Fifer looked up. “Do either of you have a clue what passageway he’s talking about? Maybe there’s a second secret door on the back wall of the office that we can find? Or inside the apartment somewhere?”

“Not that I know of,” said Florence, mystified. “But Simber would know the apartment better than me.”

Simber shook his head. “I can’t think of anything. I neverrr saw him use a passageway. Everrr.”

“Hmm,” said Fifer, studying the book again. “Listen to this. It’s a clue to locating it.” She hesitated, then continued reading.

Right is left and wrong is right,

stoop low to find the perfect height.

Tiny eyes will serve you well

To read your way into this spell.

“Right is left?” asked Florence. “What?”

Fifer muttered the first line a few times. “Does ‘right’ mean ‘correct’? As in, ‘correct’ is left? And wrong is right? Like there’s a left and a right, and he’s saying the one on the right is—” She stopped suddenly. “Oooh. Could it be?”

“Be what?” said Florence.

“Those doors? In the secret hallway?”

“Ah, Fiferrr,” Simber said slowly. “Yes, I think that’s it! I underrrstand now. That parrrt of it, anyway.” He narrowed his eyes in thought, then said, “The two doorrrs in the hallway that we’ve all passed by a thousand times and wonderrred what’s behind them. I’ll bet my wings one of them is this passageway he’s talking about.”

Desperate Times

While Fifer’s clue about the secret passageways was helpful, it didn’t solve anything. Even though it appeared from Mr. Today’s explanation that one of the doors in the secret hallway was this mysterious passageway he wrote about in his book, Simber, Florence, and Fifer still had no idea how to open it. Mr. Today had magically protected the doors in that hallway. He hadn’t given the actual magical password in this book, which was typical style for the late head mage. He obviously hadn’t wanted just anyone going anywhere they pleased without having to work for it. So that meant they’d have to find the proper spell on the door itself.

Simber and Florence knew that Alex had tried to open the doors several times over the years, with no success, but he hadn’t had this poem clue. And the part about tiny eyes? That was strange, and it clearly meant something. But what?

Chances weren’t great that they’d be able to figure it out in a short amount of time when Alex hadn’t been able to do it in years. But at least it was something to offer a glimmer of hope that their friends weren’t totally doomed. It was enough of a breakthrough for Fifer to call it a night. She needed rest to have a clear mind for the morning. With so many lives at stake, she couldn’t afford not to be at her very best.

She stowed her books and supplies in the Quillitary yard near everyone else’s, and hoped they’d all be alive to fetch them again when this was over. Then she lay down next to Simber and fell into a restless sleep, soothed by the sounds of nearby dragons breathing.