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  “My help? But what can I do?”

  “There is a talisman that is vital to the rebuilding of the Council of Seven. Nero, through his machinations and manipulations, caused that talisman to fracture into three pieces. When this happened, those pieces went to the place where all precious things go when lost, the world of Astria. You and your friends must fetch those three pieces. If you fail and they are not reclaimed and repaired, the Council is lost. The new Judge will not be eligible to take her position, and the old Judge cannot be reinstated.”

  “That seems like a pretty big job,” Caleb said.

  “Can’t the Timekeeper get the pieces?” Mikal asked.

  “It’s a bigger job than you know, for if you fail, the Council will not be rebuilt in time. The stars will crash down, and we and all the worlds will be crushed beneath their weight.”

  She leaned toward them now, her eyes bright and intense as she stared into their faces. “Constantine cannot do this, for he is occupied elsewhere. Three pieces have been lost, and three people are needed to get them back. You are those three people! You must retrieve the pieces and return them to Selyrdor, where it all began, or we are lost and will all fade into the gray.”

  “But what about Aunt Henrietta?” George asked. “How will we save her? We can’t just leave her to Nero.”

  “Nero knows the rules. He knows the Innocent must be in the Circle at eleven eleven at night, on the seventh night of the showers, or we all die. He knows that he must be there too if he is to be reinstated. He will be there, and he will bring her. You need not worry about Henrietta. If you return the pieces of the talisman to Selyrdor, you will be reunited.”

  “So the only way to save Aunt Henrietta is to collect the pieces and then take them to Uncle Constantine,” Caleb said. “How will we find him?”

  “Follow the path provided. It will lead you to him.”

  “But why should we believe you?” Mikal asked, still suspicious.

  “If I do not help you, I am stuck here, all alone, until I drown in a shower of stars, just like everyone else,” the Hag said in a harsh whisper.

  George wiped her sweaty palms on her dress. “We’re only kids. I mean, we’re just kids. Isn’t there anyone braver, older, bigger, out there?”

  “Oh, you stupid girl. It hardly matters that you’re just kids. There’s no one else. You’re all there is!”

  “That doesn’t sound very hopeful,” Mikal said.

  “Yeah, shouldn’t there be something here about it being our destiny and stuff like that?” Caleb asked.

  The Hag stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry, spattering the children with saliva. “Destiny? Hogwash. You are the children who are going to rescue the talisman, help rebuild the once mighty Council of Seven, and foil century-old plots. And why? Because of fate? No. Because there’s nobody but you to do it. Destiny has no part in this. All it takes is one person making the right decision to change the entire course of the future, and you are three people.”

  Caleb casually wiped the spittle off his face. “Will it be dangerous?”

  The Hag rolled her foggy eyes. “You’re a ninny. Of course it’s dangerous. If you fail, the worlds will be destroyed, and there are so very many ways for you to fail.”

  “But we can’t fail,” George said. “Because my aunt Henrietta needs us. And we can’t let the worlds be destroyed, because my parents are out there, and Daniel too. I don’t want them to die. And Uncle Constantine trusted me to help.”

  “Okay, so what do we do now?” Caleb asked.

  “You must go adventuring, of course! You must find the keys to Astria,” the Hag said. “Three have been left in hidden places. You must go to these places and collect the keys, for only with the keys can you access Astria, where you will find the lost pieces to repair the Council and save the worlds.”

  “That doesn’t sound so hard,” George said.

  “Child, you have no idea. These places are not ordinary places. It’s not like going to the market on a Sunday afternoon to get a fresh loaf of bread. No, these places are different,” the Hag said.

  “Different how?” Caleb asked.

  “Different realms, different worlds.”

  George took a deep breath. “And how exactly do we get to these different realms and worlds?”

  For the first time, the Hag smiled at George. “Mud puddles.”

  George said nothing.

  Caleb blinked.

  Mikal scratched behind one ear.

  They all looked at the Hag as if she had grown another head.

  “Can you please repeat that? This isn’t my mother tongue,” Mikal said.

  “Mud pud-dles,” the Hag said very slowly. “Puddles of water made from rain, child. You must travel through the mud puddles. Find a mud puddle and travel through it. Surely you’ve done this before?”

  George closed her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. “No, we haven’t done that before.”

  “How did you get here if not through a puddle?” the Hag asked, bewildered.

  “We walked … like all the other people who can’t drive yet,” Caleb said.

  The Hag wrung her hands anxiously. “I don’t know how to explain it to first-timers. You must simply find a mud puddle and step into it. All the Flyrrey is contained within mud puddles.”

  “You really are crazy, aren’t you?” Mikal asked, not sure whether to be frightened or impressed by the depth of her insanity.

  “It’s what the vial is for, you silly children! Not all worlds have rain. You will need it when you reach the world without rain. There are no proper mud puddles without rain!”

  “Okay, and then?” Caleb asked.

  “Follow the signs to the Mapmaker’s District. He will direct you from there.”

  “Direct us from there?” George asked.

  “Direct us to where?” Mikal asked at the same time.

  “He will tell you where to go next. I’m finished having company now. You may go.”

  She waved them away.

  “Wait,” George said. “You didn’t tell me how you got my uncle’s watch. Did he give it to you? Do you know him?”

  “Of course I know him. Everyone knows him, and yes, I got the watch from him. That’s enough questions. Let yourselves out. I have potions to brew and aging to do.”

  “Wait, wait. Just one more question,” Caleb said. “Are you absolutely sure you don’t have any more advice on this mud puddle travel?”

  The Hag was silent for a moment, deep in thought. “I know that two things are required for it to work. The first is that you have to actually intend for it to happen. Imagine what it would be like if children jumping in mud puddles after a good rain just fell through them! Whoosh! Gone!” She threw up her arms to illustrate her point, but she looked suspiciously pleased by the idea.

  “And the other thing?” George asked.

  “Hmm. I can’t remember what the other thing is right now. You shouldn’t have been late! I would have remembered if I had been younger when you got here. Now, shoo! Out!”

  George cleared her throat. “Right. Well, thank you.”

  They turned to go.

  “And one other little thing I forgot to mention,” the Hag said.

  The children groaned.

  The Hag frowned at them, her skin drooping a bit more than before. “Remember, if the Council isn’t re-formed by the seventh night of the showers, we are without hope.”

  “But tonight is the fifth night,” George said. “We only have two days!”

  “Yes, you can count, child. Don’t show off,” the Hag said.

  “Nothing like the threat of eternal nothingness to light a fire under a fellow,” Caleb said.

  “Thank you for your help…,” George began, but trailed off as the Hag’s eyes began to shrivel within their sockets.

  She shrunk away from them, pulling the afghan up over her face. “Get! Be gone! Away with you!”

  They stumbled toward the door, tripping over their own feet in
their haste.

  The Hag’s voice was dry and cracking as she called out, “When in doubt, always go left! Remember, Georgina. Left! NOW, GET OUT!”

  The children scurried out of the dungeon, darted through the library, dashed up to the garden shed. When they finally reached the dingy room, they stood bent over and panting for air.

  Caleb grinned widely and swiped the hair off his forehead. “Georgina, huh? That makes so much more sense than George.”

  “I don’t like that name,” George said, gasping for breath. “And I’d appreciate it if you never called me by it again.”

  “Good luck with that,” Mikal said.

  “If he knows what’s good for him…” George trailed off as she opened the door to exit the building.

  The garden was still there, but the forest had disappeared. They were in the middle of a windswept golden plain, and it was pouring down rain. The house had moved.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “If only this were the weirdest thing to happen today,” George said, ducking out of the rain and back into the Hag’s shed. She dropped to her knees and began digging through her backpack.

  “What are you doing?” Caleb asked. “Shouldn’t we get going?”

  “We need raincoats,” George said.

  “We don’t have any,” Mikal said.

  “My aunt packed extras. I don’t know why—she didn’t say—but I’m glad she did.” George stood up then and held out the three bright plastic raincoats.

  “I like blue,” Mikal said.

  “Dibs on orange,” Caleb said.

  Purple was left, and George was glad of it. Purple made her happy.

  When the children had shrugged the slickers on, Mikal examined his reflection in the cleanest metal shovel he could find. “I have never owned anything so nice. Blue’s a good color for me. It brings out my dashing looks.”

  “Yes, very dashing,” Caleb agreed, and then offered George the vial of pink vapor.

  “Right, our precious graveyard fog,” she said. She slipped it, along with the watch, into a spare plastic bag that she’d put twelve for Istanbul in that morning. “If we’re lucky, they’ll stay dry.”

  “Now what?” Caleb asked.

  “Now we put this all behind us and go home?” Mikal asked hopefully. “I think that lady was a little crazy, and I’ve never wanted to get back to digging graves so badly.”

  “She was a little crazy, I think,” George said. “But I don’t have a lot of options. Those men who took Aunt Henrietta were terrifying, and now that I know one of them might have been the Judge … I don’t care what the Hag says. I don’t trust him not to hurt her. He’s a murderer.”

  “And the Hag did have the watch,” Caleb said.

  George nodded. “And the stars do seem to be falling closer than they were. They look a lot bigger now. You saw them last night, that’s why you guys have been sleeping inside, because you were afraid of them. I think the story is true. Aunt Henrietta isn’t the only one in danger. I think we all are if we don’t do what the Hag said and find the lost pieces of the talisman.”

  Mikal looked utterly miserable as they gazed out over the flooded wheat fields.

  “I don’t think you guys are going to be able to go home,” George said. “I have no idea where we are. I understand if you want to try to find your way back, but I have to go on.”

  Mikal perked up and looked at Caleb.

  Caleb just rolled his eyes. “There’s no way we’re leaving you to do this on your own. Even if we could go home. Isn’t that right, Mikal?”

  Mikal made a mutinous face, but then his shoulders slumped and he hitched up his backpack. “It’s right. It’s against the code. We must do what we can, for those we can, when we can.” And then he muttered under his breath. “It’s a dumb code.”

  Caleb grinned. “It was your idea. Chivalry and honor and all that, remember?” Then he said to George, “Mikal’s dad used to tell the best stories about that kind of thing.”

  Mikal stared at the ground for a moment, but then his back straightened. “He did tell the best stories.” And he led the way out of the shack.

  George and Caleb splashed down the cobblestone walkway after him, clearing the honeysuckle vines and making it out of the gate just as the rain slowed to a drizzle.

  “So, Georgina. Left or right?” Caleb asked.

  George made a face at him. “We go left, and you agreed never to call me that.”

  “I didn’t agree to anything,” he said cheerfully, turning left and kicking at a rock on the muddy path. The rock landed in a puddle, and brown water splashed up at Mikal.

  Mikal gasped and sidestepped. “Watch it! I don’t want to get parasites.”

  “Don’t fress, Mikal. I don’t think you can catch parasites that easily,” George said.

  Mikal looked up sharply. “Fress? What’s that word? I haven’t heard it before.”

  “It’s just a word my uncle Constantine made up.”

  Mikal stopped in his tracks, causing the others to stop too and stare back at him.

  “What?” George asked.

  “You’re telling me you can just … make words up? Isn’t that against the rules?”

  George laughed, but quickly stopped when she realized that Mikal was dead serious.

  “Yes, you can just make up words sometimes. You can make up whole phrases. Not everyone will know what you’re talking about, but it isn’t against the rules.”

  Mikal looked thoughtful. “That’s wonderful. What does it mean? Don’t fress?”

  “Fress is just a combination of fuss and fret. It means not to worry.”

  “Ah, I see. Fressss,” Mikal said slowly, tasting the word on his tongue. He smiled dreamily and started walking again.

  Caleb grinned and shook his head. “Don’t worry about him; he just likes new words. He’s crazy smart. I think he speaks like six languages. They’re all Greek to me. Last night you said that your parents left you with your aunt and uncle so they could go look for your little brother, Daniel. Won’t they worry about you when they call to check in and you don’t answer? Do parents do that? Call to check in, I mean? I’ve never had parents to call and check in.…”

  “Yes, parents call to check in, but no, they won’t worry about me. I don’t think they’ll even know I’m gone. My aunt and uncle don’t have a phone, and my parents are on a completely different continent, so it isn’t like they’ll just stop by.”

  She was quiet for a minute but then said, “I was so mad at them when they wouldn’t let me stay to help look for Daniel. But then I let my aunt Henrietta get kidnapped right in front of me, so I guess I wouldn’t have been any use at all to my little brother. It was raining like this when he went missing, you know.” She looked at the sodden fields and gloomy skies and sighed deeply.

  “How did Daniel go missing?” Caleb asked. “I can’t imagine how terrible it would be if Mikal just disappeared. Not knowing where he went would kill me.”

  George focused intently on the path at her feet. “I don’t really like to talk about it. It makes my stomach ache.”

  Caleb skipped over a mud puddle. “Why? It isn’t like it was your fault any more than those two men taking your aunt was. What, did you take him out and lose him or something?”

  George stopped in her tracks, not even noticing that she was standing in the middle of a murky pool. Her face was stricken, her eyes wide with shock, and she opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again. She tucked her chin against her chest and walked rapidly away, leaving Caleb and Mikal standing in the road.

  “Why did you say that, Caleb?” Mikal asked. “You should be more careful. Losing people hurts.” He shook his head and hurried after George.

  “But I just meant…” Caleb sighed and ran after his friends. “Look, George. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I just meant it seems like you think everything is your fault, and it probably isn’t.”

  George pushed her hair back. “I forgive you. But I
don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  “Fair enough,” Caleb said. “I won’t bring it up again. Sooo … what’s it like staying with the Timekeeper? Are there like clocks, everywhere? It must be pretty sweet to have a fairy-tale character for an uncle.”

  George laughed softly. “I haven’t gotten used to that part yet, but I like staying with them. Aunt Henrietta’s really good at fixing stuff, but she’s an awful cook. She makes things like applesauce sandwiches and pickled eggs. But sometimes we have banana splits for dinner.”

  Mikal looked wistful. “She sounds very nice.”

  “Where did you live before you went to stay with them?” Caleb asked.

  “My parents are archaeologists,” George said. “We traveled a lot to different countries.”

  “What’s an archaeologist?” Caleb asked.

  “It’s someone who digs up historical artifacts for museums,” Mikal said.

  George looked at Mikal in surprise. “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “Told ya he was smart,” Caleb said with a smug grin.

  They walked on and soon came to a dip in the path where the rainwater had gathered, forming a miniature lake.

  George took a deep breath. “Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to see if the Hag really was just a crazy old lady. Who wants to be first?”

  Caleb smiled and shoved his hands into his back pockets. “It’s your mission, Georgina.”

  She rolled her eyes but stepped to the edge of the water, placing one foot gingerly into the puddle. She waited and nothing happened.

  “Maybe you’re supposed to have both feet in,” Caleb said.

  George eased in, trying to stay close to the edge.

  Mikal pointed to the middle of the muddy water. “Maybe you’re supposed to get all the way in there.”

  “And remember the Hag said you have to intend for it to work,” Caleb said.

  George put her hands on her hips. “Do you guys want to try? Because I’d be more than happy to let you get your ankles wet.”