It was a dank, brick-walled room with a very low ceiling, so low that Jessica couldn’t fully stand upright. The room had exposed pipes all along the walls, some of them giving off plumes of steam. There was a large tank in one corner, probably a hot-water heater, and in the far corner was a door. Jessica went to it.

“Don’t!” the redheaded girl squealed.

“It’s okay,” Jessica said, trying to make her tone soothing. “I’m going to get us all out of here. Let’s just see if it’s locked,” she said, hearing her own voice ring out cheerful and hearty. She sounded patronizing; it was a tone she’d always despised in adults when she was a child. “I’ll just check,” she said more normally. She walked briskly toward the door.

“No!” three voices cried. Jessica hesitated, then grasped the knob firmly and gave it a twist. Nothing happened. Behind her, one of the children let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s okay,” Jessica said, turning back to them. “There’s always another way out.” She scanned their anxious, grimy faces. “What happened here?” she asked. The boy with the child on his lap looked at her suspiciously.

“Why should we tell you anything? You could be one of them.”

“I’m in here, same as you,” Jessica pointed out. She dropped down to sit beside him, putting herself on the children’s eye level. “My name is Jessica.”

“Ron,” he said. The little girl on his lap tapped his shoulder, and he bent down as she whispered something in his ear. “Her name’s Lisa,” he added.

“Alanna,” the redhead said, a little too loudly. The blond boy didn’t say anything. Jessica eyed him, but did not ask.

“Hi, Ron, Lisa, Alanna, and, Jacob,” Jessica said with excruciating patience. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“She ate me in her tummy,” Lisa whispered. Instantly, Jessica felt the blood rush from her face.

“You mean the clown girl?” Jessica asked softly. “The robot girl?” The children nodded in unison.

“I was in the woods,” Alanna said. She held her hand against her stomach, then mimed the clamp shooting out. “Chomp!” she said, her face deadly serious.