Leo said, “We do have a wireless. Kat can show you.”

“Please let her know that I require it. As soon as possible.”

Leo nodded. “Dinner is in a few minutes,” Leo said. “I’d advise eating the food that looks inedible and avoiding what looks like normal food.”

He’d been right about the food, then. “I’ll be taking dinner in my room tonight.” Baines stood and gestured at his nearly empty desktop. “Now, if you don’t mind . . .”

“Of course,” Leo said. He left, closing the door softly.

Baines sat down. They were all insane here. Time travel? Talking to ghosts and animals? MI-6 had been duped.

He turned and looked out the window. Ralph Baines had always liked being out of doors. Liked tending his tiny pocket garden at home. But this place . . . The forest loomed not far off, a mass of thorns and vines and scratchy bare branches. It was pernicious and nasty. Perhaps a little tree pruning, put these children to manual work outdoors.

Gardening was healthy for the mentally weak.

Yes, that was the ticket. Tomorrow morning straightaway he’d get these children outside for a little hard work. Exercise and discipline. Outdoors in the fresh air, while he collected enough information about what was really going on here before he contacted the home office through that wireless.

Ralph Baines rubbed his hands together. He loved a good plan. Especially if it was his.

CHAPTER 29

Isaac

1942

“Can we go anywhere in time?” Amelie asked.

“Right now we have to go where it’s been set to take me, so I can collect the clues. But after that, why . . .” Isaac realized that Amelie was right. Maybe once he’d made these necessary trips, they could travel to really interesting times. Just as long as they didn’t interfere. And if he could figure out how to make it work. “Tomorrow, straight after breakfast?”

She nodded, her eyes bright.

Dinner that night was pretty regular, if you didn’t mind that it tried to skitter off the plate under your fork. Isaac gave up on that one but some of the side dishes were decent. And he knew enough not to eat that six-layer confection that was covered with what looked like sugar flowers and leaned like it might slide down the table.

He finally managed a good sleep after so many exhausting days and nights.

*   *   *

Straight after breakfast Isaac stood alone in the small library, waiting for Amelie and staring out the window. “Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane,” he murmured. Trees should not be doing what these were doing, but they were, for the second time. They were definitely closer, denser, nastier.

It was a grim morning all around, with low clouds and sleet. The deep hollows beyond the trees were inky black.