The Curse of the Osirians

House of Pendulums

Layla's POV

"Okay. Turn around, Patricia. Don't move. Just turn around," Nina instructed.

"Nina, make sense," Patricia said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go now!" Alfie said.

"I can't go now!" She exclaimed.

"No, no, no, Patricia. Okay, one, two, and then go," Nina stated.

"Anyone who does not have a pendulum swinging in front of their face, shut up!" Patricia said as she looked left and right and then started forward and repeated the process until she was back safe.

"You made that look so easy. Honest. I actually thought she might die," Amber said.

"We can learn this. It's just like a song," Fabian said as he studied the blades.

"Huh?" Amber asked.

"Uh, it's not like a song. It's like a chopping board," Patricia said.

"No, it's got it's own rhythm. So think of each pendulum as a chord. So say the sun's a and c.
And the moon's b and d," Fabian said.

"Oh! I see it!" I said, setting the pattern into my memory.

"Yeah, it's like pendulum hip-hop, man," said Alfie as he started beat boxing.

"Oh, here we go," Amber complained.

"This is finally useful," Alfie told her.

"What's up with you two?" Patricia asked.

"We broke up," Alfie said.

"No, we didn't," Amber exclaimed.

"It's a refrain. The pattern loops. If we learn the song, we learn the gaps," Fabian stated.

"We learn the gaps, and we walk straight through!" Nina cried out.

"Exactly!" I cheered.

"More practice?" Asked Patricia.

"More practice. But maybe not with real pendulums," Nina said as we walked back down the tunnel.

"I know it seems really complicated, but I promise it's not," Fabian tried to reassure Patricia.

"It's not the song I'm worried about. It's the it's the swinging pendulums of doom," Patricia replied.

"That's why we need to practice. By the time we're finished, you'll be able to do it with your eyes closed," Nina said.

"That's the only way I'll be able to do it," Amber said as we left the cellar.

*****

"Aww, thanks Jerome, you didn't need to get me flowers!" I said as he handed me another bouquet of roses.

"They're for being a rock. I could not have visited my dad without you," he said. I felt a built guilty for not mentioning what his dad whispered to me but I knew he and Eddie thought I was being ridiculous anyways.

"Yes, you could. But I'm keeping these," I told him, frowning a little though.

"What'a wrong? You don't like roses? I can get a different kind!" He said.

"I'm worried about Poppy," I replied.

"You want me to tell her?"

"It's only fair, right?" I said.

"I can't. Not yet," he said.

"But why?" I argued.

"I can't tell you," he said.