The silence was broken by the sound of horses outside, and the crunch of wheels on gravel. Molly, Peter, and George exchanged glances, then ran to the large main room and looked out the window. By the light of the moon, now high in the cloudless sky, they saw three horses, two of them hitched to a wagon. They also saw Leonard Aster put a large cloth sack into the wagon. From out of the shadows appeared the large bearded man, Magill, holding a rolled-up piece of canvas. Behind him shuffled Karl the bear. The bear was carrying a trunk made of smooth, dark wood, with hinges and latches that gleamed gold in the moonlight.
“There it is,” said Peter.
“There what is?” said George.
“Be quiet,” said Molly.
Karl laid the trunk gently in the wagon bed and slid it forward, then climbed in after it, moving with surprising speed and grace despite his massive bulk. The bear lay down next to the trunk. Magill covered both bear and trunk with the piece of canvas, then climbed onto the wagon seat and picked up the reins. He and Aster exchanged a few words, then Aster mounted the horse. Magill raised his head and made some of the odd barking sounds he’d made earlier; then he cocked his ear, listening. He nodded at Aster, and both men flicked their reins, starting up the driveway.
At the end of the drive, Aster dismounted and opened the gate. When the wagon had passed through to the road, Aster led his horse through, closed the gate, locked it, and remounted. In a moment the little procession was gone from view.
“All right,” said George. “I have a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Be qu—” began Molly.
“No,” said George. “I will not be quiet. I am sick and tired of not knowing what’s happening. Without me, you’d never have gotten as far as Salisbury, let alone found this house. I’ve spent a good deal of time and money on your little quest, Molly, not to mention risking being eaten by wolves. I think I’m entitled to some sort of explanation.”
Molly sighed. “All right,” she said.
“Molly—” Peter warned.
“No,” said Molly. “George is right. He’s been a loyal friend, and without him we’d never have gotten this far. He’s put his life at risk for me. I owe him the truth.” She looked out the window. “And I don’t much care about Father’s precious secrets now anyway,” she added bitterly.
Peter shook his head, but said nothing.
“My family,” Molly said to George, “belongs to a group that for centuries has been protecting a very precious, but very dangerous, substance.”
“This ‘starstuff,’” said George.
“Yes,” said Molly. “That’s what’s in the trunk you just saw.”
“What is it?” said George.
“It’s something that falls from the sky,” said Molly. “It has amazing powers. Magical powers.”
“Magical powers?”
“Yes.”
George looked skeptical. “Molly,” he said, “I’m a student of astronomy. I know quite a bit about what falls from the sky. It’s rocks, Molly. Just rocks. I’ve never heard of any…starstuff.”
Peter smirked.
“What’s so funny?” said George.
“Nothing,” said Peter.
“The reason you haven’t heard of starstuff,” said Molly, “is that Father’s group works very hard to keep it secret. They collect it when it falls, so that people, especially evil people, can’t get hold of it.”
George’s expression remained skeptical. “And what do they do with it?”
“They return it.”
“Return it to where?” said George, smiling. “To the heavens?”
“Yes.”
“But that’s impossible!” sputtered George.
“Apparently, it’s not,” said Molly. “They’ve been doing it for centuries.”
“But how?”
“I don’t know,” said Molly. “I’ve never seen it done. Very few have.”
“So you don’t know that this Return thing actually happens,” said George, in a tone that Peter found quite irritating. Molly, for her part, remained calm.
“It happens,” she said. “That’s where Father has gone now.”
“I see,” said George doubtfully. “And these…evil people you’re keeping the starstuff from,” he said. “Are they the ones who kidnapped your mother?”
“Yes,” she said. “Their leader is this hideous creature, Lord Ombra. He has terrible powers. He can take a person’s—” Molly paused, and decided that if George was skeptical about starstuff, he’d be even more so about Ombra’s peculiar and fearsome abilities. “He’s very powerful,” she went on. “And ruthless.”
“And where is this…Ombra now?” said George.
“In London,” said Molly. “He took Mother to exchange her for the starstuff. But Father refuses to make the exchange. And Ombra said that if he doesn’t get the starstuff, he will…will—” Molly fought to control her voice. “He will kill my mother.” Molly put her face in her hands, sobbing.
“Perhaps he’s just bluffing,” George said softly.
Molly shook her head. “No,” she said. “He’ll do it. He’s a horrible, horrible creature. Peter and I saw him kill a man, an old friend of my family.” In that instant a picture came into Molly’s mind—a vivid image of McGuinn’s desperate effort to fend off the relentlessly advancing Ombra, and his fatal fall on the steep stairs of the White Tower. “He won’t hesitate to—”
Molly stopped.
“Oh, dear,” she said.
“What is it?” said George.
Molly ignored him. “Peter,” she said, her tone urgent. “Do you remember when Ombra chased us down the stairs at the tower, and Mister McGuinn fell?”
“Yes,” said Peter. “I won’t soon forget that.”
“Did Ombra touch his shadow?”
“McGuinn’s?”
“Yes,” said Molly. “Think, Peter. Did he touch it?”
Peter thought back to the terrifying confusion on the dark, narrow staircase—McGuinn swinging the lantern, trying desperately to fend off Ombra, then Ombra’s sudden darting attack, and McGuinn’s scream just as he lost his balance….
Peter frowned, trying to trap that instant in his mind. Then he nodded. “Yes,” he said. “It was just for a moment, before he fell. But yes, I think Ombra touched his shadow.”
“I think so, too,” said Molly.
“I don’t understand,” said George. “What difference does it make if he touched his shadow?”
“McGuinn knew the site of the Return,” said Molly. “He wouldn’t tell us, but he knew. And if he knew, and Ombra got his shadow—”
“—then Ombra knows where the Return is,” said Peter.
George said, “But how does touching a person’s shadow—”
“Not now, George,” said Molly, waving away his question. “Peter, I feel such a fool. Father asked me several times whose shadows Ombra took, and somehow I never thought of McGuinn.”
“It was just for an instant,” said Peter. “We don’t know that Ombra found out.”
“But he could have,” said Molly.
“Yes,” said Peter. “I suppose he could have.”
“And if he did,” said Molly, “he’ll be at the Return now. He’ll be waiting for Father.”
She and Peter stared at each other.
“I have to warn Father,” she said. She ran to the door and grabbed the latch.
A sharp warning chime sounded from under Peter’s shirt.
She’d better not open that.
“Molly!” shouted Peter, running toward her. “Don’t—”
Too late: Molly had the door open. She screamed and slammed it shut.
Peter got only a moment’s glimpse of the huge gray shape on the doorstep.
“Wolf,” Molly gasped.
I told her.
“What’s that ringing sound?” said George.
Ignoring him, Molly went to the window.
“There must be half a dozen out there,” she said.
/> Peter and George, joining her, saw the dark shapes, the glowing eyes.
“I don’t think they want us to leave,” said George.
Molly’s shoulders slumped. “No,” she said.
“Molly,” said Peter. “I can leave.”
“How?” snorted George. “Do you intend to fly over the wolves?”
“Yes,” said Peter.
George turned to Molly: “Has he gone mad?”
She ignored him, speaking to Peter. “It’s no use,” she said. “We don’t know where the Return is. Father’s been gone a half hour or more, on horseback. He could be anywhere. How will you find him in the dark? How will you even know which direction to go?”
“I can try,” said Peter. “I’ve got a full moon to help me.”
Molly shook her head. “You don’t know this countryside, Peter. Without knowing where the Return is, you’ll just get lost flying ’round out there.”
“But what choice do we have?” said Peter.
“I don’t know,” said Molly, staring hopelessly out the window.
“Hang on,” said George.
“What?” said Molly.
“It is a full moon,” said George.
“Yes,” said Molly, irritated. “Peter just said that.”
“Well, I just had a thought,” said George. “I’d been hoping to observe it through my telescope, though it’s been rather cloudy the past few days, but tonight—”
“George,” interrupted Molly. “What are you talking about?”
“An eclipse,” said George. “A total lunar eclipse. Tonight.” He pulled a watch from his pocket and consulted it. “In about an hour, in fact. The moon will pass through Earth’s shadow and disappear for…let me see…I believe it’s fifty-three minutes.”
Peter and Molly stared at him, “Go on,” said Molly.
“Well,” said George, “I was just thinking that the eclipse might have something to do with the Return.”
Molly nodded. “I know it has to be at a certain time,” she said. “Father was very definite about that. And he knew the time months ago.”
“Lunar eclipses can be predicted years in advance,” said George. “It’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think? The Return and the eclipse, both tonight?”
“Yes,” said Molly. “Quite a coincidence.”
“So if you’re right,” said Peter—a bit grudgingly, in part because he didn’t exactly know what an eclipse was—“the Return will take place in about an hour?”
“Yes,” said George.
Molly sighed. “But even if that’s so,” she said, “we know only when it will happen. We still don’t know where.”
George smiled a self-satisfied smile.
“What?” said Molly.
“If I’m right,” said George, “I know exactly where they’ve gone.”
CHAPTER 91
THE DESTINATION
THERE WAS NOBODY OUTSIDE the tiny village of Amesbury on this chilly night. The sound of horse hooves clopping brought faces to a few windows. Peeking out from behind curtains drawn against the cold, the villagers saw a man on horseback followed by wagon and driver—nocturnal travelers, not an especially unusual sight on this well-traveled road.
The villagers could not see the silent loping gray shapes keeping pace with the horse and wagon, off to either side of the road, their paths taking them through the fields, out of sight.
The little procession passed through the village and disappeared up the road. The curious villagers went back to their firesides.
Two miles west of Amesbury, the road rose to a ridge. Reaching it, Leonard Aster reined his horse to a stop. Behind him, Magill halted the wagon, raised his head, and barked. On either side, the wolves stopped, waiting, watching.
Aster and Magill surveyed the scene. Before them lay the Salisbury Plain, rising gently to the horizon, the full moon illuminating it for miles. Just ahead the road forked. The left fork bore southwest, eventually making its way to the city of Exeter. The right fork bore gently northwest, toward the heart of the rolling grasslands of the Salisbury Plain.
On the left side of that road, a half mile away, clear as day in the bright moonlight, stood their destination. Slowly, carefully, the two men swept the landscape with their eyes: it appeared to be deserted. Aster checked his pocket watch, then nodded to Magill. They flicked their reins and, flanked by the wolves, started forward toward the Return.
CHAPTER 92
NOT MUCH TIME
“STONEHENGE,” SAID GEORGE.
Peter frowned; Molly gasped.
“Of course,” she said. “It’s right near Salisbury, isn’t it?”
“It’s quite close,” said George. “I’ve been there a half dozen times, at least. I doubt it’s five miles from this house.”
“Stonehenge?” said Peter. “The rock pile?”
“It’s not a pile,” said George. “It’s a man-made circular arrangement of huge stones. Some say it was built thousands of years ago—before the Romans.”
“But what do giant stones have to do with the Return?” said Peter.
“Nobody knows for certain why it was built,” said George. “But it has something to do with the heavens. The main axis of the circle lines up almost perfectly with the midsummer sunrise and the midwinter sunset. Some say Stonehenge also was used to predict lunar eclipses.”
“Like the one tonight,” said Molly.
“Exactly,” said George. “So if this Return of yours has to happen during the eclipse, Stonehenge would seem to be the place for it.”
“All right,” said Molly. “We must go there now.”
“Urn,” said George, looking out the window. “Have you forgotten the wolves?”
“No,” said Molly. She turned to Peter, pointing to the chain around his neck, and said, “How much have you got?”
“I don’t know,” said Peter. “I used some in London.”
“Well, let’s hope you have enough,” said Molly. “Enough for two, actually.”
“Two?” said Peter. “He’s going?”
“Yes,” said Molly. “We need him to show us where Stonehenge is. George, can you find Stonehenge? From here?”
“I suppose I could,” George said. “But how—”
“We need to find an upstairs window,” said Molly, walking toward the staircase at the end of the big room.
“But,” said George, “what about the—”
“You’ll see,” said Molly, over her shoulder. “Come on.”
Upstairs they found a window that, with a bit of effort, the three of them were able to open. As chilly air flooded the room, they leaned out over the broad sill and looked down. On the ground, fifteen feet below them, they saw three pairs of glowing yellow eyes looking back.
“There had better be enough,” Peter said. “This wouldn’t be a good time to fall.”
“No,” said Molly, eyeing the wolves.
“I don’t understand,” said George. “What are you talking about?”
“We’re going to fly to Stonehenge,” said Molly.
“So you’re both mad,” said George.
“You’re going to fly with us,” said Molly.
“Oh, of course I am,” said George. “I’m going to just flap my wings and fly over those wolves!”
Molly and Peter looked at him.
“What?” he said.
Peter said, “There’s no need to flap.”
“Peter,” said Molly, “may I have your locket?”
Peter removed it and put it in Molly’s hand. She held up the small golden sphere, showing it to George, who eyed it with open skepticism.
“George,” she said. “I’m going to put some starstuff on myself, then on you. It’s going to feel strange, but in a pleasant way.”
“What about Peter?” said George, smirking. “Doesn’t he get any of this magical starstuff?”
“He doesn’t need it,” said Molly. “He can already fly.”
George laughed out loud. “Ah!” he said
. “How lovely for young Peter!”
“George,” said Molly. “This isn’t a joke.” She put her thumb on the locket clasp.
“Isn’t it?” said George. “Because it certainly—”
George stopped in midsentence, mouth gaping, as Molly opened the locket. Instantly her hand was enveloped in a warm golden glow. She tilted the locket slightly, and the glow flowed down her arm, gently surrounding her, being absorbed into her, as she emitted a soft, barely audible Ahhhh.
“Give me your hand, George,” she said.
Cautiously, he held out his right hand. Molly tilted the locket over it, and the glow swirled and cascaded along George’s arm.
“Oh, my,” he said. “This is…it’s…Ahhhhhhh.”
“Yes,” said Molly. She closed the locket and handed it back to Peter.
Can I come out now? chimed Tink.
“I hear bells!” said George. “They’re quite lovely.”
“Tink wants out,” Peter said to Molly.
Looking at George, Molly said, “Why not? I don’t suppose it makes any difference now.”
Peter opened his shirt, and Tink emerged, blinking. She hovered for a second, then landed in the tousled red mass of Peter’s hair, where she sat, stretching.
George stared at her.
“Molly,” he said. “There’s a pixie sitting in Peter’s hair.”
“Yes,” said Molly.
Tink chimed.
“She prefers to be called a birdgirl,” said Peter.
“I see,” said George, still staring at her.
“Listen, George,” said Molly. “…George? George?”
Reluctantly, George looked away from Tink. “Yes?”
“We’re going out the window now,” she said. “We’re going to fly.”
“Capital!” said George.
“The trick is to lean forward,” said Molly. “You lean forward, then you swoop, then you soar.”
“Lean, swoop, and soar,” said George. “Got it.”
“Here we go, then,” said Molly. “Peter, perhaps you should go first.”
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