Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(32)

Everyone turned to Roxie Goldberg, anxious to hear her story next.

“Why are you looking at me? I never saw a forest appear. I live down here because I hate paying taxes.”

Conner sensed there was a pattern to the homeless people’s encounters. He paced back and forth as he thought about the information they had provided.

“How long ago did each of you see the forest appear?” he asked.

“Four months ago,” Rusty said, then scrunched up his brow. “As a matter of fact, it was four months ago to this very day.”

“What a coincidence,” Annette said. “I saw it exactly two months ago.”

“Precisely one month ago for me,” Judy said.

“Two weeks,” Jerry said.

“And how long did the apparition last?” Conner asked.

“It only lasted a few seconds at the castle,” Rusty said.

“It was quick, but I’d say a minute or two,” Annette said.

“Fifteen minutes at least,” Judy said.

“About forty-five minutes, I suspect,” Jerry said.

“Interesting,” Conner said. “So the sightings are happening faster and faster, and each time the apparition appears, it stays twice as long. If it continues in this pattern, that would put the next sighting tonight and it could stick around for an hour or two. I just wish we could tell where it’s gonna be.”

An idea popped into Bree’s head and she gasped—startling Jack and Goldilocks beside her.

“Actually, I think the locations may be just as predictable,” she said.

Bree looked around the tunnel and snatched a map off a sleeping homeless person. She spread it against the wall of the tunnel and had Jack and Goldilocks hold it in place.

“Mr. Oswald, what street was National Bank on again?” she asked.

“Forty-Fourth and Fifth Avenue,” Jerry said.

“And Ms. Harlow, where is Rockefeller Center located?”

“Between Forty-Eighth and Fifty-First,” Judy said.

“And the Plaza Hotel?”

“It’s at Fifty-Ninth and Fifth,” Annette said.

“And Rusty, I know there are no streets in Central Park, but if Belvedere Castle were on a street, what would it be?” Bree asked.

“That’s easy,” Rusty said. “It’s just north of the Seventy-Ninth Street Transverse.”

Bree pulled a marker out of her pocket and made a note of all the locations. Once she was done, she took a step back and studied the map.

“Just what I thought,” she said. “The bridge first appeared on Seventy-Ninth Street at Belvedere Castle. Next, it appeared at the Plaza Hotel—exactly twenty blocks south of the castle. After that, the forest appeared at Rockefeller Center—exactly ten blocks south of the hotel. And finally, it appeared at National Bank on Forty-Fourth Street—exactly five blocks south of the center. The bridge is traveling in a semistraight line through New York City, and each time it appears, it covers half the ground it did before.”

“So everything is a pattern!” Conner said. “That means we can trace when and where the bridge will appear next! According to the formulas, that would place the next appearance tonight at two and a half blocks south of National Bank on Forty-Fourth Street.”

Goldilocks gulped. “So what’s located between Forty-First and Forty-Second Street?”

Conner and Bree traced the map, and their fingers arrived at the same spot at the same time. They exchanged a long, fearful glance before turning to the others.

“The New York Public Library,” they said in unison.

“This practically confirms everything we’ve suspected,” Bree said. “Whoever took Alex to the library definitely knows about the bridge between worlds. But this time, I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Just like the Sisters Grimm predicted, this might be the bridge’s final stop. Tonight may be the night when worlds collide!”

Conner’s eyes filled with panic. “Rusty, you’ve got to take us to the library,” he said. “Now.”





CHAPTER NINE





THE SCARIEST VILLAIN OF ALL


Conner and his friends charged down the Calvin Coolidge Express tunnel as Rusty led them deeper through the abandoned subway. The homeless man ran so fast he could barely keep his flashlight steady, but even in the dark, Rusty knew the tunnel like the back of his hand. Eventually they arrived at the construction site of a small subway platform that had never been finished. Ladders, tools, and paint buckets had remained untouched since the project was halted in the 1920s.

“See that hatch above the platform?” Rusty asked, and aimed his flashlight at a circular door in the ceiling. “Climb through it and it’ll take you into the lower level of the library.”

“Thanks for bringing us here, Rusty,” Conner said. “If we’re able to save my sister, it’ll be all because of you. I wish I had something to repay you with.”

“It’s been a long time since I felt useful,” the homeless man said with a smile. “That’s all the thanks I need. Good luck finding your sister, kid.”

Conner and his friends shook Rusty’s hand and climbed onto the unfinished platform. Jack retrieved a ladder and positioned it directly below the hatch. He climbed up the ladder and attempted to open it, but the door wouldn’t budge.