle Griffinskitch, there’s just one problem,” Kendra said, tugging her braids nervously. “If the curtain is sealed, how are going to actually leave Een?”
    “It’s a grave problem,” Uncle Griffinskitch admitted, leaning back in his chair and stroking his long whiskers. “But I am hoping that I can rupture the enchanted seal with my own magic.”
    “But if you’re caught, Burdock will imprison you,” Kendra warned.
    “It’s a chance I’ll have to take,” the old wizard said.
    “You know, there just might be another possibility,” Professor Bumblebean declared. “You all know, of course, of the statue called the Fallen Faun , which stands near the Een Library? Well, beneath the statue is an ancient crypt.”
    “What’s a crypt?” Ratchet asked.
    “An underground burial chamber,” Professor Bumblebean explained. “It’s here where Flavius Faun was laid to rest. Flavius, as you know, was the creature that Faun’s End was named for. I have given tours of this crypt. It’s very grand, and has many statues and artifacts—,”
    “To the point, professor,” Uncle Griffinskitch said.
    “Well,” the professor continued, as if he hadn’t even noticed the interruption, “legend has it that somewhere within the crypt is a secret tunnel that leads to the outside world.”
    “I’ve never heard of this legend,” Jinx said.
    “Humph . . . neither have I,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “But, as a friend recently pointed out to me, I don’t know everything. How do you know of this legend, professor?”
    “Why, I read about it of course,” Professor Bumblebean replied happily.
    “Do you think this tunnel really exists, professor?” Kendra asked eagerly.
    “Certainly,” Professor Bumblebean said. “We’ll have to make a thorough search of the crypt, of course. The story says that the door to this tunnel is well concealed.”
    “What does that mean?” Ratchet asked.
    “It means, dear friends,” said the professor, “that you just won’t find it sitting beneath your nose.”

     



THROUGHOUT HISTORY, there have been many explorers and famous adventurers who have searched for fabled treasures and secret vaults. Many of them have spent entire lifetimes in pursuit of such hidden mysteries. The problem for Kendra and her friends was that they didn’t have an entire lifetime to spend searching. Somehow they had to find the secret tunnel out of Een—and they had to do it quickly. Kendra knew that if they couldn’t discover a way to the outside world soon, they would never find the Door to Unger before the first summer’s moon. And that meant they might never find her family.
    So, while Uncle Griffinskitch attempted to crack through the curtain with his magic, Kendra and her friends spent each day searching the crypt that lay beneath the large stone statue, the Fallen Faun . The crypt was normally not open to the public without permission, but in this matter they were lucky, for Professor Bumblebean had his own key. He was, after all, the local expert on the history of Faun’s End, and he often led visitors on tours of the mysterious underground chamber.
    Kendra found the crypt itself to be a rather exciting place. There was a small door at the base of the statue, which, when opened, revealed a long staircase that was so dark and dank that it was impossible to descend without the aid of a torch. The chamber at the end of the stairs was even blacker. The floor was paved with square stones that were marked with strange symbols, and the walls were comprised of mostly rock and dirt, giving the whole place the same eerie feeling that a cave might have. As Professor Bumblebean had first described, it was cluttered with many statues and strange objects