TCI: Book 1 Part 1: (N. L .A.) The Fire Stone. Book 1 Part 2 Continuing

Part 2: Chapter 14: The Mapmaker

"He's a looney!" hissed Amy close to Chase's ear.  

"He talks faster than you do." muttered Chase back.  

The cloaked creature waved at them to follow. "Come into my chamber–"  

"–said the spider to the fly," cut in Amy, in Chase's ear again.  

"–there's something I'd like you to see!"  

"An axe?" she whispered. "He wants to chop us up for tea."  

"Ever the optimist," grunted Chase. "In that case, we'd better follow."  

The next chamber was in darkness except for tiny speckles of light that covered every wall. As Chase and Amy became accustomed to it they could see the tiny lights were in fact millions and millions of eyes!  

"This is very similar to The Great Eye in the Village–minus the furniture, the wall hangings and the carpets of course and about a million times smaller but I believe The Overseer has one in his private rooms similar to this one. No? Have you seen it yet, The Great Eye?"  

"No, not yet," said Chase, cagily. "We've seen an Orb but... no, we haven't seen it."  

"Strange, you should've done, it's big enough. It's right next to The Great Hall of Mirrors. A big pointy shinny reddish building."  

"We know where it is– we've seen it– just not bin in it."  

Chase felt uneasy as every eye in the chamber opened wide and were suddenly staring in his and Amy's direction. He stepped slightly in front of Amy to protect her, but then noticed there were more eyes behind them, at their side, on the ceiling, in the furniture and even in the patterns in the carpet at their feet!  

"Ah, never mind, never mind," continued The Cloak. "This one works very much the same way. And there is something I need you to see."  

Still carefully keeping covered, The Cloak beckoned the children closer but as Chase still hadn't seen what this creature was or what it looked like, declined, shaking his head.  

"Oh do come closer! Pick an eye," said The Cloak impatiently, gesturing to the wall.  

"What?" Chase was horrified. What did this creature want him to do?  

"Just pick an eye. It's not that difficult!" repeated The Cloak. Amy giggled, burying her face into Chase's back.  

"What's so funny?" Chase hissed, slightly turning his head towards her. There was his heart pounding and there was Amy, in the face of danger–giggling!  

"Pick an eye," she snorted out a laugh, "doesn't he mean, p-pick a nose!"  

"Oh do hurry up, come along! Tut tut tut!" called the cloaked figure irritably. "Pick an eye!"  

"I've got two of my own thanks!" said Chase, elbowing Amy to stop giggling.  

"No, no, just pick one!" Chase reluctantly pointed to an eye just above his head. "Press it! Press it!" insisted The Cloak. "Put your finger right in and push hard!"  

Amy turned away gripping her jaw with both hands in the vain attempt to stop herself from laughing out loud. Chase squinted and reluctantly did as he was told. There was an awful squelching noise and then suddenly one side of the chamber opened up like a huge cinema screen in the shape of a giant eye. It was too much. Amy burst into hysterical laughter! 

"Oh my goodness, I'm going to pee myself!" hissed Amy, trying so hard not to laugh.  

At first, as the eye opened, it showed nothing put space and stars and then a purple planet swirled into focus.