Chapter 3

The next day, Phileas Fogg returned to his new building with Rebecca and Passepartout. He could tell his cousin was skeptical of his interest, but she wanted to see him solve his mystery. He had already told her what he thought he would find, but not of the alley with the wall that turned itself into an entryway.

With two lanterns, the three made their way up to the fourth floor. Everything was just as he had left it. Phileas led them to the upper deck.

First, he attempted to pick the old padlock. That might have worked if the thing wasn't frozen solid with rust. He turned the chain over to Passepartout, who applied a hacksaw to it.

Rebecca took a rag to the glass to the right of the doors. The inside wasn't too dirty. It was the outside that kept the light from coming in. Defeated, Rebecca gave up cleaning windows and returned to the big room below. There were a few boxes still sitting by the walls. One had an open lid, laid off center. It contained what looked to be shoe forms of various sizes. The next box over, Rebecca had to pry open. It held finished shoes. Odd shoes, though. Rebecca wondered if the old shoemaker had contracted with a theater company. Some shoes had curled over toes like elf boots, while others were oversized, wide and long like a clown's. She abandoned the boxes and looked to see what Phileas was doing. He was standing by a walked-in window.

"Just trying to judge how long ago this was done," Phileas said. "There are sealed windows and doors all along this side of the structure. I know there was a street or alleyway behind it at one time."

"And the verdict?" Rebecca asked.

"Impossible to tell," he said. "This building is so old they could have been walled up fifty or two hundred years ago. All I know is, it wasn't done recently."

As Phileas was talking, the chain Passepartout was working on hit the floor with a loud jingle. "Ah, now we can get to the roof."

The two joined the valet at the observatory doors, excited at his progress. The doors were stuck from disuse, but with both Phileas and Passepartout's strength working against them, the doors eventually came open. There was a fair-sized balcony off the doors. It was about three-quarters of the way down the roofline from the ridge. Ten feet further was the edge of the roof, which was only five feet from the neighboring building's roof edge. Phileas had expected more of an alley than that.

"From what I saw, this alley should be much wider."

"This is a long way from Charring Cross Road," Rebecca said. "Maybe this is a different street from that one."

Curiosity was eating Phileas alive. He looked out across an expanse of rooftops that seemed to go on forever. Not the sight he had hoped for. "There might be a roof access to one of these other sections I can get through.

He looked up at the full moon. "Plenty of light enough to see by. The worst thing that could happen is getting caught trespassing. Somewhere out there is a street with gaslights. I'm going to find it."

Hopping out onto the ledge of the balcony, Phileas scrambled onto his roof, inspecting it.

Passepartout sprang up like a cat to join him.

Phileas called back to Rebecca. "For such an old building unoccupied for so long, I can't believe how new these tiles look. There wasn't a break to be seen."

It had a slow rise from the back to the ridge close to the front of the building. At the ridge, it dropped off sharply to the front edge, which was decorated with four short extensions with decorative stained-glass windows. "Whomever the designer, he spared nothing to ensure quality."

The men returned to Rebecca on the balcony. She would have liked to be on the roof, too, but she couldn't climb around in long skirts with hoops. "I don't suppose I could talk you into waiting one night to have some company. I don't understand your fascination, but I think it is catching." She smelled an adventure and wanted to be in on it.

Phileas re-closed the double doors and put a new lock on it. He smiled over his shoulder. "I wouldn't mind the company at all."

Back at the cobbler's shop near evening the next day, Phileas and Rebecca came out of a carriage to find two men hurrying up the sidewalk to meet them.

"Mr. Fogg? You are Mr. Fogg, the man who bought this building?" one inquired.

He was of middling height and weight in the brown suit of a businessman. His companion wasn't much different. They might have even been relatives. When Phileas said yes, he said, "I am Daniel Morgan, sir," the first man said, introducing himself. "This is my partner, Timothy Leach. We represent the trust this building was once part of. Our employers wish to buy this property back. It was family property, you see."

Fogg nodded to the two gentlemen. "I was just inspecting yesterday, and have come back to get a better look," he said, helping Rebecca out of the carriage. "It is in very good repair. I might be persuaded to sell it. Give my solicitor, Mr. Evans, the details of your offer, and perhaps we could come to some arrangement."

"That is most kind of you, sir," Mr. Leach said. He took down the information Phileas gave him and allowed them to go on their way.

When they were gone, Phileas pulled his tool bag out of the carriage and paid the fare.

"Do you really intend to sell so soon after buying the place?" Rebecca said.

"Not until I find out what I want from it," Phileas said. "Mr. Evans can drag out the negotiations as long as needed. I only bought the place to get access to the old neighborhood behind it. Once I have seen what I can, there will be no reason n't to sell it."

They left Passepartout at home. There was no need for him to join their wild goose hunt. Phileas had also tried to make Rebecca stay away, but she wouldn't be put off. She had questioned him until he told her about seeing the hidden neighborhood behind a secret door in the alley wall.

"No wonder you have become so preoccupied with this," Rebecca said. "But have you thought about what you might find when we get in? For all you know, this could be some secret society's hide-a-way. Those estate people certainly contacted you fast about selling."

Phileas said, "If so, and they are of no harm, I will sell the building to them quickly. If they are dangerous, we will call in the constables to chase them out. But at least the mystery would be solved." All that is, except how a brick wall reforms itself into an entryway. He hadn't told Rebecca about that yet.

On reaching the balcony, Rebecca leaped up over the ledge. She was dressed in gray trousers and a coat with boots for the occasion instead of long, wide skirts. She walked carefully out onto the roof to the edge. The sun was down, and the night wind cool and breezy. The moonlight was taking over for the setting sun, giving them light enough n't to need their lanterns. Phileas brought one anyway, in case he found an entrance.

Phileas put the lantern down to drag a long, wide plank to the edge for a boardwalk. Passepartout had hammered planks together for the purpose and brought it in earlier. Carefully, Phileas bridged the breach between his roof and the next with it. They took turns coming across.

No access was visible as they combed the area. Fogg found it a larger structure than he expected. It went down from the ridge to a flat plain some fifteen feet across to another rise. He turned to take Rebecca's hand to steady her steps as she descended to the flat section. He backed down, stepping onto it ahead of her.

Only that wasn't quite what happened.

Phileas stepped onto a solid-looking roof, only to find nothing under his foot when he shifted his weight. He tried to shift back quickly, using Rebecca for anchor, but his anchor wasn't ready to take on his weight. The two fell over the edge into nothing, Phileas dragging Rebecca down with him.

They landed twice. The first break in their fall was on a wide canvas door shade. That stopped their descent, but only for a moment. Rebecca landed hard on top of Phileas and then rolled with him down the canvas into empty air once again.

He grabbed for the shade frame as they rolled over its edge. For a moment, he had Rebecca hanging from one hand and held the frame in the other. The wooden frame broke under their weight. They dropped another five or six feet in a tangle of arms and legs on hard cobblestones.

For several minutes, Phileas and Rebecca were too stunned to do anything but breathe and look around. They were on an empty, narrow street in front of a secondhand shop on one side, and what looked like a novelty store on the other. The street was lined with other businesses in both directions. There were narrow walkways in front of the shops and gas lamps on the streets. Looking up, Phileas didn't see a roofline, only the dark sky filled with stars.

Rebecca was looking up, too, wondering at the lack of a roof overhead. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"No, you?"

"Sore, nothing more," Rebecca said.

They stood looking about. Their lantern lay broken from the fall.

"I suppose we will have to climb back up there to get back," Rebecca said. "How could it be transparent on this side and look solid from the other, especially as there is nothing up there to be solid or transparent?"

"I am baffled as well, cousin."

Phileas took another look at their four-story fall and then decided n't to press their luck on surviving a second fall. "We will look for another way back," looking down the street one way, then the other. "The entrance I saw before will be that way," he suggested to the right. "Shall we?"

Phileas led the way past a T in the road with a street sign. The street they were on was called Diagon Alley. The other ending on it was called Knockturn Alley. Several yards away from the intersection, they heard voices. Following, the cousins came to an area of restaurants.

As they mingled with the crowd, several things caught their attention. One was the great many dwarfs in the area. More than they had seen in their whole lives, but none of the people of normal stature seemed to give notice to the oddity. Another was the odd-looking clothing some people wore. Ladies or gentlemen wore outfits from the last century. Men wore knee breaches and an old-style cut of coat, while the women wore cloaks and bonnets over old-fashioned dresses. All the little people dressed in the older fashions, whereas only half the other people dressed that way.

Phileas, who was more than twice her height, bumped into a tiny woman in a cloak and frilled bonnet. She didn't take exception to the jostling. She smiled up at Fogg when he excused himself and turned to the man he had been avoiding.

"John, really!" she said, fussing. "You are taking up the whole walkway! Give the man some room!"

"Yes, dearest," the little bearded man said to his lady friend. The little man apologized, looking up at Fogg and tipping his tri-corn hat. When the hat came off, Phileas was glad the man hurried on in the opposite direction. If he hadn't, Fogg would have offended him by staring at his very long, outward pointed ears and long, downward pointed nose on the unnaturally large head.

Phileas took Rebecca's arm tighter and hurried out of the crowd. At the far end of the block, Phileas stopped, making sure he couldn't be overheard.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes," Rebecca said, shaken. "There were several of them in the crowd. I think we can guess why this section of the city is closed off. It is a haven for the little people."

"No," Phileas said. "There is more to it than that. Have you been reading the shop signs?"

"You mean the ones labeled Alchemist Supply and Spell Caster's Hall, and that one calling itself a Cauldron shop?" She said it without a trace of the amusement such shop names should have received. "I don't like this, Phil. We should get out of here."

As they agreed to that, to the right of the Cauldron shop, a brick wall separated itself, allowing a man and a woman to walk into the street. "You think it is the way out?"

"Likely. If it leads to where I think it does, it will take us to Charing Cross Road. Let's go."

They both headed for the wall opening the couple had come through. When they tried to walk through, the bricks reformed themselves into a solid wall again. Backing up, Phileas tried touching the bricks. Nothing happened.

Several people caught sight of them trying to get through the wall.

When the wall opened again, letting another person through, Phileas tried to make a run for it, pulling Rebecca after him. Instead of getting through, he bounced off a man who was at least two feet taller than him.

"What are you blocking the way for?" the man called angrily as he picked Phileas and his own hat up from the cobblestones. He pushed Phileas toward the wall, which had closed again. "On your way!"

"Sorry, sir," Phileas said, looking up at the giant. "I have forgotten how to get through."

"Just press the brick, three up… two across," the giant said. Fogg did as told, but nothing happened. That surprised the giant. He was about to open it himself, but stopped in mid-gesture. His face then darkened as he called out, "Muggles! You're muggles!" he yelled. "Muggles!"

Rebecca had no idea what he was calling them, but it didn't sound good. She caught at Phileas's arm and pulled to get him moving. They were running for a less occupied area without voices shouting at them, when suddenly the world went bright, and then black.

Walking calmly up the street, a man in a dark cloak came up on the now sprawled muggles. His spell had only meant to knock them out so they could be captured. He shook his head at the pair. Muggles didn't get into the district often. These made only three such trespasses in the last two years. However, this was the third in only two days. They would have to be questioned and dealt with.

A security troll came on the scene just moments later. "Have them carried to the Spell Caster's Hall," his superior ordered. Quickly, a group of trolls set to work carrying away the trespassers.