I followed her to the front door and we peered inside. I saw warped floorboards and moldering walls. “Bedroom’s in the back,” she said. “It’s comfortable, actually.”

She turned the knob and opened the door, releasing a neutral smell less musty than the depot, or even the furnished cabin we had just left. Cassie stepped inside and I took one last look behind us, noticing that the benches in front of the depot were now both empty. The statue of the proprietor was gone. No, not gone. He was standing in the middle of the road, watching us. Not a statue, then. Just some guy dressed like one of those street performers you see in touristy cities. I waited to see if he would start walking, or running, this way, but he remained in place. I backed in through the doorway, keeping my eyes on him. He raised one hand as I closed the door, and waved.

“Well, they know we’re here,” I said, looking for a lock on the door and finding none. At least not one that I could latch. Cassie was heading toward a hallway that led to the back of the cabin. I scanned the room for a chair or something that I could use to barricade the door, but the room was bare.

She stopped and turned. “How do you know they know?”

“Come here,” I said, and she did. I opened the door and the road was empty. So was the bench. “That statue?” I said. “That was a man in costume, surveilling us. He followed us partway up the road. Who knows where the hell he is now. Probably sounding the alarm.”

Cassie put a hand to her mouth, letting the information sink in. “This is really happening.”

“Something is,” I said, and shut the door.

The cabin was stifling. Hotter than outside. I doubted any of the units out here had A/C. At least not in the rooms above ground. It wouldn’t really fit the abandoned town façade Mister O had created should someone come stumbling along. Something told me unwelcome guests would be intercepted long before they made it this far, however.

Cassie was still staring at the door, maybe listening for footsteps, more likely paralyzed by fear. I placed my hand on the back of her neck, and her shoulders jumped up by her ears. I waited until she relaxed. “It’s all to scare us. I don’t know why or what for, but I don’t think we’re in real danger. At least, not yet. Whatever is going on will soon be revealed. We’ll get Rox back, we’ll go home. Okay?”

She looked me in the eyes. “It won’t be that easy.”

“You’re right,” I said. “It won’t.”

A fly buzzed my ear and I swatted it away.

“Have you ever heard of anything like this?” she asked.