And the road opened. An orderly gravel path, twining right up to the front door of Ashford House.

“Nice,” Pip said. She picked up the kitten-of-ashes, setting the little feline on her shoulder, and started forward. The others traipsed along behind. Eleanor followed. As she stepped between the Library and the front yard of the house, the air pressure changed, making her ears pop. It was still pitch-black, and the false night was chilly and damp.

“It’s just the way we left it,” Pip said, looking around.

“Not quite,” Otto said. He pointed to the flower bed under the front window, which Jenny tended every spring. The daffodils had begun to come up, their blossoms still closed tight.

“It’s Halloween. And the eclipse. And spring,” Eleanor said slowly. “Katie didn’t just keep time broken. She broke it more. We aren’t just going to have to fight her—we’re going to have to fight all three of them. Mrs. Prosper. Katie. And Mr. January.”

“Aw, rats. That means I’m going to have to work,” the cat-of-ashes complained.

The kitten-of-ashes laid back her ears and hissed. “Bad,” she growled.

“Oh, hush. My master hasn’t given me any instructions yet. Doubt he’ll even notice I’m back for a while,” the cat-of-ashes said.

“Great. This is all just great,” Otto said.

“We’ll prevail,” Pip said. She flashed them a grin. “We’re the Heroes Three for real now, right? We can’t lose.”

Eleanor wished she believed that.

•   •   •

INSIDE THE HOUSE, the color was still normal. Ashford House, it seemed, still offered some protection.

“I don’t know if this will last,” Otto said, peering around. “I can see the magic Bartimaeus put on the house, now. It’s all patchy. And it’s wearing out more and more.”

“Why hasn’t he fixed it?” Eleanor asked. Then she realized—the house was completely quiet. Her heart thudded in her chest. “Uncle Ben?” Eleanor called. There was no answer. “Bartimaeus? Anyone?”

Nothing.

Panic flashed through her. She ran through the Great Room, looked in the drawing room and the kitchen, dashed up each of the staircases. She threw open doors and hollered down hallways, but there was no sign of either man.

Otto and Pip were doing the same and the three of them careened into each other in the hall outside Eleanor’s room, panting. The kitten-of-ashes clung to Otto’s shoulder, leaving little scorch marks on his shirt.

“They’re gone,” Eleanor said. “They’re gone and everything’s gray and—”

“It’s okay,” Otto said. “They’ll come back when we reset things, right?”

“They probably just fell through the time cracks with everyone else,” Pip said in agreement, her hand on Eleanor’s arm. The kitten-of-ashes chirped comfortingly and gave a raspy little purr.

Eleanor nodded, wiping tears from her cheeks. Ben would be okay. He was safe, just like Naomi and Jenny were safe, just like everyone was safe.