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That should bring Hugo, Grandma explained She crossed the porch and paused in the doorway, staring into her home It looks like ere bombed, she utted house in a soed fraraph inside or to run her hand along the remnants of a beloved piece of furniture Grandma climbed the stairs and went to her rooh the closet, finally withdrawing a metal lunch box

At least this is intact, Grandry? Seth asked

Kendra slapped him on the shoulder with the back of her hand What is it, Grandma?

Follow me

Downstairs in the kitchen, Grandraphs Help me lay these out

The photos were of the house Each rooles The exterior was also displayed from multiple perspectives In total there were an spreading them across the kitchen floor

We took these pictures in case the unthinkable ever occurred, Grandma said

Kendra suddenly irl, said Grande, considering the extent of the dae, but they have worked miracles in the past I’ your stay

You shouldn’t be, Seth said It happened because of me

You mustn’t assume all the blame, Grandma insisted

What else can we do? Kendra said We caused it

Kendra didn’t do anything, Seth said She tried to stop arded Seth pensively You did not h your disobedience As I understand, you were commanded not to look out theHad you heeded the order, you would not have been terandfather would not have been taken You must face that fact, and learn from it

But the full blauilt than you deserve Your grandfather and I are the caretakers of this estate We are responsible for the actions of those we bring here, especially children Stan allowed you to come here to do your parents a favor, but also because we need to start selectively sharing this secret with our posterity We will not be around forever

The secret was shared with us, and a day cae fell on our shoulders

One day ill have to pass the responsibility on to others

She took Seth and Kendra by the hands and fixed theaze I know the randfather and I have made plenty of mistakes ourselves So have all the people who ever lived here, no randfatheryou children in a situation where opening a ith kind intentions could cause such harm and destruction

And clearly the fiends who abducted him are ultimately the most culpable

Kendra and Seth were silent Seth scrunched up his face If it wasn’t forhard not to cry

And I would still be a chicken in a cage, Grand the problem instead of the blaht Takehis forearm across his nose He led the way across the back porch, weaving through the garden toward their destination

There really aren’t many fairies, Grandma said I’ve never seen the yard so devoid of life

There haven’t been many around ever since they attacked Seth, Kendra said Since Grandpa vanished there have been even fewer

When they stood over the painted, life-size metal statue of Dale, Grandma shook her head I’ve never seen this particular enchantment, but that’s certainly Dale

Can you help hiiven sufficient ti who placed it, and how

We found tracks, Seth said He showed Grandh the inizable

Grandma frowned It doesn’t look fahts that we otherwise never encounter-which is e take cover indoors The printto the perpetrator, or to thethat just happened to step there sonore Dale for now? Kendra asked

We have no alternative Tirandfather, we can shed ht on what caused Dale’s condition and find a way to reverse the curse Come

They returned to the house Grandma spoke over her shoulder as they mounted the stairs to the second floor

There are a few special strongholds within the house One is the roo Another is a second room on the other side of the attic

I knew it! Kendra said I could tell from outside there had to be more to the attic But I could never find a way in

You were probably searching in the wrong place, Grand them down the hall to her room

The two sides of the attic are not interconnected When we get up there, I’ll fill you in on htstand She found a few hairpins and used the more, she located a key She led them into the master bathroom, where she used the key to unlock a closet door

Instead of a closet, the door opened to reveal a second door, this one e co the wheel

Four turns right to 11, three left to 28, two right to 3, one left to 31, and half a turn right to 18

She pulled a lever, and the heavy door clacked open

Carpeted stairs led up to another door Grandma went up first Seth and Kendra joined her in the attic

This side of the attic was even larger than the playroohts dispelled the di workbench dominated one side of the roos Handsome wooden cabinets lined the other walls

Various unusual objects littered the roo scale, a lobe the size of a beach ball Trunks and boxes were arranged in rows on the floor, leaving just enough aisle space to access them Heavy curtains concealed the s

Grandma motioned them over to the workbench, where they perched on stools What’s in all the boxes?

Seth asked

Many things, uard our redients for potions, all the good stuff

You can tell us more about Grandpa now? Kendra said

Yes You heard Nero say that Stan and Lena are being held in the Forgotten Chapel Letthe rao, this land was possessed by a powerful demon named Bahumat For centuries, he terrorized the natives elt in the region They learned to avoid certain areas, yet even with these precautions, nowhere in the vicinity was truly safe The natives s the deroup of Europeans offered to overthrow the dee for a claim to the lands it haunted, the incredulous local leaders consented<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>