Chapter 2 A Warning Disobeyed

“I am Sebastian Darkwood, who are you? Though before you answer, have you ever seen a place so wonderful? said the peculiar man, not taking his eyes of Evelyn. “I, I’m Evelyn Rose, though my friends call me Evie.” she answered, gazing around the room. Suddenly, a girl appeared next to Mr Darkwood. ” This is Beatrice, my daughter. You will see her around the emporium.” said Mr Darkwood, indicating the girl by his side. ” Hi, I’m Beatrice, but I prefer to be called Bea.” she said, smiling from ear to ear. “I will leave you to to get to know each other,” said Mr Darkwood. “Be careful if you touch anything and whatever you do, do not, I repeat, do not touch the book on my desk.” And with that, he left the room.

With Mr Darkwood gone, Evie and Bea explored the Emporium. There were brilliant things all around; but Evie couldn’t concentrate. Why wasn’t she allowed to touch the book? After all, it was just an old, harmless book, wasn’t it? “Beatrice, sorry, Bea, why am I not allowed to touch the book? What’s inside?” she asked, full of interest. Bea just shrugged her shoulders. ” I’m afraid I don’t know. I’ve always been told the same as you have. Don’t touch or Don’t go near my desk! It’s always the same.” replied Bea. Evie was so confused. “Well, he’s nowhere near!” she said. “Who?” asked Bea. “Your father! Mr Darkwood! Let’s look inside!”

Heading towards the desk, Bea began to feel uncertain. “Evie, I don’t think we should. Father is going to know somehow!” she said, with an nervous edge to her usually sweet voice. “What’s he going to do? Dust for finger prints? As if!” replied Evie, as if it didn’t matter. Evie found the book and blew off the dust. Gingerly, she opened the cover and showed Bea what was inside. “Wow, it’s codes! Lets see if we can crack one! DTH67J. I wonder what that means? Maybe there’s a key somewhere!” exclaimed Bea.

Evie flicked through some more pages. Codes, drawings and words. Without thinking, she had the pen and book in her hands, and was scribbling away. Bea, behind her, was looking nervously over Evie’s shoulder. She was drawing a fantasy world, mythical creatures, clouds and rainbows, and flowers blooming everywhere. it was just like her imagination. “Evie, father’s going to be back any minute now! Hurry up!” exclaimed Bea. “Hang on, I’m almost done!” Evie turned to show Bea her masterpiece. “Ok, It does look good, but we are going to be in so much trouble, Evie!” Bea was hopping from foot to foot. Evie placed a hand on her shoulder. “Relax. Just look at this picture! It looks so…real.”

Behind them, they heard tweeting. A robin, with the most beautiful sea green eyes. “It can be real, just believe” it whispered. Evie and Bea looked at each other, and decided to follow to where the robin was leading them. ” Where are we going?” asked Evie, a curious expression on her face. ” You must know the way around here!” “I’m afraid that this is an unknown place…” Bea replied. They found themselves in front of a huge maple door. They pushed the door open and went inside.

Evie and Bea saw it. The same thing that Evie had drawn in Mr Darkwood’s book; a fantasy land. “Evie…are, are you seeing what I’m seeing? I think I’m dreaming.” said Bea in a hazy voice. “I know, I just can’t believe it.” replied Evie. “Come on, let’s explore!” It was a field with rainbows, and creatures from storybooks. The robin stayed with them, whispering to itself softly. ” Two nine year olds dream.”