Tarvek again consulted his watch. “Ah—eleven minutes ago.”
Lucrezia swayed in her seat. “Oh dear. I think I do need a dose of sleep.” Then she sat up and delivered a brutal smack across her own face. “No! No, I must have this completed before Klaus’ terrier arrives. It’s such a perfect opportunity...” She turned to Tarvek. “Tell me, dear boy, can you mix me up some sort of stimulant?”
Tarvek frowned. “It’s against my better judgment, medically speaking, but yes, of course, my Lady.”
Lucrezia sighed in relief. “Good. Then I can—” and without any warning, she collapsed into a startled Tarvek’s arms.
“My lady?”
A small, girlish snore was her only response. Tarvek sighed, and with a grunt, he hoisted her up into his arms. “Marvelous,” he muttered. “
A hand reached up and grabbed his collar. He looked down to see Agatha glaring back at him. “Start by telling me what the heck is going on!”
Tarvek almost dropped her. “Agatha?”
The girl stared at him. “Yes?”
A wave of emotion crashed over Tarvek, catching him completely by surprise. He had accepted that Agatha was gone, gone forever, as he had been forced to accept so many other terrible losses in his life. Now that she was unexpectedly back, feelings that he had suppressed swept him up and threatened to overwhelm him. He hugged the surprised girl tightly to him, and whispered into her hair. “I thought you were gone.”
Agatha realized that she took comfort from the feeling of Tarvek’s arms around her, and relaxed slightly. “I think I was... asleep?” She pulled back and looked Tarvek in the face. “I was so... so angry. It was hard to wake up, but I knew I had to keep trying—what’s been happening?”
Tarvek didn’t even bother to calculate how this changed things. He gently set her down and answered honestly. “You’ve been... well, possessed, I suppose, by The Other.”
Agatha nodded slowly. Things were making sense. “My mother. Yes, I still am.”
Tarvek looked alarmed. “What? But—”
“She’s still in my head... pushing.” A disconnected look crossed her face. “Maybe I’m still dreaming...”
Tarvek grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake. “No! This is no dream! You’re only awake because Lucrezia fell asleep.
Agatha looked at him dreamily. “I don’t think I can. It’s so hard to think. Oh! Yes...”
With that she closed her eyes and began to hum a bizarre little atonal drone. A realization struck Tarvek that sent a shiver down his spine. “That’s... you’re
Agatha’s eyes snapped open. They were clear now. “It helps me think.” She sagged. “But I can’t do it forever.”
At that moment, Agatha’s little pocket clank stepped forward and chimed twice. Agatha looked at it and an idea burst into her head. “Yes! That would do it!” She scooped up the little device and gently twisted the little stem at the top. “Oh, you’re wonderful!” The little clank reveled in the praise.
Agatha swayed, and Tarvek caught her. “My Lady?”
Agatha looked at him from the corner of her eye. “My Lady now, is it?”
Tarvek responded smoothly, “Well... yes, you are the Lady Heterodyne, right?”
There was something suspicious about this, but at the moment Agatha couldn’t summon enough spare mental energy to care. “Whatever.”
She selected a set of tools and flipped open the back of the little clank. Her knees started to shake. Tarvek moved closer and slipped his arms around her. “Here,” he murmured. “Lean on me.”
Agatha nodded her thanks and resumed tinkering with the clank. Tarvek looked over her shoulder and marveled at the way her hands moved. He blinked. “What is it exactly that you’re doing?”
Agatha was silent for so long that he was afraid that she wasn’t going to answer him. But finally, she whispered, “I don’t trust you.”
Tarvek considered this. He also considered the warm body he felt within the circle of his arms and realized, suddenly, that he wanted her trust, wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything. He sighed. “Can’t say I blame you.”
More silence, punctuated by the sounds of tinkering. “You’re working with The Other, aren’t you?” Agatha whispered.
Tarvek shrugged. “I’d hardly be free or alive if I wasn’t.” Agatha said nothing, but he felt a slight shudder run through her. With a start, he realized that what Agatha thought about him was important. That he had to explain himself. “If I can learn what she’s doing, I can learn how to reverse it. You must believe me... no one else can do this. No one else can stop her.”
“I want to trust you.” Agatha whispered.
Tarvek tried to sound sincere. He found it more difficult to do than usual. “You can.”
Agatha looked back at him over her shoulder. “We’ll see.” With that she flipped the case cover on the little clank closed. “Go on, you.”
After a moment, it saluted and scurried off. Tarvek made a half hearted attempt to grab it, but found himself hampered by the girl sagging in his arms. “Wait!” He looked at Agatha. “What did you do?”
Agatha looked at him and a grin oozed across her face as she slipped further down into his arms. “Now,” she whispered, “You’ve got to trust me.”
Tarvek glared and shook her. “No! Don’t you go to sleep!”
Lucrezia opened her eyes and felt Tarvek holding her tightly. How interesting. “Ooo, Tarvek! You naughty thing! Are you taking advantage of a lady?”
Tarvek almost dropped her. “Of... of course not, my lady.”
She settled a bit deeper into his arms and smiled at his obvious discomfort. “What a pity,” She sighed. She frowned, and looked at him seriously. “Have they found your sister yet?”
Tarvek sighed.
Zeetha and Maxim trotted up to the rest of the group. Neither was breathing hard. “We ran around the whole castle.” Zeetha said. “None of the gates are accessible.”
Dimo scratched his jaw. “Gun be toff,” he admitted.
Maxim nodded. “Kent turn off dot lightning moat.”
Oggie felt he should contribute. “Kent fly.”
Krosp lashed his tail in frustration.
Lars stood up and dusted his hands. “We’ll just have to search for the secret passage.”
He became aware that the others were staring at him. “...What?” he looked at them in confusion. “They’re in all the stories.”
Several minutes later, they were, again, trudging through the city sewers. Krosp was miserably clutching onto Lars’ vest.
“You didn’t say it was in the sewers!” he hissed, his ears flattened.
Now that they could see them, it had to be admitted that as sewers went, the sewers of Sturmhalten seemed to be remarkably well-designed and maintained. Shortly after they had re-entered, they had found lanterns, as well as a collection of waterproof leather cylinders, which proved to contain well drawn, waxed maps of the system.
Large stone galleries were lined with walk-ways. There was no disguising the place’s purpose however. If the omnipresent smell wasn’t enough, now that they had sufficient light, they could actually see what it was that they were desperately trying not to step in.
Lars tried to ignore the more disgusting aspects of their surroundings, and looked for signs of secret passages. He felt a slight sinking feeling when he realized that subconsciously, he was expecting a small discrete sign with an arrow that said “secret passage.”
“Every good story about rescuing the princess from the castle of the evil Spark has a secret passage scene. There’s always an entrance in the sewers.” He muttered.
The others looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn’t like they had any better ideas. Lars halted and unrolled the map. He looked up and examined a small enameled metal sign that had been bolted to the upper wall.
