A Hole in Time

The List - Chapter 22 - The Map

"Okay, Lee, what is step one?" Liam turns back to his papers and read out the next riddle.

"To find what will help you seek

Look for the place where the ceiling is weak

Look for the past in the present

Two or three will help with ascent"

I must look funny, because Liam looks up and laughs at me. "Sorry. Okay, I think it means that something that will help us is hidden in the ceiling. 'Look for the place where the ceiling is weak'. That is right there, above your bed. And the 'two or three will help with ascent' means that it will take two or three of us to get one person up there." I look up at the c***k in my ceiling and laugh. I knew it had something to do with the problem, but I did not know it was going to be part of the solution.

"Grace, you are the more adventurous one, you go up. Liam and I can help you up there." John steps onto my bed and beckons me. Liam steps up after me and they left me by the waist. I extend my arms into the c***k first, not sure what I am going to find up there. I slip straight through the c***k and I find myself in an open area, filled with all sorts of things. There are piles of books and bags, all things that look old. So old, they might have come with our ancestors into the Dome. I crawl out of the c***k and onto my stomach, then turn around so I can talk to Liam through the c***k. "Lee, there is lots of stuff up here. I do not know what I am looking for. Any clues?"

Liam does not give me an answer, so I just start looking at things. The books are very dusty and they do not look like our school history books. The bags are filled with fabric. They have to be, because they are soft. I reach into one bag and pull out something. It is soft and smooth. There is not much light up here except the light coming up from the c***k. I know I will want to have a look at what is in these bags, so I pull them all over to the c***k and drop them through.

I am just about to pick up a book when something catches my eye. A large piece of paper in a box of wood with glass in the front. I have no idea why it is in there, but the paper has a large round shape in the middle that is separated into three different colours. There are numbers going across the top and down the left side, like the map in my history book. Map. The answer hits me. It is the map to the Dome. I crawl over and grab the box. The side comes off in my hand, so I reach in and pull out the map.

I crawl back to the c***k and stick my head through. John and Liam reach up to help me down. I pull a lot of dust with me, and we all end up in a coughing heap on the floor. I am still holding the map in my hand, so I am happy. I might be covered in dust, but I have the map. Liam helps me sit up and I brush the dust off my shirt. "This is what I was up there for. It has to be. It is a map for the Dome." Liam looks over my shoulder and laughs. "That was the answer to the next riddle. I read it out while you were still up there, but you did not answer."

"Wait, I asked you what I was looking for and you did not answer me. Is there something in-between my room and up there that stops us from talking to each other?" Liam frowns and thinks for a while. "Gracie, the hole in the field. Did you hear me calling to you when you were in the future with Mikey? I could not hear you two talking?" I shake my head, then it hits me what he is talking about. "Lee, do you think there is a hole in time right here above my room?"

"Yes, Gracie, that is exactly what I think. That has to be the only explanation as to why you did not hear me read out the clue." I nod. That is a good explanation. That could be why there is so much dust up there. "Okay, Lee. Do I get to hear the clue now?" Liam smiles at me and recites the clue.

"I have streets but no pavement.

I have cities but no buildings.

I have forests yet no trees.

I have rivers yet no water."

"Okay, Lee. I am glad I found it anyway. Look, It is separated into the sections. Gray for Healers, Brown for Unionists and Black for Hierarchy." Liam brushes off the dust on my bed and lays the map down flat. "Lee, what is the next step? We have the map now, but how do we use it?"