“Are you sure? It might just be someone who sounds similar.”

Prue grappled with her bag, where the adapted name-finding GODAR was buried at the bottom. “I need to find out.”

Her heart pounded like a locomotive, as she attached the wire. She kept glancing at Primrose and Finblewick, but they were both busy wiring. With shaking hands, she turned the dial, separating the history data. She enclosed the face of the stag-man in her hands and whispered, “Say your name.”

There was a pause, then it opened its mouth.

It looked around and swayed slightly.

“I’m Francis, Francis Haywood.”

Chapter 30: Stag-Men Army

STAG-MEN ARMY

Prue tried to stop it, but a cascade of tears ran down her cheek.

Edwin’s mouth was locked open in shock.

“Everything all right down there?” Craftsman Primrose called.

“Yes, we’re just finishing this one and we’ll move on to the next. Only one more to go,” Edwin called.

Prue was still grasping the face of the stag-man.

“Prue!” Edwin said in an urgent whisper.

“It’s me – Prue. Francis, can you remember me?”

“Prue, we need to move on to the next stag-man – Craftsman Primrose will realize something’s wrong.” He scurried up to sit on the shoulder of the stag-man and prised Prue’s hands from its face. “Come on.”

The burn of grief rose in her chest again as she forced herself to move to the next stag-man. “What do we do, Edwin?”

“I don’t know,” he said urgently, “but we’ve got to pretend like nothing’s happened.”

Craftsman Primrose and Finblewick had harnessed their last soldier and Craftsman Primrose joined them. He looked at his pocket watch. “Nine-fifteen. Perfect. Almost time to march.” He began repeating his speech to the final stag-man.

Prue looked back at the stag-man that was Francis and willed him to turn and look at her. “Francis, it’s me, please!” she breathed. He remained staring forward. What had they done? Prue glanced at Edwin on the table beside Craftsman Primrose.

Then Edwin jumped down and hurried her to the back of the building while Primrose and Finblewick were occupied. Panic was escalating inside of Prue. She followed him, and Edwin scampered up to sit on her shoulder, thrusting something into her pocket on the way.

“I got the transmitter,” he whispered.

“Oh, thank you. I almost forgot, with Francis and…” she looked at him with tear-dashed eyes. “I can’t send my brother back,” she said in a desperate hushed voice.

“But what can we do?”

“I don’t know, but we have to find a way to stop Agapantha.” She stared at him with tear dashed eyes. “I can’t lose him again. I can’t.”

*