29 The Key

29 The Key Peanut turned to Rockwell. He shook his head slightly. She swallowed, deciding to trust Mrs M with their secret. ' Well. I, er, drew a door in my bedroom. 'You drew a door in your bedroom?' 'Yes, and then I opened it and walked through. And then we were here. In Chroma. By the signposts. 'Really? That's very interesting.' Mrs M nodded. And what, may I ask, did you draw the door with?' 'This.' Peanut pulled the pencil from its slot on her bandolier. Mrs M's eyes widened. 'Where did you get this, Peanut?' 'I, er, I found it.

'You found it? Forgive me, but I'm not sure I believe you, said Mrs M. Her eyes hadn't left the pencil. 'Remarkable. Truly remarkable. With this, we might just be able to... 'To what?' asked Rockwell. 'What are you talking about?' 'I'm sorry. I'm forgetting myself.' She stood up. 'You, Peanut, you have something that Mr White would give his eye teeth for. Something for which he'd trade every single item that he has confiscated from the people of

Chroma.' Her voice became little more than a whisper. 'Unless I'm very much mistaken, that little yellow pencil that you have there is "Little Tail". Otherwise known as "Pencil Number One". It's Conté's prototype. Peanut looked down at the yellow pencil. 'Your pencil is a key. The key. To unlimited travel between Chroma and your world. Whenever you like, you can just draw a door and walk between the worlds. It is extremely powerful. 'Can I use it to help rescue Mr M?' 'You can use it to help rescue all of us, Peanut. That and all of those other "weapons" you have strapped to your chest: the paint, the spray, the markers.' Peanut thought for a minute. Then she stood up and rummaged around in the front pocket of her dungarees. Can I ask you a question, Mrs M?' 'Of course you can, my dear. 'Have you ever seen this man?' She showed Mrs M the strip of passport photos of her and her dad. Mrs M removed her glasses and had a good look. Ah yes. Of course I remember him. Young Gary was one of the first. A true Resistance hero and a very brave chap, as I recall. He was carrying out a lot of important work for us until 'You know him?!' gasped Peanut. 'You've seen him?' Mrs M looked at Peanut and then back at the photograph in her hand. Ah yes, I can see the resemblance. Your father,

I presume? The apple didn't fall too far from the tree, did it?' 'Yes. Yes, he's my dad! Do you know where he is now?' She was barely able to contain her excitement. ' Well, I've not seen him for a very long time, I'm afraid. He was here, though, carrying out a top-secret spying mission for us. And he was doing a brilliant job, bringing us a lot of highly valuable information at great personal risk. But then, one day, he just... didn't come back. About a year ago?' said Peanut. ' Sounds about right,' said Mrs M sadly. 'We did our best to find out what had happened but there has been no intelligence since he disappeared. ' Do you think Mr White has got him? Do you think he has been locked up in the Spire too?' I can't say for certain, but that would be my guess. She stood up, walked across the room and rested Peanut's photographs against the picture of her husband. 'Maybe they're together, keeping each other's spirits up. 'Don't worry, Mrs M, we'll find them!' insisted Little-Bit. 'Hang on, LB. What do you mean, "we"? I said you could stay until we found Doodle's owners, and then you would have to go home,' said Peanut. I'm coming with you,' said Little-Bit firmly. 'He's my daddy too!'

'No way!' said Rockwell. 'Why not? So you can have Peanut all to yourself?' 'No! Because, er, because... just because, all right?' 'Peanut,' said Little-Bit with a sly grin. 'Wouldn't it be awful if Mummy found out about what you were up to. Especially as you're already in such big trouble cos of all the detentions and everything. Peanut sighed reluctantly. 'OK, LB, but you have to do exactly what Rockwell and I tell you. At all times. ' Er, who said anything about me coming?' said Rockwell incredulously. 'Peanut, you can't be serious. We can't possibly do this! What about school?' 'What about school?' Peanut snapped. 'There are some things in life that are far more important than school! The fact that the world's entire supply of creative energy is at risk of being destroyed, for example. And what about this poor lady's husband? And my dad? I haven't seen him for an entire year! If there's any possibility that he is being held against his will here in Chroma I have to at least try to rescue him. Surely you can understand that!' 'B-b-but what about my differentiation homework? And the physics test?' 'Remember what I told you about the weird thing that happens with time in Chroma?' said Peanut. 'Last time I was here, I spent over three hours playing with Doodle, but when

I got home I'd only been gone for about ten minutes. 'Your friend is right,' said Mrs M. 'Time is linear, but it can move at different speeds. The chances are, you would still make it to school on time. 'Besides,' Peanut looked at Rockwell, 'I thought we were friends.' Rockwell couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face. ' Study buddies, actually.' He sighed. 'OK. I'll do it. But only if you promise to test me on my differentiation on the way to school when we get back. Deal. Peanut tightened her grip on the pencil. 'OK, so how do we get to the Spire?'