But the pain of running full tilt into what felt like a giant mattress—but was probably a pile of old vellum manuscripts—helped clear his head a little. In that moment of brief respite, he clutched at the Key on his belt, and though he did not order it to do anything, as soon as his fingers closed on the cool ivory, he felt the fear dissipate. He could still hear the horrible shrieking but he wasn’t driven mad by a complete and unreasonable fear. “Hold on!” shouted Arthur. He was kicked and pushed by Suzy and Fred as they tried to get past him, still fleeing from the scream. “It’s some kind of sorcery. It’s just a noise!” His words had no effect. Suzy slid by and he felt the impact of Fred’s elbow as he barged past. Then he was alone in the dark and they were crashing and banging their way ahead of him. “Stop!” yelled Arthur, but he knew they wouldn’t unless he actually used the power of the Key on them.
