Warehouse Rumble by Franklin W. Dixon Read Free Book Online

out!” someone yelled as a huge lighting tower toppled toward the pool.

6 Delayed and Dismayed
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    “Keep away from the water!” Joe called to the other contestants on the small platform in the middle of the pool.
    The lighting tower seemed to fall in slow motion; the cables connected to it held back its descent. One by one, the lines snapped. Each sent a spray of sparks into the air.
    “We’ll be electrocuted!” Lily screamed.
    “No,” Joe said, “the wood platform should protect us. Just stay in the middle.” He looked around, but saw no easy avenue of escape.
    Chaos reigned on the outside of the pool. Technicians ran toward the tower, trying to stop its falling. Todd stood by the base, looking surprised and dazed.
    “Someone kill the power!” Frank shouted. Hesprinted toward the stairs of a catwalk lined with auxiliary lights—it crossed twenty feet above the pool. As he ran up the stairs, Frank scanned the scaffold for anything that might help Joe and the others.
    Below, snapped wires whipped around, hissing like electrified snakes. None of the technicians could get close enough to stop the tower’s slow descent. The metal latticework of the tower groaned as it bent ever closer to the pool.
    Frank raced along the overhead catwalk. “Jackpot!” he whispered as his brown eyes lit on a collapsible chain ladder lying on the grillwork deck. It was like a rope ladder, but instead it was made out of steel links and aluminum rungs. Frank recognized it as something that technicians often used to work above stages.
    The elder Hardy snatched up the ladder and ran to the catwalk rail. “Grab this,” he called down to Joe. “It’s metal. Make sure it doesn’t hit the water or anything when I drop it down to you.”
    “Check!” Joe called back up.
    As quickly as he could, Frank fastened the chains to the catwalk rail and tossed the ladder to Joe.
    The younger Hardy grabbed the ladder before it could hit the platform. He held it steady while Lily scrambled up.
    The blazing electrical lights of the tower dangled only a few feet above the pool now; sparks still flew from the snapped cables. Somebody had pulled afire alarm, and fire bells echoed through the old warehouse. Worried shouts from the staff and contestants rose above the noise. Ward Willingham’s megaphone-amplified voice cut through the air. “What’s going on?” he bellowed.
    Frank didn’t have time to answer. He helped the contestant named Steve onto the platform and then started to haul up the ladder as Joe began to climb. The next moment the light tower crashed into the water tank.
    A huge bang shook the warehouse, and a shower of sparks, like a Fourth of July fireworks display, shot into the air. Joe lost his grip on the rickety chain ladder, but Frank grabbed him and pulled him to safety.
    The pool below sizzled loudly for an instant as electricity arced through the water, and then the lights went out.
    “I guess the circuit breakers blew,” Joe said as the emergency lights clicked on.
    “Not a moment too soon,” Frank added. It wasn’t quite dark yet, and dim illumination still filtered through the opaque windows near the top of the walls. The emergency lights, however, helped make the situation considerably less dangerous.
    The Hardys, Lily, and Steve made their way down the stairway to the main floor. Even though the power wasn’t on anymore, they were all careful to stay away from the wires that had snapped loose from the tower.
    As they reached ground level, Ward Willingham dashed onto the set, his megaphone still clutched tightly in his hand. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
    “The lighting tower collapsed,” a technician said. “That guy was leaning on it when it happened.” He pointed toward Todd, who was sitting across the room, holding his ankle.
    “It wasn’t my fault,” Todd said. “Somebody pushed me into the tower.”
    Willingham frowned. Todd’s sister looked upset too.
    “Honest!” Todd said.