"I had a talk with him on the way over," I said.
"Fine," said Allison. "But I want to go on record that this is your hare-brained idea."
"Duly noted," I said.
We found Charlie pacing before the arched opening into the hallway, within which I could see Autumn on her knees, her head bowed, perhaps in prayer. He looked at us when we came in. "I dunno, you two. If this is real, and it's maybe, maybe looking like it is, I can't in good conscience send you to my world. It's a very dangerous world."
"We can handle ourselves," I said, and gave him another suggestion to believe that we were very capable women who, in fact, could very much handle ourselves.
"I believe you," he said. "But in what capacity do I write you in? I mean, I can't just have two women from Earth show up in my world."
He ran his fingers through his hair, grabbed hold of it and really pulled. Ouch.
Allison jumped in. "She's in there praying now, right?" she asked, looking at me.
"Yes," said Charlie. "I can hear her. My God, I can hear her."
"Well, what if her prayers are answered?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, stopping before her.
Allison looked at me. "That's all I had."
I jumped in. "What if two angels appear, sent from God, in answer to her prayers?"
"Two angels?"
"Yes."
Charlie was lost in thought. Either that, or he was having a very inappropriate fantasy. "Yes," he said. "Even better, I can leave the two new characters-you and Allison-undefined, and allow Queen Autumn to decide what they-you-are."
"There you go," I said.
"Now, you just need to write us into your notes," said Allie. "Do you think you can do that much?"
"I-I think so, yes."
"And can you do it now," I said. "The queen needs our help."
Charlie nodded, then nodded a little more vigorously. "Yes, by God. I can at least do that!" He hustled around his too-big desk and settled in. He cracked his neck and fingers. His computer fired up.
I turned and looked through the archway, through the blue glow. On bended knee, Autumn now lay nearly prostate before us on in the floor, her hands before us, her hair splayed around her like something drifting on the surface of water.
When the computer was up and running, and when Charlie had cracked every conceivable knuckle on his body-including, I think, his toes-and with Allison and I standing near the hallway entrance, Charlie took in a deep breath, and began typing...
It didn't take long at all for me to sense a change in the hallway.
Despite myself, I gasped. A second or two later, Allison gasped, too.
Chapter Twenty-seven
"Sam, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Allison asked.
"I think so," I said.
"Seeing what?" asked Charlie, pushing away from his desk and coming around to stand with us. "Did it work?"
"Yes," I said.
"Very much so," said Allison.
"Well, I still don't see anything."
Indeed, the shimmering blue light was gone. So, too, was the ghost-like form of Queen Autumn. In her place was a very real-looking version of the new royal mother, as she bowed before us, deep in prayer. I knew it was prayer, because I could hear her quite clearly now.
"She speaks English?" asked Allison.
"Not quite," said Charlie. "But for the sake of the story, her language is automatically translated into English. Which is probably why you can understand her. You can really see her?"
"I can, yes."
"Why can't I see her?" he asked.
"Because you haven't written yourself into the story," I said.
"I'm... I'm not sure I am prepared to do that," he said.
"You don't have to," I said. "You can keep the barrier between you and them."
"But that won't stop them from seeking you," said Allison. "Like Queen Autumn."
"Can she see you?" he asked.
"Hard to say. She's bowed down, but she would have heard us by now, I think."
"Why can't she see you?"
I thought about that. "Because this is our entry point into her world," I said. "Not the other way around."
He shrugged. "Fine. So what now?"
I looked at Allison; she looked at me. She took my hand again, and I was not very surprised to feel hers was sweating a little. I looked into the hallway, at the still-prostrate queen. "We go in," I said.
"Wait," said Allie, and she took a few deep breaths and placed her hand over her heart.