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"Yes, all right," she says, hearing the fear in my voice.
"We need your help. Those stories we've told you about the Order? We haven't been completely honest. It's real. All of it. The realms, the Order, Pippa, the magic. We've been there. We've seen it. We've lived it. Every bit of it. And now the water nymphs have Ann. They have her, and we've got to get her back. Please. You must help us."
My words come out in a torrent to match the rain rattling the windows of Miss Moore's flat. When I finish, Miss Moore studies me for a moment.
"Gemma, I know you have been under quite a bit of strain, losing both your mother and your friend . . ." She places a hand on my knee.
I want to cry. She doesn't believe me. "No! I am not telling tales for sympathy! It's true!" I wail. Two sneezes escape me. My throat is raw and swollen.
"I want to believe you, but . . ." She paces before the fireplace. "Can you prove it to me?"
I nod.
"Very well, then. If you can prove it to me here and now, I shall believe you. If not, I shall take you home immediately and speak with your grandmother."
"Agreed." I nod. "Hester . . ."
I waste no time. Grabbing her hand, I use the meager power I have left to make the door appear. When I open my eyes, it is there, the bright light illuminating the look of complete astonishment on Miss Moore's face. She closes her eyes and opens them again, but the door is still there.
"Come with me," I say.
Her hand in mine, I pull her through. It is an effort. I am growing weaker. I can barely feel the whoosh of blood in her veins fueling the heart that is even now accepting that logic is yet another illusion we create.
The garden shimmers into focus. There is the ground littered with purple flowers. Here is a tree whose bark curls into rose petals. There are the tall weeds and strange toadstools. For a moment, I am afraid the shock has proved too much for Miss Moore. She raises a trembling hand to her mouth and puts the other to the tree. She pulls away a handful of petals and lets them drop from her fingers while she wanders in a daze through the emerald green grass.
She sits on a rock. "I am dreaming. This is a delusion. It must be."
"I told you," I say.
"So you did." She touches one of the purple flowers. It becomes a garden snake that slithers up the tree out of sight. "Oh!" Miss Moore's eyes grow wide. "Pippa!" Pippa and Felicity rush to meet us. Miss Moore reaches out a tentative hand to touch the silk of Pippa's hair. "It is you, isn't it?"
;Pip!" Felicity barks. "I swear to you that if you fail us now, I will never come back to see you as long as I live."
Pippa's startled by Felicity's sudden fury. "You would do that?"
"I would."
"Very well," Pippa says. "How do you propose we fight them? There are only three of us."
"Pip's right. We need help," I concede.
"What about the gorgon?" Pip asks. "She helped us once before."
I shake my head. "We don't know that she can be trusted just now. In fact, we do not know if any creature of the realms can be trusted."
"Who can be?" Pippa asks.
I take a deep breath. "I shall have to go back for help."
Felicity's eyes narrow to angry slits. "You said we wouldn't leave Ann behind. That it wouldn't be like . . . like last time."
Pippa looks away.
"I'm thinking of Miss Moore," I say. Pippa's incredulous. "Miss Moore? What can she possibly do?"
"I don't know!" I snap, rubbing at the sides of my aching head. "I can't go to any of our families and tell them. I'd be locked away forever! She's the only person I can think of who would listen."
"Very well, then," Felicity says. "Bring her in."
