“Oh, years and years. It’s wonderful, actually. A very efficient fueling system.”
“But those poor children . . . cooped up here with you . . . You’ve stolen their lives!”
“Enough!” he spat, slamming his fist onto the table, rattling the dishes and candlesticks. “I didn’t tell you this story to elicit a lecture. I told you this story so that you would understand how it is that you can help me.”
“I’m sorry, I still don’t see . . .”
The Master banged his fist down on the table again, causing the dinner plates and glasses to shake. “Stop lying to me! Can’t you see? I need more! Two just isn’t enough. I can rule this pathetic little town with two, but that’s nothing! If I had an army of Brothers . . . now, that would be something. I would be unstoppable. I could rule the world!”
He walked toward her ominously. “But I have to know where to go, Josephine. I need to know where the entrance is to your world. And I’m afraid if you don’t tell me, I will have to get very unpleasant.” She thought of the Brothers, their beady yellow eyes and razor-sharp claws, and knew she didn’t want to learn what he meant by “unpleasant.”
“Even if I could explain how to travel from your world to mine, which I can’t, you wouldn’t find any Brothers there. I promise—I’ve never seen any.”
“Josephine, you are very adorable and very naive. I don’t need the location of your world, I need the location of the door. Once I have the door, I can go wherever I please, to any other world or time, and bring back whatever I need. Now, once more, how did you find the door? I want every detail.”
“I . . . uh . . . was in my shed, and I was looking for my shovel when I tripped over a spade, and when I woke up, I was here.” Josephine felt it was vital that she not mention Fargus. She didn’t want the Master knowing that Fargus had found the door too.
“You just tripped? That’s it? Well, how lucky you must be. Many men have wasted their whole lives looking for a way into other worlds, and yet you happened to fall into it. Somehow I find that hard to believe. I think I have something that might change your story.” He walked to the wall and pulled a cord. Mr. Seaworthy appeared.
“Bring him in.” Mr. Seaworthy left and returned with Fargus close behind.
“Fargus!” Josephine cried, before she had time to think. Fargus looked at her in surprise, and for a moment it seemed as though he might run toward her. But he restrained himself and walked toward the Master and bowed.
Josephine could see that Fargus’s left hand had been bandaged and he appeared to be in some pain.
The Master put his hand on Fargus’s shoulder and said gleefully, “Young Fargus here has decided to become my aide and confidant.”
Josephine was shocked. “You’re lying. He would never work for you.”
“Oh but he does. And together, you two are going to tell me the truth about the door.”
FORTY-TWO
Ned crept toward the moat. He had found what he considered to be the best chance of entering the manor: a small window on the first story. The exterior walls were made of a thick stone that would make for good footholds. He just needed to swim across the moat and begin climbing.
There was only one problem. The moat smelled terrible, like rotten eggs, and Ned had to wonder if maybe the Master used it for his sewage. And the water was inky black, concealing the depth of the moat and what creatures may lurk within. What if there were dangerous fish or poisonous snakes? After all, what good was a moat that was just water?
Finally, he realized he was wasting precious time and that he was being a big sally. He held his breath and dove in.
FORTY-THREE
Fargus had been completely aghast to see Josephine standing in the dining hall, and he could see that Josephine was appalled to see him bowing to the Master. She looked frightened but furious, like a wildcat with its hair on end. She spoke through clenched teeth. “I’m going to explain for the last time that I found the door by accident. If I knew how to find it and return home, believe me, I would have long ago. But Fargus doesn’t know anything. He can’t even speak.”
“Hello, Josephine,” Fargus said.
Josephine stared at him in shock. “Fargus? You can talk!”
“Yes, it’s amazing what the right guidance can do,” the Master snarled.
“The Master says that for every sentence I utter, he will spare Ida for another day.” He looked at the Master. “And that one just made it twenty-three days.”
“Ah, language and math in one lesson. Isn’t it genius?” asked the Master. Josephine was too shocked to respond. “Now, we have the lovely lady from ‘abroad’ and the once silent boy now full of jabber. I think we are quite ready to proceed with our conversation. And by the way, every time you lie to me or say you don’t know the answer to my questions, you take one day of life away from Ida.”
Josephine knew she had no choice but to tell the Master everything she knew.
“Leave Josephine alone, Master,” Fargus said. “She doesn’t know about the door. I found it.”
The Master smirked. “You’ve been holding out on me. Please continue.”
“I was in the Institute, playing hide-and-seek with Ida. I decided to hide in the cellar, behind the woodpile. I knew she would never look there because one time we found a spider there, and Ida hates spiders. This other time there was a spider in the wash basin and—”
“Don’t make me regret helping you speak. Please stay focused,” the Master growled.
“Sorry. Anyway, I was crouched inside like this.” Fargus demonstrated his hiding position. “And when I heard Ida coming, I tried to bury myself even more. That’s when the wall moved and I fell like this.” He then flayed his hands around as if he were falling from a great height. “Next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground. At first I thought I was still in the Institute, in a hidden room, maybe. There were all sorts of weird tools and things. And then a door opened, and I thought it was Ida so I was real quiet because I wanted to win the game. But it wasn’t Ida. It was a girl—I mean, it was her, Josephine. After she left, I waited and then followed her out of the shed because I wanted to see where I was. There was this big white house with lots of green trees, just like the kind I want to live in one day. I was so excited and I wanted to show Ida the house. So I went back into the shed and looked for the door back to the cellar. But there wasn’t a door, just a wall. And I got real scared because I thought I was lost, and I started to hit the wall and it moved, or I fell through it—I’m not sure which. And I fell back into the Institute.”
“Remarkable!” said the Master. “So you had no special amulet or instrument?”
“No.” Fargus thought for a moment. “But I did have some raisins in my pocket.”
The Master clapped his hands in glee. “Who knew it would be so simple? All these years I’ve been trying to discover some great mathematical formula, when all I needed to do was push on a wall! What do you think, Seaworthy?”
Mr. Seaworthy had propped himself against a leather chair. “Well done, sir. You are brilliant—as usual.”
The Master was giddy with excitement. “And that was the only time you went through the door?”
“No. I waited a few days to try again. Ida didn’t believe me the first time. So this time I had my suitcase so that I could bring something back from the house. And I went back to the cellar, got behind the woodpile, and curled into a tiny ball, but nothing happened. So I tried again the next day, and the day after that. Each time I tried a different spot behind the woodpile. Until finally, a light flashed and I fell again like this.” He once more began to demonstrate falling, but the Master put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Yes, we’ve been through that. Continue.”
