Together we wrestle the gargantuan bulge into the closet and manage to shut the door by leaning all of our weight against it. By the time we’re finished, we’re panting and flushed.
Frump hops onto Delilah’s bed and she walks to the door just as I notice an errantNlying on the floor. I snatch it up and stuff it beneath her pillowcase as she turns around to make sure we’re ready. Then she yanks the door open and smiles at her mother, who looks Delilah up and down and then glances at me and raises an eyebrow.
“I see you two made up,” her mother says, and I think my cheeks must be as red as brick.
She pats her leg. “Come on, Humphrey. It’s time for dinner.”
Frump doesn’t budge.
I clear my throat. “Humphrey, come now. Be a good dog.”
Frump shoots me a look that could slay a dragon and jumpsoff Delilah’s bed, trotting to her mother’s side. As they leave the room, Delilah’s mother reaches for the doorknob and then—on second thought—leaves the door wide open.
“Where’s the book?” Delilah asks once her mother has gone downstairs. “I didn’t come across it when we were cleaning up.”
“I didn’t either.” We both begin to tear the room apart, looking for the fairy tale, which has floated somewhere in the recent flood of letters. “There!” I cry, spotting it beneath the bureau and crawling on my hands and knees to retrieve it.
Delilah rips it out of my hands and immediately opens to the page we were on last. Rapscullio, Edgar, and Socks stare up at us from the center of the laboratory, looking quite the worse for wear.
“Have you seen Frump?” Edgar asks. “Socks rode the whole book and he’s missing.”
“We have him here,” Delilah replies. “Have you come across my dog, Humphrey?”
At the sound of his name, Humphrey comes skidding out from behind a laboratory table, carrying a model atom in his mouth like a tennis ball. He drops it, covered with drool, and wags his tail. “Hello, Most Favorite Person in the World. I found a ball. It’s the best ball. Also, you are a giant.”
“Oh my God,” Delilah whispers.
“Yeah,” Edgar says sarcastically. “So, thanks forthis.”
“Orville, how do we get them to trade places again?” Delilah asks.
The old wizard shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he admits. “Anything that springs to mind is rather complicated. I fearthat any spell I cast to bring Frump back to the book might accidentally take you too, Oliver.”
My heart sinks as I realize that all of this—this world, this life, thisgirl—could be ripped away from me, simply because of Frump’s accidental wish. He came here because he wanted my help. Could I really be so selfish as to refuse to give it to him?
I may dream of reaching the stars, but I’ll never get there if someone else’s dream is anchoring me to the ground.
Orville glances up at us. “I need a little bit of time to think.”
“I’m so glad we’re all together. Look at my friends. So many friends,” Humphrey says. He flops down at Edgar’s feet and rolls onto his back. “Skinny boy, will you rub my belly?”
Edgar sighs and looks at Orville. “Don’t taketoolong.”
Gently I close the book and set it back on Delilah’s shelf. “If Orville’s right, I can’t ask Frump to sacrifice so much for me.”
“What do you mean?” she asks.
“If we both stay here, he’ll never see Seraphima again. He’ll never speak again. He’ll always be a dog.”
Delilah’s face is so still it seems like porcelain, like something that might crack at any moment. “What about everythingyou’dhave to give up?” she says.
But I can’t even think about that, about losing her. If I do, I know I’ll never leave.
By the time I get home from Delilah’s house, it’s dark, but a buttery glow shines from the kitchen windows. Usually at thistime of the day, I can see Jessamyn making supper—chopping vegetables or seasoning meat in preparation for cooking. But she is nowhere to be seen. After I put Edgar’s bike in the garage, I walk inside. “Mom?” I call, belatedly wondering if she’s gone to bed early again, because of one of her recurring headaches.
That’s when I smell the smoke.
I run into the kitchen to find the air thick and hazy. Smoke billows from the oven. Grabbing a dish towel, I open the oven door and cough as the smoke clears around my face, revealing a blackened lump that must have been supper. I throw the window sash up, letting cold, clear air stream in. I take a step backward and trip.
