She looked around the room. She had no idea if she’d taken a step back in time or if time had shifted, or it was just a dream she might not wake up from, but the only way out seemed to be the strange open doorway that had somehow presented itself in the wall and that was probably the only way to find Colin or as she now called him, “the person who used to be Max.”

Tess looked back at the strange doorway, as if to study it—the strange doorway where only a moment ago, Adele had been standing—and realized she was all alone in the room now. Adele had vanished, too. And the room was getting darker by the moment, as if all light and air was being pulled from it as she stood there.

She held the marble in her hand and ran through the open doorway stepping into an absence of light, a kind of darkness that was stranger than any she’d ever encountered before. . . .

~ CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX ~

1926: Three days before christmas

December, 1926

Three Days before Christmas

At least that was the date on the note his mother had left on his desk in her ink pen-perfect-curlicue-handwriting.

Anyone else might have written the 22nd of December. But his mother loved holidays, so to her it was “Three Days before Christmas.” The exquisite floral and pine cone wreath, dotted with red berries, lavender, and thyme had been hanging on the front door since the first day of December. The tree had been decorated weeks ago. The large mercury ornaments in the shape of stars and globes, silvery and reflective, were so heavy they had to be tied to the branches with string that was dyed green to match the tree. The crystal glass ornaments, balls, and prisms were so fragile that only she was allowed to hang them, very carefully with thick silver thread, real silver. The garlands were made from fresh holly.

Colin and Elizabeth, his younger sister, had a few ornaments of their own. He had a wood block with a C on it with a picture of a cat and a clown—both “C” words. She had one with an E with a picture of an elephant and an egg. Colin had three small painted ceramic elves that his mother said were from Scotland. But Colin thought most elves lived in Ireland, so he wasn’t sure she was right. His sister had a tiny metal fire engine that had a bell that occasionally rang when no one was expecting it, which their mother thought was funny, too. There were wooden soldiers, actually miniatures of the guards at Buckingham Palace, in red coats fastened with tiny gold buttons. It was always such a nice day when the boxes with the ornaments appeared in the living room and they knew the Christmas tree would be arriving (as if by magic) shortly.