Hillary’s eyes fluttered open. Without thinking, she screamed and flailed her arms, afraid she had dream-slipped to the floundering raft and bloodsucking tadvoles.

"It’s all right. You’re safe," she heard Fernbark say and felt someone grab her arms.

She looked up and saw Haggerwolf’s beard dangling nearly in her face.

Hillary stopped struggling and sat up when Fernbark released his grip. "I knew you three wouldn’t let anything happen to me. But… but, I was still a little scared, I guess. Where are we, and what happened to the tadvoles?"

Larkstone offered Hillary a hand and pulled her to her feet. "We’re at the far side of Lake Shimmerdawn. When your trick made the Bilge-bellies sneeze, it made a bit of a tidal wave that shoved the raft all the way here. The tadvoles are still out there, but at the bottom of the lake, like before. We’re safe thanks to you."

"Safe again," Haggerwolf said. "It seems you’re the one that’s always saving us. It’s supposed to be the other way around. I mean, we’re wizards and you’re just a girl."

"Oh? Just a girl!" Hillary said, her voice loud. She squinted her eyes and tightened her lips. Haggerwolf backed away from her. Hillary stepped forward, following him.

"Settle down, Hillary," he said, raising his hands ups. "I didn’t mean it the way you think. I meant that we have magic and you don’t. It has nothing to do with you being a female."

Larkstone stepped next to them. "We were discussing things while you were gone, Hillary. We feel… well. A bit… A bit…"

"A bit useless," Fernbark said from behind her. "We feel like three old useless men. Washed up wizards, so to speak. Nothing to do with being soaked from the lake, of course."

"Hm… Well," Hillary said. She put her hands on her hips and turned away from Haggerwolf. "You were right to make me the leader then."

The three wizards exchanged glances.

"I just wish my brother would see things like you three do. Speaking of him, he’s got his hands full with saving Molly. I’m really worried about both of them. I don’t think she has much time left. Any ideas?"

"I wish we could help, dear," Fernbark said. "I’m afraid we can’t do anything from here. Maybe we could, if we had a way to get to Abba-dread. Saving Molly is something you’ll have to do from earth."

Haggerwolf shouldered his pack and looked straight into Hillary’s eyes. "Molly might be a casualty of all this. Even if we could get to Abba-dread, which we can’t, it’s more important to stop Gristle-tooth. If we don’t stop him, thousands will die, including Molly and all of us. We must get to Dreadmoor."

"I won’t abandon her," Hillary said, staring back at Haggerwolf. "Somehow we’re going to do both. We’ll stop Gristle-tooth and save Molly. I want everyone clear on that."

Hillary looked at the other two wizards. Larkstone looked down and untied, then retied, a leather thong on his pack. Fernbark cleared is throat and scratched at his beard while he seemed to look up at the sky.

"I said, is that clear!" Hillary said, her voice loud and sharp.

Haggerwolf was the only one who answered. "Of course, my dear."

Hillary looked at the other two wizards again, hoping to give them stern looks, but both of them looked at the ground after slinging their packs.

"So just exactly where are we?" Hillary asked. "Where’s Dreadmoor Temple from here? What happened to the lake? I thought we were on the edge of it. How’d you arrange it so I’d dream-slip here?"

"You dream-slipped back to the exact spot you left from," Haggerwolf answered. "You know that’s how it works."

"But the lake? We’re in a swamp." For the first time, Hillary took a good look around. She and the three wizards stood on a small grassy mound surrounded by cattails. The tall, green, straplike leaves, rose taller than Hillary’s waist. Above them rose stalks topped with brown cylinders that looked like fuzzy hotdogs. To the south the cattails thinned, low woody bushes taking their place. Past the brush, a thick forest rose upward with the land. "Those trees look orange."

"The trees aren’t orange. Actually they’re dead," Fernbark said. "It’s the death-shroud vines you see. The vines covered the trees and killed the whole forest. Death-shroud leaves wrap around you like a sandwich bun and smother you to death."

Larkstone pushed past Hillary. He grabbed her pack from the ground and slung it across his shoulder, on top of his. "Don’t worry," he said, looking back at her. "They say it’s not a painful death. The leaf sap makes you laugh. The trouble is, you can never breath in. You just keep laughing out until your lungs are empty. You don’t really suffer that much."

"That’s good to know," Hillary said. She ran up to him and grabbed her pack. "I can carry my own things, Larkstone. And, I’ll take the lead. We’ll have to avoid that area. So which way is Dreadmoor?"

"In the middle of the forest," Haggerwolf said and began walking.

#

Windslow woke with a start. He was behind the row of clocks. First he used his senses to search the room. The clocks blocked his view, but other than the jumble of ticking noises from the clocks, everything seemed quiet. Carefully he got to his feet and peeked out into the ballroom. About to take a step, he stopped when he heard voices.

"Keep your voice down, idiot. Aghasta has hearing like a hawk."

"I don’t think hawks hear all that well. They can really see great. Did you know— Ouch! Army, don’t hold on to daddy so tight."

"Will you keep quiet? Hmm… what do we have here? I do believe it is little Molly Folly Sallyforth. Ha! Serves you right you little brat. See, Bitterbrun. See how white she is. It’s nearly over. My poison is doing it’s work back on earth. The glass in the clock is starting to cloud up. See how frosty it looks on the bottom? Her soul keeps the glass clear. The more her soul slips away, the frostier the glass will get. When it’s all frosted over, she’ll sleep forever while her soul mixes with the lost magic that wonders around Aghasta’s place. The only trouble is that Gristle-tooth feeds on that magic."

"Do you think he’s still after us?"

"Of course he is. We just got lucky that he met up with Aghasta."

"I thought you said their meeting up was really a bad thing?"

"Well it is. But it gave us a chance to escape. Now get away from that clock and keep up with me. I know a place where we can hide and set up a trap for that meddlesome kid. He’ll make fine bait for Gristle-tooth."

Windslow held still for a long time. He knew who the voices belonged to and wanted to make sure Fistlock and Bitterbrun weren’t around before he did anything. The only problem was, he didn’t have any idea what he was going to do. Hillary hadn’t been much help. In fact, she was no help at all. She had told him to just stay put, and make sure Molly was comfortable. Hillary got mad about Windslow’s idea to go to the hospital were Molly was. Hillary made an anonymous phone call to a nurse at the hospital. The nurse hung up when Hillary started talking about magic powder needles.

After taking a deep breath, Windslow pulled the leather dream-slip band out of his pocket and tied it around his wrist. He hadn’t needed it to dream-slip back to Molly. Angstrom had said Windslow needed to wear the band, but Windslow was nervous about it. Now he was even more skeptical, after hearing Fistlock talk about "bait."

"Jimmy," Windslow whispered as he slid out from behind the clocks. "Jimmy, where are you?" He didn’t wait for an answer but moved quickly to the clock where he left Molly. Just as Fistlock had said, the bottom third of the door looked frosted. Windslow’s hand shook as he eased the door open.

"Molly? Molly, are you all right. It’s me, Windslow." He let out a breath when the Molly’s eyes fluttered then opened.

"Hi, Window," is all she said and smiled at him.

"I brought you some candy and an apple and water, and--"

Molly silenced him by putting her finger to his lips. "I like-a water."

Windslow nodded and fumbled a bit as he dug into his backpack for a water bottle. When he found it, he twisted off the top and handed it to Molly. She took the bottle with one hand and grabbed his wrist with the other.

"Where this come from?" Molly asked after taking a sip of water. "That very bad knot. "Why you do goofy thing like this?" she said. "It dangerous. Untie it."

Windslow shrugged and used his teeth to untie the main knot in the leather dream-slip band. He didn’t want to answer her question. He didn’t want to take a chance upsetting her. While he untied the leather thong, he though about telling her. Maybe she could tell him what to do. He almost wished Hillary was here. Even if she was getting bossy, she might have some ideas. While he was thinking, Molly closed her eyes and rested her head back against the clock. Windslow didn’t like the way she looked. She was white all the way up to her neck. When she opened her eyes again, it snapped him out of his thoughts. She didn’t say anything, but held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. Windslow smiled and handed her the dream-slip band.

Windslow watched her untie the complicated knots in the middle of the thong. When they were all out, she yanked sharply on both ends, trying to pull out some of the kinks. With some quick twists and tucks, she tied a new knot, tested the length of each tale to make sure the knot was centered.

"Goofy knot was double-double-twist." It tell Aghasta where you are. It not help if she find us. It still time-a hide from her."

"Fistlock said it would let me dream-slip anywhere I wanted to," Windslow blurted out.

"He like my sister, Nelly. He not tell a-truth. Why you talk to him? First knot make magic swirl like crazy. Crazy magic attract Aghasta. That knot," she said, pointing to the band, "is special knot my Grampy teach me. I forget all about it. Then I see crazy one and I remember."

"What does this one do? What does it do compared to the other one," he quickly added.

"It not attract Aghasta," Molly said. She gave a tiny cough and closed her eyes.

Windslow was about to take the water bottle and put it where it wouldn’t spill when Molly opened her eyes again.

"First knot let you dream-slip anywhere on earth but always bring you back to Abba-dread. It Gabendoor band. New one work both ways. Go anywhere on earth. Go anywhere on Gabendoor."

"I could use it to get home," Jimmy said from behind Windslow.

Windslow spun around. "Where were you?

"Hiding. Where do you think I was? What about that dream-slip band. Can it get me back home? Come on, Molly. Wake up. Answer me."

"Shut up," Windslow said and gave Jimmy a push. "And leave Molly alone or I’ll--"

"Don’t fight," Molly said, interrupting Windslow. "Band take you anywhere. But you all-a time--"

Jimmy shoved Windslow into Molly and grabbed at the dream-slip band. He had a good hold on the end, but so did Windslow. The struggle was brief. Windslow let go when Jimmy punched him.

"Hey," Windslow yelled as Jimmy darted away. Windslow was about to go after him but Molly grabbed Windslow’s shirt.

"That not important now. All-a good things come with bad things and other way around too. Band take you where you need-a be, not where you like-a be.

"Then I’ve got to get it back. There are a lot of places I need to be because… Because…" Windslow closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "What should I do, Molly? I promised I’d save you, but I don’t know what to do. I just…" Windslow’s words trailed off. He swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He sniffed when Molly reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek.

"I not be saved here. This wrong place. Only place is hospital."

"I’ll go there right away," Windslow said, his voice fast. "I’ll fall asleep and get back home. Maybe I can get a taxi or… or… I’ll… I’ll get there somehow."

"Jimmy going there. Now he got band again and can dream-slip. Maybe he help me. You work on mystery to save Gabendoor," Molly said, her voice fading. "Gristle-tooth very big baddie. Find special clocks and fix them. For last one, make sure you--"

"Molly? Molly!"

She didn’t answer. Windslow wiped his moist face as he looked at the sleeping girl. After a sigh he leaned forward, close to Molly’s face. He hesitated, then leaned closer yet and gave her a soft kiss. His face burned and he leaned back so quickly he nearly fell over.

When Windslow reached back to catch himself, his palm touched something warm and scaly. He jerked his hand away twisted around. Just behind him sat a strange creature that looked like an armadillo with a little elephant trunk. The creature’s big eyes looked up at him, and the little trunk waved back and forth, like a slow moving puppy’s tail. Windslow held still and the creature inched forward, sniffing first at the floor and then at Windslow’s hand and leg. After a through sniffing, the little trunk waved faster and reached up upward.

"Easy, little fellow." Windslow held very still. The creature inched even closer, its trunk still waiving.

"You’re not going to hurt me, are you?" Windslow asked.

Carefully he reached his hand down and gently stroked the creatures back. The trunk curled upward and the creature closed its eyes. Windslow was certain he heard it sigh. Feeling more confident, Windslow stroked it again and grinned when lids closed over the big brown eyes.

"Army, where are you?" Windslow heard Bitterbrun call. "Come to daddy, sweetie."

"I told you to be quiet." Fistlock’s voice was more like a loud whisper, but Windslow could tell it was coming from the far side of the room.

"Forget your silly pet," Fistlock continued, "We need to get out of here. If we leave the way we came in, or the way those brats came in, it will leave less of a trail for Aghasta to follow. Maybe they came down those stairs."

"I’m not leaving Army behind," Bitterbrun said, his voice softer, yet closer.

Windslow gave the creature a push. He assumed it must be the pet Bitterbrun was looking for. Army ignored the shove and began sniffing at Windslow again. He gave it another gentle shove and mouthed the words, ‘Go away.’ After scowling at Army, blowing on her face and pushing her again, all with no luck, he decided to change tactics. On hands and knees, he crawled around the clock, poking his head up once, trying to spot Fistlock and Bitterbrun.

"We don’t have time to waste," Fistlock said. "Neither Aghasta or Gristle-tooth will do anything to Army. They probably wouldn’t even notice her if she walked between them. Don’t worry about her. I bet she’ll find you. After all, you are her…" Fistlock paused, "…daddy. Let’s look for a window or door upstairs."

Windslow kept crawling, weaving around and between the pairs of grandfather clocks, trying to sneak silently to the other side of the ballroom. He peeked up once more, just in time to see Fistlock and Bitterbrun reach the top of the staircase and round the corner into the hallway. He let out a sigh when they moved out of sight. He heard a chirp and felt something poke at his leg. Turning his head, he saw what he had hoped wouldn’t be there –Army.

"Go away," he said as loud as he dared.

Army rubbed her side against him and sniffed at the pocket of his jeans.

"Crap-oh," Windslow said and shoved his hand into his pocket.

He had forgotten about the butterscotch candy he brought to give Molly. "So that’s what you want," he said softly to Army while he unwrapped a piece. "Here. Now go away."

Using her trunk, Army snatched the candy from Windslow’s outstretched hand, and promptly popped it into her mouth.

"Now go," Windslow urged. Army stayed put and wagged her trunk again.

Windslow unwrapped another piece and showed it to Army before tossing it across the floor. When Army scooted after it, Windslow stood and began threading his way between clocks in the opposite direction.

BAM! GONG!

The noise startled him, and out of instinct, Windslow ducked and used his arms to cover his head to protect it from the shower of wood splinters.

BAM! CRASH! GONG!

With his head still covered, Windslow ran.

Three more times, a hole blew through a clock near him, showering wood into the air. He chanced a quick look and didn’t see anyone.

This time the explosion was bigger and the clock in front of him disintegrated. Windslow could smell smoke. He risked another look, this time toward the staircase. Recognizing who stood halfway down the steps, Windslow stopped and stood up straight. Not knowing what to do next, he simply raised his hands over his head.

"So very wise of you," Aghasta said.

Even though no wind stirred inside the room, her long purple gown flowed and undulated around her. The long glistening strands of her silver-silk hair moved as if tossed by the same breeze. She held some sort of magic wand in her hand. Windslow guessed she had used it to blow holes in the grandfather clocks. He realized that she probably could have hit him at any time from her vantage point. He decided to stay silent, and was glad he wasn’t near Molly. He hoped Aghasta wouldn’t notice her. To keep Aghasta’s attention focused on him, Windslow began slowly moving sideways.

"Not so wise," Aghasta said and stretched out her arm, pointing the wand directly at him. "Be smart and stand still. I’ll be right down to introduce myself. If you move, I’ll treat you to a time mist. It might change you to a baby or an old man. Who knows what I’ll do with you. You might fit nicely in one of my clocks."