My feet seemed to clunk heavily down upon the marble and echo loudly for all to hear, my breathing a deafening racket announcing my location to every inhabitant of the manor. Or so it seemed. Really, I took utmost care to tiptoe silently up the grand staircase so not to alert the others of my presence.
I didn’t see anyone as I padded along the second floor. The estate was massive and there were an awful lot of places to hide, most of the best ones outside or on the first floor, as many of the rooms on this floor were exclusive only to one gender.
To keep my nerves intact, I charged my overactive imagination to wonder about what sort of thing could possibly be hidden upstairs. It must be terribly important for it to take up the entire level and warrant such importance, but from what Beatrix told me it was also very dangerous. Perfect.
I took my time walking down the long corridor, past several brightly lit rooms to the darkened north wing. The candles grew steadily dimmer and spaced further apart as I approached the staircases, plunging me into near darkness though it was the middle of the day.
Seized by a sudden trepidation, I reached up to pluck one of the waxy sticks from its cove in the wallpaper for a source of light that I could take with me as I edged closer to my forbidden destination. The faintly dancing flame and its homely smell put me a little more at ease, though it only illuminated a mere few feet in front of me.
“Gosh…” A dazed whisper escaped my dry lips. Appearing abruptly in front of me was a tiny arched door perhaps four feet tall and crafted out of a thick, dark wood with black metal hinges. Do not open the upstairs door, under any circumstances…
I set the candle down by my feet with a shaking hand, fumbling in my pockets for the key. That was when I realized that the door had no lock on it. Swallowing the growing lump in my throat, I steadied my hand enough to take hold of the rusted iron handle (made of iron the same as the key) and pull. It was a little stiff and took quite an effort to loosen the hinges and pull it open, enough so that I stumbled backwards once it swung clear.
Tentatively, I bent over to peer into the darkness, holding my candle out in front of me. There was another staircase, as steep as the one leading down to Beatrix’s quarters yet as finely carved as the grand one in the foyer, with thick oaken banisters leading upwards to oblivion. I was instantly glad of my trusty candle, though, as there was no light whatsoever.
“You can do this, Penny,” I told myself sternly. “You have to do this.”
With one last longing look over my shoulder, one last fleeting thought of simply playing hide and seek, I plunged into the tunnel and began the ascent of the creaking, unused wooden steps towards an unknown destination. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I bordered on hyperventilation.
One step away from the top, a sudden draught extinguished my light. I cursed and debated turning back for a new one. The only issue with that was I wasn’t certain I would be able to gather the bravery to come all the way back up!
Blindly, attempting to force my eyes to adjust to the dark, I found myself wobbling on a small landing area facing a huge…wall?
I squinted to try to make some sense of the scene, but even as I started to make out faded shapes in the blackness, the simple papered object in front of me retained its shape as a perfectly ordinary wall. No door in sight, no other passageway. Just a wall.
Disconcerted and dizzy in the murky light, I threw my arms out in front of me so I didn’t hit anything as I approached the wall, then proceeded to run my hands over its smooth surface for any hints of extraordinariness. I hit the jackpot when I felt a cold brass plate under my palms, a plate with a peculiar hole in it that was roughly the same size as the teeth on my key.
I fumbled in my pocket for the key, nervousness making me lose hold fit. I struggled to put it into the keyhole.
It fitted.
I turned it.
I pushed open the artfully camouflaged door with my entire body and fell over a raised threshold into a huge room where out of the corner of my eye, something was glowing. For a moment, the light blinded me. Then my eyes adjusted and the iron key dropped out of my limp hands to clatter noisily on the floor.
I did not flinch. I was too busy trying to comprehend the fantastical thing standing in the large room opposite me.
It was made out of nothing I had ever seen, two gigantic silver rings interlaid with each other to form a sort of hollow sphere bathed in an ethereal glow. Each ring was at least two yards in diameter and yet only as thick as my forearm in its widest place (the thickness fluctuated around the circle), mounted firmly on something made with a million indescribable wires, all attached to an object that I could only say looked like an opaque window. Out from under the rings, there was a brass lever, which seemed much out of place amidst all the jumble of such incredible…things.
What on earth…?
I wandered over to the machine in a daze. I had that odd displaced feeling, when you feel as though you are in a dream and minutes away from waking up to the real world. Maybe I had fallen asleep in the armchair as I counted down from five minutes.
My hand hovered over the lever, eyes still turned to the strange window in overt confusion. Had I really crossed the length of the enormous room in a few blinks? I shook my head as if that would help me get a grip on reality.
The rings were emitting a strange buzzing that was extremely close to what a rip felt like, the static I had experienced during my dream and near the Boundary. They were all connected in some manner, they had to be!
My fist closed around the cold, cold handle of the lever.
Before I could pull it, a sudden bout of terror seized me and for a moment I couldn’t move, transfixed with an otherworldly panic which paralyzed my entire body. Without thinking, I wrenched my hand from the bizarre machine and sprinted away as fast as I could, grabbing the key and slamming the door. Tears coursed down my cheeks and great sobs wracked my body.
Whatever was in that room, whatever made me turn back, I didn’t know. As I cried with a passion in that dark wing, all the excitement of my discovery drained away and replaced by a consuming black hole of dread. Something was very, very wrong.
10
It took me a good ten minutes to control myself again. The feeling was similar to the effects of a punishment, but this time I was all alone and could tell nobody what was wrong, having forfeited all sympathy I might have been entitled to by lying.
I lay on the floor curled into a ball, tucked my chin into my chest, and wrapped my hands tightly around my head to try to calm my emotions. If I had felt overwhelmed when I had talked to Beatrix a few days ago, there were no words to describe what I was feeling now. Such a horrible, desolate emptiness…
With a choking gasp, I straightened out. I needed to pull myself together. Breaking down would accomplish nothing.
Slowly, I felt the distress drain away. The black hole, however, taking the form of a pit in my stomach stayed very much active.
I got up and dragged myself away from the area in such a fashion that an onlooker might have thought I weighed as much as the iron key.
As I put a good distance between the northern wing and myself, normalcy returned and my head cleared so I could properly mull over what I had experienced without distracting bouts of hysteria.
I would need to revisit the room again, that much was certain. The prospect terrified me, but I theorized that the terrible dread I had felt, that made me run from the room and collapse, could be emanating from the machine itself; what other explanation was there for how quickly it diminished. Perhaps the fear of the pulling the lever was something magical put there as a deterrent? The Master delighted in playing mind games with us, so it would make sense that whatever weapon was concealed upstairs should be protected with such a guard, designed to prevent intruders from staying long enough to cause damage.
However, I was tired from the little adventure and certainly not in the mood for a psychological battle.
“Here I come, ready or not!” I cal
led, cupping my hands around my mouth and speaking with gathered enthusiasm. My voice bounced across the walls, spreading through the manor in a taunting echo, which would surely reach everyone hiding inside.
I tucked the key in my pocket, hitched up my skirts, and ran as fast as my bodice would allow to the grand foyer.
True, I hated seeking, but it was an excellent way to avert my thoughts what had just happened and pour all my condensed emotions into an act of playfulness rather than ponder on such a serious matter.
“I’m going to find you all!” I screeched in an imitation of a scary voice. I did a quick search of all the obvious places such as behind the drapes, behind furniture the common room, and nooks to no avail, so I decided to try the breakfast room.
I bent down on my hands and knees to check under the table. No. It was funny, barely a week ago we had sat in this room and worried about Evelyn’s sickness and strange dreams minutes before I had learned the truth about – dare I think it? – Madon, Beatrix, and the machine locked away by a key.
No, I wouldn’t think about it now. I was going to have a perfectly normal day before attempting a revolution again, which meant focusing entirely on finding my elusive friends.
I tried not to think about the wires, rings, and strange windows in the attic. Not until I was prepared to try again.
I threw open the French doors leading to the balcony, welcoming the fresh midmorning air with loving arms. After a few deep inhalations, I stepped out onto the area embracing the turret and leaned against the twisted metal banister to get a good look at the lawns.
No one was amongst the rhododendron bushes at the foot of the manor, nor were they crouched in the untamed grasses between the woods and garden. As I leaned my body further over the railing to try to catch a glimpse of movement in the trees, I heard the tiniest of sneezes.
Like a dog trained to a scent, I whipped around and set immediately about tracing the source of the sniffle.
I rounded the turret and triumphantly found a crouching Lucas backed into a crevice between the stone exterior and railing.
He wiped his nose sheepishly and struggled to pull his gangly limbs free.
“Am I the first one?” Lucas asked with a wry grimace as he wormed his way out from between the tight space.
“You sure are.” I laughed. “Need a hand getting loose?”
“Please,” he grunted, accepting my hand and heaving himself up.
“Goodness! That took you long enough! I was crammed in there for ages! Did you forget you were seeking and hide somewhere, or are you really this slow?”
I scowled at this, not impressed. My pride was so wounded I actually considered blurting out the truth for the mere reason of saving face.
“Actually, genius, I, erm, was…” My sassy back-comment lingered lamely as I groped for a feasible excuse. “I had to do a quick bathroom stop, but Beatrix caught me and reminded me I need to have some measurements done for my new dresses. It took longer than I thought…I’m longer than she thought!”
Lucas rolled his eyes, and I laughed uneasily, unsure whether he believed me or not. For all his introverted mannerisms, he was very clever and I was half expecting him to come out with the real reason gauged just from my facial expressions. After all, it was a pretty pathetic excuse.
“You better hurry up and find everyone else before luncheon,” he said eventually, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. “I think Evelyn and Tressa headed towards the eastern woods, and Fred went down to the library. Avery could be anywhere so we better get cracking.”
“Definitely,” I agreed, praying that my face hadn’t betrayed me and gone its signature shade of guilty red. “I’ll nab Fred on the way out then go outside for the girls – and don’t worry, I wouldn’t dream of ratting out that you helped me!”
I had remembered that when in fear of displaying guilt, try to force the other into the same situation.
Lucas dipped his head, muttering, “I wasn’t thinking, I just—”
“Never mind. Come on, let’s go!”
I took his thin hand in mine and skipped in what I hoped was a merry way back into the breakfast room and down the remaining sector of the grand staircase to the library.
As I entered the dingy little room, a stale silence and thick dusty air greeted me in sly reminder of how it had all started right here. The empty bookcases seemed to obstruct everything else, and for a moment I just stood dumbly in the doorway letting the memories come rushing back to me.
“Whenever you’ve finished dramatically staring off into the middle distance, Penny.”
I jerked and shook my head.
“Fred! I hadn’t even found you yet!” I chuckled. “Sorry, my mind decided to go for a run.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he chortled in the same tone. “I was getting really quite bored sitting in this depressing space. If I were you, I’d check outside for Tressa and Evelyn.”
Obviously I had taken so long that everyone I met overrode the rules with no regrets at all just so we could finish the game.
Wincing at the dent in my self-esteem, I hastily left the library behind me and proceeded in my task to track down my remaining three friends.
Outside the air had risen to a noticeably warmer temperature, nearly humid but not quite. Though the ever-present mist still refused to relinquish its hold, the sun bravely shone through and the sparking dewdrops dusting the grass lit up like diamonds. It was beautiful, mystical, yet I could not feel any affection for my prison. Before Fred could tease me about zoning out again, I plunged into the dreamscape towards the woods at a steady gallop, with my frock still bunched in my fists for ease of movement. The boys easily kept pace with me, and I felt a familiar longing to be allowed to wear loose trousers and sensible shoes like them. I didn’t see why I couldn’t.
I slowed, puffing as I entered the outskirts of the woods. I dropped my skirts to the increasingly leaf covered ground and began to scan the area with critical precision for any signs of recent presence in the hardening mud. Then I remembered my cedar.
Only a few yards away, I exaggerated my footsteps in hopes of sparking a detectable movement. I highly doubted that Evelyn had climbed into the hollow herself; more likely she had led Tressa here and then hid somewhere nearby.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the swish of a burgundy dress disappearing behind the trunk of a nearby maple and the telltale black curls flitting in the warm breeze. Typical Evelyn.
“I found you!” I announced loudly.
“I wouldn’t sound so proud if I were you, it felt like an eternity that I was standing there! My legs are aching from it,” she complained, bending down to massage sore joints tenderly. “It wasn’t as if I could even sit down, since the ground is so dirty with the fallen leaves that it would soil my gown something awful! Really, if you are going to show me hiding places, please make sure they are more comfortable for longer periods of time, or do make more haste seeking.”
I patiently waited for Evelyn to finish ranting. When her downturned mouth ceased to speak, I calmly brushed past her to the foot of my cedar, taking hold of the big overhanging branch with practiced accuracy.
Not in the mood for hoisting myself around today, I just lifted my toes far enough off the ground to peak into the hollow, and sure enough my intuition proved correct; Tressa had flattened herself inside.
“I thought this would be the first place you would look!” she grumbled, pulling her numerous layers of garments free while getting as little debris on them as possible, quite the opposite of myself. “I wasn’t even going to hide here, but it turns out that reverse psychology really does work.”
I was starting to feel crushed about taking so long. It had ruined my reputation to perhaps an irreparable state. And for what, a sickening feeling and inexplicable…thing? I was going to have to have a big talk with Beatrix about her definition of useful.
“Luncheon!” Fred gasped, pointing at the overhead sun.
We all glanced up, shading
our eyes with our hands and realized that it was shining directly above us, illuminating the silver enforcements of window panes in the rooftop dormer windows as it only did at midday.
On cue, my stomach rumbled with the thoughts of cucumber sandwiches and perhaps a cream cake if we were lucky.
“I still have to find Avery,” I said reluctantly, twirling a stray auburn lock with a wistful expression. “Any idea where he is?”
“No.” They all shrugged in unison.
I let the strand go in irritation. He could have gone anywhere, and I honestly could not be bothered to skip luncheon in search of him. This was precisely why I despised seeking.
“Can’t we just leave him?” I begged. “Sooner or later he’ll turn up.”
“This is Avery, not a piece of jewelry,” Tressa reminded me. “But tell you what, since I’m starving too, why don’t we all head to luncheon and you can do another search of the manor for him. If you really can’t find him, then you can come to eat luncheon with us so we can continue with you afterwards.”
I gritted my teeth, promising to never ever volunteer for the position again.
“All right,” I conceded grudgingly. “Save me some food.”
“Will do.” Fred patted my back cheerily. “Good luck finding that rascal!”
I cursed inwardly as Tressa, Fred, Evelyn, and Lucas sauntered back inside the manor with linked arms whilst I pondered where my missing ‘friend’ could have possibly run off to.
I had searched nearly everywhere I could think off the top of my head, but there were literally millions of possible nooks scattered some distance apart in which Avery could have disappeared, and if he didn’t want to be found it could quite possibly take all day to track him down.
“Avery, you little…” I muttered scathingly as I made my way back into the house, glad Tressa was out of earshot.
I took one last precious breath of fresh air, and drank in some more of the autumnally colored trees as I hovered on the stone steps in front of the double doors. The splashes of bronze, russet, and gold, in contrast to the deep green leaves added a certain whimsical quality to the grounds, despite being duller than I remembered of previous seasons.
Boundary Page 7
