“When did you guess?”
“Right after the battle. Gert should have known, too, but Glamora is using Gert’s ability to read minds to cloud her thinking. The connection runs both ways if you’re powerful enough. It wasn’t safe to move openly against her. But now, with all this talk of controlling Amy . . .” Mombi shook her head. “She’s going to do something soon and we have to be ready to stop her. Glamora might still triumph but Glinda is incredibly powerful. And if she wins, she can use the Quadrant magic that binds us together to control us.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nox asked.
Mombi shot him a sympathetic look. “Sorry, sonny, but it wasn’t safe. And no offense, but Gert and I are stronger than you, Quadrant or no Quadrant.” Mombi sighed. “The Nome King in the Other Place, Dorothy who knows where, Glinda trying to defeat Glamora and take control of the Quadrant . . . Not good, not good at all. And if the barriers between Oz and Ev are as malleable as the barriers between Oz and the Other Place, we’re in trouble. The Nome King has a whole host of nasty creatures at his disposal.” She shook her head. “Never a dull moment in Oz,” she said.
“I have to go back to Kansas,” I said urgently. “I have to help my mom against the Nome King.”
“Not a chance,” Mombi said dismissively. “Even if we knew how to send you back—which we don’t—you wouldn’t last for a second against the Nome King without magic. He’s already shown that his power isn’t limited in the Other Place. He’ll crush you like a bug.”
“But the shoes—”
“No buts. First things first: it’s time we figure out how to stop Glinda and get Glamora back.”
“Well, well,” said a voice from the darkness. “We certainly do learn a lot when we eavesdrop, don’t we?”
Glamora stepped out of the shadows. “It’s not very nice of you to run around behind my back, dear sister,” she said. I recognized Glinda’s menacing, sickly sweet syrupiness in her voice. Mombi met her gaze steadily. She didn’t look too surprised that Glamora had been spying on us.
“I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to try anything before now, but apparently I was wrong,” Mombi said. “You know that even as strong as you are you can’t defeat the rest of the Quadrant and Amy combined.”
“Oh, I don’t need to be,” Glamora said with a smile. “I have help.” The air beside her began to glow with an all-too-familiar silver light. A twisted metal wand appeared in Glamora’s hand and she held it aloft. More silver light ran down its length like mercury, dripping to the ground and spreading outward into a flat pool of molten metal.
“Get back,” Mombi said urgently. She didn’t have to tell me twice. The pool’s surface shimmered and grew transparent. I could see through it as if it were a window to another world—and it was. Below us was the main hallway of Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior High. I recognized the worn tiles and watery fluorescent lights immediately. A perfect square of less-faded linoleum marked where the diorama had once stood. The windows were boarded up where the Nome King’s storm had broken the glass but the rubble had been cleared away. The hall was empty, but daylight filtered in through the few unbroken windows. Class must be in session. Nox grabbed my arm as if to restrain me and I realized I was leaning toward the pool as though I wanted to jump through it to the other side. “You can’t, Amy,” he said urgently. “It’s not a portal.”
“Not for you it isn’t,” Glamora said. “But for some of us it works quite nicely.” She smiled and waved her wand. “It’s time,” she said. At first, I had no idea who she was talking to. And then Assistant Principal Strachan strode into view in the deserted hallway. And he wasn’t alone. He had Madison by the shoulders. Dustin Jr. was held tightly in her arms. Dustin Sr. ran behind them. His mouth was open as if he was shouting something but I couldn’t hear him.
“Get out of there!” I yelled, but it was obvious he couldn’t hear me either. Whatever window Glinda had created, it only let us see into Kansas.
“Oh, it’s no use,” Glamora said. “They can’t hear you. But he can. And if I were you, I wouldn’t upset him. Just because he thinks he can put you to good use doesn’t mean he won’t punish you if you provoke his temper. Our friend is very old—and don’t tell him I said so, but sometimes he’s awfully grumpy.”
Assistant Principal Strachan looked up, his eyes meeting mine through Glamora’s window. And then he smiled. Silver smoke billowed up from his feet. His body began to ripple and his skin peeled away in long strips that dissolved into silvery ooze. Madison’s mouth opened in a silent scream of terror as Assistant Principal Strachan dissolved, revealing the Nome King.
“Now it’s time to finish the work the Wizard started,” Glamora said. Her tone was almost cheerful but her eyes sparkled with an insane light. I wondered if the struggle between Glinda and Glamora had resulted in something that was a combination of the two. Something more than a little crazy.
“I thought the Wizard wanted to rule Oz,” I said.
“Oh, his vision was limited, make no mistake,” Glamora said. “But he had the right idea. After all, two worlds are better than one. In exchange for unlimited access to Oz’s power, my new friend has offered to help me rule this world—and yours.”
“You can’t do that,” Mombi growled. She was edging almost imperceptibly toward Glamora as if being closer to the deranged witch would somehow make it easier to stop her. At my side, Nox was tense, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two.
“I can do whatever I want, you old bat,” Glamora snapped in a little girl’s petulant tone. “I can smash Oz into smithereens if I feel like it. But for now, I’m just going to throw a little welcome party. I hate to overshadow Ozma’s big day, but this can’t wait.” She dodged away from Mombi and pointed her wand at the silver pool. The Nome King reached upward, still keeping his grip on Madison. His body began to stretch and lengthen as he rose to meet Glamora’s outstretched arm. It was like watching sand move through an hourglass in reverse. Madison’s face was filled with absolute terror as the Nome King pulled her toward Glamora’s window. I watched in horror as the baby slipped from her arms. Nox gasped and Mombi jerked forward as if she could somehow catch him. But we were too late. The baby tumbled toward the ground.
And then, incredibly, Dustin dove for the baby. In that second I understood exactly what it was that had made him Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior High’s biggest football star. He moved with almost superhuman speed, reaching for Dustin Jr. as if he was going for the biggest touchdown of his life. He caught the baby seconds before he hit the ground. At the exact same moment, the Nome King burst out of Glamora’s window, sending drops of molten silver flying. I screamed in pain as the hot liquid burned through my dress and seared my arms and legs. Next to me, Nox slapped at his smoking clothes. Glamora giggled in triumph. And Madison Pendleton, still in the Nome King’s bony clutches, was screaming bloody murder.
“That’s quite enough,” the Nome King said curtly, letting go of her long enough to slap her. Madison shut up immediately. Her eyes were huge, darting around the clearing, and she gasped in shock when she saw me. She was shaking so hard I thought she would fall over.
“Now then,” the Nome King said. “Miss Gumm, I believe you have something that belongs to me. I’d like it back.”