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“No, Dad,” said Ollie clearly. “We’re not nervous.”
She gave Brian and Coco fierce looks, as though she were daring them to contradict her. Don’t go worrying my dad any more than he already is. They didn’t say anything. Although Brian looked like he really wanted to say something.
“Sue, you said there’s plenty of firewood?” Ollie’s dad asked.
She nodded.
“Great,” said Mr. Adler. “And there’s lots of food, I imagine, since you were planning on a lot of guests. Let’s take a moment while we still have daylight and stack more firewood here near the hearth. We’ll pile up blankets and spare batteries, sleep down here, and keep cozy near the fire until . . .”
Mr. Adler kept talking, making plans. But Ollie, Brian, and Coco had stopped listening. Ollie marched over to Mr. Voland. Brian and Coco followed her. He was standing apart from the other adults, and not helping them with the planning. He was watching the lobby stairwell.
“Mr. Voland,” said Ollie, planting herself in front of him. “Do you think a ghost is doing it? Making the heat and power not work?”
“I imagine so,” said Mr. Voland, not looking away from the stairs.
“Mother Hemlock?”
“Maybe.”
“Why?” asked Coco.
“I don’t know,” said Mr. Voland. “Perhaps only to frighten us. Weaken us. Ghosts like it when you’re afraid. It means you acknowledge them.”
Somewhere out of sight, the bird clock whistled the hour.
And Ollie’s watch began beeping again, frantically.
7
THE FOUR OF THEM jumped. The other adults were too far away to hear. Mr. Voland stared at Ollie’s watch. “You need to tell me about that device on your wrist,” he said.
Ollie put a protective hand on the watch face, muffling the noise. Brian and Coco stood silent on either side of her. “Why?” she demanded.
Mr. Voland looked stern. “I believe we are in danger,” he said. “We cannot leave. We don’t have light, we don’t have heat, and the ghost upstairs is strong, and will only get stronger as the sun sets. I do not know what she wants. Are you willing to bet that she’s harmless?”
The three didn’t say anything.
Mr. Voland went on in a softer voice. “We need every advantage,” he said. “That”—one long finger pointed at Ollie’s watch—“is no ordinary device; I’d stake my life on it.” The watch was beeping so fast now that it was almost like a continuous buzz. Ollie glanced down and saw letters rippling over its pale gray surface faster than ever. But they didn’t stop long enough for her to make sense of them.
Still Ollie hesitated. Except for Brian and Coco, she’d never told anyone about her watch. Not even her dad. It was too strange, and too precious, and too painful. But she met Mr. Voland’s strange two-colored eyes, and abruptly she found the story spilling out.
“My watch helps me,” she said. “When I—when we were in danger the last time, my watch told me what to do. My watch was—it was my mother’s. I think she talks to me with it. I think she’s trying to warn us now.”
Brian and Coco were silent, although Brian was frowning.
“Ah,” said Mr. Voland with a sigh. “That explains it. You have a very powerful object there, Ollie. I trust you keep it safe?”
“Yes,” said Ollie. She was on the edge of tears, and she almost never cried. “But I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know what it’s trying to say.”
“Don’t worry,” said Mr. Voland. “We’ll contact your mother and ask. Perhaps she will tell us what is happening and what we must do.”
Brian just scowled at Mr. Voland. “How are we going to do that?” he demanded, just as Ollie asked, “Now?”
“Tonight,” Mr. Voland. “I have a method. We’ll have to do it after dark, unfortunately. It’s not something you can do when the sun is up. But as soon as we can, after the sun sets. And I will show you how.”
Brian opened his mouth, closed it again. Ollie nodded once. “Let’s do it. Just—don’t tell my dad.” Ollie didn’t know what her dad would do if she told him she was going to try and talk to her mom. Would he be happy or sad or angry, tell her not to, or want to help? It was better, Ollie decided, not to worry him. Not until she knew.
“Very well,” said Mr. Voland, “but I think there are plans afoot for everyone to spend the night in the lobby. Because of the chill. We will have to be very quiet if you wish to hide this from your father, Ollie.”
