The Indigo King - James A. Owen [10]
Hugo was right. The door was sitting slightly askew within the arch. Not open enough to really see through to the other side, but enough to realize it could be pulled open farther—and so Hugo reached out, and did.
“Hold on!” Jack yelled as he and John both grabbed at Hugo. “You don’t know what’s on the other side!”
“What can it hurt to open the door?” Hugo reasoned.
“You’ve obviously never been to Loch Ness,” said John.
“What does that mean?”
“Never mind,” said Jack. “Hugo may be right. Look.”
The door had swung open to reveal … nothing.
It was just meadow on the other side.
“See?” said Hugo with a chuckle. “It’s just a set dressing, perhaps meant to scare us. Or maybe you’re taking a practical joke to unprecedented heights. Either way, I think it’s harmless.”
And then, as if to prove his point, Hugo walked through the doorway, and half a dozen paces on the other side. Then he turned and spread his hands, smiling. “Gentlemen?”
John and Jack both relaxed visibly.
“I was really quite concerned for a moment,” said Jack, as he crouched to sit down in the grass. “I—“He suddenly stopped talking, and his brow furrowed.
“What?” said John.
Jack didn’t answer but started moving his head side to side, looking at Hugo. Then his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet.
“Hugo!” he exclaimed. “Come back through the doorway, quickly! Hurry, man!”
Hugo chuckled again. “Jack, you sound like a mother hen. How much rum did you have, anyroad?”
John was looking around, anxious and worried. His Caretaker instincts had gone hyperactive—of them both, Jack wasn’t the one to panic easily—and he realized something was wrong.
Jack grabbed him and pulled him two feet to the left of the doorway. As John watched, Hugo vanished.
“Shades!” John hissed. “Hugo! Are you there?” He stepped back. Hugo reappeared.
“Have you both gone round the bend?” asked Hugo. “I’m right here.”
He was—but only if they were looking straight through the open doorway. If they moved to either side, and looked around the arch, he disappeared.
“Hugo,” said John, “we’ll explain in a moment, but for now just walk slowly toward me and through the door.”
But Hugo was having nothing of it. “This has gone far enough, I think. It’s been a grand joke you two have arranged, but I think it’s time to go.”
He walked forward and then, whether by happenstance or in defiance of his friends’ urgent pleading, he stepped over a fallen stone, and then around the frame rather than through it. And just like that, in a trice …
… Hugo Dyson was gone.
CHAPTER THREE
The Royal Animal Rescue Squad
It took several moments for John and Jack to realize what had happened—and when they did, they realized that there was very little they could actually do.
“Hugo!” John shouted. “Hugo, can you hear me?” But there was no response.
“The scenes we could view through the doorways in the Keep were static, remember?” said Jack.
“Until someone crossed the threshold,” said John. “I think Hugo put it into motion.”
“But we can see right through it!” protested Jack. “How can he have disappeared so completely?”
“It is another time,” said John, walking a wide circuit around the door. “He’s just moved out of earshot. He’s still here. He’s just … Elsewhen.”
“I really wish Charles were here,” said Jack. “This is more his forte than ours.”
“We’ll make do,” said John, hefting his walking stick with both hands. “Listen, I’m going to step inside, but I’m going to keep hold of this stick. I want you to remain here and hold on to the other end. That way, whatever happens, you can pull me back through.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“I’m going to look around the corner and yell at that idiot to come back through,” said John. “With any luck, he’s stayed here in the meadow and is wondering where in Hades we got to.”
Gingerly Jack took hold of one end of the stick, and with a deep breath, John stepped through the door.
“So far so good,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “It really doesn’t look any different over here.