Gelbus nodded. “And what do they have at this Low Way? Do they have activities I would know?”
Maria crossed her arms as she thought. “Well, it started as a bowling alley, but when bowling suddenly went down the gutter…ha-ha, get it?”
Gelbus obviously didn’t.
“Right, other worlds and stuff. You’ll get it by the time the day’s over, and it’s time to go back to Oriceran and the war. But yeah, anyway, they have bowling, putt-putt (which I’m gonna stay away from, for personal reasons), and, according to Gary, the second largest pinball arcade in Ohio. It’s pretty cool. I like it. Haven’t been there in awhile.”
“Bowling? Putt-putt? Pinball?” Gelbus repeated, his jaw hanging open after the words left his mouth.
“Yeah, bowling is like throwing a rock at ten bottle-looking things. Putt-putt is where you take a stick and hit a ball into a small hole. Pinball is just magical. I’ll save that one for you to find out on your own.”
“It seems you Earthlings really love your balls,” Gelbus observed.
Maria’s eyes darted to Sherlock and she looked like she was about to be sick, her cheeks puffing out, her face flushing red. Quickly, in what sounded like an explosion, she burst out laughing, repeating what Gelbus had said.
“We really like our balls! Oh, man, too bad Tabby and Claire weren’t here to hear that one,” she said.
Sherlock now lay on the ground, his front legs covering his face as his back went up and down and air snorted from his nostrils—Laughing, or trying to laugh, Gelbus thought.
He didn’t understand what was so funny, but he was glad he could cheer them up.
Maria patted him on the back before turning back down the hall. “Man, Gelbus, you are a funny Gnome. I’m glad I saved you from that prison.”
“I’m glad, too, Maria. And thank you.”
She left with Sherlock following at her heels. He was still snorting with that odd form of canine laughter. Gelbus turned back to the mirror and took in his dinosaur outfit. Maria told him a hoodie was worn on the torso of a normal-sized Earthling, but for Gelbus, it stretched nearly to his ankles. As he looked himself up and down, putting the hood on, zipping it up, then taking it off, he couldn’t help but chuckle at himself.
Ah, I think I am really going to like Earth. Perhaps I’ll become a permanent resident of Ohio, or whatever Maria called this place. There’s nothing for me back in Oriceran—except for a few friends, that is. But I can make new friends here, can’t I? I’m a funny Gnome, after all.
Gelbus smiled at his reflection one last time and then followed after Maria and Sherlock.
Before they went to Low Way, they all gathered in the living room. All except for Tabby and Claire, who were spending time with their families until Maria decided to call them up for battle—their words, not Maria’s.
In the background, images moved and talked and played music on the front of a box. Gelbus vaguely remembered from his studies that this was called a teevee. It was a contraption Earthlings stared at for hours on end. It possessed a small magical signal that zapped the brains of those who watched it. Gelbus found his eyes constantly drawn to the box, which currently showed a man and a woman, locked in one another’s arms, kissing or hugging or crying. Then a voice announced something about a soap network, but Gelbus saw no sign of soap—though the people in the box did look very clean.
Ignatius and Salem stood in the middle of the living room. Ignatius kept shaking his head and waving everyone away, saying, “This is not a goodbye. We must remain strong. Salem and I will be back.”
Maria brooded near a big, ratty armchair. Gelbus could tell that she wanted to go with her grandfather and Salem just by the way she crossed her arms and frowned. He hoped she wouldn’t end up going. He was excited to wear his new hoodie out and about, and was even more excited to see Earth. What he had seen so far was vastly different from Oriceran. Different was good, though, especially after his run-in and capture in Ashbourne. I need a vacation more than anyone.
“Now, you have your crystals?” Ignatius asked.
Maria and Agnes held up their necklaces. The crystal pendants glowed with a bright light. Communication crystals, the Gnome realized. Never thought I’d be seeing those on Earth.
“Good, good,” Ignatius said approvingly. “We will be able to communicate with one another whenever we desire.”
He walked over to Maria and placed a hand on her shoulder. She continued to brood, her mouth set and firm. The young witch longed for adventure; Gelbus could see it plainly on her face. Didn’t she get enough adventure in Ashbourne? Not to mention all of the events that preceded it…
The way she had described it to Gelbus, he was surprised she’d even had time to sleep. But despite the frown bubbling just below her blank surface, she did look quite rested—even after the terrible dreams she had spoken of in the kitchen.
“Don’t worry, Maria,” Salem said, walking over to stand next to Ignatius. “We’ll be in and out. A simple operation.”
Maria let her frown show. “I should be going. It might be dangerous.”
“Oh,” Ignatius said, smiling, “where we’re going, there won’t be any danger. Zimmy is resting in a place where no one should be able to find her. Not even the Arachnids or those who practice dark magic.”
It sounded like an obvious lie.
Maria said nothing.
Gelbus thought perhaps she was going to cry, like the people on the teevee behind her. But she stayed strong. He could tell she loved her grandfather with all of her being. After all, he was the one who had raised her, and Gelbus often saw their similarities plainly in the measured way they spoke, and the honorable way they carried themselves. Ignatius was a warrior, he had seen war and
