“So what do you say? Want to help me find her?”

  I wanted to say yes. I used to want him to ask me to go on vacation, or visit his work, or sleep at his house when I was younger, but I couldn’t leave now.

  “I can’t,” I said finally.

  He nodded. His face still looked sad even though I think he was trying to hide it.

  “She has school,” Mom piped up, smiling too big. “She just joined the Game Development Club.”

  “Oh!” Dad’s face lit up at that. “Game development? Is that like programming? That could be helpful for your college—”

  I winced. I hated when he talked about college applications. He seemed to notice.

  “I mean, that sounds fun.”

  Wes stayed for a bit longer, talking with Mom in the kitchen while I went back to practicing with my broom.

  But it was hard to focus now that I was distracted by my dad’s weird behavior and the news about Jo.

  At 10:00 p.m., my alarm blared. It was time for the next phase.

  I lay in bed, a soft night-light illuminating the watch. I imagined the giant sunflowers of Ten and wondered if they were somehow the Smoke Keepers of that clock world.

  Will I really be a fox there? Jo thought so.

  The watch hands spun and my eyelids grew heavy.

  TEN

  I awoke what felt like moments later to something bashing me in the head.

  I sat up and realized that it was grass, a giant blade of grass that was about the same height as me and as wide as a door.

  That is not what I expected when I practiced fighting with blades. I stood with a groan. It was hard to see past all the waving green stalks. Were they huge, or was I tiny?

  I got my answer when I saw my feet, because they didn’t look anything like my real feet. They were big and black and furry. I was still wearing my pajamas, but my body was covered in fur too, brown fur with a white stripe down the middle, and I could feel two pointy ears sticking out the top of my head.

  Could I really be a fox?

  No, because I was standing on my hind legs. I didn’t think foxes could do that.

  Maybe—I stared down at my big legs and knees—I’m a kangaroo?

  I tried to hop, but it wasn’t very impressive.

  What am I? No, you know what? Who cares?

  I needed to find the Smoke Keeper and I needed to do it now.

  “Hello?” I called out, taking a few uneasy steps forward.

  “Careful where you’re walking, kid! You never know who’s underfoot.”

  The high voice, reverberating from the depths of the grass, was small but piercing. I scuttled backward.

  In this animal world it could be anything.

  “Who are you?” I asked, trying to sound brave.

  I could see a row of grass flattening in front of me. The blades fell forward, collapsing to the ground as if being run over by an oncoming tractor. I struggled to listen for footsteps as the thing approached me, but I heard nothing except for a dragging sound; whatever this creature was, it didn’t have feet.

  What slithered on the ground? An image of a big snake appeared in my mind. I wanted to run, but then the voice called out:

  “The better question is, what are you doing in my house?”

  The final row of grass fell forward, revealing the intruder: a snail whose head was as tall as my belly.

  A giant talking snail wasn’t the weirdest thing I had seen in the clock realms, but somehow—his beady black eyes stretched on the long antennae sprouting from his wet head—it felt strange anyway.

  I backed away as the antennae bent toward me.

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m R-Rosemary,” I stuttered, trying to compose myself as I took a queasy step toward him. I wanted to be brave. There was something particularly embarrassing about being a scaredy-cat (or whatever I was) in front of a snail.

  “That’s odd. You don’t look like a rose, you look like a squirrel.”

  “A squirrel?” I leaned over to check my reflection in the gleam of his slimy shell.

  Oh, man, I really am a squirrel.

  “Rosemarys don’t eat snails, do they?”

  “No,” I said quickly, trying to erase the memory of eating escargot at Wes and Cindy’s wedding out of my head (just in case snails could read minds).

  The snail stretched his head forward and squished his mouth down on my furry arm. I gasped as a round sucker slurped at my skin before he lifted his head again, retreating.

  “Ahh!” I wobbled backward, falling to the dirt. My heart was pounding like crazy.

  “It seems snails don’t eat Rosemarys either. What a shame.” He wrapped his long neck around a blade of grass, nibbling off a bite before looking at me once more. “Palate cleanser” was all he said before sliding around in a circle.

  “Anyway, Rosemary, stay out of my house.” He slid over the ground all around me. “Everything the slime touches is mine.”

  “Fine, I’ll leave you alone, but on one condition.”

  He stopped, his eyes wiggling.

  “Where is your Smoke Keeper?”

  His head shrunk back into his shell.

  “Oh no, the only thing worse than big, furry intruders is the Smoke Keeper.”

  “Please,” I begged, knowing I didn’t have much time tonight, with Mom waking me up so early in the morning.

  The snail began crawling away. No, I can’t lose him!

  I bounded after him. On my four legs I was much faster than he was. I hopped in front of him, stopping his retreat.

  “If you don’t show me, then maybe I will eat you.”

  I hadn’t really meant it, and I felt guilty when his eyes popped wide, but I had to get to the Smoke Keeper.

  “Fine. I’ll take you to the Wall. That’s where she lives. But I won’t stay with you.”

  I followed him, careful to watch for any traps, until the grass finally ended. The field gave way into a clearing that felt very familiar.

  I was sure I knew this place. It looked just like a painting Jo had made. I knew every inch of it, from the dirt on the ground, scattered with glittering white rocks, to the shadowy shapes looming overhead. I turned my face up to meet them—and immediately regretted it.

  Staring down at me were the faces of humongous sunflowers, each as tall as a building, lined up in a row. And all of them were towering over me, the long stems craned straight down.

  “What are those?” I gasped, pointing above us.

  “Eep!” The snail slid back into the grass, hiding. “Those are the Wall. They suck up all the Smoke they can get and grow taller and taller.”

  “Those are the Wall?”

  I looked closer and saw that the dark centers of the flowers were really swirling masses of multicolored smoke.

  “Sure they are. But be vigilant. The Queen doesn’t like it when critters get close to the Wall. She patrols it all day long, and she’ll drop you right into one of the flowers if she catches you.”

  Then I noticed the big globs of smoke falling from the centers of the flowers, like pollen.

  One burst in my face, making me feel Smoke Sick and woozy.

  “Watch out, Rosemary! They’ll suck you up!”

  I backed away, far enough from the flowers that they couldn’t reach me anymore, and shook off the dizziness.

  “But where’s the—”

  As soon as I said it, the air was filled with buzzing.

  “Run!” the snail warned me.

  Floating down from the sky was a massive yellow bee—bigger than I was, with hollow eyes and black wings.

  She’s the Queen Bee, I realized all at once. And I also knew: she’d seen me.

  I ran away from her, farther into the clearing, as fast as my four little legs would carry me. I was suddenly aware of my long, bushy tail as it slid across the ground, helping me balance as I bounded faster and faster.

  The buzzing became louder, and the sky grew dark.

  She was right above me.

  I felt her legs grip my back, picking me up into the air. I yelped, unable to get away.

  She was bringing me closer to the flowers. They stared at me in anticipation.

  I craned my body to try to see her more clearly.

  Where is her smoke? I just need to get a little bit.

  This close to her, I could see wisps of pearly smoke in the fur that covered her round body.

  I tried to reach for some, but it disappeared as soon as my back paw touched it. There wasn’t enough of it.

  She hovered over a flower, its petals stretched out wide and the swirling middle ready to devour me whole. I figured she planned to drop me straight into it.

  I couldn’t let that happen.

  “What are you?” she buzzed.

  “Your worst nightmare,” I said, spinning and biting her leg, picturing Rambo.

  The buzz became a hiss as she let go. I kicked off her body, arcing myself out of the way of the snapping flower bud, straight down its long stem.

  I looked up to see the Queen skid along the flowers, sucking up their power, as she followed me. I also noticed her fur getting fluffier as it picked up pearly smoke pollen.

  The more she picked up, the faster she flew.

  That’s it!

  I stopped to pull the Smoke Ball from my pocket. Then I fitted the chain in my teeth and zoomed up a stem directly toward the Queen.

  I heard her angry buzz, and I saw her outstretched legs and knifelike stinger, and they scared me, but they didn’t stop me.

  I jumped from flower to flower—just fast enough that the buds couldn’t close on me. The Queen followed, collecting pollen along the way.

  When it seemed like enough, I waited then jumped as high as I could.

  This better work.

  The Queen screamed as I landed on her back. I had to balance myself as she flew in zigzags, trying to throw me off.

  I pulled the Smoke Ball from my teeth and clicked it open. A puff of smoke pollen on her fur sucked straight into it. The Smoke Ball now glistened with pearly energy too.

  I did it.

  “Grah!”

  I lost my balance as the Queen bucked me backward. I couldn’t stop myself as I careened toward the ground, falling in a heap in the dirt.

  I could hear the Queen coming closer, but I was too tired to get up again.

  I crawled, but I was too slow. The Queen was swooping in.

  Seconds before her feet could latch on to me or her stinger could pierce me, I felt something else pick me up by the scruff of my neck and drag me forward, fast and low to the ground.

  I screamed in surprise.

  What is this thing?

  The creature mumbled something, but its mouth was too full of my fur to make out what it said.

  My head bobbed as it carried me. I could see the Queen flying behind us, zigzagging ever closer.

  My captor dove into the tall grass, then suddenly stopped, breathing hard, still holding me underneath the cover of a bent blade.

  I peeked out to see the Queen hovering above… then she flew away, searching for us.

  The animal finally dropped me. I wanted to say thanks, but as soon as I’d gotten my footing, it was gone, running through the grass.

  “Wait!” I whispered, following it. I caught a glimpse of orange fur.

  Orange fur? Could it be?

  “Stop!” I called, a bit louder now. “Jo? Is that y—”

  I felt my whole body shake.

  “No, not yet.”

  I could feel it—I was waking up.

  “Jo!”

  Then another shake and another.

  I couldn’t get away.

  THE FIRST AND LAST MEETING OF THE GAME DEVELOPMENT CLUB

  Someone was shaking my shoulder. I didn’t want to open my eyes, desperate for a last glimpse of the creature that had saved me.

  It has to be Jo, right? Why else would that thing have dragged me away from the Smoke Keeper like that?

  “Come on, Rose, you’re the one who wanted to wake up this stinking early!”

  I felt the watch in my first, and I curled my fingers around it tightly. At least I conquered another hour. When all of this weirdness is over, maybe I can go back to Ten and find that orange animal.

  My eyes blinked open.

  “Oh, you’re awake. Phew.” Mom blew her bangs out of her face. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes. We’re already late.”

  I sat up quickly. “Late? What time is it?”

  “Five fifteen. Hurry up!”

  * * *

  I stumbled into the church. My shirt was on backward, my sneakers were mismatched, and my backpack bulged like a turtle shell behind me.

  I hadn’t had time to waste getting ready—we only had until tomorrow to get to five more worlds.

  I stopped, out of breath, in front of Alejandro, who was lying on a pew with his tablet.

  “You’re here!”

  “I’m late.”

  He shrugged, setting his tablet aside with a smile. “We still have plenty of time.”

  I glanced at the tablet; it was already 5:40. No, we don’t.

  “So what do you want to do now? Draw a cover image? Come up with a title?” he asked.

  I wanted to explain to him how desperate I was, how fast we had to work, but that would only make things harder. I breathed in deeply, preparing myself to continue lying.

  “I want to brainstorm,” I said.

  “Oh. So, like, talk?”

  “Actually, I need to dream up my… brainstorm.”

  “So you came here to”—he quirked his head to the side—“sleep?”

  “Yeah?” I grimaced.

  A moment later he burst into laughter before nodding. “Don’t worry, I get it. I’m tired too.”

  It took us five minutes to set up a makeshift bed below one of the pews. I’d stuffed my backpack with a pillow and blanket. We’d worked it out. I was going to sleep underneath the pew. Then, when he heard me say his name, he’d knock on the wooden seat above me to wake me up.

  I would tell him all the details he needed to know to keep developing the game, then I’d go back to sleep, and we’d do it all over again.

  “You ready?” I asked, glancing at the time on his tablet again: 5:52.

  “This is maybe the weirdest thing anyone has asked me to do, but…” He smiled. “I like weird. Let’s go.”

  “Roger.” I saluted him, sliding underneath the bench.

  Tucked away in the dark, I felt the fear creep in. It was already getting so late, what if I couldn’t fall asleep?

  I felt the adrenaline rush through my body, making my skin jitter. So much had to happen today or else Jeremiah would be gone forever.

  It’s too much pressure! I’ll never fall asleep.

  I pulled out the watch. 5:54.

  Six minutes.

  Watching the hands did relax me, like it usually did, but it wasn’t enough to overcome my fear. I followed the second hand spinning around and around, and I listened to the scratching of Alejandro’s pencil above me, doing his homework.

  5:58.

  I clenched the watch to my chest, feeling its warmness spread through me, and I imagined the big stone head in the green, grassy field. I imagined it like I was really there.

  Alejandro wasn’t scratching on paper anymore; it was the sound of rocks scratching against one another.

  My toes didn’t flutter through the fringe of the blanket; instead, I felt soft, dry grass.

  It wasn’t wood I smelled or concrete.

  It was fresh dirt and stones below.

  FIVE

  I opened my eyes—but instead of seeing the underside of the pew, I was bathed in the shadow of something gigantic.

  I stood up to see the massive thing running directly toward me.

  I had to stop myself from screaming as I rolled out of the way. Seconds later a giant gray stone head, as big as a truck, stomped down in the spot I’d just vacated. Then it thrust back upward, followed by wisps of sandy-colored smoke.

  I looked around to see a field of stone heads in rows, some white, some gray, like a giant chessboard surrounding me.

  “Knock his block off! Knock his block off! Knock his block off!” a jolly, deep voice shouted from above. It was a bald old man sitting atop one of the white stone heads. Little legs poked out below, just like they had in the picture from the book.

  The running stone slammed down onto another giant rock just diagonal of me.

  There was a loud crack. One of the white rocks split in half, its two pieces falling down to reveal the plain-looking woman inside. The stone was hollow now, and she bent to retrieve the pieces and carry them on her shoulders.

  “Yay!” The old man leaped to his feet, causing the stone head holding him to stumble. “Guards, take her to the Wall!”

  “No, please,” the woman begged as two stone heads grabbed her from either side and dragged her through the grass and out of sight.

  The crowd of stone faces was silent, but the old man cheered again and shouted, “Losers are weak, and weaklings get eaten by the Wall, isn’t that right?”

  None of the stone heads replied, but he giggled. “I love a good game of checkers!”

  As he bent over, laughing, I caught a glimpse of a crown perched on his head.

  He’s the King. The Smoke Keeper.

  I had to get to him fast—I needed to wake up before 6:00.

  “Now it’s my turn!” The man stomped on the stone head below him, which hulked into movement. It trudged toward a shivering gray head.

  The old man snarled when it reached him, and he jumped so hard that clouds of tan smoke shot from his feet. He landed on the gray stone, splitting it straight in half, revealing a shaking boy underneath.

  The white stone head bent down to catch the King, who scrambled back up it.

  “I win! Guards!”

  Two more guards took the crying boy away.

  The King laughed again. “Who wants to try to beat me next?”

  Feeling a momentary surge of bravery I didn’t know I had, I leaped from my hiding spot.

  “I do?”

  “Who?” the Smoke Keeper cried, peering out into the field. “I can’t see you.”