Mr. and Mrs. Vertigo always slept late on Sunday mornings, so Olivia would be the first one up. Emma hoped she wouldn't need anything from the linen closet on her way to the bathroom.
Time passes slowly when you're waiting in the dark, in a rather uncomfortable position. Emma was just beginning to think that she couldn't bear it another minute, when she heard a door open. Someone walked past the closet and went to the bathroom. Emma heard the bathroom door close, but the lock didn't click. She crawled warily out of the closet and listened. Someone was taking a shower. It had to be Olivia.
Emma crept over to the bathroom door. She slowly turned the handle until it opened just wide enough for her to see a pile of clothes on a low chair.
There was no sign of the vest. Perhaps it was under the pile? Or in Olivia's bedroom? Emma darted to the bedroom. She couldn't see the vest anywhere.
Frantically she lifted the bedspread and the pillows. She looked under the bed, pulled out drawers, searched the closet. Nothing. Was Olivia wearing the vest in the shower?
Emma ran back to the bathroom. Olivia was now humming monotonously as she washed her hair. Seizing the pile of clothes, Emma turned it upside down. And there was the vest. As she pulled the new vest out of the bag, Emma's hand began to shake. She couldn't afford to stop now, even though she had no idea what might happen if Olivia discovered her precious vest had been switched.
Grabbing the enchanted garment, she stuffed it into the bag, replaced it with the new one, and laid the clothes back on the chair.
"Is someone there?" Olivia called from behind the shower curtain. "Mom, is that you?"
Emma dropped to the floor behind the chair. Olivia peeped around the curtain.
Her eyes were misted with soapy water and she failed to see the hunched figure behind the chair. When she went back to her showering, Emma crawled out of the bathroom and back into the linen closet, where she stuffed the bag behind some sheets. It was too late to go back and close the bathroom door.
Olivia had turned off the shower.
Emma waited. Waited and waited. How long did it take a person to dry themselves and get dressed? There was a sudden long wait and then a thump.
Emma ran back to the bathroom. Olivia, fully dressed, was lying on her back.
Her eyes were open and her hands rested on her chest. She seemed to be finding it difficult to breathe. "Ah! Ah! Ahhh!" she moaned. Beneath her fingers the silver discs on the new vest were turning all the colors of the rainbow. They sparkled and crackled and sang, while Olivia cried, "Help me!
Oh, help me! I'm dying."
Emma dropped to her knees beside her friend. "You're not dying, Liv," she said. "You're coming to life again." She took Olivia's hand and held it tight in both of her own. It wasn't easy to escape wickedness, she realized, and she couldn't imagine the pain that Olivia must be feeling. She began to thrash about, kicking her legs, flinging one arm out and banging the floor with her free hand while Emma still clung to the other.
"Whatever's going on?" Mrs. Vertigo ran into the bathroom and bent over her daughter. "Liv, what is it? What's the matter?"
Emma wondered how she could tell Mrs. Vertigo the truth. She was afraid the vest would be torn off Olivia before she had been healed. But Olivia suddenly
became still. Her eyes closed and she appeared to be in a deep and peaceful sleep.
"Has she fainted?" Mrs. Vertigo asked Emma. "She's smiling. Emma, what's been going on?"
"I'm not sure, Mrs. Vertigo," Emma 'said a little guiltily. "But I think Liv's OK now."
Olivia opened her eyes. "Hi, Em," she said. "Wow! I feel weird."
"You fainted, darling," said Mrs. Vertigo. "I expect you got up too early."
"I expect I did," said Olivia. She sat up. "Silly me."
It was too much for Emma to behave as if nothing extraordinary had happened.
She suddenly hugged her friend tight, crying, "Oh, Liv. I'm so glad you're better."
"Me, too," said Olivia, looking somewhat puzzled.
Nobody thought to ask how Emma had got into the house, and the sooty marks were put down to yet another chimney jackdaw. Soon Emma and the Vertigos were eating a hearty breakfast. When the doorbell rang, the girls continued their conversation about fashion while Mrs. Vertigo went to the front door in her white bathrobe.
When Mrs. Vertigo came back, she looked anxious. "There are three young men here," she told the girls. "Friends of yours."
Before she could go any further, Tancred Torsson poked his head around the door and said, "Hello, Em. I'm glad I found you. Charlie said you might be here."
Emma's cheeks turned pink as she gave Tancred a profoundly welcoming smile.
"I'm here, too," said Olivia. "In fact, I live here."
"And you look quite your old self to me," said Tancred. "I heard you'd been acting a bit peculiar."
Olivia frowned. "I was tricked," she said. "It won't happen again."
By now Lysander had pushed Tancred farther into the kitchen and walked in himself, followed by Gabriel Silk. At this moment Mr. Vertigo chose to come galloping down the stairs in jeans and what might have been a pink pajama top, but you couldn't always tell with him, as he was a famous film director.
There was now quite a crush in the Vertigos' kitchen, but they managed somehow to get everyone around the table, and luckily there was enough orange juice left for the three boys. Lysander waited until Mr. Vertigo had helped himself to a banana before explaining why they had arrived so early on a Sunday morning.
"It was Mr. Silk," he said, glancing at Gabriel. "You can imagine what it's like up in the Heights in this fog. We can hardly see an inch in front of our faces. Mr. Silk rang my dad and Tancred's, and he said... well, he said something odd, although it made sense to us, to me and Tancred anyway."
"Well, none of it makes sense to me yet." Mr. Vertigo knitted his brows.
"Everyone seems to be leaving the city, which is a dumb thing to do, if you ask me."
"Something has happened, Mr. Vertigo," Lysander said earnestly. "I expect you've heard of Count Harken?"
Olivia's parents might have been in the movie business, but that didn't mean they weren't aware of the city's history. In fact, they knew a great deal about it and they had certainly heard of Count Harken the enchanter. They also knew that a day would arrive when their daughter's extraordinary talent would be needed for something more vital than scaring a few misguided children.
"I imagine that he's got back somehow," said Mr. Vertigo, looking at the mist creeping through their garden.
"That's about it." Lysander was relieved to find that he wouldn't have to explain a rather complex situation. "The thing is, Gabriel's dad has advised us to walk up to the Heath."
"Why?" asked Olivia's father. Her mother was more interested in "Who?"
"Us." Lysander looked at Gabriel.
Taking his cue, Gabriel said, "Er, my family has always kept the Red King's cloak but just lately, my dad passed it on to someone else, a... er"—he cleared his throat—"a... um... knight. The knight has been protecting us, but now my dad says we must do something for ourselves. All of us"—he glanced at Emma and Olivia—"all of us children of the Red King. The knight needs our help to save the city."
"Who is this knight?" Mr. Vertigo demanded. "He could be leading you into a trap."
"I don't think so, sir," Gabriel said firmly.
Mr. Vertigo leaped up. "I'll get my jacket. We'll come with you. I can't allow the girls to go alone."
"They'll be with us, sir," said Tancred, "and we think it's best if you stay here." He allowed a slight breeze to blow across the table to emphasize his point. "We have talents. We can protect ourselves better than you can, if you don't mind my saying so. Mr. Yewbeam will be there, and Mrs. Kettle, and Alice Angel."
"Alice?" Mrs. Vertigo looked at her daughter.
"Alice Angel? Why didn't you say?" cried Olivia. "I'll be absolutely fine, Mom, if Alice is with me."