“My dollhouse had several. I’ll just need to figure out exactly where we are right now. There must be something I recognize nearby.”

“What about this?” Cal led them to a railing on the right side of the hall. It overlooked a wide dark room with no windows.

Glancing up, Lou noticed that the ceiling was made of glass. Strips of iron crisscrossed over rows of girders, holding up the panes in a slight arch. Beyond, the sky was so black, it almost looked as though there were a big tent pitched overhead. Below was a shiny floor that looked like an enormous mirror made of onyx.

“Perfect!” she said. “It’s the indoor pool. I used to pour water inside here when the dollhouse was small enough to take only a few cupfuls. There should be another room at the far end with a fireplace inside.”

“But how do we get down?” asked Sadie. “There aren’t any stairs.”

“We climb down?”

Lou went first, swinging one leg over, then the other. Sadie held Lou’s arms through the rungs as Lou lowered herself past the edge of the balcony. She dangled for several seconds before dropping to the tiled floor below with a hard thump. Sadie and Cal followed. “This way.” Lou led them around the left side of the pool. Huge potted plants made the edges of the room feel like a jungle. To their right, the water looked as solid as polished stone.

The only light came from the hallway where they’d climbed down. “Don’t get too close to the edge,” Sadie said to Cal as he peered over the side of the pool.

Lou wondered if she’d see her brother’s reflection looking back up at her if she peeked in, so she stayed far from the water. Their footfalls echoed around the room. She crossed her fingers, praying silently that the door she expected to find would be there.

When her palm closed around the doorknob, she nearly yelped with glee, but she kept her lips sealed. “Found it,” she told the others calmly.

When she pushed the door inward, she saw an orange light flickering in the new room. Bad news. She cringed, then hung her head.

Stepping aside, she showed Sadie and Cal why she was disappointed. Inside the wide mouth of the fireplace in the corner of the room, a fire engulfed a pyramid of thick logs. On the stone mantel, more flames danced at the wicks of red taper candles.

“Crud,” said Cal, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

“Is someone here?” asked Sadie, her eyes flicking around to the darker parts of the room. “Someone who set the fire?”

But Lou had already checked. She shook her head. “The house knew what we were trying to do. It found a way to stop us.”

“The house can start fires?” Cal asked, wearing a worried look.