“We can’t just leave you,” Lucy said. “C’mon, Pinkie.”
“I’m staying here.”
“Well, sheesh.”
“I know that Dr. Pi wouldn’t desert me if I was stuck in a shrinking square chamber. And I’m not going to desert him, either. Because you may not understand this, but without his fire he really doesn’t have a lot of wizard power. And the fire is back in his pie shop, where he always tends it. So Dr. Pi needs me.”
“I can see your point,” said Red Eye. “But how can he find us in the dark?”
“He probably can’t. I can’t even read my magic book in the dark. It’s basically hopeless.”
“Well, Pinkie, there’s only one answer,” Lucy said.
“What’s that?”
“Like you said before. You should blow fire into yourself.”
There was silence. Finally Flor said, “How exactly should I do that?”
“I don’t know. Like maybe you take deep breaths of it. Make it go into you and change you. See what happens.”
“I don’t think it’s possible,” Flor said, but there was a tinge of hope in her voice.
“Can’t hurt to try, can it?”
“But all I’ve ever wanted to be is a fashion designer,” said Flor. “What will the cosmic fire do about that?”
Lucy thought for a moment. “Well, like Dad says, sometimes you just have to go around your elbow to get to your thumb.”
“What does that mean?”
“My thumb is right here, see? I shouldn’t have to go back around my elbow to get to it. It means sometimes things get complicated or a little tough, but as long as you get to your thumb eventually, that’s what counts.”
“I like that saying,” said Red Eye.
“But you don’t have an elbow,” Lucy pointed out.
“Sometimes you have to go around your wing to get to your leg,” said Red Eye, flapping his gorgeous white wings and lifting one long leg.
“Or go around your knee to get to your toe,” said Flor.
“You have to go around your head to get to your heart,” said Red Eye.
“That’s a good one!” said Flor. “Okay, I’m willing to give this crazy idea a try. Shall we?”
Red Eye offered a wing to both girls, who joined hands and once again called the winds that brought the fire. But this time, when Flor felt the flames rising within her, she held her breath and scrunched her eyes closed and imagined the fire filling her body, from head to toe.
She could feel the fire hesitating, as if it had never done this before.
Fire, she asked it silently, please. Blow into me. Change me.
It circled around inside her, as if looking for a place to go. And then suddenly, when she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, it leaped outside of her.
But it did not leave her.
It draped itself along her body, a skirt of fire, a shirt of fire, sleeves of fire. She blazed with pale light.
“Well, Miss Fashion Guru,” said Lucy. “You’ve really done it this time. I think you have a dress of fire now.”
“I do,” said Flor in wonder. She lifted her arms and the fire followed, in long, liquid flames. A dress of fire that shifted with her every movement, and didn’t burn.
“Hey, girl, you’re cosmic,” Lucy joked. “Are you going to put this in your New York collection?”
Flor laughed. “No way.”
“It’s bright as a fresh spring morning in here,” said Red Eye. “We can find the door to the square chamber now. Just look for a red iron door. It’s only a question of which hall it’s in.”
“How many halls are there?” asked Flor.
“One hundred and thirty-four.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” said Lucy. “Who needs all those hallways? You know what? He has a worse complex about being small than I ever did.”
“You made up for being a pipsqueak with your big personality,” Flor said.
“Square Man thinks everybody hates him,” said Lucy. “Except Red Eye, of course. I think he had no clue what he was doing to Red Eye. He convinced himself he actually had one friend, but otherwise, he’s got to take revenge on everyone.”
“Sometimes when I couldn’t sleep,” said Red Eye, “I would just lie there with my eyes closed. And I would hear him talking to himself.”
“What would he say?”
“He would kind of argue with himself. Like he had two personalities. One would start out pleading. ‘I am sure I was born for a reason. There’s nothing wrong with being small and square. If the universe created me, then I am good, like all creation. There’s a place for me somewhere to be happy. Where people will like me. Where they’d give me half a chance.’ And then this other voice would come out of him, like he was just shutting himself up. ‘You’re a mistake. Nobody will ever accept you. You look weird and you act weird. So don’t even think about trying. The only answer is to conquer all.’ ”
“Hmmm.”
“So what next?” asked Lucy.
“Let me check my book. It always helps me when I don’t know what to do. And I can read by the light of my own dress.”
Flor unclasped her white purse and pulled out the book, turning to the last page. And she began to read out loud:
“Before Square Man left the chamber, he said to Dr. Pi and Buddy Moon, ‘I’m going to shut you in now and shrink this chamber. It’s going to get hot and uncomfortable for you two. You’ll be pressed together like sardines in a can.’ He waited for a response, but the wizard simply smiled benignly, and Buddy Moon simply nodded. Square Man shook his head in disbelief. ‘And this is the reaction of the two great guardians of the Spiral and the Golden Rectangle? Just nodding and smiling?’ Dr. Pi answered quietly, ‘The girls are destined to solve this, not us, and all that is good and balanced in this universe wants it that way.’
“ ‘Sounds like you’re admitting defeat, that’s all,’ said Square Man, before he shut the door. Then he said, “Divina sectia, divina sectia, hide yourself now. There shall be no visible door, no crack, no evidence of the square chamber. And shrink to two-thirds of your present size. In half an hour, shrink to half.’
“The chamber shrunk, and the door disappeared from sight. Only one key could open the door now—the key owned by Lucy Moon. But she could only find the lock by tuning into her heart. Love would guide the key to the invisible lock.”
Flor turned to Lucy. “Well, Pip, it’s all up to you now.”
Lucy fished for her key. “It’s not hard to feel love in my heart,” she said. “I only have to think of Daddy and Nell.”
She closed her eyes and thought of her dad, with the crinkles in the corners of his eyes, and his wavy brown hair streaked with silver, and his favorite old sneakers that he wore to work every day. She thought of Nell on her wedding day, her face aglow with joy, as Matt carried her over the threshold of the front door and down steps blanketed in billows of snow. She thought of how the family watched TV at night, Nell on one side of the sofa, her dad on the other, and Lucy stretched out between them.
And the key practically yanked her three feet to the left, and almost pulled her hand to the stone. She saw nothing there, but when she pushed it, it went right in. She turned the key. The door opened.
Her dad was there, sitting scrunched over with his knees to his chest so his head wouldn’t bump the ceiling.
“Thank you for rescuing me, Pip,” he said with a grin, and crawled out of the chamber on his hands and knees. “And by the way, being half horse looks good on you.”
“I love it,” said Lucy. ““Flor blew fire into me, and I turned into a centaur. That’s what she calls it. A centaur.”
“I know what a centaur is,” he said, smiling.
“Although I don’t know if I want to look like this when I go back home.”
“Mr. Moon,” said Flor. “Where is Dr. Pi?”
“I don’t exactly know,” said Buddy, “but I expect he’s somewhere in here.”
“I don’t see him anywhere,” sa
id Flor.
“As soon as Square Man shut us in,” Buddy said, “Dr. Pi told me to stand in the corner, and he began to do back flips. It was really something to see, with that jolly belly. I had no idea he was such a nimble athlete.”
“He’s got a belly from all those pies he eats,” said Flor. “Did he get smaller and smaller?”
“Yup. Each time he did a back flip, he got smaller, until he completely disappeared. I think he figured soon enough there would only be room for one of us. Which is the case, as you can see.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Flor breathed, and gave a big grin. “He’s safe, then. I’ve seen him do that before. It’s part of the power of the Spiral. He can make himself as small or big as he wants. He just spun himself small. He’s in there somewhere. Probably floating up in the corner like a speck of dust.”
Suddenly a small blue and red marble rolled out of the chamber. It rolled down the hall, and as it rolled, it grew bigger and bigger, until it became a belly, and arms, legs, and a head.
“Dr. Pi!” Flor shouted in relief, running to him.
“My, you’re lovely, all decked out in cosmic fire,” he said.
“You still have some magic left,” she said. “I’m so relieved.”
“I always have a bit of magic up my sleeve,” he said. “That will never change.”
Then they heard a familiar voice.
“One, two, three, four,” said Square Man, marching down the hall.
He stopped.
“Unbelievable. You people are so annoying. I won’t ask how you managed to trick me again.” He walked up to Flor. “What’s with your new dress?”
“Do you like it?” She lifted her arms, and he watched the flames rise and fall.
“Fire becomes her,” said Dr. Pi. “Literally.”
“It’s very nice. I’m wondering about the purse, though. At first I assumed it was a fashion accessory. But it doesn’t match your new outfit at all, and you’ve kept it anyway. May I have a look? I should have had a look before.”
“No way.”
“I’m a gentleman. So I’ll grab it.”
“You won’t take it,” said Red Eye, swooping down and snatching the purse in his beak.
“Come back here!” demanded Square Man.
But Red Eye began to soar down the long hall.
“Oh, phooey! I didn’t want to hurt anybody,” said Square Man, snapping his fingers three times quickly. “A wall appears!”
Suddenly, just as Red Eye turned the corner, he smashed into a wall and fell. The purse fell from his beak, and the key rolled out.
“Had to place a wall in the hall,” said Square Man, leaping nimbly over to the injured bird and grabbing the key. “Looks like you broke your wing. Oh well. Your friends will tend to you.”
He looked at the group.
“Girls and their keys. Whatever you’ve been doing, Flor, you won’t be doing it anymore. I have your key. I suspect this will finally turn the tables on all of you. At some point Lucy will decide to make me rectangles. Until then, sorry to say, I have to have another wall in the hall.”
As he left, a wall rose up behind him, and they found themselves in what amounted to a long, rectangular room.
“We’re trapped inside another golden rectangle,” sighed Buddy.
“But I still have my key,” Lucy said.
“And I still have my book,” said Flor, retrieving her purse from the floor and snapping the clasp shut.
“Flor,” said Dr. Pi.
“Yes?”
“You can blow fire without the key. The key simply contains the secret instructions, meant only for the key holder. The problem is, if Square Man figures out how to open it and reads the scroll, then he will be able to blow fire too. And I expect him to figure it out sooner or later. He’s a clever little man. It’s just that he’s a thief. I have a feeling he stole most of his powers.”
“We need to get it back from him. Or he really might win, right, Dr. Pi?” asked Flor.
“He might,” said Dr. Pi sadly. “And that’s not a good thing, given that he’s a four-inch person who wants to rule the universe.”
“Let’s have a look at that wing,” said Buddy, walking over to Red Eye and testing it gently. “I’ve rescued many a baby bird that fell out of its nest, and more than a few the cat went after. Does it hurt?”
“Not much,” said Red Eye bravely.
Buddy lifted and pressed it gently. Red Eye made a bird whimper.
“You won’t be able to fly for a few weeks,” said Buddy, “but you’ll be okay. For now, you’ll have to walk like the rest of us two-leggeds.”
“So. Exactly how do we get out of here?” asked Flor.
“It’s not that hard,” said Dr. Pi. “I’ve been wanting to show you this for years, and now the time is right.”
“I think I know what you’re going to say,” said Buddy with a sparkle in his eye.
“Truly. We’re in a golden rectangle. And so, right here, in this rectangle, is the curve of the invisible spiral. Which you can’t see, and neither can I, but I can calculate easily from any golden rectangle.”
“How’s that?” asked Lucy.
“It has to do with the square inside the golden rectangle. Every golden rectangle can be divided into a square and another, smaller golden rectangle. Don’t worry. It’s second nature to me.”
“And then what do we do?” asked Lucy.
“We just step onto the spiral. And walk on it.”
“Well, if that don’t beat the band,” she marveled. “Walking on a spiral you can’t see and never knew was there.”
“The spiral will lead us out. The rectangle offers up the spiral. It’s the law of the universe. In fact, I might go so far as to say that the rectangle becomes the spiral. The only concern is, I don’t know where we’ll end up. We might just keep walking the spiral right into outer space!”
RECTANGLES GALORE
The first thing Dr. Pi did was measure the length and width of the hallway, using his feet as a ruler. “At my full height my feet are exactly twelve inches long,” he explained with a laugh. Then he did various calculations in his head, murmuring every so often. “One, two, five . . . three hundred . . . forty-seven . . . ”
After a few minutes he nodded. “I’ve got it,” he said. “Follow me.”
What happened next looked like magic. He went to a spot on the floor and stepped up into the air.
“It’s there,” he announced. “Like a very thin wire. Quite wonderful.”
Very slowly, continuing to check his calculations, and jiggling and wiggling with his arms out to keep his balance, he went up an invisible curve.
“Follow me,” he said, pausing near the ceiling.
“Dr. Pi, you look like a very bad circus act,” said Buddy, laughing. “Well, I always wanted to join the circus. I’ll follow on faith.”
He stepped easily onto the invisible spiral, and walked around and up. “Look at that,” said Lucy in wonder. The ceiling simply opened up, and Dr. Pi squeezed through the opening, grunting.
“Come on, girls,” said Buddy. “And Red Eye.”
Red Eye hesitated. “Does anybody mind if I stay here?”
“The wing really hurts?” Buddy asked.
Red Eye nodded.
“You should rest, then. We’ll come back for you once the girls have saved the day.”
Lucy ran to the spot, felt for the spiral, and turned to Flor.
“You can’t see it, but it’s right there.”
She held her hand out to Flor, who took it.
“I’ve been here before, sort of,” Flor said to Lucy as they felt their way up the spiral curve.
“What do you mean?”
“I met the Spirit of the Spiral. It sounds goofy, I know, but I really did. She took me through the Milky Way, and even into this spiral bone that’s inside your ear. She showed me all these spiral forms in nature. That was after I just stepped out into outer space, like—”
“This?” L
ucy breathed as they exited the palace and walked up the curve into the night air. “Wow. I wonder if there’s a spiral like this in my hay rectangle, and in all Daddy’s ice containers?”
“There must be.”
“Wild,” said Lucy. “It’s like a secret trapdoor that’s all over the place and nobody knows about.”
“But the thing is—if you just try to jump off, do you fall through space, or do you end up back in the rectangle? Don’t let go of my hand!”
“No way, Miss Pinkie Cosmic Fire—if we fall, we fall together.”
“Speaking of which, I wonder if I can ever take off this dress? I don’t think I can go to school dressed in fire.”
The girls had caught up to the others.
“Now,” Dr. Pi said, “as we cross outside the golden rectangle, we will pass through a bigger square, and a bigger golden rectangle. When the spiral intersects with the next rectangle, we can jump off, if we wish.”
With that, he stepped off the curve and disappeared. They followed, and soon found themselves in a long rectangle with shiny polished wood floors and two deep gutters on either side.
A large, hard black ball was hurtling toward them at incredible speed. They scattered as it smashed past them and turned to watch it barrel onward and crash into three huge, odd-shaped white pegs.
“Gad night a livin’,” said Lucy. “We’re in a bowling alley!”
All three pins went down, and there was loud applause. Then a voice called, “What’s going on with those other pins? I see four new pins popped up—and they are really strange! One looks like a horse and another looks like a burning girl!”
“Extra pins. That’s not in the rules,” said a second voice. “What the heck. Roll another ball and smash ’em down!”
“I don’t think we want to linger here,” said Dr. Pi. “Shall we be on our way as fast as we can?”
They climbed back onto the spiral and walked into space, just in time to miss another bowling ball.
The next rectangle was unbelievably soft and white and perfumed. At the edges it had blue embroidery.
“Ahhh,” said Buddy, “I know what this is.” He turned to Lucy. “Your mom had one of these. It’s an old-fashioned tissue box. The tissues are the finest linen and hand-embroidered.”
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