Ollie, Brian, and Coco hurried to get their stuff.
They went back to the Egg that same day, leaving Hemlock Lodge without a backward glance as soon as they had dug out Susi
e and plow trucks had cleared the road. Neither Mr. Adler nor Coco’s mom objected at all to their leaving.
“I had the weirdest dreams,” said Mr. Adler to Ollie. “You were lost, and I couldn’t find you.” He shook his head. “It was terrible. Must have been the cold. Such a cold night last night, huh?”
“Yeah, it was,” said Ollie, shuddering. She got into the car and closed her eyes with relief. Coco and Brian were right behind her. As they peeled out of the lodge parking lot, Ollie asked, “Can we make waffles at home?”
“Definitely,” said her dad.
Ollie, Brian, and Coco all fell asleep in the car on the way back to the Egg. They barely woke up enough to shovel down waffles before they crawled onto beds and couches and went to sleep again.
“Poor kids,” Coco heard her mom say as she drifted off to sleep again. “That weird day in the lodge must really have stressed them out.”
You have no idea, Mom, Coco thought.
* * *
—
They finally woke up enough to eat dinner properly, and afterward they sat on beanbags on the floor of Ollie’s room, eating apple pie.
“But,” said Ollie a little plaintively, “I still don’t get it. The bones were . . .”
“Maybe not a lie, exactly,” said Coco. “But a distraction. A feint. Like in chess. It just—I felt like it kept being thrown in our faces. Dreams about Gretel’s bones, and Gabe telling us about Gretel’s bones. But Gabe was working for the smiling man. How trustworthy could he be? And then I thought about the world behind the mist. Remember? Seth used scarecrows, visible in both worlds, to hold the door open between them. But, Ollie, that time, you got us home because the book Small Spaces existed in both worlds. So I was like, well duh, more than one thing can open a door between worlds, or hold one open. Why did it have to be Gretel and her bones? Why couldn’t it be Ollie and her watch? I wasn’t sure about the fire, but I figured lighting the lamps couldn’t hurt since there was a fire in both sides of the mirror when you went through the first time, Ollie.”
“Wow,” said Brian. “BK, you were brilliant.”
“BK?” asked Coco.
“You’re the Black Knight,” said Brian solemnly, and Coco grinned.
“I guess I am,” she said.
“I hope they’re all okay now,” said Ollie, low-voiced. “Gabe and Gretel and the rest. I hope the fire set them free.”
“I think it did,” said Coco.
“That’s good, then,” said Ollie.
None of them said anything for a second. Then Brian asked, “You guys want to ski tomorrow? We could just go up to the Punch Bowl.”
The Punch Bowl was their local mountain. It was small and friendly.
“That sounds fun,” said Coco. After the night before, no ski mountain would ever scare her again. “Just don’t leave me behind.”
“You didn’t leave us behind,” said Ollie seriously. “Why would we ever do that to you?”
Brian nodded. Coco felt herself smiling.
But that night, just as they were falling asleep, Coco heard Ollie’s voice from the bed. Coco was on an air mattress next to her. “Hm?” she asked.
“I said,” Ollie repeated, “do you think he’s really coming back? The smiling man?”
“I don’t know,” said Coco. She had to be honest. “Maybe—probably. But next time we’ll be ready.”
“Yup,” said Ollie. “We’ll be ready.”