Enter a Glossy Web
Page 24
“Right. And Yorick’s … unusual … talents have groomed him for the position of Recorder. Phinneus, you shall be our Engineer, and Cavendish our Guide!”
Mr. Neptune smiled tremulously and waved a hand in the air to speed things along, but Cavendish feigned surprise and stuttered over the honor of being part of something so important. “Me? Well … me? Who’d have thought?”
“Hurry, hurry,” George said, then jumped when Caleb grinned and nudged her and Mikal.
“Children, are you paying attention?” Constantine asked.
“Yes,” they said together.
“Very good,” Constantine said. “We can’t do this without witnesses. Boris, you will fill the position of the Unlikely, thereby adding an element of chance to help things flow smoothly.”
Mr. Night drew himself up and threw back his shoulders, but promptly ducked aside as a charred rock whizzed past.
“Stay in the circle, Boris!” Henrietta said.
“That’s it, isn’t it, Chicken?”
“Yes, I believe so. Let me see.” She counted on her fingers. “Yes! Now wait for it.…”
Constantine looked again at the clock, and everyone was silent as the meteors hissed and shrieked over their heads. He inhaled sharply, held up one hand, and then looked up.
The stars had ceased to fall.
“Eleven twelve PM. We made it,” Constantine said, his voice filled with reverence. “The Flyrrey is secure once more.”
George let out a long sigh. Caleb and Mikal high-fived each other. Mr. Neptune made a funny whimpering sound. Lucy and Mr. Night embraced. Yorick simply brushed some dust off his humerus bone.
“I always knew we would,” Henrietta said.
“Caleb, Mikal, would you help Boris and Phinneus move our guest into the dungeon?” Constantine asked, gesturing to Arlo, who had regained his senses and lay weeping quietly upon the floor. The only words that could be caught between his sobs were “All alone. He left me all alone.”
“Be kind to him,” Henrietta said with a pitying look on her face. “Nero wasn’t.”
“And be careful of Vo down there. Though I doubt he’ll give you any trouble after the tumble he took,” Constantine said.
“Will Caleb and Mikal be coming home with us?” George asked when the boys had headed downstairs.
“Of course they will,” Henrietta said. “Imagine, sending those dear boys back to that cemetery.”
“Do you think my parents will be back yet? If they found Daniel, I mean.”
“I don’t think they’ve had enough time, dear,” Henrietta said. “They’ve only been gone a week.”
George nodded her acceptance of this answer. “Uncle Constantine, you know how there are lots of different worlds for lots of different creatures and purposes?”
“Yes, George?”
“Could there maybe be a world for the past too?”
Constantine and Henrietta exchanged a startled glance and then appraised George silently. Constantine fidgeted with his watch for a long moment before he finally answered. “What you’re thinking of is the Archives, and those are forbidden. We don’t talk about them, George. Ever.”
“Oh. Sorry,” George said, her brow furrowing.
Henrietta stroked George’s hair. “You can’t be blamed. You didn’t know. But why did you ask, dear?”
“I was just curious.” She gave them each a quick hug and ran across the room to where Caleb and Mikal were following Mr. Night and Mr. Neptune out of the dungeon.
“Where’d you put Arlo?” George asked. “And what about Vo?”
“They’re sharing one of the Hag’s larger cages for the time being. Vo was remarkably cooperative. His fall was broken by one of the potion racks, and he got a thorough dose of one of Lucretia’s experimental elixirs. He currently believes himself to be an entire muster of peacocks. He refuses to stop warbling,” Mr. Night said.
Mikal reluctantly surrendered Cavendish to Mr. Neptune to be inspected for any damage other than the cracked casing.
When the children stood alone again, George lowered her voice to a whisper. “Aunt Henrietta said you’re both coming home to Snaffleharp Lane. I also asked them if there was a world for the past because I thought it might be a good place to start looking for where you came from, Caleb, and because it might help me find out where Daniel went. They got a little weird, though.”
“Weird how?” Caleb asked.
“They said the place was called the Archives and that it’s forbidden and we aren’t supposed to talk about it.”
“It seems like lots of things are forbidden,” Mikal said, squinting through his good eye at the adults.
George nodded. “Maybe it’s dangerous.…” She trailed off and chewed on her bottom lip.
“So?” Caleb asked. “We’ve done lots of dangerous stuff.”
“I know. But I was just thinking that you and Mikal have never really had a home before. Now you have Snaffleharp Lane, and before you even get there, I’m asking you to set off on another mission to help me find my brother. Suppose you could be happy staying put, Caleb, now that you have Aunt Henrietta to look after you? But I have to find Daniel, so maybe I should do this one on my own.”
Caleb and Mikal looked at each other. Then they turned back to her, and Caleb was wearing his lopsided grin. “Jeez, Georgina. Like I’ve said before, we’re not leaving you to do this alone. And not just because I want to find out where I came from.”
“Why, then? Because of the code?” George asked.
Mikal shook his head. “No. Because we’re the Snaffleharp Company.”
George’s face lit with happiness. “So it’s a plan, then. We’re going to find the Archives.”
“It’s a place to start,” Caleb said.
Then Henrietta had them all gather for a photograph of the new Council of Seven.
Constantine yawned hugely behind one hand after a dozen shots. “What do you say we all go home and have a nice nap? I’ll be back to take care of the situation in the basement, Lucy. Vo should recover from his delusions of feathered grandeur before too long. Then we must schedule the first meeting of the new Council of Seven to determine how we’re going to track Nero down, just in case he did escape. Caleb and I must have a serious discussion about where he may have sent him. He must still be brought to justice.”
“But I have no idea where I could have sent him,” Caleb said. “I don’t remember thinking of anywhere special.”
“We can think of that a bit later,” Henrietta said. “Come along, children. We’re going home. Oh, my ducks! Caleb and Mikal, you must meet my ducks.”
George leaned heavily against Henrietta and looked at Lucy and Mr. Night. “Will we see you again?”
“Of course, George. Although, next time I may be one of my sisters,” Lucy said with a smile.
“It was nice meeting you, Mr. Night,” George said.
“The pleasure was mine, George.”
The kids went to say good-bye to Mr. Neptune and were disappointed when he told them that Cavendish needed far too much work to go home with them right away.
“I don’t need that much work! I just got a little wet, is all. You can send me home with them!” Cavendish said.
“Um, that isn’t all that happened,” Caleb said.
“Yeah … there’s something we need to tell you,” George said.
“What is it?” Cavendish asked. “Did you drop me while I was turned off?”
“No.”
And over the next several minutes, they explained to Cavendish, with many apologies, what had happened in the tunnel with Nero.
“Well I NEVER,” Cavendish said when they had finished.
“We think that’s why he wasn’t working in Obsidia, Mr. Neptune,” Mikal said.
“Yeah, it certainly isn’t because I beat up a bad guy with him,” George said.
“You should be more careful with such advanced technology,” Mr. Neptune said. “But with a little troubleshooting I’ll be able to fi
x him. I’ll send him to you at Snaffleharp Lane as soon as I repair the water damage and the cracked casing.”
“But I like my cracks!” Cavendish said. “They’re my battle scars.”
Then George perked up and looked at Henrietta. “Aunt Henrietta, Mikal and I have to know what a Snaffleharp is!”
“Why, it’s a singing hen, dear,” Henrietta said, tucking a curl behind George’s ear.
George squinted thoughtfully as she tried to imagine a chicken singing opera. Then she smiled and shook it off.
“This is our stop,” Constantine said, though nobody had felt Chrone Cottage move. He lunged up the stairs on his long legs. When he reached the shed, there was a great clattering noise. “Confound all these shovels! I’m too tall for this nonsense!”
“Oh my. I’m coming, dear!” Henrietta said, going after him.
“Map, check the weather forecast. We need a mud puddle,” Mr. Neptune said.
“Map?” Cavendish said indignantly. “I’m a member of the Council, and you call me map? I’m the Guide. I have a name now. I have a name, and I am much too important to be—”
“All right. All right! You have a name!” Mr. Neptune said, then muttered under his breath, “Who would name a map anyhow?”
“The Snaffleharp Company named him, and his name is Cavendish,” George said, tossing the end of her scarf over one shoulder.
Mr. Neptune gave a long-suffering sigh and trudged up the steps, Cavendish keeping up a steady stream of chatter.
The children waved good-bye to Lucy and Mr. Night before following after. When they reached the shed, the others had gone on and it was empty.
They walked through the garden and out under the pomegranate arch. Before them was Snaffleharp Lane, and the boys ran eagerly ahead.
George paused next to the mailbox. It had been battered by meteors, and the metal door was caved in and hanging from its hinges. She tilted her head curiously and looked inside. There, in the shadowy recesses, was a tiny blackened orb surrounded by sparkling powder.
George retrieved the dark sphere and brushed the dust into a handkerchief for safekeeping. It would make a fine hikaru dorodango. Then she looked up at the fading Victorian cottage with its cobweb-covered windows. It was shining with so much light the gossamer nets seemed to glow like moonbeams.
She felt a familiar quiver of anxiety, but it wasn’t the same as the first time she had stood here. There was nervousness, yes. So much could still go disastrously wrong. But underneath that, bubbling up to the top and taking over, if only for the moment, was something warm and radiant. It was something she hadn’t felt since before that day in Istanbul. She had found people to belong to, and together they would get back what she had lost. She tucked the star into her pocket, and as she climbed the steps, she began to count.
“One for Snaffleharp Lane.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Amy, who was a bright spot in the monotony of revisions; Daniel, ever faithful sounding board; Happy, for reminding me that I really wanted this; Jacob, who told me I was a writer when I needed to hear it; Jamie, always vigorously supportive; Mrs. Bone, because I still remember her; and Kay and Samantha, the first people to read this book who didn’t have to.
Boundless appreciation to my copyeditor, Ana Deboo, who defended this manuscript against a multitude of silentlys; my editor, Christy Ottaviano, for asking the right questions in the right way; Jaime Zollars, whose illustrations provided me with the first physical glimpse of characters who have been living in my head for the past decade; Liz, for believing in Enter a Glossy Web; my agent, Robert Wilson, who knows what he’s talking about.
Finally, I am thankful for my niece, Junebug, who informed me that the chicken shed where I do my writing is a magic place.
COMING SOON!
ESCAPE THE SILKEN THREAD
BOOK 2
IN THE GOSSAMER TRILOGY
About the Author
McKenna Ruebush grew up in the backseat of a moving vehicle, inspired by rain forests and fields of sunflowers, remote village markets and northern lights. She has been held at gunpoint by revolutionaries in southern Mexico, paid an unsuccessful visit to the Loch Ness Monster, driven from Canada to Guatemala, and moved to Switzerland twice to work as an au pair. She currently lives in rural Idaho with her feline minions. Enter a Glossy Web marks her debut.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1. Relatives & Their Pets
Chapter 2. Falling Stars
Chapter 3. Skeleton in the Closet
Chapter 4. Strangers
Chapter 5. The Hag
Chapter 6. When Stories Come True
Chapter 7. Stepping Through the Puddle
Chapter 8. Mr. Phinneus Neptune, Mapmaker Extraordinaire
Chapter 9. A Most Unpleasant Gift
Chapter 10. The Taming of a Monster
Chapter 11. Escaping Nightmares
Chapter 12. In the Jaws of a Dragon
Chapter 13. The Tree Who Yawns Butterflies
Chapter 14. The Children’s Republic
Chapter 15. Youngest of the Els
Chapter 16. The Worst Possible Hands
Chapter 17. Obsidia
Chapter 18. Center of the Els
Chapter 19. Astria
Chapter 20. Reunion
Chapter 21. The Council of Seven
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2016 by McKenna Ruebush
Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Jaime Zollars
Henry Holt and Company
Publishers since 1866
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
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All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Ruebush, McKenna, author. | Zollars, Jaime, illustrator.
Title: Enter a glossy web / McKenna Ruebush; with illustrations by Jaime Zollars
Description: First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2016. | “Christy Ottaviano Books.” | Summary: “A fantasy adventure about a young girl on a magical quest to rescue The Timekeeper in order to protect the future”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015050733 (print) | LCCN 2016023316 (ebook) | ISBN 9781627793704 (hardback) | ISBN 9781627796576 (ebook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Fantasy. | Magic—Fiction. | Time—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.R84 En 2016 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.R84 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2015050733
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eISBN 9781627796576
First hardcover edition 2016
eBook edition September 2016
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