Willa nodded. “And I dreamed, too.”
“So did I.” Horace nodded thoughtfully. “I dreamt
I was looking out the window at something ... a horse, I think.”
Something shifted in Willa’s memory and she felt suddenly chilled. Her own dream was reassembling itself in her mind. A black night, a white moon, a pounding sound, a dark shape in the streetlight.
“A black horse,” she whispered. Silence fell over the table. She looked around. The smiles had faded.
“A black horse!”
“Yes! Me too!”
“Now I remember!”
“With red eyes!”
Baz sank into a chair, looking worried. “How could we all have the same dream?”
Willa looked around at them all. “That black horse is the same one I saw before Miss Trang left. A black horse with red eyes that ran down the street on two legs.” Her hands were cold and trembled in her lap at the memory.
“Indeed,” murmured Horace. “And now he’s shown up in our dreams. He’s been looking for us.”
Belle finished his thought, speaking in a low, hoarse voice. “And now he’s found us.”
Horace nodded. Willa’s heart sank.
Chapter Ten
Augury and fog
“But he’s just in our dreams ... is he real? Why was he looking for us? What’s he going to do? What should we do?”
Willa looked anxiously to Horace, who was frowning and staring into his tea. The whole group waited in silence for a long moment while he thought. Finally, he cleared his throat.
“The horse is a Grant, and yes, he is real. All too real. However, we don’t need to worry about him so much. He was sent to find us and his job is done.”
“He was sent?” Willa fought to keep calm.
“The Grant is sent by his masters to scout about and find people. When you saw him that first time, Miss Trang knew it was a bad sign, that something evil was brewing, but she never thought he might be searching for us. If she had, she wouldn’t have left.”
Horace took a sip of his tea before going on. “But now ... now it appears that he was looking for us. He roamed the streets and roads of the dreamworld, searching. When Mab stopped us from dreaming, without knowing it she also prevented the Grant from being able to find us.”
Belle passed a pale hand over her eyes. “And when we were able to dream again, he found us. In our dreams.”
Willa leaned forward. “But why was he looking for us? Who sent him?”
Horace straightened his spoon. “The Other Side sent him.”
Robert stomped a hoof in irritation, rattling the cups. “Rubbish. What on earth would the Other Side want with a pathetic collection of old farts like us? What good are we to anyone?”
“I ... I’m not sure.” Horace rubbed his forehead. He suddenly looked very old. “I need to think....” He struggled to his feet and left the room. The others exchanged worried looks. Willa was still frantic for some answers.
“I don’t understand. What’s the Other Side?”
Baz started clearing the table. Robert looked out the window. Tengu muttered about things he had to do and slipped out of the room.
Willa appealed to Belle. “What is the Other Side?”
Belle made a face and waved her hand. “Oh, nothing you have to worry about. It’s just ... You know, there’s this side, and then ...” She mimed lifting a rock and turning it over. “There’s the other side. The side you can’t see. The underneath.”
“But what are we talking about here? Bad guys? Monsters? What?” Willa was feeling panicky now.
“You read too many books,” replied Belle sharply, clearly finished with the conversation. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s nothing. Like Robert said, they couldn’t possibly want anything with us.” She turned and wheeled out of the room.
Willa slumped in her chair, exasperated. Belle was treating her like a little kid. Well, she was going to worry about it. After all, Miss Trang left her in charge. She sat up suddenly. Miss Trang. Of course. They needed to call her back, and right away!
Willa hurried up the stairs to the library, where she knew she’d find Horace. She felt a little relieved at the thought of Miss Trang. She and Horace would figure everything out. Everything would be fine if they could just get Miss Trang to come home.
Horace was sitting in his usual chair, staring out the window. Willa paused a moment in the doorway. The sight of him there, thinking so intently, comforted her.
She coughed softly. Horace looked up brightly, smiling. “Hello. Is it teatime already?”
Willa felt cold. “No ... we just had breakfast ... I was wondering about the Grant. You said you needed to think?”
Horace blinked. “The Grant. Yes.”
Willa approached. “Can you call Miss Trang back? I think we need her help.”
Horace considered this for a moment. “Miss Trang. Yes, that would be a good idea. But first I think an augury is called for. Then hopefully I’ll have more information to relay to her.”
“Augury, you told me about that. Foretelling the future, right?”
“Yes. I’ll read the signs, see what’s brewing. I’ll do it tonight. I just need to find a high point, where I can see as much of the landscape as possible.”
“You can see the whole town from the top of Hanlan’s Hill, and the ocean too, if it’s clear.”
“Exactly the spot. Splendid.”
“May I come with you? I can show you the way.”
“All right. We’ll leave at ten.”
Later that afternoon Willa came down the stairs and paused in the front hallway. It was strangely dark. A black shadow pooled in one corner. Willa flicked on the hall light, but the shadow didn’t disappear in the light. It remained, as if someone had painted it onto the wainscotting — an inky black triangle reaching about a foot up the wall.
Willa knelt and leaned close to stare into the shadow but could see nothing. She gingerly slid her foot into the shadow. The blackness was total. It was like the end of her shoe had just disappeared. Her toes tingled with a cold electrical tickle. There was a sudden skittery scratching noise and she jumped back.
A few minutes later everyone was gathered around the shadow — everyone except Robert, who was asleep in his room. Horace solemnly ran his hand along the wall above and beside the blackness.
“Yes. Yes. Definitely.” He sat back, a worried frown on his face.
“Definitely what? What is it?” Willa ventured, afraid of the answer.
“It’s a temporal tear, a little rip in time. It’s not uncommon in houses such as ours. Especially with the superintendent away. Miss Trang, I mean. You look away for a moment and there it is. The trick is to not let it spread or you’re in big trouble. It’s a lot like termites, actually.”
“I’ll bet you anything it was opened up by somebody,” muttered Belle darkly.
Horace considered this. “Well ... yes. Simple carelessness could possibly cause it....”
“Possibly? It was opened by someone and I know who. That old drunk and