“Are you certain?” Mrs. White asked. Summer and Pigeon paused, listening. “There is no coming back if you walk away now. You’ll miss many of my most amazing candies. You haven’t even seen Creature Crackers!”
“We’re sure,” Pigeon said. He and Summer passed through the batwing doors to the front of the store. She continued holding back the tears.
“You were really brave in there,” Pigeon said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Was I?” she said, her voice catching. “Or was I a chicken?”
They stepped out into the rain.
“It’s hard to stand up to somebody like Mrs. White,” Pigeon said. “I wanted to before the graveyard mission, but I didn’t have the guts. I wanted to again this time, but who knows if I would have without you.”
“Well, the adventure is over for us,” she said. “No more treasure hunt, no more candy.”
“I think I’ve had enough treasure hunting,” Pigeon said. “We can still have some fun with the candy we have left.”
They hurried across the rain-glossed asphalt of Greenway.
“I hope Nate and Trevor know what they’re doing,” Summer said.
“I sort of doubt it,” Pigeon sighed.
*****
Nate felt bad as he watched Summer go. She had looked truly hurt when he and Trevor chose not to side with her. He wished he could explain. What Summer had asked of Mrs. White had sounded really reasonable to him. Mrs. White’s evasive responses had made him even more suspicious of her. Which meant it was even more important to keep working for her until he figured out what she was really doing.
“Shame they didn’t want to trust us,” Mrs. White said, shaking her head. “You boys sure you don’t want to follow them out?”
“I’m sure,” Nate said.
Trevor nodded.
Mrs. White narrowed her eyes. “I could tell you two were made of tougher stuff than those others. As we close in on our goal, things will be heating up. I need to know I can rely on you boys to the bitter end.”
“You can,” Trevor promised.
“Very well,” Mrs. White said. “The man whose mind we must erase is a magician like me, but has lived here in town a bit longer. His name is Sebastian Stott.”
“Mr. Stott, the ice cream man?” Trevor blurted.
“The very same,” Mrs. White said. “You may have noticed him out on his route again. He would do anything to lay his hands on the treasure we are seeking.”
“But he’s so nice!” Trevor exclaimed.
Mrs. White shook her head knowingly. “Believe me, he’ll be a lot nicer if we let him start over with a new memory.”
Trevor looked to Nate. Using the table to shield the action, Nate nudged Trevor with his foot. Whatever they ended up actually doing, they had to play along for now.
“Will the Clean Slate work on a magician?” Nate asked.
“It will work on anyone unless forced upon them,” Mrs. White said.
“So, what’s the plan?” Nate asked.
“Sneaking into his home will require some ingenuity,” Mrs. White said. “We magicians lay down protective spells to guard our abodes. But I know a way to bypass his defenses, an arcane technique that he would never expect. Mirror walking.”
“What’s that?” Trevor asked.
“Most of those who still know of this secret believe it has been lost over the passage of time.” Mrs. White held up a tiny blue mint. “Put this in your mouth, bite down hard, and for a moment you will be able to step through a looking glass into the space inhabited by reflections.”
“Like Alice in Wonderland?” Nate asked.
“Not like Alice,” Mrs. White said. “You will become a living reflection capable of dwelling in the darkness that unites all reflected space. No walls exist in the void between mirrors, no substance except floors. The feat of magic that either discovered or created this space is nothing I can take credit for. But I do know how to access it. You can pass through the blackness from one mirror to another, and gain entry to forbidden places.”
“Weird,” Trevor said. “That’s how you want us to get into Mr. Stott’s house?”
“I have done some investigating, and I know he has a mirror large enough. None suspect that this secret art endures. You’ll need only take a mirror near his house, climb inside, pass through his walls in the darkness, enter his bathroom through the mirror, deposit the Clean Slate in his milk or his juice, and then exit through the mirror.”
“Once we’re in, can’t we just go out the door?” Nate asked.
“Open no window or door,” Mrs. White warned. “Do not explore his home. Go from the bathroom to the kitchen and back.”
“What if he finds us?” Trevor asked.
“Don’t let him find you,” Mrs. White said. “If he does, run away. If you’re caught, play dumb. But be careful and you won’t get caught. Strike late Friday or Saturday. Be sure the house is dark. Or I suppose you could sneak in during the day if you’re sure he’s off driving his route. I’ll leave the timing up to you. Each Mirror Mint gets one person through one mirror. You’ll pass through a mirror to get into the darkness of the reflected world, and through another to get out. Should you get stuck in the reflected world without a mint, you could become trapped for all eternity.”
“Eventually we’d die,” Nate said.
Mrs. White shook her head. “Not true. You would stop aging, no longer require food or air, and persist as a living reflection until the last mirror in the universe was destroyed.”
“So be careful with the mints,” Trevor said.
“Most careful,” Mrs. White agreed, handing each of them four. “Two for each of you to get into his house, and two to get out. I imagine you’ll want to stay together, although it might be wiser to enter solo, leaving the other guarding the mirror outside.”
“Together is better,” Trevor said. “It would be too freaky alone. We’ll hide the outside mirror.”
“Who wants to take charge of the Clean Slate?” she asked, holding up the gray cube.
Nate accepted it. “How do we find our way if the mirror world is dark?” he asked.
“The mirrors are all you can see in the blackness,” Mrs. White said. “You can peer out of them like windows. But no light shines in through them. It can be disorienting—with no walls, you can see mirrors a long ways off.” From under the table Mrs. White lifted a large oval mirror in a frame. “This should be large enough for you to fit through. The closer you place it to Mr. Stott’s house, the closer you will be to his bathroom mirror. I suggest you set up really close to minimize the distance you’ll have to traverse in the dark.”