“I’ve got it,” Simon says, grabbing the strap from behind.
“It’s trying to get—” Baz drops to his knees. Simon is standing over him, pulling the strap with both hands away from the back of Baz’s neck. The bag thumps to the floor, and the strap sags enough for Baz to slip free.
We all stare at it.
“The basement!” Shepard says. “There must be a—”
Right, of course.
It takes both Baz and Simon to lift the duffel bag off the floor. Baz wraps both arms around it and rushes back through the swinging door. “Come on!”
We run out of the kitchen, trying every door in the hallway. Some of them are locked. “Any of these could lead to stairs,” I say.
“Here!” Simon’s already at the end of the hall, shaking a door by its knob. “Listen. It’s that music—”
“ ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,’ ” Shepard says.
I frown at him. “What?”
“Come on, Penny,” Simon says, rattling the door. “ ‘Open Sesame!’ ”
I catch up with him and hold out my fist.“Open Sesame!”The door swings open in Simon’s hand. The music gets louder. Itisa stairwell.
“Me first,” I say. “I have magic.”
“So?” Simon says, running ahead of me down the stairs.
“Simon!”
The music is thundering down here—and terrible, some old hard rock music from when my parents were kids. I glance over my shoulder to make sure Baz is still with us. He’s coming down the stairs behind me, leaning way back so that the bag won’t pull him into a dive.
“Is this where it wants to go?” I ask.
“I think so. It mostly just wants to get away from me. Keep up with Snow.”
I nod and hurry down the stairs, pulling Shepard along with me. We end up in another hallway. Dark. Old. Walls of crumbling brick. We follow the music and find Simon standing outside another locked door, trying to muscle it open. “Penelope!”
Morgana below, has anyone ever cast so many “Open Sesame”s? I hold my gem over the lock, and do it again. Simon wrenches the door open, and the music is suddenly unbearably loud.
There’s a middle-aged white man inside the room, drinking tea and watching television. He’s got stringy blond hair and a patchy beard. He fumbles for the remote. “Sorry! I thought everyone was—” He stops fumbling and stares at Simon. “Is that—Are you—Simon Snow!?”
Simon is staring back. “Jamie?!”
67
BAZ
Jamie Salisbury has been locked in a basement, listening to hair metal. He looks hale enough. He was sitting in an armchair, drinking tea when we barged in. Now he’s standing and staring at Simon.
“How do you know who I am?!” Salisbury shouts over the music.
“We were looking for you!” Simon shouts back.
Shepard walks past them and picks the TV remote up off the floor. He turns the music down.
Salisbury looks at the TV, then back at Simon. “Why isSimon Snowlooking forme?”
“Because your mum is worried about you,” Simon says.
