When she saw what hovered above them, she cried out again and collapsed to the ground, pulling Lisa down with her. She rolled onto her back and stared at the thing that had come after them.
It was a creature with slanted, burning yellow eyes, its body made of what looked like ropes of gray smoke, coiled together to make a long body with arms and legs. It flew through the air, darting back and forth above them like a hawk examining its prey. Another smoky creature flew out of the forest to join its haunted companion. They circled, their yellow eyes leaving streaks of light in the air.
Lorena was frozen in place, squeezing her daughter’s hand and holding the Wand to her chest.
The two wispy creatures abruptly flew down to the ground and grabbed Lorena and Lisa by their arms. Gripping them strongly, they lifted them to their feet with a painful jerk. And then they started marching the two terrified ladies back toward the slope of the hill.
Back toward the castle.
Chapter 11
A Pond in the Snow
The stairs hadn’t broken when Paul walked up them, nor had the porch collapsed, potentially dropping them into a heap of spiders and snakes and rats. There’d been a lot of creaks and groans, but he and Sofia had made it to the front door and through it unscathed.
The inside of Gretel’s home looked nothing like the outside. As soon as Paul stepped through the door, he knew that the dilapidated exterior of the shack was a disguise, something to make thieves and thugs figure they might as well not bother. He and Sofia stood in a lushly carpeted living room with fancy furniture—all leather and frilly carved wood—and portraits of grim-looking people on the walls. A fire crackled in a brick fireplace, and the air smelled of cinnamon.
“Nice place you got here,” Paul said. “I’m glad you didn’t shoot us or stab us before we got a chance to check it out.”
Sofia elbowed Paul in the ribs. “Thank you for inviting us in. That’s what my rude friend meant to say.”
Gretel looked back and forth between her two visitors, her tongue cocked inside one of her cheeks as she examined them. “George and I’ve always had an arrangement. You kids understand? What I’m doing here is too important to let any jackawillie barge in here and mess with my stuff. He promised to never tell anyone that the password question was a test, and to never give it out unless it was serious business. Serious, serious business. I reckon we have things to talk about.”
Sofia nodded. “Yes, we do.”
“I don’t think we know what we’re supposed to talk about,” Paul said. “Could you help us out with that?”
The old lady grinned again, showing her gnarly teeth. “George wouldn’t have sent ya with that question unless it was something particular. The whole reason I’m here in the first place. And let me guess—you’re here because of the earthquake I had.”
“Yes!” Sofia answered.
Paul suspected that the lady didn’t know the extent of the damage to all the Realities yet; she obviously wasn’t communicating with anyone on a regular basis. “How bad was it?” he asked her.
“Shook me right out of my bed, I can tell you that. Ruined my dream about Clark Gable, too. I was half in a tizzy, grabbed my gun and shot a bullet straight through my roof. Thing still drips. Don’t listen to that nonsense about how duct tape can fix anything and everything.”
Paul was really starting to like this woman. “Who’s Clark Gable?”
“Never you mind. Now have a seat, enjoy the flames. I’ll be back with some warm milk and cookies.” She started walking toward the kitchen.
“You do know it’s really hot outside, right?” Paul asked as he and Sofia took a seat on a leather couch. They sank half a foot into the deep cushions.
Gretel turned to face them. “Yes, son. But I’m old, and old people get cold even if they’re in a desert. Plus, the things we’re going to talk about today are gonna chill us right to the bone. I think we both know that.”
She slipped into the kitchen before they could respond.
Tick was in a trance.
He felt like an oracle from ancient times, going through a ritual to call down the rain. He still held hands with Chu and Jane, but he was barely aware of it. Eyes squeezed shut, he saw only a dark swirl of orange and black in his vision, and the air hummed heavily with the power of Chi’karda. His skin prickled with chills and sweat at the same time.
He’d been at it for hours, poking the depths of Reality with his senses, looking for something to represent a way out of the Nonex. He felt like an astronaut in deep space, slinging himself from one galaxy to the next, sending out probes to see if he might capture the right data he needed. He’d been on the verge of giving up—his muscles aching, his mind exhausted—when he finally found what he’d been searching for.