Chapter 3

Adam swallowed hard. Yes, he did want to help. He knew that his only hope for a decent life lay in helping. But what Angelique proposed to him.. it was dangerous, wasn't it?

But he could not refuse. Not unless he wanted to leave Collinsport for good and change his name.

And yes, he did want Maggie and Joe to be brought back. He remembered his offer when this all started... he had not honestly thought that he could do much.

He could not back down now.

What would Quentin say if he did not do it? He wanted Quentin to think well of him, above all else. If he now denied his help, Quentin might disavow him, and if Quentin disavowed him what was left for him? Carolyn? She would despise more than ever. Was there anyone in town who would stand up for him?

No one. And this time they were right to hate and despise him. m It might have been undeserved in 1968, but not so now.

He had to regain his self-respect, even at this price.

"All right. I am going to do it."

Barnabas and Julia were already there. Barnabas had the wands in his hand and looked as if he was going to throw them.

"I told you that you cannot make that journey. You might not come back, and you know why."

"Still...":

"We want someone who will return, not get lost there. That is Adam now. That's what Amy said."

Barnabas grudgingly gave the wands back.

"I am ready to begin. " Adam said.

"Throw the wands."

Adam obeyed.

It was a favorable hexagram. Not wholly favorable, as there would be danger, but much better than the one Angelique had thrown when she had tried herself.

"Concentrate on the hexagram. Visualize a door with the hexagram on it."

"I... I see it."

"Wait until it opens, then go in."

"It is opening..."

"Move towards it. Enter it."

Then Adam said no more He kept staring ahead, in a trance.

"Well, he's gone in. We have to make sure that he is not disturbed till he comes back and he can report."

"For how long will he be like this?'

"It is difficult to tel. I suspect that it is gong to be a much larger journey than any you ever made. And with luck, he'll get what we all want, and he will undo the damage he caused."

The corridor extended before him. And another door, leading to other corridor, which lead to another door. There were doors in the corridor, at the sides, but they were closed. They would not let him pass, so he knew that, for a while at least, there was only one path ahead for him.

There were more doors leading to corridors, and corridors leading to doors. Corridors and doors, endlessly. He wondered if there was an end of it, if he would reach something that was not a corridor leading to a door, leading to...

It could stretch towards infinity... Or maybe it was circular. There was actually one corridor and one door, and he walked in it and would walk forever...

Maybe he should take his chances with one of the side doors. No that would only make it easier to get lost, not to mention what he could find out there...

He wished now that he had refused... well, too late to do it. He could go back, true, but suspected that that might not do much good in this maze. It was a maze, they told him. He could get lost if he did not keep to the straight and narrowly.

Now sounds came from the walls of the corridors. Even words. He could not make out what they said, but they seemed to be bad news.

He could not be killed in this journey. His physical body had remained behind. If worse came to worse, Angelique could bring him back. That was her reason for not going herself. No one could bring her back if she got stuck...

Damn it, was there anything there but doors and corridors?

Carolyn looked at the entranced Adam. "What did you do to him?" she asked Angelique.

"He's gone into the I Ch'ing maze to find a cure for Maggie and Joe."

"You forced him to do it?"

"He volunteered. And it was safest for him of all of us."

"You mean that it is dangerous?"

"There is some danger, yes. And it is more dangerous for Maggie and Joe if he does not go."

"It is my fault." Carolyn said. "I treated him rotten. I never cared. No wonder he went after mermaids."

"Look, patching up your marriage will have to wait. Now we need to know what he can find out."

Another corridor. And another corridor. And another. he had lost count of them by now. He wondered if there was anything anywhere, except corridors.

He thought again that he had been caught in a circular path. Going over and over exactly the same corridor.

And yet he sensed that he was reaching his destination...

There was a grumbling sound just ahead, and the light seemed to change.

Maybe... could he hope that this was it, that he was going to find what Angelique had sent him for?

All of a sudden he was on grass. Not walking. Floating over it...

Nearby was the sea, and ships on it.

Old ships, which sailed on oars and wind...

And there was an old man, with a long white beard, standing over a promontory, looking at the coming ships.

It was not the coastline of Collinsport. He doubted that he was in America, either. Maybe ancient Greece... at least that's what seemed like by the design of the ships.

He knew that he was invisible to them, that he could approach and see what was happening. What, if anything, it had to do with mermaids and gorgons.

The ships neared the shore, and several men descended. One of them, wore an iron circlet over his head, from which bones protruded. A king, maybe. And next to the king was a young boy. The king's son and heir, by then looks of it.

The old man turned to the king. "Hail, lord." he said.

Adam was a bit surprised that he could understand them. It was not English that they spoke.

"Hail, wise one." the king said.

"You have come at last."

"I have come. Those guardians you promised, are they ready?"

"They are."

"Show them to me, and their powers."

"Their effect is deadly. You better bring a slave for me to demonstrate."

"As you wish. But if you deceive me, you shall pay dearly for it."