Chapter 7

Chapter Seven IN WHICH the Fate of the Mice Is Discovered I really need your help," said Jared. His brother and sister were lying on the rug in front of the television. Each one had a controller, and from where he was standing, he could see colors flit across their faces as the screen changed. Mallory snorted but didn't reply. Jared took that as a positive response. At this point, anything that didn't involve fists was a positive response.

"I know you think I did it," Jared said, opening the book to the page about boggarts. "But, honest, I didn't. You heard the thing in the walls. There was the writing on the desk and the footprints in the flour. And remember the nest? Remember how you guys pulled everything out of that nest?"

Mallory stood up and snatched the book out of his hands. "Give it back," Jared pleaded, making a grab for it. Mallory held it over her head. "This book is what started all the trouble." "No!" Jared said. "That's not true. I got the book after your hair was knotted. Give it back, Mallory. Please give it back." Now she held it in two hands, one on either side of the open book, poised to rip it apart. "Mallory, no! No!" Jared was nearly speechless with panic. If he didn't think of something quick, the book was going to be in pieces. "Wait, Mal," Simon said, getting up from the floor. Mallory waited. "What help did you want, Jared?" Jared took a deep breath. "I've been thinking that if our messing up the nest is what got it upset, then maybe we could make it a new nest. I—I took a birdhouse and put some stuff in it.

"I thought—well—I thought that maybe the boggart was a little bit like us, because it's stuck here too. I mean, maybe it doesn't even want to be here. Maybe being here makes it mad." "Okay, before I say I believe you," Mallory said, holding the book in a less threatening position, "tell me exactly what you want us to do." "I need you guys to work the dumbwaiter," Jared said, "so I can bring the house up to the library. I thought it would be safe there." "Let's see this house," Mallory said. She and Simon followed Jared into the hall, and he showed it to them. It was made from a wooden birdhouse large enough for a crow to roost in. Jared had found it among the ones hung in the attic. Sliding up the back, he showed them how he had arranged everything except the cockroaches neatly inside. On the walls, he had taped up the newspaper words and also a few small pictures from magazines.

"Did you cut up Mom's stuff to make that?" Simon asked. "Yeah," Jared said, and shrugged. "You really did a lot of work," Mallory said. "So you'll help me?" Jared wanted to ask for the book back, but he didn't want to make his sister mad all over again. Mallory looked at Simon and nodded.

"I want to go first, though," said Simon. Jared hesitated. "Sure," he said. Walking quietly past the den where their mother was phoning construction people, they went into the kitchen. Simon hesitated in front of the dumbwaiter. "Do you think my mice are alive?" Jared didn't know what to say. He thought about the tadpoles, frozen in ice. He wanted Simon to help but didn't want to lie. Simon got down on his knees and climbed into the dumbwaiter. In a few moments, Mallory had wheeled him up inside the wall. Simon gave a small gasp as he started moving, but then they heard nothing, even after the dumbwaiter stopped. "You said there was a desk in there and papers," Mallory said. "Yeah." Jared wasn't sure what she was driving at. If she didn't believe him, she could ask Simon when he came back down. "Well, they needed to get it in there somehow. And it wasn't little, right? So an adult worked in