The Door in the Alley

by Adrienne Kress

  Sebastian watched her struggle to hold herself together and felt really bad for her. He also felt really uncomfortable. He had asked her to tell him all this, yes, but he hadn’t quite expected a story so harrowing.

  “Yes?” he urged softly.

  She looked down again, and soft waves of hair fell in front of her face, obscuring it. “Who loves me,” she finished.

  Well, Sebastian certainly did not know what to say to that.

  Evie sniffed and then raised her head in a defiant kind of way. She quickly wiped her face with her hands and said simply, “And that’s why I have to stay here until I know how to find the key in the letter, and how to find a way to help my grandfather. And that’s why I lied to your parents. I’m sorry.”

  Sebastian nodded solemnly. “Well,” he said slowly, still trying to wrap his head around everything he’d just heard, “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.” He approached her carefully and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Of course you can stay here until we find out where the key is.”

  “And my grandfather.”

  Sebastian wasn’t sure about that. Finding a key was one thing; finding someone in a dangerous situation was quite another. He didn’t know if they could actually do that.

  “Yes,” said Sebastian, astonished that he would say something so certain when he felt anything but. “Step one, find the key. Step two, find a way to help your grandfather.”

  Evie looked at him with one of her totally unreadable expressions. And then suddenly she smiled, and it felt like the sun breaking through dark storm clouds, and Sebastian felt a wave of relief wash over him.

  “Just, I mean, let me in on the lie next time, okay?” he asked, flashing her his own smile.

  Evie laughed. “Deal.” She stuck out her hand and Sebastian took it. They shook. “Okay, so where do we start, do you think?”

  “Well, the only one whose possible whereabouts I know of is the Kid. There was an article about how he wanted to work in Hollywood when he was done with all the exploring. I mean, whether or not he followed through…” He sank back down and dug through the papers.

  “Hollywood is pretty far away,” said Evie, sounding a little disappointed.

  “Yeah, maybe as a last resort…” Sebastian didn’t really want to think about how they would handle traveling that far. “I think…” He sat up and stared at the papers in front of him. “Can you pass me your grandfather’s letter?” Evie nodded and did so.

  Sebastian stared at it hard. It felt wrong that the letter would have so little information in it when it was asking so much of them. He read it over again. And another time. And a third time.

  “What’s this business about the different directions pointing to home? How can different directions do that? They each lead somewhere else,” he said.

  Evie furrowed her brow at him, so Sebastian leaned forward, showing her the spot, and she read the line. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that bit.” She took the letter from his hand, rereading that line. She looked up and seemed to be thinking hard, gazing off somewhere beyond his right shoulder. Sebastian watched her, fascinated by her intensity yet again. And then her eyes seemed to focus. She was no longer gazing off; she was staring at something. Sebastian turned and looked. All he could see was his wall.

  Evie stood up and crossed the room. She placed her finger on the wall, and under her finger there happened to be a map.

  “New Zealand?”

  “Sebastian!” Evie said in frustration.

  “What? That’s a map of New…” He stopped and looked closer. Her finger was on a small N in the bottom corner. Suddenly he understood. “ ‘Four directions all point home.’ North, south, east, west. Of course! Like directions on a map! What do you think it means? Do we have to find a map as well now?”

  Evie darted back across the room and sat on the floor. Sebastian joined her and they went back through the papers. He wasn’t sure how the idea of a map would make finding a key any easier, but it was something more than they’d had a minute ago. After a few more minutes of riffling through the papers, however, their enthusiasm for maps had waned. The new piece of information didn’t seem to make their task any easier. So many photographs of so many interesting people and places and yet not one clue…“So many photographs,” Sebastian said slowly.

  “Yes?” asked Evie, looking up.

  “Benedict Barnes.”

  “What about him?”

  “He was their photographer and kept a journal.”

  “Okay…”

  “But he was also the cartographer.” He looked up at Evie, who was staring back at him wide-eyed.

  “Maybe…maybe he’s the one who has the key…,” said Evie, slowly smiling.

  “Exactly. Maybe that part of the letter is a clue directing us to find him!” said Sebastian, smiling too. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

  “But how do we do that?”

  “Well, let’s start by sorting out everything in this pile that’s about him.”

  Evie nodded and the two of them got to work.

  It didn’t take them very long, as there were so few pictures of him and most articles generally talked about Alistair, Catherine, or the Kid. Once they’d collected their small pile, they split it in two and looked at each item carefully.

  Sebastian couldn’t find anything. Not one clue to where Benedict might be now. “Well?” he asked when Evie put down her pile.

  She sighed. “Nothing.”

  “Okay, let’s use the computer.” Sebastian had been avoiding this option because it seemed so obvious and he couldn’t believe it would be that easy. But maybe the answer was really that simple.

  They both got up and crossed to his desk. Sebastian sat down and Evie stood behind him, holding on to the back of his swivel chair. They searched for Benedict’s name. Information popped up. Several articles, in fact. But all were about the past, and most they’d already read.

  “Nothing,” said Evie again. Sebastian stared at the computer and tried typing in the last name first. Still nothing.

  “I wonder if he changed his name,” said Evie.

  Of course! He thought back to the article and what Myrtle had said in it. “That’s probably it.” Of course, that would only make things even more difficult.

  “Okay, try typing in just his first name but also things like ‘photography’ and ‘geography’ and ‘cartography’ and stuff,” said Evie, leaning forward.

  Sebastian nodded and typed. What appeared was a list of many different Benedicts who were CEOs of various corporations, a few misspelled reviews of Much Ado About Nothing, various maps of towns called Benedict…

  “Wait, what’s that!” Evie pointed. Sebastian didn’t have time to see at what, as she let go of his chair and dashed to the floor, grabbing a photograph and coming back. “College University,” she said with a grin, and Sebastian looked at the photograph. It was one of the rare ones of Benedict. He was sitting at a desk, working. Next to him was a mug with “College University” written on it.

  Sebastian looked at the screen. There was a listing that mentioned a Benedict and College University together. “But I bet a lot of Benedicts have gone to that school.”

  “Maybe. Check it out,” she said. He could feel Evie vibrating with excitement through his chair.

  He checked it out.

  “It’s him!” Evie released the chair so fast that it spun around in a full circle and Sebastian had to grab hold of the desk to stop it.

  “It really is,” he said, when he had reoriented himself.

  Sure enough, staring at them was Benedict’s familiar unsmiling face. He was pictured on a page featuring other faculty members of College University. Sebastian read aloud: “ ‘Benedict Silo has been professor of cartography and geography here at the university for almost twenty years. Before that he was an adjunct and guest lecturer and did both his undergraduate and postdoctorate work here as well.’ ”

  “He’s pretty loyal, I guess,” said Evie, and Sebastian nodded. �
�But Silo?”

  “I can’t believe we found him,” said Sebastian, still in awe. “Even with a different last name.”

  “Me neither!” said Evie breathlessly. “Okay, so what’s his schedule like?”

  A bit more research and they had that information, along with a map of the university, which they printed off. They sat back on the floor, examining it and his schedule.

  “He has a class tomorrow at one p.m.! Perfect!” said Evie.

  “It is?” Sebastian couldn’t figure out what was particularly perfect about a one p.m. class time.

  “Yes, we can go find him and talk to him. Maybe even check out his office, too!”

  Sebastian was starting to feel distinctly uncomfortable. He shifted his position and bit the insides of his cheeks.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Evie was looking at him carefully.

  “Oh, nothing. It’s just, I can’t go tomorrow. So I guess…I guess you have to go on your own.” Why did that make him feel weird? No, not weird…disappointed.

  “You have to come with me. I can’t do this by myself!” Evie looked aghast at the very suggestion.

  Sebastian stared at her. “I have school tomorrow.”

  “Exactly! It’s the perfect cover.”

  It was suddenly dawning on him. “Wait. You want me to skip school?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  His breath was getting shallow. “I can’t skip school.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not a thing you can do,” he said, feeling his heart racing. “You don’t just not go to school. It’s wrong. And besides, I could miss something important.”

  “What, like the meaning of life or something?” laughed Evie. “I think that would take more than one afternoon to teach. Besides, tomorrow is Friday. No one ever teaches anything interesting on a Friday.”

  So now it appeared he was hyperventilating.

  “Sebastian, are you okay?”

  “I think so. I might be having a panic attack, but other than that I’m okay.” He concentrated hard on slowing down his breathing.

  “Oh, Sebastian, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize this was such a big deal for you. No, of course you don’t have to come. I can do it. This is my personal quest anyway. You shouldn’t have to be involved.” She sounded sincere, if a little sad.

  Sebastian shook his head. “No, I promised I’d help you find the key. I’ll come tomorrow. It’ll be fine. And then we’ll find Benedict and you’ll have the answer and then I’ll go back to school on Monday and catch up.” He took in another slow breath. “I’ve done it before. Those times I’ve been sick and had to stay home. I always catch up. Though sometimes I wonder if I’d have been a better artist if I hadn’t missed coloring in unicorns that day in kindergarten.”

  Suddenly he felt arms wrapped around him, squeezing whatever breath remained in him out in one tight hug. “Oh, thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this, I promise!” said Evie.

  “You’re welcome,” wheezed Sebastian. “Could you…release me now, please?”

  “Of course!” Evie let him go and just stared at him, smiling wide.

  “It’s uh…probably time for us to turn in,” said Sebastian, feeling a little uncomfortable with how grateful she looked.

  “Okay! So the plan for tomorrow will be we say we’re going to school, but really we’ll get on the bus and head to the university. I think we’ll have plenty of time to get there by one.” Evie stood up and so did Sebastian.

  “Good plan,” said Sebastian, realizing just then that not only would he be skipping school, but he’d have to lie to his parents about it. He really couldn’t talk about this anymore; he might black out from the stress. “Here, let me show you to your room.”

  The fact that Sebastian was ready to skip school for her gave Evie a great sense of confidence. She hadn’t known him long, but she could definitely see what a sacrifice that was for him, and since he seemed so logical, surely the only reason he’d make one like that was because he thought she was on to something. Because he thought seeking out Benedict Barnes was the right tactic to take. It all seemed to Evie to be a kind of sign. An indication. A gentle, polite nod that she was heading in the proper direction. As she sat on the bed in the guest room of Sebastian’s house, buttoning up the top to the pajamas his mother had kindly provided for her (Evie wasn’t a fool; she knew how suspicious her lack of luggage looked to them and was grateful for their lack of questions), she thought that maybe, just maybe, for the first time in years, things were looking up.

  It was true they didn’t know if Benedict would have the key. But it was a start, and even if they were wrong about the key, it was very likely Benedict would have some information, something that could help them. He might even know where her grandfather was! And then she could find him, and rescue him, and then they’d have a firm embrace and he’d say, “You look so much like your father!” Or tell her how brave she was for putting herself in so much danger to save him, something like that. He’d take her home with him, and she’d have a real family again. Just like she’d had once. Like everyone else continued to have. Like Sebastian had.

  There was a knock on the guest room door and she popped out of bed to answer it. It was Sebastian, dressed in a pair of rocket ship flannel pajamas. Hers had mathematical equations on them; she imagined they looked quite the team. My goodness, she thought, staring at his freckled face, what would she have done without him? What a nice person this Sebastian was. Really. When you thought about it.

  “Hey, I thought you might want to see this,” he said. He seemed a lot calmer than before, which made Evie feel better. “Can I come in?”

  “Yeah, of course,” she answered, and stepped aside. She closed the door behind him and saw that he had a newspaper in his hand.

  Sebastian sat on the bed and opened the newspaper to the second page. “Look,” he said, and Evie did. It was today’s paper, shortly to be yesterday’s paper. Sebastian was pointing at a picture of fire trucks in front of a house, and the headline: ARSON?

  Evie pulled the paper toward herself, her heart picking up speed. “That’s the Andersons’ place,” she said. She edged in closer to Sebastian to get a better look at the article.

  “Yeah,” Sebastian said. “I thought there had to have been something about it written down. Fires are usually pretty newsworthy.”

  “Usually.” She read carefully, her mind racing and fear filling her up.

  “Here,” he said, and he pointed at a paragraph farther down.

  Evie read aloud, “ ‘No bodies were found in the aftermath, and the fire investigator is saying that it appears the family was away from home.’ ” When she looked up at Sebastian, he smiled at her.

  “See? They aren’t dead.”

  Evie nodded. No bodies were found. That was a good thing. But why did that seem almost scarier?

  “Are you okay? I thought that would make you feel better,” said Sebastian.

  “It does,” she said. “I just…I wonder what their relationship was with my grandfather, why he’d write to them, of all people.”

  “Oh, well, I don’t know,” replied Sebastian, seeming sincerely disappointed he didn’t have the answer for her. But she hadn’t expected him to.

  Evie shook her head and then smiled at Sebastian. “It’s okay, never mind that now.” She stifled a yawn. “I’m very tired; it’s been a very long day. I haven’t slept since it all happened.”

  “Oh wow!” Sebastian looked sincerely astonished. “You stayed up all night?”

  “Yeah,” she replied, just in that moment realizing how sleepy she was.

  “But you need to sleep eight hours every night. Our bodies function best that way,” said Sebastian.

  Evie nodded. “They also function best when alive. And I was running for my life.”

  “Oh. Well, yeah. That’s important too.”

  Evie nodded again.

  “But you should go to sleep now. I’ll leave.” Sebastian stood and crossed ba
ck to the door. “Good night!” He gave her a smile.

  “Good night,” she replied, and lay back on the bed as he closed the door.

  No bodies were found.

  That was good. It was really good. She had to hope that the Andersons were somewhere safe, that they had escaped and maybe were coming up with a plan to find the key and maybe even rescue her grandfather too. Maybe somehow they’d find out where she was and show up first thing tomorrow at Sebastian’s front door…and…It didn’t really make sense, but it was nice to hope. Maybe then the Andersons would go to The Explorers Society themselves. Surely they would let them in, since they were the ones who had told her to go there in the first place. Yes! That was a possibility. Maybe it would be all over by tomorrow and she wouldn’t have to worry about keys and rescuing her grandfather from some very scary and definitely evil men on her own, or…

  Evie’s eyes widened suddenly and she rolled over onto her side. She squeezed the pillow underneath her tightly. So tightly she thought it might pop in an explosion of feathers. But she didn’t care; she needed to hug something right now, hug and hug and hug.

  Because it had just occurred to her that if no bodies were found, then that meant that not only were the Andersons still out there somewhere—so were those two evil men.

  And she knew they knew she existed.

  And if they had read the papers also…

  Then they’d know…she was still out there somewhere too.

  College University was located on the east side and existed in a perpetual autumn. Tall Gothic buildings masked by red-, orange-, and yellow-leafed trees were connected by brick paths through green grass. And students with backpacks slung over a shoulder, scarves around their necks, and books in the crooks of their arms walked with some speed from building to building, acknowledging the need to get to class on time but not wanting to look too eager.

  Sebastian felt immediately out of place, much in the same way he did at The Explorers Society. Except it was completely different. At The Explorers Society, Sebastian always felt not quite adventurous enough; at the university, Sebastian felt anxious, desperate to be one of the students. Wishing time would speed up so he could finally belong with them, lounging under trees reading books, or rushing this way and that drinking from disposable coffee cups.