He held his pose, frozen and determined, staring at the wall. When it began to waver in front of him, he wasn’t sure if he was about to faint or if it was really moving. It only took a second to find out.
The wall shimmered and then a piece the size of a doorway pushed back, first creating a space the size of a large closet, and then expanding in all directions until it neared the dimensions of Alex’s room. From one newly formed wall, beds, tables, and chairs dropped down. Countertops and cupboards pushed out of another wall, and medical tools and supplies on carts grew up from the floor. Just as the last piece settled into place, the mansion door pushed open and Mr. Today and Samheed walked in, each carrying one of the strangers.
They hurried into the room and laid them on the beds. Mr. Today uttered a few healing spells over them in a calm, soothing voice. Soon Ms. Morning rushed in with a woman and man whom Alex recognized as nurses from when he spent time in here.
Alex, still standing in a puddle of water near the opening to the hospital wing, shuffled forward a few steps and stared into the room at the strangers. Where did they come from? Who were they? The girl, despite her sunburn and her pinched, starved look, had such a perfect, exotic face. And the boy’s choker ornament must have been more recent’the skin around the thorns was swollen and scabbed over.
Alex imagined their story, their world. Had they been out rafting for fun and gotten swept away with the current? Were they out fishing and a storm came up? He pictured the exotic-looking girl trying to be strong as the two faced the huge sea alone, trying to act brave in front of the younger boy. Trying to stay awake. And alive. He found himself drawn to her, admiring her, and he didn’t even understand why.
A soft hand on his arm and a voice near his ear startled him back to reality. He turned and saw Lani. “Oh. Hey,” he said weakly. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
The World Gets Bigger
You should go change your clothes,” Lani said. “I’ll clean this up.”
Alex looked down at the puddle under his feet. “Oh, wow. Yeah. Thanks. I’ll be right back.” He bounded up the stairs two at a time, entered the boys’ hallway, and went into his room.
“What happened to you?” Clive said, his face pushing out from the blackboard.
Alex ran past Clive to his room. “Tell you in a second!” he said.
“One,” Clive said. “Liar.”
Alex changed his clothes and came back out, running a comb through his tangled mess of hair. “Two strangers on a raft landed on our beach,” he said, breathing hard.
Clive’s expression brightened. “Ooh,” he said. “Where are they from? One of the islands out there? Not that I know much about the islands. I don’t get to see anything but you.” He sniffed. “I just hear things.”
“Nobody knows. They’re not conscious.” He tossed the comb onto the bed and headed for the door. “I’ve got to go. Bye!”
Clive mumbled something incoherent as the door slammed and Alex bounded back down the stairs.
“Thanks,” Alex said to Lani, who had cleaned up the water with a dry spell she made up on the fly.
“No problem,” she said. “I tried to go in to see what’s going on but Ms. Morning said we should just give them some space right now.” She looked disappointed.
“Did you see the things around their necks?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, that’s so strange.”
“I wonder where they’re from.”
Lani shrugged. “Who knows?”
They walked out of the mansion and spied Meghan and Samheed at the shore by the raft. They headed toward them. Advanced Magical Warrior Training was still going on, but none of them felt like doing it right now. There was too much to talk about.
They examined the raft, but found no clues to its origin. “It’s just a bunch of big sticks tied together,” Lani said. “Anything on the other side?”
“No, just some slime,” Samheed said. “I flipped it over already.”
Alex looked out to sea. It was almost impossible to see the islands during the day unless you knew exactly where they were. They were most visible when the sun set behind them, highlighting the fact that they were stationary and the sea moved in swells all around. “I wonder . . . ,” he said.
His friends followed his gaze. “I don’t know where else they could have come from,” Meghan said. “It’s the only logical guess.”
“Are there any other islands on the other side of ours?” Samheed asked. “Has anybody been all the way around Quill on the outside of the wall?”
“No,” said Alex, who’d only been about a quarter of the way around Quill via boat when he’d gone to the palace with Mr. Today. “But I bet I know who has.” He grinned. “Come on.”
They walked quickly around the practicing students to the gate where Simber stood, stoic.
“I have a strrrange feeling you fourrr arrre up to no good,” Simber remarked when they approached.
“We’re totally innocent,” Meghan said. “We were just wondering about the kids on the raft and where they might have come from.”
“Harrrd to say,” Simber said, sampling the air as he spoke.
“Are there islands on the other side of Quill? None of us has been all the way around,” Alex said. “But you’ve flown up above the barbed-wire ceiling, haven’t you? Have you been to the other side?”