The wraith lurks beneath them, gazing up in glee. Its little mechanicals stir, their strange eyes wide and staring. The wraith was able to send one of its mechanicals through the wards and inside Rookskill, but the pathetic mousie was too vulnerable.

So, the wraith thinks, rubbing what is left of skeletal fingers, grinning to expose what is left of sharply pointed teeth. The wraith will use one of those humans, oh, yes, to find what it most wants.

It begins to lay out what it will need, while the mist grows thicker. It pulls out the knives and saws and tweaking tools and lays them on the ground beneath the tree.

All the little mechanicals in the glade begin to chirp and twitter with anxiety, for they sense that sinister magic is about to be made by their master.

Ah! But the wraith may have looked away from its victims too soon.

For one of the humans has come unspelled. One of the humans rolls eyes in the wraith’s direction and knows she must make magic if she can, and quickly. One of the humans struggles in her spider-silk cage, careful, quiet.

The mist is a gift, too, but a gift for the human and not for the wraith.

CHAPTER 26

Isaac

1942

The children gathered in the small library. Kat, closing the door softly, said, “Let’s agree we’re not saying a single word about this to the nincompoop in the parlor.” Then she said to Isaac, “All right. What do you have so far?”

Isaac put his pack on the table. “This is probably the most important.” He took out the skull, placing it in the palm of his hand, the hum in his brain growing again. He opened the jaw to reveal the watch face, and the skull caught the light in a sinister way. “A time machine,” he said.

The air in the room was electric as the children leaned over the watch.

“I know what that is,” said Kat. “I know lots about watches.” She paused. “That’s a Death’s Head watch.”

“Death’s Head,” Isaac breathed. He saw Death, standing next to the great astronomical clock, hammering down the hours.

“They’re some of the earliest watches,” Kat went on. “Made to remind the owner that time is fleeting and life is short. Memento mori. Remember that you will die. Mary Queen of Scots had a Death’s Head watch,” Kat said. “Legend has it that hers was cursed. That the watch itself played a part in her downfall and execution. It disappeared after she died, though some say that she gave it to her favorite lady-in-waiting when she went to the block.”

“You don’t think this could be the very same watch, do you?” Amelie asked.

“Impossible to say, but interesting that this one is here in Scotland,” Kat said.

“Because if so,” Amelie said, “then this watch could be cursed.”