Chapter 7
“It was a long time ago.” William picked Trevor up and patted him, “I got stuck in the ghost house. And I had only a few hours to get out. Just like you. And I figured out about the keys and the Man with the Music Box and that all I needed was the telephonoscope. But when I asked the Professor for it he wouldn’t give it to me.”
“Why?” Evelyn asked, “He seems like a nice old man.”
“Because he’s scared of the Thing with Black Wings.” William whispered and the dripping of the water into the tub echoed all around. “I tried to convince him but he just wouldn’t give it to me. So I made a different plan. But I ran out of time before I could finish it.”
“What was your plan?” Evelyn asked, her stomach feeling sick as she thought about the big, black grandfather clock in the hallway downstairs. She only had two more chimes left to get the key back.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” William said sadly, “There’s no hope. We can never get our keys back.”
Trevor hung his little head sadly and covered his eyes with his tiny paws. Faucet sighed and his shoulders slumped. The water dripped into the bathtub and echoed around the dark room. And Evelyn thought about her mother and her father and how she would never be able to see them again. And then she looked past William, to the window in the wall. And she saw something outside and jumped up.
“Alright stop that! All of you!” And they all started a bit at her yelling, “We can’t just give up! We can’t let the Singing Lady win. We still have time! Two hours. Two hours to figure something out!”
“But it’s hopeless.” William whispered.
“There’s always hope.” Evelyn said walking to the window and pointing towards the night sky, “See that star? That’s the North Star. My parents would take me out stargazing and we would lie down on a blanket in a farm field and they would tell me all about the stories of the stars. That star was called Hope by people because if they ever got lost they could use it to find their way back home. They didn’t give up hope and kept trying. And we have to keep trying too!”
Faucet’s gears clicked and whirred. Trevor looked up and his whiskers twitched. And William turned around in the bathtub and looked away from Evelyn. She thought he was still sad and didn’t want to help.
“William, please.” She stepped closer, “If there is anyway–– what are you doing?”
William was busy winding a lever on the inside of the bathtub. The inside was covered in gears that were all turning and spinning. William looked sideways at Evelyn and smiled.
“Fine. I’ll help you. Here, can you turn that lever over there?” He pointed to a far away one in the corner. “And Faucet I need you to clear those boxes and the stool off the floor. Trevor, you know what to do.”
Trevor appeared below the bathtub and ran between the legs. The bathtubs legs were cared lion claws resting on round balls. And as Trevor passed each claw he pulled a pin out of them. And the round balls under the claws started to turn loosely.
"Alright Faucet we need to face out towards the door." William called as he kept cranking, a large pole rising above the tub. It had a propeller like a fan at its end. William grabbed a bag from inside the tub and threw it to Evelyn. "Here can you stick those on the blades?"
Evelyn opened the bag and the smell of flowers came out of it. She reached in and pulled out a golden hued toffee, "They're the same ones from the conservatory."
"Exactly." William grinned as Faucet pushed the tub around to face the door with its nose. "Faucet, you need to secure the door before Evelyn starts licking the toffees."
"I don't understand." Evelyn pulled out a handful of flower toffees as Faucet walked over to the door and leaned against it with his clockwork body.
"It's okay." William took one and licked it and stuck it to the blade of the fan. From outside there was a rustling sound as more moths arrived and clashed against the door. "Just trust me."
"Alright." Evelyn took the bag and started licking the candies and sticking them to the blades. There was more rustling behind the door an it strained. Faucets gears were clicking and turning more as he kept the door closed.
"Alright Trevor, get ready!" William yelled as he picked up an axe from inside the tub. Evelyn hasn't noticed it before. She also realized that she hasn't noticed the rope next to the wall before. Or the massive chandelier above them.
"Umm William." She said as she stuck the last candy on the blades, "What's your plan?"
William smiled and yelled, "Now Faucet!!!!"
Then several things happened at once. Faucet threw open the door as a wave of the glowing white moths burst in, swarming at the candy on the blades. The blades started to spin as the moths rushed against it going faster and faster. The spinning fan moved the gears in the tub round and round and this caused the round balls under the lion claws to spin fast too. But the tub wasn’t going anywhere. That was when William brought the axe down hard on the rope that caused the chandelier to fall. It smashed into the floor behind them, the wood under the chandelier broke and seesawed, pushing the tub off. That was all it needed.
“Hold on!” William called as the tub shut forward.
The burst through the bathroom door, the moths still swarming around the blade and causing them to shoot forward faster. William grabbed Evelyn and leaned them both sideways. This caused the tub to start turning as they hit the hallway. He was trying to get it to turn towards the Singing lady’s door. The door that was still bursting with flame. But they weren’t turning far enough.
“We’re not going to make it!” William called as he pulled Evelyn down, “Put your head down!”
And then the tub smashed through the door. but it wasn’t the Singing Lady’s door. It smashed through the door that went up to the attic. They careened up the stairs and burst through the Attic door into the Professor’s study.The tub fell sideways and Evelyn tumbled out. William climbed up the tub and sat on it’s side. Trevor appeared, shaking and chittering very angerily at William.
“Now you’ve done it!” The Professor was angry and at first Evelyn thought he was angry at her, “You foolish boy, now the Thing with Black Wings can get up here much easier!”
“It could have come up here if it really wanted to anyway.” William snorted, “And even if it did get you, it would serve you right!”
Evelyn was shocked. She had never seen the Professor or William as angry before as they were toward each other. The Professor turned away and was busy tinker with a gear, but he was obviously so mad that he just snapped his screwdriver before he threw it to the side. William just sat and turned his back, folding his arms. Trevor tried to talk to him, but William didn’t respond at all. Evelyn sighed.
“Okay, i’m sorry you two are mad at each other. but please.” And she stood in between them, “I only have two hours left to get my key back
. And i really need both of your help.”
The boy William turned a bit but then looked away. The Professor was looking at his broken screwdriver but didn’t say anything.
“Please.” Evelyn said again.
“Alright, fine.” The Professor said, putting the screwdriver down, “But how am I supposed to help you? I can’t leave my chair.”
“Well, I was wondering if I could borrow your telephonoscope.” Evelyn said giving her biggest smile.
“Absolutely not.” The Professor said as he stroked his bog moustache. “It’s completely out of the question!”
“i told you.” William shook his head,.
“Please.” Evelyn tried again, “I know you are using it to try and protect yourself from the Thing with black Wings but I really need to use it. Isn’t there something else you could use to protect yourself?”
“No.” the Professor took a sip from his teacup. “There isn’t.”
“But what did you use before you had the telephonoscope?” Evelyn asked, “I mean, you couldn’t have always had it.”
The professor took a long sip, “Well, that’s true I guess.”
This caused William to look up as the Professor kept talking, “But I can’t use that tool anymore.”
“Why not?” Evelyn asked, feeling sure that there must be a way for her to get the telephonoscope.
“It’s broken.” The Professor said crossly.
“Then we can fix it.” Evelyn said looking to William for help.
“It’s not that simple.” The Professor said, “Its missing a very vital part and its been gone so very long...”
“What is the tool?” Evelyn asked.
From behind them they could hear the familiar clicking and whirring coming up the stairs. Evelyn turned and William turned and they both had the same idea at the same time. They both realized what tool the Professor had been talking about. The broken one. The one missing its part. The clockwork man walked up the stairs slowly and sighed as the professor answered them/
“It is Faucet.”
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