Chapter 6

Chapter Six IN WHICH All Hell Breaks Loose What are you doing here?" Jared asked. Behind him he heard Simon and Mallory exclaim "Dad!" together. Their father's black hair looked slightly mussed and his shirt was untucked on one side, but it was definitely him. Their father's eyes went wide. "Jared! Simon! Mallory! Thank goodness you're okay." Jared furrowed his brow. Something about this didn't feel right. He looked around the room again.

Out beyond the balcony he saw goblins milling in the gloom, holding torches. What was going on? "Quick," Mallory said. "We have to move. Jared, untie Mom. I'll work on Dad." Jared leaned down and touched his mother's pale cheek. It felt cold and clammy. Her glasses were gone. "Mom's unconscious," he said. "Is she breathing?" Mallory asked, halting. Jared put his hand against his mother's lips and felt the ghost of her breath. "She's okay. She's alive." "Did you see Mulgarath?" Simon asked his father. "The ogre?" "There was some commotion outside," Mr. Grace said. "I didn't see anything after that." Mallory fumbled with the pulley and managed to lower her dad's hands. "How did they get you all the way from California?" Their dad shook his head wearily. "Your mother called to say how worried she was—all three of you acting strange and then going missing. I came as soon as I could, but the monsters were already at the house. It was terrible. At first I couldn't believe what was

happening. And they kept talking about a book. What is this book?" "Our uncle Arthur—" Jared began. "More like Mom's great-uncle, our great-greatuncle," Mallory said as she picked at the knots. "Right. Well, he was interested in faeries." Jared untied his mother as he talked, but even free from her bonds, she didn't move. Jared smoothed back her hair, wishing she would open her eyes. "His brother got eaten by a troll," Simon put in. Jared nodded, looking nervously around. How long before they were discovered? Did they really have time for this? Now that they had found their mother, they had to get out as quickly as possible. "And so he made this book that was all about faeries. It had stuff in it that even some of the faeries themselves didn't know."

"Because they mostly don't bother with one another, it seems," Mallory said. How were they going to get their mother down the stairs? Could their dad carry her? Jared tried to concentrate on explaining. They had to make sure their dad would understand. "But the faeries didn't want one guy to have that much power over them, so they tried to get the book back. When he wouldn't give it to them, they took him instead." "The elves did," Simon said.

"Really?" said their father with a strange gleam in his eye. Jared sighed. "Look, I know it sounds unbelievable, Dad, but look around. Does this look like the set of one of your movies?" "I believe you," their father said softly. "To make a very long story short," Mallory said, "we found the book." "Except we lost the book again," said Simon. "The ogre has it." "And he's got a really idiotic plan to take over the world," Mallory put in. Their father's eyebrows rose, but he only said, "So, now that the book is gone, all of the knowledge is gone with it. There's no other copy? That seems like a shame." "Jared remembers a lot," Simon said. "I bet he could make a book of his own." Mallory nodded. "And we learned some stuff along the way—right, Jared?" Jared smiled, looking down. "I guess so," he said finally. "But I wish I remembered more."

Their father flexed his newly freed wrists and stretched his legs. "I'm sorry that I wasn't here sooner. I shouldn't have left you kids and your mom alone. And I want to make it up to you. I want to stay." "We missed you too, Dad," Simon said. Mallory looked down at her boots. "Yeah." Jared said nothing. Something about this was too easy. It just felt wrong. "Mom?" he said softly, and shook her. Dad spread his arms wide. "Come and give your father a hug." Simon and Mallory embraced him. Jared looked down at his mother and reluctantly started to cross the room, when his dad said, "I want us all to be together from now on." Jared froze. He wanted it so much to be true, but it didn't feel true. "Dad would never say that," he said. His father grabbed hold of his arm. "Don't you want us to be a family again?" "Of course I do!" Jared yelled, jerking his arm free and stepping back. "I want Dad to be less of a jerk, and for Mom to not be sad. I want my dad to stop