moment. “And don’t look down.”
Tom stared at the macaw. “Can’t you be a little more specific?”
“Human lives,” Picchu said irritably, “aren’t much like the Dow-Jones index. No, I can’t.”
Tom sighed. “Sorry. Kids, if she says it, she has a reason for saying it—so remember.”
“Here you go,” Carl said. “Your piece of time is from 10:45 to 10:47 on this next Saturday morning. There aren’t any weekend openings after that until sometime in July.”
“We’ll take this one,” Kit said. “At least I can. Nita, will your folks let you go?”
She nodded. “I have some allowance saved up, and I’d been thinking about going into the city to get my dad a birthday present anyhow. I doubt there’ll be any trouble.”
Kit looked uncomfortable for a moment. “But there’s something I’m not sure about. My spell—our spell brought Fred here. How are we going to get him back where he belongs?”
Am I a problem? Fred said, sounding concerned.
“Oh, no, no—it’s just that, Fred, this isn’t your home, and it seemed as if sooner or later you might want to go back where you came from.”
“As far as that goes,” Tom said, “if it’s your spell that brought him here, you’ll be able to send him back. The instructions are in your book, same as the instructions for opening the Grand Central worldgate.”
“Stick to those instructions,” Carl said. “Don’t be tempted to improvise. That claudication is the oldest one in New York, and it’s the trickiest because of all the people using it all the time. One false syllable in a spell and you may wind up in Schenectady.”
Is that another world? Fred asked.
Carl laughed. “It might as well be. …Is there anything else we can do for you?”
Nita and Kit shook their heads and got up to leave, thanking Tom and Carl and Picchu. “Let us know how things turn out,” Tom said. “Not that we have any doubts—two wizards who can produce a white hole on the first try are obviously doing all right. But give us a call. We’re in the book.”
The two men saw Nita and Kit as far as the patio door, said their good-byes, and went back into the house. Nita started off across the lawn the way she had come, but Kit paused for a moment by the fishpond, staring down into it. He pulled a penny out of his pocket, dropped it in.
Nita saw the ripples spread—and then suddenly another set of ripples wavered away from the head of a very large goldfish, which spat the penny back at Kit and eyed him with distaste. “Do I throw money on your living-room floor?” it said, and then dived out of sight.
Kit picked up his penny and went after Nita and Fred as they pushed through the poplar hedge again. The blue Mercedes, which had been half in the street and half on the sidewalk, was now neatly parked by the curb. In front of it sat Annie, with her tongue hanging out and a satisfied look on her face. There were teeth marks deep in the car’s front fender. Annie grinned at them as Nita and Kit passed, and then trotted off down the street, probably to “find” something else.
“If my dog starts doing things like that,” Kit muttered, “I don’t know how I’m going to explain it to my mother.”
Nita looked down the street for signs of Joanne. “If we can just get home without being killed, I wouldn’t care what the dog found—” And then she broke off. “ Uh -oh…”
A good ways down the street, four or five girls were heading toward them, and Nita saw Joanne’s blond hair. “Kit, we’d better split up. No reason for them to come after you too.”
“Right. Give me a call tonight. I’m in the book…” He took off down a side street.
She looked around, considering the best direction to run in—and then thought of the book she was carrying. There wasn’t much time, though. She forced herself to calm down even while she knew they were coming for her and turned the manual’s pages to the place Kit had shown her that morning, the
Tom stared at the macaw. “Can’t you be a little more specific?”
“Human lives,” Picchu said irritably, “aren’t much like the Dow-Jones index. No, I can’t.”
Tom sighed. “Sorry. Kids, if she says it, she has a reason for saying it—so remember.”
“Here you go,” Carl said. “Your piece of time is from 10:45 to 10:47 on this next Saturday morning. There aren’t any weekend openings after that until sometime in July.”
“We’ll take this one,” Kit said. “At least I can. Nita, will your folks let you go?”
She nodded. “I have some allowance saved up, and I’d been thinking about going into the city to get my dad a birthday present anyhow. I doubt there’ll be any trouble.”
Kit looked uncomfortable for a moment. “But there’s something I’m not sure about. My spell—our spell brought Fred here. How are we going to get him back where he belongs?”
Am I a problem? Fred said, sounding concerned.
“Oh, no, no—it’s just that, Fred, this isn’t your home, and it seemed as if sooner or later you might want to go back where you came from.”
“As far as that goes,” Tom said, “if it’s your spell that brought him here, you’ll be able to send him back. The instructions are in your book, same as the instructions for opening the Grand Central worldgate.”
“Stick to those instructions,” Carl said. “Don’t be tempted to improvise. That claudication is the oldest one in New York, and it’s the trickiest because of all the people using it all the time. One false syllable in a spell and you may wind up in Schenectady.”
Is that another world? Fred asked.
Carl laughed. “It might as well be. …Is there anything else we can do for you?”
Nita and Kit shook their heads and got up to leave, thanking Tom and Carl and Picchu. “Let us know how things turn out,” Tom said. “Not that we have any doubts—two wizards who can produce a white hole on the first try are obviously doing all right. But give us a call. We’re in the book.”
The two men saw Nita and Kit as far as the patio door, said their good-byes, and went back into the house. Nita started off across the lawn the way she had come, but Kit paused for a moment by the fishpond, staring down into it. He pulled a penny out of his pocket, dropped it in.
Nita saw the ripples spread—and then suddenly another set of ripples wavered away from the head of a very large goldfish, which spat the penny back at Kit and eyed him with distaste. “Do I throw money on your living-room floor?” it said, and then dived out of sight.
Kit picked up his penny and went after Nita and Fred as they pushed through the poplar hedge again. The blue Mercedes, which had been half in the street and half on the sidewalk, was now neatly parked by the curb. In front of it sat Annie, with her tongue hanging out and a satisfied look on her face. There were teeth marks deep in the car’s front fender. Annie grinned at them as Nita and Kit passed, and then trotted off down the street, probably to “find” something else.
“If my dog starts doing things like that,” Kit muttered, “I don’t know how I’m going to explain it to my mother.”
Nita looked down the street for signs of Joanne. “If we can just get home without being killed, I wouldn’t care what the dog found—” And then she broke off. “ Uh -oh…”
A good ways down the street, four or five girls were heading toward them, and Nita saw Joanne’s blond hair. “Kit, we’d better split up. No reason for them to come after you too.”
“Right. Give me a call tonight. I’m in the book…” He took off down a side street.
She looked around, considering the best direction to run in—and then thought of the book she was carrying. There wasn’t much time, though. She forced herself to calm down even while she knew they were coming for her and turned the manual’s pages to the place Kit had shown her that morning, the
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