Mytro

Chapter 41: Moonlight in the Alley

With a satisfying rip, Turtle and Ehioze finished wrapping the door in packing tape. They went around it multiple times, taking special care to wrap up the center.

"They'll never get out now," said Turtle.

Ehioze touched the door.

"An entire room, inside there?"

"An entire subway. Let's get this thing out of here."

It took them 15 minutes to lug the door down the winding

staircase from the study.

"What is going on?" asked Ehioze, winded. "What is this door?" Turtle tried to explain as quickly as he could, and Ehioze listened

intently. He sat in Agata's living room, his eyes wide and a smile on his lips.

"This is amazing stuff," he said. "Sounds like science fiction."

"It kind of is," said Turtle. "So we have to take this door somewhere safe. I need your help carrying it. Then we're going to find Agata and get them all out."

"That is not a problem," said Ehioze. "I'm happy to help." "You're not scared by all of this?" asked Turtle.

"Not particularly," said Ehioze. "Anything is better than

watching football in the camp with my uncles."

Before they left, Turtle grabbed two packages of cookies from the

kitchen and gave Ehioze a drink of water. They were both hungry, but there was little time to eat. They carried the door down to the street.

The Barcelona night was cool and calm. The little side street was empty, and although a few TVs flickered in the windows above, there was no movement. Turtle and Ehioze lugged the door toward La Rambla as Turtle related more of their adventures from the day as they walked.

"This Mytro sounds like a miracle," said Ehioze. "For refugees, especially."

"They used it during wars, I think," said Turtle. "I suppose it would work as a way to get people out of bad situations."

"I'd use it to bring my mother to England. She doesn't want to live in the camp anymore. She's very sad."

"We can help you out, I think. I'll show you how to run the Mytro when we have a bit more time."

Turtle checked the map. There was a station at the restaurant they came through the first time, and a little farther away, there looked to be a station down a dead-end street. They couldn't go back to the restaurant, and it was probably locked up anyway. They'd have to find the other Mytro stop.

They looked like two ants lugging a leaf through the streets, stopping often to put the door down and take a breath. There were a few people out on the street—some strolling home from warm- looking restaurants, others walking hurriedly down the dark street. One woman stopped talking on her cellphone abruptly as she watched the pair lug the door down the road.

Turtle wished he had a phone with GPS, but they used the detailed map to follow La Rambla past the shuttered newsstands and flower shops and up to a gated alleyway.

"Looks like we have to get through that," said Turtle, trying the lock. The wrought-iron gate was high and spiked with sharp metal spines. An iron 13 was worked into one corner and surrounded by iron flowers.

They slid the door and doorframe through the bars of the gate easily, careful not to snag the door latch, and Ehioze squeezed his slender body through the bars. He tried the lock from the other side, and it opened easily. Turtle came through and shut the gate behind him.

They faced a long, blank alley. Windows on the second floor looked down on dark gray cobblestones, and at the end of the alley

was a blank brick wall.

There was very little light, and a large trash can and some bags

leaned up against the back wall. Turtle moved the rubbish out of the way, disturbing something small and black that scampered off into the moonlit street.

"Now what?" said Turtle.

"Is there a door?" asked Ehioze. "A station?"

"Maybe," said Turtle. They leaned the door against the wall,

and Turtle began pushing the bricks with his hands and then his shoulder, careful not to step in the trash. The wall moved. He pushed harder. The bricks slid in, and the wind picked up and began to suck them in.

Ehioze and Turtle grabbed the wooden door and quickly slipped through the hole in the bricks. They were in a cave-like space that was a bit bigger than the one under the restaurant. Ehioze whooped.

"That was great!" he said, catching his breath.

The train pulled up a moment later.

"The first time is fun," said Turtle with a yawn. "Try doing it all

day long."

They muscled the door onto the train, and then Turtle whispered,

"Hangar."

The train dinged once and began to move.