“All right,” she said, brushing her hair back from her face. “The entrance is huge. It’s the biggest doorway I’ve ever walked through in my life. There’s an archway over the threshold that says…” She looked down at her feet. “I can’t remember. But I remember feeling very small. It was a little frightening. But the bushes were so green. Dark green. I was more interested in their color than anything else. I entered and followed the first trail to the…” She thought about it. Used her hands. “The right. I followed it to the right and, presto, there were six or seven different ways I could go. And that sleepy Mr. Sherman sure kept his eye on those Hedges! I tell you, I forgot for a second that I was walking through bushes and branches! It was more like green walls. Like…it would hurt if you pushed me into one. And they were so tall! So tall. And that’s how he does it. He distracts people with how beautiful and big it all is. He makes the place so wonderful that it’s no wonder people get lost and lose their way. It was very hard to stay focused. All I wanted to do was look around. But I’m much smarter than most people. Certainly the nimrods at school. So I kept my focus anyway. Standing before those seven different paths, I told myself I was going to do it. That a man built this maze and that I’m as clever as any man, big or small. And if I couldn’t, then maybe I’d have to wonder if Mom was right. If I couldn’t find the end then I’d agree that there was no end to find.”

Outside, hard rain came against the police station windows and all the officers turned to face it at once. Margot, sorry not to have their attention, even for a moment, noted how the wrinkles in their neck showed as they stretched the skin.

“Hey!” she yelled. And just as slowly they looked at her again. All together.

Then Margot glanced at the window and wondered what a powerful storm such as that one might do to faces that looked so easy to adjust.

Take off your glasses, she wanted to say. Then the thought scared her. Deeply.

“So I chose a path,” she said. “And began my descent into his maze.”

5