How do adventures begin? Some people seek them out. Other people do everything they can to avoid them. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter what you do, because adventures, big or small, will come to all of us. And they almost always begin simply, by turning right instead of left, by saying yes instead of no, or by just walking through a door.
After a long, sleepless night, Jack and his parents packed the car and set off on the 10 hour drive to the farm, not knowing what to expect when they arrived.
What they found was a quiet, empty house, with the shades drawn down and one light burning on the porch. Out in the fields, the corn was high and beginning to silk. The chickens in the coop were content, calling to each other softly in their nests. The gray cat on the porch was lazy and watchful. But there was no sign of Gran.
Jack walked into the kitchen and his heart sank. Mom, who looked like she had been crying, turned quickly to the stove and busied herself flipping pancakes. Dad’s face, as he looked up from his newspaper, was a combination of “I told you not to be long” and “Help me out here, buddy!” Jack took his seat wearing a half-hearted smile and eyes that begged his parents to please be quiet.
Jack crossed the room to push back the curtain. The sampler was going to answer his questions. He knew it would. At least he hoped it would. It had to. Why else would it have changed? Would it be a message from Gran? Or would it be a clue? Jack hoped, if it was a clue, that it wouldn’t be too difficult to understand. Gran wouldn’t do that to him. She couldn’t.
Jack stood on the threshold and carefully scanned the room with the light from his flashlight. The air in the room was still and dusty. Motes floated in the dim sunlight pressing through the thinly curtained windows. There was an overwhelming smell of oldness, the only word Jack could think of to describe it. He sneezed and entered the room to continue his search.
On the table there was a scattering of objects, the sorts of things that go missing and yet are not missed until you look for them; blocks, spools, matchboxes, thimbles and such. As Jack got closer, he spotted some pieces of dollhouse furniture, and realized that everything had been arranged to form a sort of office, or maybe a sitting room, with a desk and lamps, a small bookcase and a battery operated fireplace. He could even see the shapes of two small dolls sitting by the fire, reading newspapers.
"What’s next on the list?” repeated Jack.
"We just told you. Get Hudson.” Palmer pointed up at the dusty teddy bear
Jack ignored him. “I mean, next after that.”
Well, after you get Hudson, we..."
"You showed me the bear. I don't want it. What's next?"
Palmer frowned. Hargrove blanched. ”But you have to get it."
"No thank you."
Jack looked up and saw that the doorknob was still on the wall. As he watched, the doorknob began to glow. The glow spread and the wall began to change. A sparkling golden tracing began moving out and around, as though someone was drawing on the wall with a pencil of warm summer light. Inside the line, the wallpaper faded, and as the golden light spread, a door appeared.
Jack gaped at the door. “Magic!” he exclaimed.