“The rope could snap,” said JC. “Or be broken by the forces inside the room.”
“And besides,” said Kim. “We haven’t got a rope.”
“Imagine my relief,” said Happy.
“All right, one of you think of something!” said Melody.
“Keep the noise down, children,” said JC. “Daddy’s thinking. .”
“Oh, I feel so much safer,” said Happy.
“The doors open onto Past Time,” JC said slowly. “People walk into the room, into the Past, the door shuts, and the visitor is trapped in that Past moment. But! If we could persuade the doors to open onto the exact Time and moment when the doors last closed, and the person was taken, those people should still be there! Time wouldn’t have changed or moved on, for them! Which means, if we could persuade those doors to open. . we could rescue all the lost people! Yes!”
“Love the theory,” said Happy. “But how would we do that?”
“Trust you to shoot down a perfectly good theory with a practical question,” said JC.
“No! Wait!” Melody said excitedly. “How does each room choose a Time? Each room holds or perhaps generates a different moment of Past Time; so someone or something in the background must be making a decision as to which room holds which Time. And so far, the only thing we’ve encountered in this inn that even seems like a conscious entity, capable of making such decisions. . is the blonde woman!”
“I’m not going to like where this is going; am I?” said Happy.
“The blonde woman does seem to like you,” said JC.
“It’s not mutual!” said Happy.
“She does seem. . attracted to you, Happy,” said Melody.
“I am not volunteering for anything,” Happy said firmly. “With or without a rope.”
“You first encountered the woman in your room,” said JC. “I say we go back there and see if we can summon her. So we can talk to her.”
“No!” said Happy. “This is a really bad idea! You don’t want to talk to her. You don’t know. . You don’t know what she’s like, what she’s capable of. .”
“You won’t be alone, this time,” said Melody.
“We’ll be right there with you,” said JC. “We won’t let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”
“What do you plan to do if she does turn up again?” said Happy.
“Improvise!” said JC, grinning broadly. “Suddenly and violently and all over the place! You said it yourself, Happy; she’s not a ghost, or any kind of surviving personality. Just a mass of emotions that’s somehow hung on for centuries, manifesting as the storm outside, and a blonde woman. If we can’t see off a bundle of retained memories, we don’t deserve to call ourselves Ghost Finders. Come on, my children, we can do this! We summon her up, then either force or trick her into opening the doors into the Past. And then we rescue all the people trapped inside them!”
“But how are we going to do that?” said Happy.
“Don’t spoil another good theory with your voice of reason!” said JC. “I’m working on it!”
“Maybe we should join together again, and glow at her,” said Kim, “Like we did in the bar.”
Everyone looked at her, and they all thought many things, but no-one actually said anything.
“Just a thought,” said Kim.
* * *
Brook led the way, back to the room he’d given Happy. The door was still closed, and Brook looked it over carefully before nodding that everything was all right. Kim strode forward and stared firmly at the closed door.
“Don’t See anything. Don’t hear anything. Can’t feel a damned thing.”
She walked right through the door, and disappeared. Everyone jumped a little. There was a short pause, then Kim ghosted back through the door and smiled brilliantly at everyone.
“All clear! No ghosties, no ghoulies, and very definitely no long-leggity anythings. Open her up, Brookie, and let’s get this show on the road.”
Happy stood at the back of the group as Brook opened the door, pushed it open a few inches, and stepped quickly to one side. JC slammed the door all the way open and strode into the room, turning the lights on with a quick flick of his hand. Kim swept in after him, peering about with great interest. Melody took Happy’s hand in hers, held it tightly, and led him into the room. Happy swallowed hard. If Melody hadn’t been holding on to his hand so firmly, he would have turned and bolted. Brook came in last, stopping inside the doorway.
“Happy?” Melody said quietly. “What happened to you in here? What did that blonde bitch do to you?”
“It wasn’t so much what she did,” said Happy. “It was what she said, what she showed me. .”
“What was that?” said Melody.
“I’m not sure, now,” said Happy. “Maybe. . the true nature of my own mortality.”
They all looked around the room, taking their time, and the room looked back at them, seeming entirely normal. Blocky furniture, too-small bed, dull wallpaper, and unwavering electric light.
“Just as I left it,” said Happy. “Except that the door I saw in the far wall isn’t there any more.”
“Where was the door, exactly?” said JC.
Happy pointed out the spot on the far wall, with a surprisingly steady hand, but he couldn’t bring himself to go any closer. Melody was still holding on to his hand, giving him what strength and support she could. Kim went right up to the far wall and studied it closely; her nose almost touching the wallpaper. She frowned and turned back to JC.
“There’s something here, JC. Something that doesn’t belong in this room, or even this reality. This wall, this little bit of our Space and Time, has been overwritten by some force from Outside. It’s still there, in principle, waiting to be imposed on our reality again. Like this.”
She stepped back and snapped her fingers imperiously. Suddenly, the door was back in place again. Happy cried out involuntarily but held his ground. He looked at the door for a long moment and nodded quickly.
“Yes. That’s it. That’s the door I saw before.”
“You said. . there was a blood-red corridor on the other side of that door,” said JC.
“It wasn’t a real corridor,” said Happy. “It only looked like one.”
“What was it?” said Melody.
“Death,” said Happy. “It was death.”
“Maybe I should go back out onto the landing,” said Brook.
“You stay right where you are, native guide,” said JC without looking round. He moved over to stand with Happy. “The blonde woman you saw. Was she part of the corridor?”
“I don’t know,” said Happy. “I don’t think so. . Connected to it, maybe. One of the faces on what’s happening here. The woman, the corridor, the storm. . they’re all the same thing, really. This is a bad idea, JC. You really don’t want to summon her. You remember what the dark did to us, down in the bar. She was worse. Crueller.”
“Would this woman come to you if you called?” JC said carefully.
“I don’t know,” said Happy.
JC looked to Kim. “What do we have that we could use to compel her?”
“You’re not listening to me!” Happy said desperately. “This is a really bad idea! You have no idea of the kind of Power you’re dealing with here!”
“Do you have a better idea?” said JC, quite seriously. “No? Then we go with what we have. Kim?”
“She’s not a ghost,” Kim said thoughtfully. “She’s the human face of the rage in the storm. . All that’s left of the human sacrifice who began all this. . Happy, can you remember what you were doing, what you were feeling, here in this room, when the door first appeared in the wall?”
“Yes,” said Happy. “I was sitting right there, at the writing-desk.”
“Okay,” said JC. “Go sit there again.”
Happy sat down at the desk, and looked at the pill boxes and bottles still set out before him. He didn’t touch any of them. Melody crouched down beside him. She put a gentle hand on his arm and patted it a few times. He didn’t look at her.
“What were you thinking, Happy?” Melody said quietly.
“I was thinking about dying,” said Happy, in a quiet, distant voice. “Thinking about killing myself and what a relief that would be. Not to have to carry the weight of my world on my shoulders any more.”