AS IT TURNED OUT, JEREMIAH need not have looked back anyway, for the burning complex was reflected perfectly in the elevator’s glass walls as he faced the control panel and reached out to Jasper: It’s no good ... the panel’s been sealed with an iron plate. I fear that my musket will not penetrate it. Even if it could, the blast would surely damage the controls.
Jasper wasted no time: Then you must be my hand in a way you never have before, Jeremiah. You must burn as you did at the kitchen table, only hotter, more intense. You must paint with fire so that the seal is broken while the controls remain undamaged. And you must hurry! I sense a presence—yes, Witch Doctors, approaching across the east lawn ... a War Wagon has returned. Do not look! Instead, look inward, to that place you saw whi
