Chapter Twenty-one – 'Shakespeare and galileo'
"Are we there yet? My legs are getting tired." Milhouse complained as he pushed the pedals repeatedly to keep his bike in motion.
"Really Milhouse?" Bart questioned. "We have gone four miles. How did you ever outrun the bullies on your bike?"
Milhouse slowed down as he thought of an answer. "Well... sometimes I did, and other times..."
"He was easily caught." Nelson said as he moved even with Milhouse. "Like this." Nelson reached over and grabbed the handlebars to Milhouse's bike. "I can pull him along if he quits pedaling..."
A metallic crash sounded as Nelson slammed his bike into Milhouse and both came to a stop. They were tangled for a second before Nelson pulled his bike away.
"Hey!" Milhouse yelled. "You didn't need to show them."
"Why not?" Nelson countered. "You looked like you were getting tired. I would have pulled you along."
High-pitched laughing could be heard as it passed Milhouse on both sides. "You really are the slow one. Even we passed you." Sherri taunted.
"Slow poke." Terri giggled from the other side. "You really are slow."
"I got tired. The tree house ladder wore me out. It was high and..." Milhouse defended.
"Just save it." Nelson interrupted. "This isn't the hard part yet. We still have the breaking and entering to do."
Bart circled back to see what was happening. "If you two are finished, let's keep going. Nelson's right. We have trespassing that needs done to help Lisa."
"And my Mom." Milhouse added.
"And Comic Book Guy." Nelson added too.
"What about the others?" Bart asked. "There are seven people. Who was the seventh?"
They all looked at each other. "I don't remember." Milhouse sadly said.
"Me either." Nelson admitted. "We should figure out who it is, and save them from old man Burns."
"Let's get going." Bart quickly said as he turned to continue toward Burns Manor. "You can do it Milhouse. Only a half mile to go."
Milhouse groaned as he started to pedal again directly behind Nelson. "Are we there yet?" He complained once more.
"Almost." Nelson yelled back. "We are entering Springfield Heights, so Burns Manor is just up the road."
Milhouse passed the welcome sign and continued pedaling. "Why couldn't we just ride with the adults." He said to himself as they approached the large iron gates of Burns Manor.
"We're here." Bart said as he jumped of his bike and pushed it behind the shrubs outside the gate.
"We would have been here sooner..." Sherri started.
"If Milhouse didn't slow us down." Terri finished.
Milhouse scowled as he caught his breath. "I have... short legs... and Nelson... stopped... my momentum..."
"Don't blame this on me. You need better endurance." Nelson commented as he looked around. "Time to break into the old man's house."
The kids pushed their bikes behind the shrubs and walked along the tall stone wall toward the west end of the manor.
"Are you sure no one will see us or find us?" Milhouse worried.
"No one will care." Bart said unexcited. "Everyone wants to know what is happening inside the game."
"Or everyone is worried what is happening inside the game." Milhouse said after Bart. "What if something bad happens to my Mom... or Lisa?"
"Yeah... or Lisa?" Nelson said just after Milhouse. The other kids stopped and looked at Nelson with confused looks. "Or anyone else except Burns, is what I meant."
Bart gathered their attention again and led them along the wall and around the corner toward their destination. "Need to look for a small hole in the bottom of the wall.
"This would be easier..." Sherri started.
"If it wasn't dark out here." Terri finished her sister's sentence.
"Big deal." Nelson said louder to be heard. "It's easier to break in here after dark, just like anywhere. No one will see us. The dogs, the security cameras, or the old man himself. No one."
Bart continued to lead as he agreed. "Nelson's right. Let's just follow him." Bart stopped as he approached a shrub that was smaller than the ones that surrounded it. "I think I found it." He squeezed in behind it and bent down and felt the wall. "Missing blocks. I found it."
"Lead on Bart. We are right behind you." Nelson said as he shoved Milhouse toward the hole. "Don't chicken out now."
"He looks like he is scared." Sherri taunted Milhouse.
"He looks like he is afraid." Terri also taunted Milhouse.
Bart made his way through the hole in the wall and poked his head back through and told them to follow. "Come on everyone. Let's get in this house."
Sherri and Terri made their way through and Milhouse started to follow. "I'm not sure about this..." Milhouse started before Nelson interrupted him with encouragement.
"Just remember who you are doing this for." Nelson encouraged. "Just remember it's for her."
"Right. I am doing this for her." Milhouse agreed.
Nelson squeezed through the hole followed by Milhouse. The kids all froze for a second at what they saw on the other side. A vast openness awaited them.
"I thought there was always more in here." Nelson said. "What is he guarding?"
"There isn't much here." Bart said as he pointed toward the front gate. "There is a security guard in there. He is usually sleeping." He turned toward the front entrance of the mansion. "The dogs live in that doghouse, but they are usually sleeping."
"This is easy. If the old man is sleeping or still in his bedroom, we can practically walk right in." Nelson suggested.
"This place looks so serene." Sherri noticed. "It just looks untouched."
"Like there should be a pond with flamingos." Terri added. "So much could be done with this."
"Can we just get to the house?" Bart impatiently suggested. "There is extra security that you can't see."
"Like what?" Milhouse started to get scared. "I'm just worried about the dogs."
"Big deal." Nelson repeated. "Once we get in the house, the worst thing we can run into is Burns."
"Let's just hurry." Bart said again.
They hurried across the emptiness of the lawn, pausing under a couple of trees to ensure there was no movement on the grounds, except for them. One lonely tree at a time they made their way across the grounds and ended up at the west end of the house. Bart surveyed each window trying to remember which one did not lock properly.
"I don't remember." He said dejected. "Maybe this one?" He tried to push in on the window and it didn't move. "I guess not."
"There are five windows left." Nelson counted. "Let's do this the easy way. Everyone just pick a window. One of them has to open."
They all picked a window and pushed. Milhouse was the lucky one. "Hey guys... mine opened." He hesitantly said. "I guess I'll go first."
"Go ahead." Nelson said as he walked toward the open window. "If you don't I'll push you in."
"I'm going. Just need to find something to..." Milhouse stopped as he hit the floor inside the mansion.
"Nelson!" Bart exclaimed.
"He needed a boost." Nelson defended as Bart shrugged his shoulders. "He is in the mansion. Do you girls need a boost?"
"Not like that." Sherri said as she climbed into the open window. "Now I can help Terri in."
"Yes. Sherri can help me in." Terri said as she was assisted into the mansion. They both glared at Milhouse because they thought the entry was easy compared to his head first dive through the window.
"After you Nelson." Bart gestured toward the window. "I can make it without a boost." He said with sarcasm. Nelson climbed in through the open window first and Bart followed.
"I've always dreamed of breaking into the old man's house. I never thought I would actually do it." Nelson said with pride.
Bart looked around at the others. "Who should lead? I think we had agreed that Nelson was going to lead."
Milhouse was still dazed after falling through the window. "We just need to get to the grand staircase. Which way is that?"
"If I lead, you all better keep up. I'm going this way." Nelson said as he started to walk away from the group towards an open door on his left.
"I'm following Nelson." Sherri said as she walked toward the open door too.
"Me too." Terri followed right behind Sherri.
"Do those two do anything apart?" Bart asked as Milhouse stood up. "They act like twins, but it's like talking to one person."
"I just avoid them." Milhouse complained. "They taunt me too much."
"Well, maybe if you didn't give them a reason or a chance." Bart instructed.
"You are probably right." Milhouse agreed as he and Bart walked toward the open door. They entered to see Nelson throwing something across the room. "What was that." Milhouse said with a slightly scared tone.
"Just keep calm and avoid the monkeys." Nelson informed them. "I threw a banana over in the corner so we can sneak over there to the door."
"Oh, I remember." Bart reminisced. "Burns figured if a thousand monkeys typed on a thousand typewriters, one day they could type out the entire play 'Hamlet'."
"Any luck so far?" Nelson asked as Milhouse approached the closest typewriter.
"I see some random letters, 'Who's there?', more random letters, 'Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself', random numbers, and 'Long live the king'. Milhouse read to the rest of the group. "Is any of that Hamlet?"
They all shrugged. "Maybe it is." Sherri said.
"Maybe it isn't." Terri countered.
"Are you all really talking about school right now. I think I heard a voice from the next room." Bart suggested.
"Voice?" Milhouse questioned. "Is someone else over there?"
Nelson shot Milhouse a mean glance and placed a finger in front of his lips. "I heard 'long live the king' from the next room just as you read it, and now I heard 'knight to queen bishop seven, checkmate'. What does..."
"The chess game." Bart calmly said as they all looked at him strangely. "Burns recruited people to participate in a human chess game. They just play game after game without stopping."
"How does that work?" Milhouse asked. "Wouldn't they need to take breaks?"
"They do. There is a new game every hour, and any time after a game is finished is a break time." Bart explained since he had monitored the games before. "If we hurry, there may be time to talk to the chess pieces to see if they know anything."
Nelson led the way into the next room where the floor was a black and white checker pattern. They proceeded across the floor until a man riding a horse stood in there way. "Halt!" He said to them. They stopped abruptly and looked up at the rider. "Who's there?"
"You make a bad guard between games." Nelson sarcastically said to the knight. "Let us through."
"You shall not pass!" He said in a louder voice as he slammed his pike into the floor. "You must move by making a legitimate chess move."
They all thought intensely before Milhouse stepped forward. "Queen to King eight."
"Of course, Milhouse would pick the queen." Sherri said as she looked over at Milhouse.
"He picked Queen because he will never be the King." Terri added to her sister's insult.
The knight moved out of their path as Milhouse walked straight forward and stopped next to the King. "What brings you here to our chess game?" The King asked Milhouse and the rest of the group.
"We are here to stop Burns." Bart started. "He is making people play one his games. A Monopoly game!"
Bart lost the interest of the King as he yelled across the room. "Time to start lining up. This is your five-minute warning." He finished as he shrugged. "As you can see we are also playing one of Burns' games. We were randomly selected many years ago for a chance to win something. He trapped us here. All we can do is play chess."
"Is that what will happen to his newest game?" Milhouse asked the King. "I need to save her."
"So, he made a Monopoly game now." The King thought. "How do you plan on stopping him?"
Nelson looked at the King. "We don't know." He admitted.
"The best advice I can give you is: You may need to enter his game and stop it from the inside." The King informed. "And to watch out for the bottomless pit in the next room."
"Is there anyway to free you from your game?" Bart asked the chess piece.
"Sadly no." The King said. "Just go save your own. Pawn to Queen's Rook five. Good luck." The King announced as his pawn moved and the kids continued their journey.
"We must succeed." Bart said as he opened the door to the next room.
They all entered and shut the door behind them. "Is it really bottomless?" Milhouse asked as he dropped a nearby rock into the pit.
"Do we really have time for this?" Nelson stressed to the group. "Let's go."
"If gravity is thirty-two feet per second squared. It's been ten seconds..." Milhouse thought out loud before Nelson elbowed him in the stomach.
"Come on math genius. Figure it out later." Nelson said as he led the way out of the room.
"Math nerd." Sherri giggled.
"Math geek." Terri giggled.
Bart helped Milhouse back to his feet and they all left the room of the bottomless pit and entered a long hallway.
"This hallway has to lead somewhere." Nelson got excited as it seemed they were getting somewhere now. "Follow me." He started to walk faster and started to run after a few steps.
"You keep saying you are going to rescue her. Who are you referring to?" Bart asked Milhouse.
"The 'her' is..." Milhouse started before having his voice drowned out.
"Come on, Nelson found the grand staircase." Sherri shrieked with excitement.
"It is grand, like a fairy tale." Terri squealed with excitement.
Bart looked back at Milhouse. "Who?" He asked again.
"I'll tell you later." Milhouse said defeated.
Bart and Milhouse made their way down the hallway and joined Nelson, Sherri, and Terri at the base of the grand staircase.
"This is the center of the house. I remember this." Bart reminded everyone. "Up these stairs is the master bedroom."
"Almost there." Nelson said with a gleam in his eye. "Maybe we should wait for the adults."
"We probably should." Milhouse added.
"Good idea Nelson." Sherri agreed.
"We should wait." Terri further agreed.
Bart looked down the opposing hallway but saw no movement. "I guess we will wait right here. I wonder where Homer and his group are."
