“What are you talking about? Hair?”
She told him a strange, disjointed story about drinking tea and watching sleight-of-hand tricks in Mrs. Needle’s room. “I can’t remember when it happened. But that’s like voodoo, isn’t it? They take your hair and make a doll or something? Oh, Tyler, I’m so sorry! She tricked me!”
For about half a moment he remembered that nasty, hissing, yellow-eyed creature chasing after him and was really angry with her. That was Lucinda’s big problem-she wanted to pretend like things were okay even when they weren’t. Oh, no, Mrs. Needle was a perfectly nice lady! Then Tyler looked at his sister again and really saw the misery on her face, her red, brimming eyes.
“It’s okay, Luce. She tricked you. It would have fooled me too. In fact, she probably gave you some kind of drugs or something.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes with an angry swipe of her hand. “I hate her! How could anyone be so mean?”
“Hey, she’s a witch.” He meant it as a joke, but saying it suddenly made it real to him again. Their enemies were not bullies from school or snoopy assistant principals making sure they didn’t talk too loud at the lunch tables. No, one of them was a real witch who could do magic. Another was a super-rich guy who wanted the farm and would send crooks and spies to get it for him, people who would probably bump off a couple of nosy kids if they got in the way. Tyler suddenly felt a bit weak in the knees. “Come on,” he told Lucinda. “Let’s go get the stuff and hide it.”
They had just picked up the diary and other papers when something banged against the curtained window and they both jumped. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s just Zaza.” He lifted the curtain, looking around for the squirrel, then opened the window and let the monkey in.
She hop-fluttered onto the bed, then up to Tyler’s shoulder, chattering softly. “I was wondering when you were going to drop by,” he said, digging for some pieces of dried apple he had in his pocket. Zaza patted Tyler’s hair in excitement, then grabbed for the apple. Tyler scratched her little round head. “I’m gonna miss you. I wish I could take you with me.” He laughed. “Man, everybody at school would go nuts!”
“I’d like to bring Alamu to school,” said Lucinda. “On a leash. Allison Keltner and those other snooty girls from the swimming club wouldn’t be going ‘I have one of those, but it’s bigger’ about him, would they?” She chortled. “Then I’d let him burn Allison’s hair off.”
“Whoa, sis. You’re getting pretty hardcore.” Talk about the dragons reminded him of something. “Hey, Zaza,” he said, scratching her chin, “do you know where that Continuascope thing is? Do you?” He gave her the last piece of apple. “If you know where it is, I’d sure like to know.”
Tiny pieces of chewed fruit fell from Zaza’s hands into the neck of Tyler’s T-shirt. “She doesn’t understand you,” said Lucinda indulgently.
“Oh no?” said Tyler. “Who’d have thought that the dragon could understand you? C’mon.” He started gathering up the papers. “Let’s finish hiding this. And I never told you my idea, Lucinda.”
“Oh yeah. What is it?”
“You know the ghost haunting the mirror in the library? I think it’s Grace.”
All through dinner Tyler watched the other residents of Ordinary Farm, wondering what they knew and what they might be hiding. Ragnar had told them the histories of most of the other farmhands. Haneb had come from the ancient Middle East. He had been a child when Gideon brought him back, along with the two dragons, who had also been babies. Lucinda had been very interested in Haneb’s background. Tyler figured she had a soft spot for the scarred man and was hoping there was some reason that he’d done what the dragon believed he’d done, other than to make a king-sized omelette.
The Three Amigos were Mongolian herdsmen, which was pretty much what they seemed like. The only surprise about them was that they had come from no farther back than the early part of the twentieth century-Tyler would have been equally willing to believe they had been born two thousand years or more in the past. Things hadn’t changed much in Mongolia during that time, apparently.
The only one that Ragnar had seemed reluctant to talk about was Caesar, and not because of the old man himself.
“Someone else came with him” was all Ragnar had said. “A very evil man named Kingaree. I have met many fearful men and beasts, but no other has put unease into me as he did. He is the only one of us who has left the farm, and if we never see him again that will go well with me.” If the six-and-a-half-foot Viking was afraid of someone, Tyler didn’t really want to meet the guy, either.
Sarah was from medieval Germany, Azinza some kind of disgraced princess from West Africa, Pema from ancient Tibet. Caesar and the mysterious Kingaree had both come from the American south before the Civil War. In fact, every one of the people of Ordinary Farm seemed to have some amazing story, and that was leaving out Mr. Walkwell, a creature as rare as the unicorns and dragons he took care of. It was so frustrating to find this out so soon before leaving.
And what if they weren’t invited back? Even if Gideon didn’t know all the trouble they’d been into, he didn’t exactly seem to be in love with having them. Tyler tried not to think about what Colin had said about Mrs. Needle fixing their memories.
He watched his great-uncle, who was making one of his infrequent appearances at the dinner table. The old man was talking animatedly with Mr. Walkwell but still managing to put away a fair quantity of macaroni casserole, which seemed to be a good sign. From overheard snatches, Tyler could tell that Mr. Walkwell was discussing the intruder he had caught; and Gideon, at least for today, was invigorated by it and seemed to have more purpose to him.
If I tell him I think I found Grace he’ll have to bring us back, won’t he? And if I tell him that I found my way back out of the Fault Line he’ll want me around to help.
Tyler almost opened his mouth to say something, but a chill ran over him and he turned to catch the barest moment of Mrs. Needle’s dark, cold eyes on him before she looked away.
Maybe for once he’d hold off for a little while, Tyler decided. Play it safe. Because he was beginning to understand that more was at stake here than just an old man collecting crazy animals out of a hole in time.
Tyler knew he really should get some sleep-even if tomorrow was their last day on the farm, they still had to get up at the same horribly early hour-but his mind would not rest. He sat in bed with the same questions going through his head over and over, like birds fluttering in a cage that was too small.
Was the spirit in the mirror really Grace, Gideon’s lost wife? How serious was the threat to Gideon and the farm from that Stillman guy that Ragnar had told them about? Could dragons really talk, and could his sister understand them? And, perhaps most puzzling of all, had he really fallen into a hole in time then found his own way out again? Could he do it again? Everyone said that only the Continuascope would allow someone to navigate the Fault Line. Was he, Tyler Jenkins, special or had he just been incredibly lucky?
Something flickered at the corner of his eye, drawing his attention. He looked up to see Zaza’s wide-eyed face at the window. Tyler got out of bed and threw open the window, but she only hopped around his window frame in agitation, then threw herself backward into the air before swooping up back up again to the window.
“What’s the matter, Zaza?” he asked quietly, in case the black squirrel had returned.
She climbed onto his shoulder and chattered at him, her tail lashing. The fur on it was all puffed out, like she was spooked or something. Tyler peered past her but saw only darkness. He was about to climb back into bed when something glinted below him. Tyler leaned forward and squinted into the night, but couldn’t see anything. Then a beam of light hit him in the eyes.
Zaza let out a chirp of fear and leaped off him and out the window. Tyler rubbed his eyes, dazzled. A trio of dark shapes stood on the ground below, swinging flashlights around. For a moment he thought they were Stillman’s spies and his heart raced. Then he realized that unless they had been recruited from Munchkinland, they were too small to be grown-ups. There were three of them, and he suddenly realized they seemed more than a bit familiar.