The Dark Corner by Christopher Pike Page A

shouted.
    â€œShut up!” the judge shouted back, leaning his bulk forward as if to hear better. “It’s too late for that. The defendant may speak.”
    That was the end of that. Watch was able to list not less than a dozen times he saved his friends: with the aliens; the Cold People; the witch; the Howling Ghost; in the Haunted Cave. The list went on and on. The Scalekeeper was forced to keep removing the gold coins, and no matter how quickly Bloodbutton tried to add a few more small misdeeds, the scale kept tilting in Watch’s favor. Soon he was sitting all the way down on his side and Bloodbutton had thrown up his arms in despair.
    â€œBring up the next defendant!” Bloodbutton said.
    The judge simmered, mainly in Foulstew’s direction. “You are free to go, Watch. But please remain in the court until your friends have been judged.”
    â€œThank you, Your Honor,” Watch said, climbing off the scale and flashing a rare smile.
    â€œAdam Freeman will now sit on the scale!” the judge shouted, pounding his table with his skull.
    Going through Adam’s life while he still lived inKansas City, Bloodbutton was able to make a significant case against Adam. Of course Adam had never saved anyone’s life in his old hometown because none of his friends had done things from which they needed to be saved. But once they got up to the time of Adam’s moving to Spooksville, Adam was able to name ten times that he had saved his pals from death. He got so much credit so fast the judge was forced to let him go. Smiling, Adam returned to his friends. He spoke to Sally.
    â€œJust mention all the times you rescued us,” Adam said. “We’ll be out of here in no time.”
    But Sally was nervous. “But I wasn’t the hero as many times as you were.”
    â€œNow she tells us,” Watch said.
    â€œSara Wilcox to the scale!” the judge ordered.
    Sally started out all right, better than the others in fact. It seemed as a small kid she had seldom misbehaved. But when they passed her tenth birthday, Sally began to lose points dramatically. It seemed that bad-mouthing another person counted for one gold coin each, and Sally had done little else for the last two years.
    â€œIsn’t it true you insulted Cindy the day you met her?” Bloodbutton demanded.
    Sally stood uneasily. “She deserved the insults.She was trying to hit on Adam and she had just met him.”
    â€œTwo gold tokens against the defendant!” Blood-button shouted to the judge. “She not only committed the crime, she has no remorse about it!”
    The judge pounded his skull. “Make it three tokens, Scalekeeper!”
    Naturally, Sally gained ground when her heroic deeds were listed. Saving Cindy in the Haunted Cave from a goblin spear counted for a lot because Sally had almost taken the spear in the side. Yet as the trial began to wind down, Sally was still five tokens down and bobbing up toward the ceiling. Bloodbutton spoke about the incident with the Howling Ghost.
    â€œSo you stayed down below while your friends Adam and Cindy went up to fight with the Howling Ghost?” Bloodbutton asked.
    â€œThat’s true,” Sally admitted. “But when Adam was thrown through the wall and over the railing of the lighthouse, I was there to save him. In fact, I risked my own life when I reached out to grab him. I could have been pulled over the edge and killed.”
    The judge nodded reluctantly to the Scalekeeper. “Remove ten tokens from the scale.”
    â€œJust a moment, Your Honor!” Bloodbuttoncried. “We are not through with the Howling Ghost incident. Isn’t it true, Sara Wilcox, that when everything was over that night and everybody was safe you took credit for ideas that Watch provided to help Adam and Cindy defeat the Howling Ghost?”
    â€œHow do you know that?” Sally asked.
    â€œIt doesn’t matter,” Bloodbutton