There was another person standing there—a girl of about fourteen, in a thin cloak. I had seen her before, in Castle Karlstein; I looked at her with great curiosity. Grindoff introduced her as Hildi Kelmar and told me all that had happened. The girl contributed, and it was clear from her first sentence that she was a much better witness than he was: clear where he was muddled, cool where he was indignant, intelligent where he was…well, less so.

“What do you think happened to the girls?” I said to her.

“What do I think, miss?” she said. “I think that Miss Charlotte’s got out, and I think she’s gone down to the village looking for Miss Lucy, and I think they’ve found each other and gone back up to the mountain guide’s hut, where I took ’em first. If only they’d stayed there, miss!”

“Quite, quite,” I said. “I agree. Something of the sort must have happened. It is a shame, Grindoff, that you did not go up to the castle as I directed—”

“I wish I had, now, ma’am,” he said. “But I honestly thought Doctor Cadaverezzi would make a better job of it, like.”

“He sounds a remarkable man, indeed,” I said, though I considered privately that if he had been that remarkable, he would not have exposed Lucy to the danger of being captured. “But he has disappeared, you say?”

“Vanished into thin air, ma’am,” he said. “It’s just like his illusion of the Disappearing Dervish. What happens is, this little Dervish—clockwork he is, and a proper marvel—anyway, the doctor sets him going, whirling about on a solid table, and then—”

“Yes, yes. Perhaps when Doctor Cadaverezzi rematerializes from the dimension into which he has temporarily retired, he will be so kind as to demonstrate the Disappearing Dervish to us. In the meantime, there seems to be no alternative but to follow the girls to the mountain guide’s hut. Is it very far, Hildi?”

“A couple of hours’ walk, miss,” she said, looking at me doubtfully. I understood that look perfectly: it said, You’re old and fat and you won’t make it. I took it as a challenge.

“Let us go, then,” I said, rising to my feet. “If anyone is tired, then he or she need not come. One volunteer, after all, is worth ten pressed men.” I spoke with perfect confidence. Each of them privately shared Hildi’s opinion. Each of them, therefore, would have been ashamed to see me set off, and stay behind themselves. So, naturally, all three volunteered to come with me.

“Excellent,” I said comfortably.

—