The woods echoed with the song of the night as they hiked the switchbacks and climbed the crumbling stairs to the sidewalk beyond. No one spoke, choosing instead to concentrate on their footing in the dim circles of light cast by their flashlights. Beyond their glow, the forest was cloaked in darkness.
They crossed the tournament field and arrived at the museum door without being spotted by the night watchman. Friedrich held the door as they passed through, peering nervously up and down the sandstone path. As he latched the door, Birdie wandered to a glass case in the center of the gallery.
“What are you doing?” Friedrich hissed. “We must go.”
“I knew it.” She placed the small wooden block on top of the case.
Sophia stepped up behind her and peered inside. “They’re the same!” She turned to the others. “Toy blocks. You can see the parts of the dragon!”
“There are only two.” Birdie sighed. “We need six.”
“That’s two more than we had a minute ago,” Sophia said.
Friedrich knelt at the end of the glass case, ran his hand under it and, with a nod, clicked a button underneath. When he did, the end popped open. “Grab the pieces.”
Birdie picked up the two small blocks.
“Don’t forget this one.” Sophia scooped the third one from the top of the case.
“Okay, go.” Friedrich stood. “I will close the case and rearm the museum as soon as you are all in the tunnel.”
It was a short walk back to the storeroom, and when they arrived, everyone except Raina gathered around the table. Sam grabbed a slice of cold pizza from the box and settled into one of the creaky chairs.
Rich set the chest on the table and turned to Sophia. “Let’s see if they fit.”
Sophia unlocked the outer mechanism, and the lid floated open, revealing the piece of fur that covered the outline of the tangram. Birdie handed her the pieces.
Sophia fit them into the puzzle indentations, trying to match the faded images of the older pieces with the markings in the chest. “Four more.” She glanced up at them.
“These look so old.” Rich felt the pieces Birdie retrieved from the museum. “Look how faded and chipped the paint is.”
Raina stood a few feet away with her arms folded, still in the colorful leotard she’d danced in earlier that evening. “You know, we could just take a chainsaw to the bottom of that chest and get the stupid chess piece out. If it’s even in there.”
“Do you have a chainsaw?” Sophia asked.
Raina rolled her eyes.
“We don’t want to ruin the chest,” Rich said. “It must be worth a fortune, with the false bottom and the special locks. It’s a museum piece.”
“I agree with Rich.” Louisa pulled out a chair and sat down. “We cannot break this chest. We’re going to have a difficult time explaining where we got it as it is.”
“What do you mean?” Ryan sat down too.
“We just brought an artifact back from the past and it’s in perfect shape – and it may very well contain a priceless chess piece in a secret compartment. People will wonder how we found it.” She yawned. “They’ll probably call the newspaper and everything.”
“Not if we’re successful,” Sophia said. “Does anyone have any idea where to look for the last four pieces?”
“Well, if our theory is correct, Marielle knows where they are,” Rich said. They stared at him and he shrugged. “What? You’re the ones who said it was her job to hide them. If that’s true, then she knows where they are.”
“Is this not what I’ve been saying?” Friedrich opened his hands wide.
“How do you suggest we ask her?” Raina asked Rich. “The last time we saw her, she was strapped to a stake in the courtyard.”
“We have to go to her,” Rich said. “Before dawn.”
“Forget it.” Raina retreated to her cot. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m done.”
“It has to be Friedrich.” Sophia spread her hand on the table. “Marielle will recognize him, and he’s the only one who could get away with pretending to be a guard and speaking acceptable German.”
Friedrich faced her. “My German is more than acceptable.”
“Your German is excellent, being that you’re a native speaker,” Sophia said. “That’s my point. But you may still sound odd to the people who lived back then.”
“Birdie would have to go with him,” Kayla said. “Right, Birdie? There’s no way you’re trusting him alone with the aventurine?”
She nodded and tried to sound braver than she felt. “You’re right about that.”
She didn’t want to go back. She didn’t want anyone to go back. But they were in so deep now, it seemed like the only way to find the missing pieces to the tangram and save Marielle. She couldn’t let Friedrich go off by himself with the aventurine – he might never come back or he might lose it somewhere in the past. Who knew what havoc that would cause?
“Birdie should give me the aventurine.” Friedrich stuck out his hand.
“Nice try,” Birdie said. “No.”
“We cannot all go parading into the courtyard to question Marielle.” Friedrich slowly lowered his hand. “That would make things worse for her.”
“And for us,” Sam said.
“No, we can’t,” Birdie agreed. “And we can’t go anywhere at all unless the aventurine cooperates.”
“So, assuming it cooperates,” Louisa said, “we’ll need to hide while Friedrich goes to the courtyard.”
“You honestly think they’ll just let him wander right up to a convicted witch and thief?” Kayla asked.
Sam shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
“Do you really want to do this?” Louisa glanced up at Friedrich.
He nodded. “It is the only way.”
The campers entered the deserted tournament field for the third time that evening, moving under cover of darkness and avoiding the puddles of light thrown by the spotlights. The night watchman was nowhere to be seen. Birdie wasn’t surprised. Most of the props and materials from the pageant had been carted away, and there wasn’t much left of Burg Rheinfels to guard.
They still wore period clothes, although Raina, whose brothers had convinced her to come along, had exchanged her dance costume for additional layers of skirts and scarves.
Friedrich drew to a halt when they reached the far edge of the field. “If our maps are correct, this path led to the dungeons.” He shifted, pointing to the shadowy center of the courtyard. “Marielle should be right there.”
Louisa glanced around. “We need to hide.”
Friedrich led them to the perimeter of the old keep. “Crouch here, along the ruined wall. Stay alert – you never know who might be wandering around.”
“This feels like a terrible idea.” Raina crouched between her brothers.
“You need to be quiet,” Rich said, and when Raina protested, he held up his hand. “We all do. We can’t get caught back there.”
“Why didn’t we just stay in the storeroom?”
“Because we already know there’s a guard there,” Rich replied. “Just cooperate, would you?”
Raina sunk lower to the ground.
Birdie met Friedrich’s gaze.
“Give me the aventurine,” he said.
“I’ll hold on to it, thanks.” The glass was cold against her palm, and the image of the dragon held tight.
Friedrich squinted at it. “It’s not activating. Maybe if we get closer to Marielle?”
They wandered toward the middle of the courtyard, Birdie’s hand outstretched to watch for any change in the glass. She could hear Raina complaining again from her place with the others against the ruined wall.
“Nothing?” Friedrich asked.
“Not yet.”
Part of her wished nothing would happen at all, that they’d wind up giving up and going back to the storeroom. But she knew that was unlikely. They had to return the chess piece to Elisabeth’s father to end this once and for all.
She crept forward, her eyes trained on the dragon in the glass. As they neared the middle of the courtyard, the speckles swirled and the glass grew warm. The air shimmered as the gold spilled across the surface and the lines of the dragon softened and dissolved. She stopped, waiting for an image to form.
Friedrich snatched the aventurine from her palm.
“Hey!” She lunged for the glass. “Give that—”
He snarled something menacing in German as the world around them changed.
Dozens of torches illuminated the courtyard, replacing the harsh, modern spotlights. A stone path bordered the keep, linking the buildings and stalls that formed the prosperous village inside the fortress walls. Live music replaced the silence of the ruin, floating softly across the courtyard, punctuated every so often by screams that traveled up the path from the dungeon.
There was no sign of Marielle or Peter. The post and stockades were deserted.
Birdie darted toward the others. It was a good hiding place, an oasis of darkness in the otherwise warmly lit space. She crouched next to Kayla.
“Where is she?” Kayla whispered.
Another scream carried up the path.
“They must have taken them to the dungeon for the night,” Rich said. “To prepare them to be paraded out for the execution.”
“We are not going to the dungeon.” Louisa spread her arm in front of them like a blockade.
“We must.” Friedrich had followed Birdie, and now stood tall before them.
Rich grimaced as he gently pushed Louisa’s arm away. “He’s right.”
“I will not allow it.” Louisa shook her head. “I am not dragging seven campers into a medieval dungeon.”
“Of course not,” Friedrich said. “I will go alone. You will all wait here.”
“How do you plan to get in?” Rich asked.
Friedrich glowered at him.
Rich rose and stepped out of his hiding place. “The dungeon will be guarded, but not as well as you think. The cells are underground, so it’s almost impossible for the prisoners to escape. The guards won’t be the top brass – it’s likely they’re in trouble for something else and got stationed there as punishment. Let’s just say their morale won’t be high.”
Friedrich looked at Birdie. “You must come with me.”
She laughed. “Why? You took the aventurine. What do you need me for?”
“You will be my reason for going into the dungeon.” He glanced at Rich. “Get down. You must stay here and hide with the others.”
Birdie snuggled in beside Kayla. “I’m not going with you either.”
“I understand.” He met her eyes, then gestured to the others. “Which one of them would you like to send down there with me instead?”
“No one… I…” Birdie stammered.
“That’s what I thought. Now come on.”
Her legs trembled. She couldn’t let anyone else go with him. It had to be her. But she was furious at Friedrich for snatching the aventurine and at herself for letting him do it. And she was terrified of what she might see in the dungeon.
“We cannot stand here all night,” he said.
Birdie took a deep breath and stood.
Friedrich looped his arm in hers and hurried down the path away from the others. “Start crying, so it looks like you are upset.”
“What? Why?”
“I will tell them you are Marielle’s friend or something.”
They neared the entrance to the dungeon, which was lit by torches. A guard sat outside.
“I can’t cry on demand. You’ll need another plan.”
Friedrich yanked Birdie’s arm and swung his leg out to knock her down.