Ephraim’s mother had her arms up to her elbows in the sudsy water of the sink. They were cleaning up after another mediocre dinner: spaghetti again, this time with a sauce his mom called carbonara. Ephraim hadn’t minded much. His attention had been fixed on that thin line of light. Where was it coming from?
“So,” his mom said, taking a pot out of the suds and rinsing it before handing it to Brynn to dry. “I think we’ve all noticed that your father isn’t improving quite as we’d hoped.”
The pace of Price’s dish-clearing slowed and he hesitated between the small table in the kitchen and the sink. They’d given up eating in the formal dining room, as it was too vast and hollow. “I think he’s doing okay.”
Their mother shook her head. “Dr. Winters isn’t pleased either. He’s recommending another specialist, down in New York, so …” She left her unfinished thought hanging.
Ephraim scraped out their bowls into the compost bin as she spoke. He was thinking that light could be coming from two places: outside or another room. Either way was intriguing to him.
“So?” Price prompted.
“If that’s where your father needs to be to get well, then that’s where we need to take him.”
Brynn carefully dried a slotted spoon. “So we’ll be moving down to New York?”
This finally got Ephraim’s attention. “What?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” their mom said. She placed her soapy hands on the edge of the sink.
She couldn’t possibly want them to move, Ephraim thought. Not now. Not when he was so close.
“I’m going to give the other doctor a call tomorrow. Dr. Winters sent him your father’s records. We’ll do a consultation and see what he thinks.”
They didn’t need to go anywhere, Ephraim thought. The answer was right here. All he needed was the time to find it. “When would we go?” he asked. “If we went?”
She picked up a pan and dunked it into the water. “Nothing’s settled yet. I just wanted to let you know so that you had it on your radars.”
Nothing’s settled. So he still had time. That was all he needed to hear. But he would have to act quickly to save his father. The light, he was sure, the light was the key.
Ephraim waited until the house was dark and still, except for the faint humming that always surrounded them. He slipped from his bed still fully clothed and padded down the stairs. The half moon cast a silver glow over everything and washed out the colors around him. He put his hand on the warm wood of the banister and slipped down the stairs to Brynn’s library. The door squeaked as he pushed it open and she sat up in bed. “It’s me,” he whispered. “Ephraim.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Is everyone okay?”
He hurried across the room, dodging piles of books that looked like strange creatures in the shadows. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “We went back into the tunnels today. We got into the lab.”
“Without me?” she asked.
“It happened really quickly. Listen, I saw something. When I was leaving, the lights were off—”
“The lights?”
“Yeah, there’s electricity down there. Anyway, the lights were off but I saw this line of light over by the bookcase. There’s got to be another secret passage.”
“Okay. That sounds possible.” She rubbed the heel of her hand into her eyes.
“So let’s go.”
“Right now?”
“The answer’s down there, Brynn. We just have to find it. You should have seen this lab. All the devices and chemicals—even Will said it looked legitimate.”
“Why can’t we go in the morning?”
“You heard Mom. We don’t have much more time.”
Brynn rubbed her face some more. “I don’t know about going into the tunnels at night.”
“It’s dark either way,” he said. “Come on.”
“Let’s get Price.”
Price, Ephraim knew, would not believe them. He wouldn’t concede it was even possible that there was something magical or mysterious here. “I don’t know, Brynn. We haven’t told him about any of this yet.”
“I’d just feel better if it were all three of us.”
What she meant was she’d feel better with Price there to look out for them, and maybe Ephraim did a little, too. “Fine.” He sighed. “Go up and get him and meet me by the back door.”
She stretched and then, dropping her arms, hesitated, as if she were going to change her mind after all. “Brynn, please. I know you’ve thought about this, too. If there’s something special about this house or the water here, it could make Dad better. We’re doing this for Dad.”
She threw off the sheets. “Okay,” she said. “If Price will go, then I will, too.”