Ned looked at Morgan, and sure enough, he looked a bit green.
“You okay, Dad?”
“Am I okay? In one day my son has returned, my sister is back from the dead, and I got married. I’ve never been better in my life!”
Ned laughed and sat down, ready to tell his father, his aunt, and his new stepmother all about his adventure.
FIFTY-ONE
Back at the Institute, Kitchen Maggie and Stairway Ruth were just sitting down to dinner. They sat together at the far end of the long dining room table, staring at the empty chairs that used to teem with orphans. Ruth picked at her pigeon stew. It was the fifth time they had eaten stew this week, and her stomach churned at the idea of eating it yet again.
Maggie, on the other hand, happily slurped away, spraying broth and gristle all over her many chins. Ruth glared at her in disgust and hatred when suddenly the front door of the Institute came crashing open.
Maggie’s head shot up from her stew and she saw her worst nightmare come to life: One of the Brothers was entering the building!
She shrieked at the top of her lungs, while Ruth leaped from her seat and tried to hide under the table, hoping that the Brother might choose to make a meal out of Maggie first.
The mammoth creature lumbered into the dining room and its stench filled the air.
“Ruth! He’s finally done it! The Master has sent the Brothers to kill us!” Maggie screeched and ran into the kitchen.
From where Ruth trembled under the table, she could see that the situation had worsened: The second Brother had now entered the Institute. She felt faint. And then the strangest thing happened. She heard a girl’s voice. “Come out, Stairway Ruth. We can see you!”
Ruth, her pointy knees shaking, crawled out from under the table, and when she looked up, she saw Josephine sitting astride one of the Brothers.
“You!” Ruth cried.
“Yes, me,” Josephine said, triumphant. “I’m back!”
Ruth attempted a smile (something she had not done on purpose in at least fifty years). “I’m so relieved you are safe, child. We are happy to welcome you back to the Institute and we hope—”
Josephine waved her off with her hand. “Stop talking, please. That’s not why we’re here.”
“Oh? Why, then, are you here, sweet, sweet girl?” Ruth simpered. “Are you working for the Master now?”
Josephine was suddenly inspired. “Yes, that’s right! I’m working for the Master. And he has orders for you both!”
Ruth nodded. “Of course, anything. Anything!”
Josephine’s brain twirled with possibilities and she was positively giddy with power. “The Master has declared that you and Kitchen Maggie shall be the new town sweepers of Gulm, but you are not to tell anyone. It is to be a secret, forever!”
Ruth nodded. “Yes, a secret.”
“This is a special assignment and you must never speak of it.”
“Never,” Ruth repeated.
“The current sweepers, Morgan and his son, are never to lift a finger ever again. Before they arrive to work every day, you will have already swept and polished every cobblestone in Gulm. Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes, I understand, but why—?”
“Enough!” Josephine yelled. “Don’t test the Master’s patience!”
“No, never. Tell the Master he is very magnanimous indeed.”
“Now go!” Josephine pointed to the front door.
“But I n-need to—” Ruth stammered.
“NOW. Or suffer the consequences!” Josephine bellowed.
Ruth squeaked and ran out the front door as fast as her pigeon-filled body would take her.
Josephine giggled and steered the Brother, Blacky, toward the kitchen. He was so large that he crushed all the chairs in his path. Smoky joined them, crushing the table into tinder.
The door to the kitchen was small, so Blacky just knocked down the entire wall. When the dust settled, they could see Kitchen Maggie trying to climb into her pantry, which was only big enough to hold one of her beefy legs. As she saw the Brothers storm the kitchen, she screamed, “Get back! I’ve got a butcher knife, you brutes!”
“The Master has ordered you to Gulm,” Josephine told her matter-of-factly. “Stairway Ruth has your instructions. If you start running now, you just might catch her.”
Maggie looked at her, bug-eyed, not sure if she should trust the girl. But anything was better than facing the Brothers, so she squeezed her enormous frame past Blacky and Smoky and went shrieking out the front door after Stairway Ruth. “Wait for meeeee!”
“Well done, boys,” Josephine chuckled. “I can walk from here.” Blacky sat on the floor and Josephine slid down his back. It had been an easy ride, like riding Mabel, if a bit more smelly. “We have to go down there now.” She pointed to the cellar.
She opened the door. The cellar appeared to be exactly the same as it had been when she’d left. She couldn’t believe it. It felt so long ago that she had first arrived here. She felt like a completely different person from the girl who had hid behind the flour sacks from Ida.
She walked down the stairs, and when she looked back, she could see that the passageway was much too small for the Brothers, but they didn’t hesitate for a moment. They crashed through the wall and leaped onto the cellar floor. Josephine could see that they were as eager to get home as she was.
She walked to the center of the room and took the claganmeter out of her pocket. She unfolded it and held it out before her as she had seen Morgan do. She looked at both clocks. They were in perfect synchronicity. She slowly began walking around the room, keeping her eyes locked on the second hands of the two clocks. But she saw no change.
