18

They trampled their way back through the woods in the direction of Nathaniel Olmstead’s abandoned house. Eddie was exhausted. He knew his friends felt the same way. Each held a flashlight, swinging the light at every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves. Eddie had a feeling he’d be sleeping with the lights on tonight, yet for some reason, he was also certain they didn’t need to worry about the monsters anymore. They’d defeated the scariest one of all. Now they simply had to get home.

When they reached the orchard, Eddie heard something that made him want to run all the way up the hill. It sounded as if someone behind them had coughed. Harris and Maggie heard it too. They both spun, holding the flashlights against the shadows between the trees on the hill. But they didn’t see anything. Had they imagined the sound? Or was there another monster who had followed them from the clearing?

They had destroyed the gate. Right? They had nothing to worry about.

But as they walked past the last row of twisted apple trees, Eddie heard the distinct sound of feet brushing through the grass behind them. This time, when Eddie spun around, his flashlight found its target.

A pale face stared back at him, squinting as the beam of light shone in its eyes. Eddie’s hand shook, and he dropped his flashlight. A man stood ten feet away, backlit by the moon. Even so, Eddie thought he could still make out some of the distinct details of the man’s dark face. The eyes had aged since the last photograph Eddie had seen. The beard had grown shaggy and gone gray. His ratty hair now hung past his shoulders. Time had passed since his picture had appeared on a book jacket. Thirteen years, to be precise.

Harris and Maggie spun, their own lights taking over for Eddie’s. Eddie bent down to pick up his own from the grass. Then, as they all shone their flashlights on the man who stood behind them, Eddie’s friends discovered his identity. They were staring into the eyes of Nathaniel Olmstead.

“Who—who are you kids?” said the man, holding his hand up to block the blinding light. He wore dingy clothes, a torn T-shirt, and dark, stained pants. An acrid stench surrounded him, as if he hadn’t bathed since the last time he’d set foot amongst these overgrown trees.

Eddie couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He opened his mouth to talk, but he was so nervous, nothing came out.

Harris spoke up instead. “I’m Harris,” he said. “This is Maggie. And this is Eddie.” He paused before adding, “Are you Nathaniel Olmstead?”

The man nodded, a hint of skepticism in his eye. “Where are we?” said Nathaniel.

“This is the orchard behind your old house,” said Harris. “You’re back in Gatesweed.”

Nathaniel opened his mouth and looked toward the sky. A wave of relief seemed to wash over him. He dropped to his knees and pressed his palms to his face, clutching his forehead with his long fingers. After a long moment, he shook his head and lowered his hands. “How?” he said. “How?”

The three of them looked at each other. How were they supposed to answer that question? Nathaniel continued to kneel in the grass, staring in disbelief at the hill where his house sat like a sentinel waiting for their approach. The wind blew dead leaves through the field, and the man began to tremble. Eddie stepped forward. He held out his hand to Nathaniel. “Come on,” said Eddie. “It’s a long story.”

The four of them made their way up the hill to Nathaniel’s house. Once at the back door, Harris, Maggie, and Eddie managed to pull the last of the wooden planks away from the frame. Nathaniel opened the door himself, pausing before going inside. The three of them followed him into the dark kitchen.

They sat at the dining room table, amid the scattered crystals of the fallen chandelier. They rested their flashlights in the middle of the table, the bluish light reflecting off the shards, painting the walls and ceiling with tiny rainbows. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?” Eddie asked Nathaniel. “Can we get you something from the kitchen?”

Nathaniel laughed, a surprising, radiant sound that seemed to brighten the decay around them. “I am hungry and thirsty. But I’m certain my cupboards are currently bare.” He began to cough slightly. “How long have I actually been gone?”

“Almost thirteen years,” whispered Maggie.

“Wow,” said Nathaniel. “Thirteen years.” He picked up a shard of crystal from the dining room table. “I have no words.”

“Where were you?” said Harris cautiously. “What happened?”

“Ah,” said Nathaniel, looking up at them. He turned the shard, end over end, tossing an echo of light across his forehead, as he contemplated his answer. “That too is a long story.” He took a deep breath. “So we both have stories to tell. The question is … who goes first?”

Eddie, Maggie, and Harris explained everything they had gone through over the past month, starting with Eddie’s arrival in Gatesweed and his mother’s discovery of The Enigmatic Manuscript. Eddie told the stories about encountering the monsters in and around Nathaniel’s estate, how they had figured out the code, and finally, their struggle to defeat the Woman in Black. Nathaniel was horrified to hear that both his book and the necklace had been discovered in the Nameless Lake, but he was impressed with the diligence of these three makeshift detectives to solve the mysteries of the strange objects.

When Eddie explained how he had come to destroy the statue in the woods using the pendant, Nathaniel threw the crystal shard he’d been holding against the wall. He hung his head, as if he were trying to hold back some sort of wild emotion. Laughter. Tears. Eddie couldn’t tell which.

“Of course!” he said, once he calmed down. “If only I’d had Eddie’s foresight thirteen years ago, I never would have made the journey I did.”

Nathaniel went on to explain what had happened to him the night he finished writing The Enigmatic Manuscript and opened the gate. After he tossed the metal box with the pendant and the book into the Nameless Lake, he watched as the dogs’ red eyes began to appear, like he had expected, under the surface of the water. He turned and quickly ran up the hill toward the clearing. When he saw the statue, glowing brilliant blue, his situation, which had once felt like a work of fiction, suddenly became all too real. He paused, wondering if he should go home and face his fate. But then he heard the dogs approaching quickly from the lake. Nathaniel ran toward the stone child. When he reached the statue, the forest disappeared, the world changed, and suddenly he found himself standing in the middle of a dark, muddy field. The sky was filled with charcoal-colored storm clouds. On the horizon, he could see what looked like a deserted, burned-out town. The statue was still beside him, but it no longer glowed. He was alone in an unfamiliar world. Frightened, he reached out and touched the statue, expecting to find himself back in the woods behind his house. But as the stone of the statue cooled the palm of his hand, Nathaniel instantly realized his mistake. The gate had closed. It would not remain open for him to travel back and forth between Gatesweed, as he had assumed it would. And Nathaniel no longer possessed the key with which he could open it.

He spent the next thirteen years—the story of which he insisted could fill countless books—building a life, struggling to survive in the new, impossible landscape, regretting every minute of his decision. The worst part—the Woman in Black was nowhere to be found. Either she was hiding, or she existed in another world entirely—one that Nathaniel knew he would never be able to reach.

Only earlier that evening did things change for him. He awoke from a nap and found himself lying at the edge of a circular clearing in familiar woods. He thought he might have been dreaming—so much of his life had seemed like a dream—but then he heard footsteps tramping through the brush nearby. He got to his feet and followed the sound through the woods and over a small hill. That was moments before Eddie had found Nathaniel in the orchard, blinding him with the flashlight.

“But how did you come back all of a sudden?” said Harris.

Nathaniel thought about that. “I’m not really sure,” he said. “All I can think of is that when Eddie destroyed the gate, those who had traveled through it, like me, were pulled back to the world from which they’d originally come.”

Eddie leaned forward. “If that’s true,” he said, the excitement in his voice filling the small room, “that means all the monsters that had come through the stone child’s gate must have been sent home too.”

“I hope so!” said Maggie.

“That’s why we didn’t see any monsters in the woods after the statue crumbled,” said Harris. “No one in Gatesweed has to worry about them anymore. We’re all safe now.”

“I don’t know how to thank you,” said Nathaniel. “I think you kids are brilliant for figuring this out. And very kind for saving someone who, after thirteen years in his own private purgatory, wasn’t sure he deserved to be saved anymore.”

Eddie blushed. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it if we hadn’t loved your books so much. Reading them has always been sort of like … a lesson … in fighting monsters!” He laughed as he heard the words come out of his mouth. They sounded so silly, but ultimately, they were true. Nathaniel’s books had been the best preparation for this crazy ordeal.

Nathaniel smiled. “Then I should have known better how to take care of them myself.”

After a moment of quiet, Maggie said, “What are you going to do now that you’re back?”

“Is that a subtle way of asking me if there will be another book?” said Nathaniel, raising his eyebrow.

Maggie looked flustered for a second. “Of course not,” she said. “I only meant …” She didn’t finish her sentence. As she slumped into her chair, Eddie realized that her question had been a subtle way of asking Nathaniel if there would be another book. For someone who had never considered herself to be a fan of scary stories, Maggie certainly looked embarrassed.

“I’m kidding,” said Nathaniel, smiling at her. “To answer your question, though, all I really want to do right now is take a shower. … As for the writing … I no longer have my precious silver pendant.” He sounded sarcastic. “Who knows if I’ll ever be able to write anything again? To be completely honest … I don’t really care.”

Eddie didn’t believe him. He bent over and lifted his bag off the floor. Placing it on the table, he undid the zipper. Very carefully, he reached inside and pulled out the necklace. With the chain wrapped around his fingers, Eddie allowed the pendant to swing slowly as he held his hand above the table.

Nathaniel shook his head. He slowly reached out and took it from him. “I don’t want it, but if I don’t keep it safe, who knows where it will end up next.”

Suddenly, Eddie thought of his mom. She was probably frantic, wondering where he was. He was certain she had discovered that he’d taken her “pen.” He hoped she wouldn’t flip out when he told her he’d “lost” it.

“But it doesn’t matter if anyone uses the pendant to write another book. Does it?” said Harris. “The gate is destroyed.”

Nathaniel smiled a sad smile. He shook his head. “According to the legend, there were two stone children. Weren’t there? As long as the other statue exists, someone might use the pendant to try to open the gate again. I think it’s our job now to make sure that never happens.”

When Eddie heard Nathaniel say that, he felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. “But where is the other statue?” he said.

Nathaniel clenched the silver pendant in his fist and lightly tapped it on the table. “I hope,” he said, “we never find out.”