Holiday in Castle Quarantine: Dinah-Mite, #1

By Uncle Mac

Dinah awakens in a strange castle with no memory of how she got there. All she knows is that she must find her father and escape before the castle's twisted inhabitants get her!

 

YOU control what Dinah does and where she goes. Does she fight the giant robot maid or try to befriend it? Should she enter the large, ominous door or continue down the creepy hallway? Make a wrong move and it could cost her the best ending...or lead her to a gruesome death!

 

With 25 endings, dozens of puzzles, an inventory of treasures and afflictions, and a nearly endless number of paths to choose, Dinah may find herself revisiting Castle Quarantine again and again...whether she wants to or not...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Uncle Mac
• Release date: Jun 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223745273

Book preview

Welcome, Friend!

You are about to guide me on an incredible adventure. My fate is quite literally in your hands: YOU will decide what I do, where I go, and whether I succeed or fail.

Now that I’ve said that out loud, this whole thing seems like a terrible idea…

This book is not read from front to back like other books. At the end of each chapter, you will be told to go to a certain spot, like this:

If Dinah takes the left door, CLICK HERE.

If she takes the door on the right, CLICK HERE.

Sometimes I’ll find a special treasure or catch an affliction of some kind. Please write down any items and afflictions I collect, in case they come into play later. For example:

~ Dinah is now Irritable ~

~ Dinah has taken the Cherry Bomb ~

Wish me luck! I think we’re both going to need it.

XOXOX,

Dinah

Dinah didn’t remember owning a robotic maid at any point in her twelve years of life.

And yet, as she laid on her back in wet grass under a starry sky, she found herself staring up into the glowing yellow eyes of a fifteen-foot-tall household golem prettier than the Queen of Prussia.

Goodness, but you do like to sleep in, Miss Dinah, the golem cooed in a familiar voice.

Dinah instantly leaped to her feet.

The golem was a sight to behold: cast in damascened bronze and animated by magic, wearing a pink flower crown in her hair not unlike Dinah’s own. Her lower half resembled a vacuum cleaner with four spherical wheels in place of feet. The creature must have cost a fortune to make. There were perhaps ten households in all of Fosna that employed automatons like this, and none of such astounding quality.

Dinah stood in a lovely garden plaza, lined with lush green trees cut in the shapes of hammerducks, angels, exalted ladies, and mythical heroes. It appeared to be the courtyard of the oppressive castle which surrounded her—a small castle, to be sure, not quite as big as that of Emperor Napoleon. To her left and right were large arches cut out of the hedges and adorned with flowers, each leading deeper into the garden. On the far end of the plaza from where she stood, a short double staircase led up to the doors of a palace fit for a king.

This was not her home. She recognized none of it.

Dinah’s head spun as she tried to place the name of the giant maid. Somehow she knew the face and voice. They reminded her of…

Mother…? she finally said.

The household golem laughed musically. No, Dear, I’m Handmother, custodian of Castle Quarantine. Your mother made me in her likeness when she created this place.

Dinah shook the grass from her skirt and straightened her flower crown. "And what is this place exactly?"

Castle Quarantine, said Handmother. Goodness, I hope you listen to your parents better than you do to me.

Handmother paused the conversation to trim a bush with a giant pair of shears that came out of her left arm, as if she were a talking Swiss army knife.

You look pale, Dear, said Handmother. Are you sick? You’d better not be out and about in a wet dress. Your mother is very susceptible to consumption, you know, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were, too. Goodness, if you ever got that sick, your father would surely recycle me!

"Where is Daddy? said Dinah. How did I get here?"

The household golem put one metallic hand to her chest. "You don’t remember? Oh, goodness me, you are ill. Run along to your quarters and I’ll fix you a bowl of hot soup. It is my duty to look after you while you are here, and I won’t have any sick little girls in my castle."

How did I get here? said Dinah, her patience sizzling like a fuse.

And try not to fluster the hammerducks, added Handmother. They’re infesting the garden again.

She nodded at a fat purple fowl napping under a tree, its beak long and blunt like a cricket bat.

Why are there hammerducks in the garden? said Dinah. How did Mother make this place? Why do I have a giant robot nanny that looks and sounds and nags like Mother? Where is Daddy? She stomped her foot. "How did I get here?"

Without another word, Handmother vanished in a white flash of light, humming an annoying tune to herself.

Dinah kicked a nest of scrambling garden beetles at the space the giant maid had occupied. She spent another two minutes shaking the beetles off her shoe in a panic.

She was alone in the garden now. The entrance to the palace did not look inviting. Its giant windows seemed to scowl down at her.

Several personal items were scattered around her in the grass. The most notable were an ornate golden key, and a cricket bat she instantly recognized as her own (the only thing in the entire garden she did recognize). With a sigh, Dinah grabbed the item that seemed most useful as she approached the great double doors of Castle Quarantine.

Mother and Father have some explaining to do, she muttered to no one.

~ Dinah may take the Cricket Bat OR the Key ~

CLICK HERE

Dinah already missed the warm, relaxing realm of the bath house.

The water that carried her through the grotto was cold, the air choking with the stench of mildew. The rock walls were bursting with sharp green and purple geodes; had the current been any rougher, she would have been instantly shredded to pieces against them. As it was, the water carried her steadily past them, past mushrooms that twitched and emitted a dull blue glow, past the odd tiny snake that caused her to scream in fright as it watched her drift by.

Dinah wondered where the current would take her. After so many twists and turns through the rocky tunnels, the grotto seemed endless. And as something slimy brushed her foot for the second time, she began to wonder if she were alone in those waters. Was it a silver barracuda, or a sea snake? Maybe an electric bellefish taste-testing her as a potential snack?

A new realization brought her overactive imagination to a halt, before it could run too wild with aquatic nightmares. The ceiling was getting lower. She could feel her crown of flowers scraping the rocks over her head.

As the tunnel narrowed, the grotto expanded into a cavernous maze draped in green algae. One of these paths had to lead back to the castle, but which one?

Dinah took a deep breath before the low ceiling finally forced her to submerge.

If Dinah has the Fish Hat, CLICK HERE.

Otherwise, continue on.

Consult the following grotto maze.

Dinah begins with 12 units of air. Each cave she swims through will cost units equal to the number on the cave. Each time she reaches an air well, she gains that many units. The best path will give Dinah the most air by the time she reaches the exit.

How much air does Dinah have left?

1 or less? CLICK HERE

2 to 4? CLICK HERE

5 or more? CLICK HERE

Dinah flailed her magic cricket bat in the air and pointed it at the centaurion.

A cricket ball appeared in her free hand in a puff of purple mist. Take another step and I’ll score a run with your head! she said.

The centaurion laughed and banged his sword and shield together again.

This time, when the sword hit the shield, its blade suddenly flashed with a blinding purple light that made Dinah’s vision swim. The courtyard and everything in it became a mash of colors and distorting shapes. The centaurion was reduced to an angry golden shape charging forward with a mighty bellow, likely in a macho warrior pose, shield front and center, sword held high for the killing blow.

I can stop him with a well-placed cricket ball to the eye, said Dinah to herself as her head began to spin. If he doesn’t block it with his shield! Which hand had the shield?!

Do YOU remember which hand held the centaurion’s shield? If you can’t, try to unscramble the following image of the centaurion.

Left hand? CLICK HERE

Right hand? CLICK HERE

When Dinah returned to the Grand Gallery, it was quiet as a tomb.

Dinah returned to the circle of empty alcoves where the portraits all belonged, and where stood the great locked door depicting Father leading a charge. One by one she replaced the portraits and prayed.

Dinah, run! cried Father from beyond the door.

I’m coming to save you, Daddy! Dinah hollered back as she hung the last of her portraits.

If Dinah has at least 4 Portraits, CLICK HERE

Otherwise, CLICK HERE

I’d better save this, said Dinah, thinking of her father as she put the cherry bomb back in her purse.

Before the lockdowns, Dinah had played cricket twice a week. If she could outrun a boy, she could outrun a metal spider.

Following is a map of the Grand Gallery. To ditch the incensed spider, run through every open door before dashing through the exit, opening as few closed doors as possible. Be sure to only pass through each door once!

How many closed doors did you have to open?

1 Door? CLICK HERE

2 or more? CLICK HERE

If you couldn’t reach the exit without passing through the same door twice, CLICK HERE.

A cacophony of excited voices echoed from the third parlor, so Dinah passed up the other deserted parlors to investigate.

In this parlor the floor was made of polished, patterned wood tiles, and a player piano cranked out a ragtime tune in the style of the Americas. The source of the ruckus was the table at the center of the room, around which a dozen monsters had gathered: centaurions in silk togas, winged galgoyles in revealing gowns, and other such monsters Dinah didn’t care to associate with, all of

Reviews for Holiday in Castle Quarantine

[Scrib Akhil · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

the only complaint was that the choice was too rigid