don't be ridiculous, Flamel'snapped. They re rats.
Josh really didn't think it was such a ridiculous suggestion.
Has Dee sent them? Sophie asked.
He s tracking us. The rats have followed our scent from the shop. A simple
scrying spell allows him to see what they see. They are a crude but effective
tool, and once they have our scent they can follow us until we cross water.
But I m more concerned about those. He tilted his chin upward.
Sophie and Josh looked up. Gathering on the rooftops of the surrounding
buildings were an extraordinary number of black-feathered birds.
Crows, Flamel'said shortly.
That'sbad? Sophie guessed. From the moment Dee had stepped into the shop,
there hadn't been a whole lot of good news.
It could be very bad. But I think we ll be OK. We re nearly there. He
turned to the left and led the twins into the heart of San Francisco s exotic
Chinatown. They passed the Sam Wong Hotel, then turned right into a cramped
back street, then immediately left into an even narrower alleyway. Off the
relatively clean main streets, the alleyways were piled high with boxes and
open bins that stank with that peculiarly sweet-sour odor of rotten food. The
narrow alley they had turned into was especially foul-smelling, the air
practically solid with flies, and the buildings on either side rose so high
that the passage was in gloomy shadow.
I think I m going to be sick, Sophie muttered. Only the day before, she d
said to her twin that the weeks working in the coffee shop had really
heightened her sense of smell. She d boasted that she was able to distinguish
odors she d never smelled before. Now she was regretting it: the air was
rancid with the stink of rotten fruit and fish.
Josh just nodded. He was concentrating on breathing through his mouth, though
he imagined that every foul breath was coating his tongue.
Nearly there, Flamel'said. He seemed unaffected by the rank odors whirling
about them.
The twins heard a rasping, skittering sound and turned in time to see five
jet-black rats scramble across the tops of the open bins behind them. A huge
black crow settled on one of the wires that crisscrossed the alleyway.
Nicholas Flamel'suddenly stopped outside a plain, unmarked wooden door so
encrusted with grime that it was virtually indistinguishable from the wall.
There was no handle or keyhole. Spreading his right hand wide, Flamel placed
his fingertips at specific locations and
Grabbing Sophie and Josh, he pulled them into the shadow and eased the door
shut behind them.
After the bitter stench of the alleyways, the hallway smelled wonderful:
sweet with jasmine and other subtle exotic odors. The twins breathed deeply.
Bergamot, Sophie announced, identifying the orange odor, and Ylang-Ylang
and patchouli, I think.
I m impressed, Flamel'said.
I got used to the herbs in the tea shop. I loved the odors of the exotic
teas. She stopped, suddenly realizing that she was talking as if she would
never go back to the shop and smell its gorgeous odors again. Right about
now, the first of the early-afternoon crowd would be coming in, ordering
cappuccinos and lattes, iced tea and herbal infusions. She blinked away the
sudden tears that prickled at her eyes. She missed The Coffee Cup because it
was ordinary and normal and
Where are we? Josh asked, looking around now that his eyes had become
accustomed to the dim light. They were standing in a long, narrow, spotlessly
clean hallway. The walls were covered in smooth blond wood, and there were
intricately woven white reed mats on the floor. A simple doorway covered in
what looked like paper stood at the opposite end of the corridor. Josh was
about to take a step toward the door when Flamel's iron hand clamped onto his
shoulder.
don't move, he murmured. Wait. Look. Notice. If you keep those three words
in mind, you just might survive the next few days. Digging into his pocket,
he picked out a quarter. Positioning it on his thumb, he flicked it into the
air. It spun over and over and began to fall toward the middle of the
hallway .
There was a barely perceptible hiss and a needle-tipped dart punched right
through the metal coin, impaling it in midair and pinning it to the opposite
wall.
you've left the safe and mundane world you once knew, Nicholas Flamel'said
seriously, looking at each twin in turn. Nothing is as it seems. You must
learn to question everything. To wait before moving, to look before stepping
and to observe everything. I learned these lessons in alchemy, but you will
find them invaluable in this new world you've unwittingly wandered into. He
pointed down the corridor. Look and observe. Tell me: what do you see?
Josh spotted the first tiny hole in the wall. It was camouflaged to look like
a knot in the wood. Once he found the first one, he realized that there were
dozens of holes in the walls. He wondered if each hole held a tiny dart that
was powerful enough to punch through metal.
Sophie noticed that the floor did not join neatly with the wall. In three
separate places on both the left-and right-hand sides, close to the
skirting there was a definite gap.
Flamel nodded. Well done. Now watch. we've seen what the darts can do, but
there is another defense . He took a tissue out of his pocket and tossed it
onto the floor, close to one of the narrow openings. There was a single
metallic clink and then a huge half-moon-shaped blade popped out from the
wall, sliced the tissue into confetti and slid back into hiding.
So if the darts don't get you , Josh began.
The blades will, Sophie finished. Well, how do we get to the door?
We don't, Flamel'said, and turned to push on the wall to the left. An
entire section clicked open and swung back, allowing the trio to step into a
huge, airy room.
The twins recognized the room immediately: it was a dojo, a martial arts
school. Since they were little, they had studied tae kwon do in dojang like
this across the United States as they traveled with their parents from
university to university. Many schools had martial arts clubs on campus, and
their parents always enrolled them in the best dojo they could find. Both
Sophie and Josh were red belts, one rank below a black belt.
Unlike other dojos, however, this one was plain and unadorned, decorated in
shades of white and cream, with white walls and black mats dotted across the
floor. But what immediately caught their attention was the single figure
dressed in a white T-shirt and white jeans sitting with its back to them in
