The Golem's Eye

it wasn't there.
    Behind her came a fearsome grinding, followed by a terrific crash, several whoops of triumph and also, somewhere amid it all, a cry of pain. She heard Mr. Pennyfeather's voice. "Well done, my boys! Well done! Stop sniveling, Stanley— you're not badly hurt. Gather around—let's take a look at him!"
    They'd done it. This she had to see. Stiffly, painfully, Kitty raised herself on hands and knees and reached out for the lantern. She got to her feet and, as she did so, the lantern light illuminated a little of the space she was in.
    Despite herself, despite the time she had spent out on campaign, despite all the narrow escapes, the traps, the demons, and the deaths of her friends, the shock of what she now saw set her gasping and trembling again like the child she'd been on the iron bridge so many years before. Her pulse thudded in her ears; her head swam. She heard a long, high, piercing wail echoing across the chamber, and jumped, before realizing that it came from her own mouth.
    Behind her, the eager celebrations went suddenly silent. Anne's voice. "What was that? Where's Kitty?"
    Kitty was still staring straight ahead. "I'm here," she whispered.
    "Kitty!"
    "Where are you?"
    "Drat the girl—has she gone up the stairs? Nicholas, go and look."
    "Kitty!"
    "I'm right here. At the far end. Can't you see?" She could not raise her voice; her throat felt too tight. "I'm here. And I'm not alone...."
    The true end of the chamber was not much farther than the illusory one through which she had fallen, perhaps only three meters away from where she stood. The white mold had disregarded the false barrier and marched straight through: it clad the walls and floor and what lay on the floor, and shone with a sickly radiance in the cold light of her lantern. But despite its thick coating, it did not obscure the objects that lay arranged in a neat row between the walls; their nature was all too clear. There were six of them lying packed together, side by side, their heads flung out toward Kitty, their legs pointing away toward the back wall of the chamber, their bony hands resting quietly on their chests. The sealed conditions of the crypt had ensured that their flesh had not entirely rotted through; instead it had shrunk about the skeletons, so that the jaws of the skulls were drawn downward by the tightening skin, giving them permanent expressions of unbridled terror. The skin itself was blackened like fossil wood or tortured leather. The eyes had entirely shriveled away. All six were clothed strangely, in old-fashioned suits; heavy boots rested on their lolling feet. The ribcage of one poked through his shirt. Their hair remained exactly as it had been in life; it flowed from the dreadful heads like river weed. Kitty noticed that one of the men still had a mop of beautiful auburn curls.
    Her companions were still calling out her name; their stupidity amazed her.
    "I'm here!" With a sudden effort, she broke through the inertia of her shock, turning and shouting back along the chamber. Nick and Anne were both close by; at the sound of her voice, their heads darted around, but their eyes remained blank and puzzled, passing over Kitty as if she were not there. Kitty groaned in exasperation and stepped toward them; as she did so, a strange fizzling sensation passed across her body.
    Nick cried out. Anne dropped her lantern.
    "You'd better come and see this," Kitty said tersely; then, when they did not reply: "What the devil's wrong with you?"
    Her anger snapped Nick out of his shock. "L—look at you," he stammered. "You're half in, half out of the wall." Kitty looked down—sure enough, from this side, the illusion held quite fast: her stomach, chest, and front foot protruded from the stones as if they sliced right through her. Her body tingled at the margins where the magic touched.
    "Doesn't even glimmer," Anne whispered. "I've never seen an illusion so strong."
    "You can walk through," Kitty said dully. "There's things behind it."
    "Treasure?" Nick was eagerness itself.
    "No."
    In moments, the rest of the company had approached the wall and, after some slight hesitation, stepped through the illusion one by one. The stones did not so much as ripple. From the other side, the barrier was quite invisible.
    All six stared in shocked silence at the illuminated corpses.
    "I vote we get out now," Kitty said.
    "Look at the hair," Stanley whispered. "And their nails. Look how long they are."
    "Laid out like sardines on a