Map of the Passages: 3 (Enchanted Emporium)

by Pierdomenico Baccalario

  “Don’t go, Reverend!” I cried out, realizing that the men were leaving for Cumai’s burial at sea — and that Reverend Prospero would be taken hostage.

  “I’m sorry, where shouldn’t I go?” the Reverend asked me, surprised by my outburst.

  That’s a tricky question to answer, I realized.

  I figured I could explain to him that I knew where he was headed, and that when he reached the island, he’d be taken hostage. Either he wouldn’t believe me, or he’d continue on and do the same things. But if he believed me, everything would change. For both of us.

  The one real advantage I had reliving this night was that I already knew what others would do, including Askell. Therefore, it was absolutely essential that everyone did the same things that they’d done the first time around. The less influence I had on their actions, the closer they’d stick to their original choice, and the more I’d be able to take advantage of my second chance.

  I had to play a dangerous game without anyone becoming aware of my scheme. I’d have to challenge all of them: Askell, Aiby and Mr. Lily, Mr. Everett, and the Others on the island. Me against them all, Finley McPhee against the world. Did I even have a chance of succeeding?

  I looked at Patches, my brother, and Mr. Everett. I imagined them trapped inside Askell’s trunks again, and the answer came to me instantly: of course I could do it.

  I smiled at Reverend Prospero and said, “I was just saying, Reverend, that it’s a nice party and you should stay a little longer.”

  The Reverend frowned, grasped Seamus’s shoulder, and led him away. I sighed with relief and tried to remember what I had done done next the evening before.

  It was a strange sensation, being omniscient. I was watching people as if they weren’t real — even though, underneath it all, this time was much more real than the time before — because this was the only second chance in my lifetime. My last chance.

  So I concentrated. I knew, for example, that a few minutes later I’d had a conversation with Somerled McBlack via the sapling in her father’s van.

  I approached Mr. Everett, who I knew was looking for his jacket. I asked him point-blank, “Excuse me, Mr. Everett, may I ask you a question? Do you remember that apple tree at Cumai’s house?”

  He seemed rather surprised to see me. “Yes. Why?” Then he realized what he’d just admitted and tried to backpedal. “I meant to say, what apple tree? There’s no apple tree at Cumai’s house.”

  I stared him straight in the eye and realized he had seen it. So you’re a Borderpasser, too, I realized. And I’d bet you took us to Askell’s tent on purpose.

  I reminded myself to keep cool. I had to play things just like before. “Oh. I must be mistaken,” I said, and then I left.

  “Psst!” went the sapling in McBlack’s van.

  I didn’t hesitate for a moment. “I’m here, Somerled!” I replied.

  I was already planning my next moves at top speed. I figured Somerled would play a fundamental role in my second chance, especially because she was pretty much the only person who could understand my situation besides Aiby. I han’t intended to inform Aiby about my second chance, however.

  “How did you know it was me?” the sapling asked.

  “Somerled, I know that you’re four hundred years old and that you came to Applecross with McBlack in search of a Passage that would let you return home. I know you want to tell me all this at the Black Birch, as well as the fact that Semueld Askell murdered Cumai with a Sidhe Strike. I know you want to give me the wooden key to the old mill. I know these things because I’ve already lived through this day once and I don’t have time to explain why or how. So please listen to me carefully: unless I’m completely crazy, which is a definite possibility, I know which island the Passage to the Hollow World can be found on: Fladda-chùain. I saw it marked on a map called the Map of the Passages. I can take you there right now, this evening. I know your father will be gone the whole night to bury Cumai at sea, so there won’t be any danger. Go to the Black Birch right now and from there go down the cliff path. Do it in a way that prevents the Lilys from noticing you. I’ll be there waiting for you.”

  A gentle breeze blew through the sapling. “Okay,” Somerled replied.

  I had decided that I needed a helper in order to tackle the next part, and that helper would be Doug. While Somerled was the only person who could help me and understand what had happened in the course of delivering Cumai to the Others, Doug was the only one who could help me without necessarily understanding what was going on. Unfortunately for me, I knew that Doug’s assistance would come with a price.

  “Now listen up, Doug,” I said, leading my brother back into the pub.

  I spoke quickly but clearly, insisting that Doug convince my father and mother to go back home without us. I knew that Doug’s boat was docked on the shore since he was planning on using it to take Aiby on their picnic. I explained to him that the two of us absolutely had to use it to go out to sea that night, and it was essential that Doug drive the boat.

  “I know it seems crazy,” I concluded, “but if you agree to go out to sea with me tonight, I’ll give you this.” I showed him the key belonging to the Enchanted Emporium’s defender.

  Doug frowned. “What do I do with that?” he asked.

  “Pay close attention, Doug. Only the true owner of one of the four keys to the Enchanted Emporium can decide to give theirs to someone else. And I’ve decided to give mine to you. Do you accept it?”

  Doug took the scorpion key in his hand and glanced at it uncertainly. “That’s all good and well,” he said, “but the fact remains that I still don’t understand what I can do with it.”

  “Doug, don’t you get it?” I said. “You’ll have the key to the Enchanted Emporium. You’ll be its defender and . . . and you’ll be Aiby’s hero!”

  Doug’s eyes went wide. He looked at the key in an an entirely different way. “And Aiby told you to give the key to me?”

  “Just so,” I lied, pushing away the shame as best I could. “You can have it, but you have to swear to me that you won’t give it to anyone else — no matter what.”

  “Sure, sure,” said Doug.

  “Do you swear it?” I pushed.

  “What?” he asked me.

  “That you won’t give that key to anyone, no matter the reason.”

  “Sure,” Doug said again.

  “Okay, you swore it,” I said. “Now can we please go get the boat? Another one of my friends is waiting at the cliff.”

  I had the feeling that with this story of being Aiby’s hero and the friend who was waiting for me at the cliff, Doug would think of me entirely differently now.

  We reached Reginald Bay fifteen minutes later. The shadows were so dense that Doug didn’t notice that Somerled’s skin was a translucent olive color and her veins were golden brown.

  Somerled hesitated before climbing in the boat. I whispered in her ear a few of the things she would tell me many hours later, which convinced her to follow me.

  “Now let’s go to Fladda-chùain,” I said, revealing the second part of my plan. Doug protested, telling me that he didn’t know where it was. After I told him, he said that it was too far away. In response, I produced the pack of flowered tissues with the instructions in the Enchanted Language.

  “Just read this,” I said to my brother.

  Doug squinted. “Windy Hankies,” he read. “When waved by a sea voyager, they accelerate the owner’s vessel across the water at high speed.”

  He looked at me. “High speed?” he repeated. “How high?”

  I winked. “Let’s find out.”

  I untied the flowered Hankies and began waving one with my hand while muttering an amusing farewell under my breath. The nose of the boat tilted up as if pushed by a sudden, fierce wind. A second later, the boat was zooming across the waves as if the outboard motor w
as nuclear powered.

  Doug grinned and took a seat at the controls. “Keep waving, Viper!” he cried.

  After waving a few more hankies, it felt like our boat was speeding along without even touching the waves. Doug laughed like a madman while Somerled crouched low in the bow of the boat and patiently listened to my tale of the day I’d already experienced.

  An hour passed like this. Eventually, Somerled agreed to put on a performance that would match how she’d acted the previous day. It seemed she thought my plan was a good one.

  “We’re here,” I told Doug, putting the Hankies back in my pocket. The motor immediately slowed down.

  At a snail’s pace, we neared some vessels lit by torches. We came to a steop as the outline of a tiny, little island rose against the starry sky.

  We had finally arrived at the fabled Island of the Passages.

  A vessel drew up alongside ours without any of us noticing it. I turned and saw a man steering it with a long pole. The bottom of his boat was full of glass bottles that glittered beneath the stars.

  “Who are you? I don’t know you. You can’t be here,” the man said, drawing nearer until the sides of our two boats touched. Then he sniffed the air loudly and added, “I smell the rotten stench of Time on you. And I smell it very strongly.”

  He was a tall, imposing man. He had no hair and wasn’t wearing a shirt. His half-naked body was decorated with a dense network of tattoos: letters, words, and complete phrases interspersed with spirals and question marks.

  “My name is Finley McPhee — with an ‘F,’” I said. “I was a friend of Cumai.”

  “I am Somerled,” the green girl introduced herself. “And even though I am now called McBlack, I come from the Hollow World just like you and Cumai.”

  The man examined us morosely. His quiet boat bumped lightly into ours. “I heard your name, once,” he said. Then he sniffed the air again and turned toward Doug. “So it’s you who stinks so much of time. Do you have a coin to pay for your passage?”

  “Hey, pal,” Doug said through his teeth. “If there’s someone who stinks here, it’s —”

  I interrupted him with a kick and passed him the two-headed coin I’d found at the bottom of the boat. “Show him your coin, Doug,” I said.

  “If you have a coin, smelly boy,” the guardian with the pole continued, “now’s the time to give it to me.”

  Doug tossed him the coin with a grunt. The Other examined it, then raised the pole and pushed his boat away from ours. “In any case, I advise you not to get off the boat, because the Others will smell you from miles away. And they aren’t all nice and calm like me.”

  I nodded, unsure of what to say.

  “Enjoy the show,” the guardian said. With that, he disappeared into the darkness as silently as he’d arrived.

  “Who the heck was that?” Doug asked.

  “I think that was Wark,” I said. “Cumai’s brother.”

  “That was him, yes,” Somerled agreed.

  “That’s no normal family, eh?” Doug grumbled, moving to start up the motor again.

  “Wait,” I said quietly. In the silence of night, I thought I’d heard something like the sound of a bottle being thrown into the sea. Then came the muffled buzz of crackling torches.

  “Let’s continue on with just our oars, Doug,” I whispered. “I don’t want them to notice our presence. At least not yet.”

  On the island beach, a very unusual group of people had gathered. On one side were villagers from Applecross, standing next to Piper’s fishing boat. I recognized Mr. Everett, Reverend Prospero, Mr. McStay, and McBlack. In front of them was an alarming assembly of about twenty or so bizarre creatures. Several of them were carrying torches with dancing blue and orange flames. Several men were wearing long, colored overcoats and hats with antlers. I saw a few small and shimmering fairies. And there was one huge, furry being with big yellow eyes.

  I also saw a man wearing an enormous sombrero and a skull-like grin. There was a very tall woman who looked as transparent as a ghost, a giant with turquoise skin, and a person with the face of a cat peeking out from an ivory cape and cowl.

  I also saw an armored knight with a broken sword, an extremely wise-looking wolf, and a little girl dressed in red who kept dropping her ball in the water.

  And in the exact center of this amazing display was a woman with gray skin who looked like she’d been carved from a block of magnetite. She had a regal manner about her. Every time she spoke, the Others fell silent as if they were afraid of her every word. I imagined it had been her idea to take Reverend Prospero hostage.

  Between the two groups rested a coffin covered by a red shroud that was embroidered with gold. Cumai had to be underneath it.

  We waited.

  When the two groups finished speaking, the Applecross residents left the beach to get back into the fishing boat. Reverend Prospero remained on the shore with the Others.

  I gestured to Somerled. “The rest is up to us,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  I awoke at dawn, a mere three hours after my head had hit the pillow. I rearranged my room to hide the writing on the wall and prepared to leave before anyone else was up. Doug was shaken by the previous evening’s outing and was still asleep. I left him a note reminding him to stop by the Emporium to pick up Aiby for the picnic. I also stole back the defender’s key to the Enchanted Emporium that I’d officially surrendered to Doug a few hours earlier.

  I went down to the kitchen, slipped a chocolate bar into my pocket, and spent ten minutes making breakfast for everybody else.

  I left my Mom a little note telling her to have a nice day. Then I left.

  I went to Dad’s shop, swiped a lighter, and used it to melt several candles to create a soft block of wax. I rolled it between my fingers, very satisfied with my work. I wrapped it up in a damp cloth and shoved that into my backpack, silently marveling at how many things I could get done in a single day if I really knew what I wanted to do.

  I went back to the house, retrieved my bike with the invisible seat, and pedaled away with Patches yipping at my heels.

  I checked the time — 5:30 a.m. If Mr. Everett had been telling me the truth, at this moment Semueld Askell would be starting his morning run. With a little luck, I’d see him running along the shore in his ridiculous shorts and athletic shoes.

  But I wasn’t lucky. Semueld was nowhere to be seen. So I pedaled up to the campground, hid my bike near the entrance, and silently slipped into his tent.

  “Feel free to pee here, Patches,” I said. My dog tilted his head at me in confusion, but did as he was told.

  Now inside, I was terrified by the idea that I might fall into one of Askell’s traps or get devoured by a trunk. But everything went well. I didn’t touch a single magical object and restricted myself to putting the Heart-eating Box back in its place on the table — otherwise Askell wouldn’t be able to throw it at me when he met me later that afternoon.

  To avoid having it eventually eat me, I’d had to accept the idea of placing the four required ingredients inside it and suffering the consequences. It had been a painful decision, but I’d had to make it. There was no other choice.

  I had to do everything very swiftly to minimize the chances that Askell would catch me there. I found the four keys, opened the sarcophagi, lit the lighter under the block of wax to soften it, and pressed the keys into it to make molds of them. Then I ran out of the tent with Patches scurrying between my legs.

  Patches’s collar was missing. “Where did you lose your tags, boy?” I scolded him with a smirk. His collar had belonged to his father. Like all his forebears, he was also named Patches.

  “One thing left to do,” I said to myself.

  I walked over to the two cyclists’ tent and left a chocolate bar next to the zippered entrance. I attached a note to the bar that read:

  Be careful no
t to leave kids in bike carts tonight! — The Management.

  With that done, I left the campground, pedaling in the direction of the Enchanted Emporium. But after the second bend in the road, I realized I would be changing the course of events if I continued on to the Enchanted Emporium.

  Instead, I changed course and returned to the village to talk to Meb. I found her getting ready to leave her shop, and she spoke to me again about the Holiday Suitcase and the phobo-sensitive glasses. But this time around, I asked her a new question.

  “If someone stole one of the keys to the Emporium,” I said, “and used it to go inside the shop . . . what do you think would happen?”

  “They can’t be stolen, not permanently,” Meb said. “After a short time, the keys return on their own to their true owners.”

  “After how much time?” I asked.

  “A day, I think,” Meb said.

  “But can the thief use the key in the meantime to enter the shop?” I asked.

  Meb shrugged. “I vaguely recall Locan telling me about the Emporium’s defense system,” she said. “If I remember correctly, it will turn any intruder into a pillar of salt.”

  A huge smile stretched across my face. I hugged her. “Thanks, Meb!” I said. “That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear!”

  I slipped Patches into my backpack and made a mental note to remember not to enter Aiby’s house without the key for any reason whatsoever.

  The day continued exactly like the one I had lived through before. I interrupted Mr. Lily a few times during our conversation, just to be consistent. When Aiby informed me she’d lost the case for her Fludd Lenses, which had stayed in my backpack, I saw to it that she found it on the table outside. Aiby was somewhat surprised it was there, but she didn’t ask any questions about it.