The Extraordinary Book of Doors

by Nydam, Anne

  “Will this work?” asked Polly eagerly, rummaging around in her hip pouch and pulling out a tiny red pocketknife.

  Tobal opened the knife out with his thumbnail. The blade was only an inch and a half long, but he slid it into the crack in the wood and began to work it carefully down the seam. “Who knows how many times this has been painted over since Benjamin Franklin’s day,” he said.

  Chen glanced around nervously, hoping no one would see them. Now his heart was beating faster yet. Would they be arrested for vandalism? He was pretty sure that you’d be in even bigger trouble if you were vandalizing a national treasure. He’d never in his life been in trouble with the police until he’d met Polly, and now he constantly seemed to be in danger of immanent arrest.

  Matias didn’t seem to be worrying about their crime. He said with a grin, “I wonder if Benjamin Franklin hid his clue right during the middle of a church service. Can’t you just see him fiddling with a loose board and opening up a secret compartment all sneakily while the preacher drones on and on? Maybe I need to find a secret cubby at my church.”

  “Got it!” Tobal exclaimed softly. “Polly, would you like to do the honors?”

  Chen and Matias leaned forward eagerly as Polly reached out to open the small door at the base of the column. Her hands were trembling slightly as a piece of wood about the size of a hardcover book lifted out of the pillar, revealing a black hollow space. Polly put her hand in and felt around for a moment before pulling out a small metal box. She dusted it off, while Mr Salceda fit the wooden door perfectly back into the column, running his hands carefully along the edges until it was lined up almost invisibly again.

  “Now, what does Benjamin Franklin have for us?” he asked, turning to Polly.

  But she wasn’t even looking at the box in her lap. She let out a gasp and stared across the Old South Meeting House toward the wall where they had first entered. A magic door had opened once again in the corner, and out of it slipped Ammon Blank. The magician’s eyes fell immediately on Polly and the dark metal box, and he leapt toward them.

  Chen tensed, but before he could move he realized that another man was rushing through the portal behind Blank. This second man dove after the magician, catching hold of his sleeve as Blank tried to swipe out toward Polly. The two men struggled, and Blank managed to land a punch on the second man’s cheekbone. He grunted and fell back a step, allowing Blank to flip his Book to a new page and open another door.

  Then the second man was on the magician again, lunging for his shoulders as he tried to slip through the portal. Blank kicked out and flailed wildly, trying to shake him off, but before the magical door closed, both men had disappeared through it.

  “Raphael!” shrieked Polly, Franklin’s box tumbling from her lap with a loud clatter as she grabbed the Dragon Book from the pew beside Tobal. She tore the Book open to Plate XXXII and was through the portal in an instant.

  Tobal was the first to react, sticking his foot in the closing doorway before it could disappear. Chen scooped up the metal box from the floor and jumped through behind Tobal and Matias.

  He stumbled into Matias’s back and found himself crowded into a short, narrow hallway with faded flowered wallpaper and faded rag rugs. Ahead of him Polly was struggling with Mr Salceda, who had wrenched the Book out of her hands and was holding it above his head.

  She was frantically trying to reach the Book and screaming, “We have to follow them! Open the Book; that was Raphael!”

  Then, to complete the confusion, a frail-looking white-haired woman tottered out of the doorway at the end of the hallway, and gasped, “What is this about, young lady?”

  Polly cried incoherently, “Raphael! What if Blank hurts him? We’ve got to get through!”

  The old woman brandished a cell phone and said with spirit, “I can call the police, young lady. I’ve already dialed 9-1. You have ten seconds to explain why you’ve broken into my house with your hoodlum friends like this, or I’ll hit the other 1!”

  Tobal craned his neck to speak over Polly’s head. “I’m so sorry about this, ma’am. We had no intention of breaking into your house and certainly mean you no harm. We’ll leave immediately. Come on, children. Outside.” He turned to push the others out the screen door, when the old woman interrupted him, bifocal lenses flashing.

  “Not so fast, mister. If this has something to do with the Magic Book, I have a right to an explanation. Are there going to be ruffians popping into my front hall all the time now? Because I won’t have it!”

  Tobal’s eyebrows rose in surprise and he gave the woman a more careful look. “What do you know about Magic Books?”

  “I know this young lady used my great grandfather’s Magic Book to come into my house before. And I know that those two men who just came barreling through must have used it, too. I didn’t mind when it was just the girl seeming mannerly enough, but that man pushed me over like a regular thug, which is simply unacceptable. At my age I’m lucky I didn’t break a hip, you know.”

  Polly had paused for a moment during the conversation, but now she took advantage of Tobal’s distraction. She made another sudden leap for the Book, yanked it from his hand, and jammed the key once more into the hole in Plate XXXII. But no door appeared. Instead Polly yelped with frustration, jabbing and rattling the key, and Tobal pulled the Book away from her again.

  “Stop it!” he commanded in a voice like a trumpet. Suddenly everyone was silent. Turning back to the woman, he said, “I think we would all benefit from a moment to calm ourselves and sort out what’s going on. My name is Tobal Salceda. Is there any place we could all sit down and talk?”

  “Very well, Mr Salceda. I’m Pearl Whitaker. Do come in.” She led them all into a small living room and gestured graciously for them to sit among the doilies and silk flowers. “Now, why has my front hallway suddenly become Magic Highway 1?”

  XVI. Safe and Unsafe

  “We don’t have time for this,” Polly urged as everyone else settled themselves in Pearl’s parlor.

  “Polly, you haven’t explained the problem. The rest of us don’t know what’s going on or why you’re in such a panic.”

  “That was my friend Raphael who came through the door after Ammon Blank! My mom’s assistant. I don’t know how he got there, but we can’t just let Ammon Blank attack him. And I tried to get through to them and it wouldn’t let me, and now who knows where Raphael is or what Mr Blank’s doing? We have to go after them and make sure Raphael’s safe!”

  Mr Salceda nodded. “And Ms Whitaker, you and Polly have already met, I gather? And you knew about the Book and the doorway to your house?”

  Pearl answered, “I didn’t think the Book was real, and I certainly didn’t know about the door to my home until Polly showed me a couple of weeks ago. But as soon as she appeared, it all made sense.”

  Polly was growing increasingly fidgety and Tobal, glancing at her, said, “I’d like to hear more about all this, but perhaps we’d better check on Polly’s friend first.” He opened the Dragon Book once again to Plate XXXII, asking, “Did you happen to see what doorway the two men went through when they left your house?”

  “I had fallen down behind the kitchen table, I’m afraid, but I caught a glimpse. It had a fancy decorative frame all around and circles carved on the panels.”

  “That’s the Ornate Book’s portal,” Polly said eagerly, “He went through to the Ornate Book.”

  Tobal nodded and put his key to the keyhole in the Book, when Matias yelped, “Watch out!”

  He was pointing at the crack of a doorway appearing against the faded wallpaper of Ms Whitaker’s living room. Everyone jumped to their feet again. But it was not Ammon Blank who came through the portal. It was a folded piece of paper, which fluttered to the floor as the crack closed and disappeared behind it.

  Polly pounced on the paper and opened it up.

  “I knew it!” she screamed, “I knew it! We should have gone after them faster. Why couldn’t I get the door open? Now
look!”

  She thrust the paper at Tobal. He read out, “Greetings! I believe that Mr Raphael Green is a friend of yours, so you’ll be pleased to know that he is now in a very safe place – a bank safe vault, in fact. He will stay there until you help me with something I need for my brother. Wouldn’t you do anything for your family and friends? On average a man can survive about 3 days without water – assuming there’s enough oxygen. So tell me the password for the fund, and hand over the Franklin box and your magic book, and I’ll release Mr Green. Call this number when you’re ready to talk.”

  There was a moment of stunned silence.

  Chen stared at Polly, aghast. He thought, “I knew it. I knew something terrible was going to happen.”

  Tobal said slowly, “I wonder if this vault he mentions is through one of the magic doors. I would think it would have to be, because how else would Mr Blank get access to a walk-in safe? And how else could he get Mr Green into the safe and lock him in? Polly, do you remember whether any of the doors in the Wreath Book looks like a safe?”

  “I don’t think so, but I’m not even sure what a safe door looks like.”

  “Hmm. Well, let’s assume it’s one of the Ornate Book’s doors. We know Blank returned to the Ornate Book shortly before. And perhaps it was because he was in the vault that Polly couldn’t get through the door. It is possible to shield a location so that you can get there only with the door that’s directly connected, and a safe would be an obvious location to shield in that way.”

  “I don’t care about that! We need to get Raphael!”

  Tobal looked at Polly sternly, although not without sympathy. “Polly, I assure you we will do all we can to get your friend back safely. The more information we have, the better we can plan, and I think if we’ve learned anything it’s that chasing madly after Ammon Blank is not a good idea.”

  “Then let’s call the number and make the trade! We’ve got to hurry – what if there isn’t enough oxygen for him?”

  “More haste, less speed, dear,” Ms Whitaker remarked automatically as she turned to Mr Salceda. “Magic Books and treasure? My hearing’s not what it was, but I do hope I understood that correctly. It would be such a disappointment to learn that instead of Magic Books you’ve been talking about matching socks or batch of bugs.”

  “It isn’t funny!” Polly wailed.

  At this Chen could no longer restrain himself from blurting, “Of course it isn’t funny! Haven’t I been telling you that chasing after a murderous magician-thief was dangerous? Haven’t I been saying all along that it would end badly? And you just kept insisting it was all this big fun adventure. But I was right, wasn’t I?”

  Tobal cut in quickly before Polly could argue. “Drop it,” he said sternly, “We’re going to get Mr Green back safely, but I have no intention of handing over my Dragon Book to any extortionist. I propose that we offer him Franklin’s box and the password to the fund and see if he’ll be satisfied with that.”

  “But Uncle Tobal, we still don’t know the password.”

  “And we don’t even know what’s in the box,” added Chen, holding it up.

  “Then open it!”

  Everyone leaned in as Chen tugged at the latch and opened the lid with a stiff creak. He pulled out a sheet of paper folded around some small object. Unfolding the paper revealed a second sheet of paper and, wrapped inside, a small, flat key.

  The inner paper was written in Benjamin Franklin’s handwriting. Chen read out “Who finds this key must know its use and tell also the watchword to gain access to my legacy, for knowledge is a rich soil, tho’ to grow therein a crop without weeds is the true wisdom. Remember always that sloth (like rust) consumes faster than labour wears; the used key is always bright.”

  The second paper was written in a different handwriting, smaller and more stiffly upright. Although it looked very precise and neat, Chen had difficulty making out the cramped, old-fashioned letters.

  Polly snatched the paper from him impatiently and read haltingly, “September 1793. As trustee I have moved the secret in question to a location where I know it will be managed according to the wishes of Dr Franklin. The recipient of this secret should apply any time after the year of our Lord 1900 to the Union Bank in Boston, Massachusetts, and ask to speak to the Manager of the Affairs of M. Joseph Charles. He will there present such proofs as are stipulated, and the key herein contained.”

  “Who’s M. Joseph Charles?” asked Matias.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Tobal answered, “It just means that after Franklin died, the trustee of the secret fund moved it to the Union Bank, and left this note to let us know how to get to it.”

  “And now it’s Ammon Blank who’ll get to it,” Polly said bitterly, “He doesn’t deserve the treasure. He’s a thief and kidnapper and attempted murderer. He’s evil! And he didn’t even figure out the password!”

  “Neither have we,” pointed out Chen.

  “Well we deserve the treasure. We ought to be able to get rid of him.”

  Chen frowned. Wasn’t that exactly what Ammon Blank had said about him and Polly? It seemed to Chen that despite Polly’s denials, she was acting more and more like Blank the more desperate she got.

  Polly added under her breath, “Mr Salceda should turn him into a newt.”

  Before Tobal could respond to this suggestion, Pearl Whitaker interrupted, “Let me get this straight. We’re talking about some sort of treasure left by a Dr Franklin and a Mr Joseph Charles?”

  Matias answered, “It’s Benjamin Franklin! Benjamin Franklin left clues to a secret stash of money. Isn’t that awesome? But I guess M. Joseph Charles isn’t actually anybody.”

  Pearl’s eyes lit up with excitement. “A treasure hunt from Benjamin Franklin? Oh, I’d surely love to see that.”

  “But we can’t,” Chen reminded them, “If we want to rescue Polly’s friend Mr Green, we have to let Mr Blank get the Franklin fund. And if we don’t give him the magical Books, too, he still might not agree.”

  Pearl clicked her tongue. “Just give him the box and as much as you know. He can’t ask for more than that. And if he can’t figure it out the rest of the way himself, that’s his problem, isn’t it.”

  Tobal murmured, “Perhaps,” but he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and typed in the number on Ammon Blank’s ransom note.

  They all leaned forward, staring at Tobal as he waited for Ammon Blank to answer.

  “Mr Blank? We got your note. I’m speaking on the children’s behalf. Yes. No. Absolutely not. Fine.” He clicked off his phone and looked around at the anxious faces. “I’m to wait five minutes and then go through the portal to the Wreath Book to meet him.”

  “You’re to go?” Polly said sharply, “I should go!”

  Tobal shook his head firmly. “Of course I’ll go. I’m responsible for you, and I am not sending children to negotiate with a kidnapper.”

  All the children cried out at once:

  “But Uncle Tobal, you can’t go alone.”

  “I have to know that Raphael’s okay!”

  “You can’t trust Ammon Blank! He’ll do something awful, I’m sure!”

  Badgered and bothered, Mr Salceda looked at Ms Whitaker as if hoping that another adult would make the clamoring stop. Pearl smiled grimly and said, “Well, Mr Salceda, perhaps you should consider company. That or turning him into a newt.”

  “I don’t do newts, and Mr Blank specifically said I was to meet him alone. If he sees us all coming through the door, he’ll just disappear and we’ll have even more trouble getting Mr Green back.”

  “Then we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t see us all coming through the door.”

  That made Tobal look thoughtful. “I guess it can’t hurt to see where he’s waiting to meet me, at any rate.” He pulled his brass spy key out of a pocket, slipped it into the keyhole, and squinted through. “Okay,” he whispered, adjusting the wing nut on the side of the tube, “He must be at the location already. Wherever the Wreath
Book is now, it looks like a tropical greenhouse.” He glanced at his watch. “We still have three minutes before I’m to arrive. I could open the portal early if you can creep through absolutely silently and stay hidden. But it’s a big risk. If he sees what we’re up to he’ll bolt and we’ll be back to square one without getting any closer to rescuing Raphael. So there must be no speaking, no jumping up, no shouting out in outrage – Polly, that means you – no matter what he says. Understand?”

  Everyone nodded solemnly, except Pearl, who said eagerly, “We’ll be like those super sneaky people from ancient Japan. Ninjos? Ningas? The ones who wear black, isn’t that what they’re called?”

  It was Polly who answered sternly, “Ninjas. But I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough, Ms Whitaker.”

  Tobal said equally sternly, “I have to ask you to stay here, ma’am. But we’ll report back after I’ve spoken with Mr Blank.” Without waiting for her reply, he turned his key in the keyhole and unlocked the portal to the Wreath Book, which would send them to the Wreath Book’s page that Ammon Blank had chosen. Lifting the paper just the merest fraction of an inch, he peered through the crack. Then he gestured for the children to slip through, staying low.

  They found themselves, as Tobal had forewarned them, in a large glass room filled with tropical plants. Their portal had opened behind a clump of lush ferns growing at the base of a big banana tree, and one by one they crept into the cover of the dense greenery. When they were all settled, Polly very slowly raised herself up to peer through a gap in the fronds. She pointed across the green-house to where Ammon Blank was standing on the paved path beside a palm tree, talking on his cell phone. Raphael was nowhere to be seen.

  “I keep telling you, Zenon, for any of our plans to work, you’ve got to keep a clean front.” A moment later Ammon Blank’s head snapped up and he said, “Gotta go! Later.”