They’d all been awakened by the shaking of the House, by the earthquake or whatever it was, and they’d rushed downstairs, panicked and frightened. A veteran of several major California quakes, Laurie appeared to be a little less rattled than the rest of them, but the fact that the shaking had occurred here, in the House, had obviously put her on guard as well.

Norton was already downstairs. They were staring at where the front door had been when he emerged from the den, walking down the hall toward them. His face was white, his hands shaking, and he explained what had happened, describing his first view of Oakdale through the bedroom window, his attempt to wake up Mark, his experience in the den.

Daniel looked around the entryway as Norton talked. Where window had been was only wall. The door had become a decorative piece of solid oak, an extension of the wainscoting.

“So the doors and windows were just… sealed up?” Laurie asked. “The walls came down over them?”

“Yeah. Basically.”

“But what caused it to happen? Did Billings say something or do something?”

“I told you. I… I just opened the door. And I guess that triggered it.”

Laurie shook her head. “But that doesn’t make sense.”

“Like he said, it doesn’t have to make sense.” Mark’s voice was low. “Magic isn’t logical. It follows its own logic.”

They all turned toward him. He’d been so quiet until now, had spoken so rarely, that it was something of an event when he talked, and Daniel wondered if that wasn’t on purpose. A passive-aggressive attention-grabber.

Then he looked into the young man’s face, saw the anguish there, and immediately felt guilty for harboring such a thought. They were all going through enough without ascribing petty motives to each other’s words and actions. More than anything else, they needed to stick together.

“Where did Billings go?” Daniel asked.

Norton shrugged. “I don’t know. One minute he was there and the next minute he was gone.”

Stormy snickered. “Was he wearing his PJs?”

“I don’t think he sleeps,” Norton said. “He was wearing his uniform. As always.” He paused. “Only… he looked different. Tan. Happy.”

“He’s been looking better ever since I got here,” Daniel said.

Stormy smiled. “I guess we’ve been charging his battery too, huh?”

Daniel grinned at him. “Speak for yourself, nancy boy.”

There was another low rumble, more sound than movement this time. Lights in the House began switching on and off: the candle-shaped bulbs on the wall of the landing above them extinguishing, the swinging chandelier in the sitting room flicking on, the globe light in the hallway winking off, a light in the dining room flaring brightly.