The Nowhere Emporium (5 page)

Then he was gone, leaving Daniel alone with his secrets.

Mr Silver was true to his word – he allowed Daniel to write one page in the
Book of Wonders
each night – and soon Daniel’s mind was overflowing with ideas and possibilities. He dreamt up plans for new Wonders as he cleaned the shop, and he followed customers as they entered the labyrinth of corridors, watching and learning all the time. He was determined to show Silver that his first attempt had not been a fluke. His connection to the book remained strong, and Mr Silver seemed impressed and delighted as each new Wonder appeared – though he tried to hide his excitement, rarely giving any compliment other than, “It will do.”

Daniel also formed a routine to ease the fear of his dreams. Whenever he woke from a nightmare, he’d climb from bed, walk to the shop front and gaze at the stars above Venice. The stillness of the city and the beauty of the night sky comforted him.

One night, as he stepped through the red velvet curtain, a cool breeze blew in from the canals. The shop door was already open.

Daniel recognised the girl at the door right away; she was the first person he’d seen when he woke up in his room in the Emporium. She stood in the doorway, curls of hair swaying in the breeze as she gazed out at the city on water, oblivious to Daniel’s presence.

He watched her curiously. She was gripping the doorframe so tightly that her knuckles had turned white as bone. Her whole body seemed to shake as she lifted one foot from the floor and tried to step forward, out of the shop. She gasped and became breathless, straining as though she were struggling against something very powerful. Then she pulled her foot back and slumped against the doorframe. She began sobbing into her hands.

Daniel shifted from foot to foot. He was not very good with girls. Girls who cried were well out of his range of experience.

“Are you all right?” he asked, because it was the only thing that came to mind.

The girl jumped at the sound of his voice. She shot him a look so sharp it could have burst a balloon.

“Do I look all right to you?” she said, rubbing her eyes.

“Well…” Daniel fumbled with the words. “Is there anything I can do?”

The girl shook her head. “You? There’s nothing you can do.” She sniffed, and narrowed her eyes. “What are you playing at anyway … spying on me?”

Oh, no … it wasn’t like that,” said Daniel. “I wasn’t spying.” A thought occurred to him. “Anyway, you’re one to talk about spying; when I first woke up you were peering through a window into my room!”

“That was different,” said the girl with a shrug. “This is my home. I was making sure you weren’t a murderer or something.”

“Why didn’t you come back?” said Daniel.

Another shrug. “Papa told me to keep away. He said I’m a bad influence, and he doesn’t want anybody distracting you.”

“Papa? Mr Silver? Is he your dad?”

“Yup. I’m Ellie.” A mischievous smile spread across her face. “I’m a huge disappointment. I mean, he loves me to bits,
I know that, but Papa wanted me to follow in his footsteps.” She put on a deep voice, an impression of her father. “Take over the business. Keep it in the family.’ But there isn’t a magic bone in my body. I’m useless. So he’s been banging on about finding an assistant.” She frowned. “I never thought he’d actually go through with it. He’s never invited anyone behind the scenes before. But here you are.” She looked him up and down. “How can a person be so skinny? You look like you’d blow over in a breeze.”

Daniel patted his stomach. “Not that skinny,” he mumbled.

“What’s he got you doing, anyway?”

“Cleaning, mostly,” said Daniel.

Ellie wrinkled her nose. “You’re a skivvy? Doesn’t sound like much fun. Have you seen many of Papa’s Wonders? The Circus of Bones? The Waterfall? What about the Fountain? Oh, I love the Fountain! Funny to think all that pretty watery stuff is actually imagination, isn’t it? The Emporium takes it from the customers, uses it like … like petrol in a car, I suppose. Papa’s very clever.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen one or two,” said Daniel, skipping over the fact that he had actually created a number of his own. He didn’t think Ellie would think much of that. He’d seem like a teacher’s pet.

“Of course,” said Ellie, “Papa used to be able to power all of it on his own. But he’s getting older, you see. Well, not really older. Time does weird things in the Emporium. Papa hasn’t aged at all for years.” Her eyes sparkled. “The Wonders make life bearable around here. I’ll show you my favourite.” And she began to pull him by the arm towards the red velvet curtain.

“I thought Mr Silver told you to keep away from me.”

“Technically,” said Ellie, “you’re the one who found me. So I’m not breaking any rules. Plus, he knows I’ll get to you in the end.”

Back through the curtain, up and up and up they went,
staircase after staircase.

“You know what’s weird?” said Daniel.

Ellie looked at him sideways. “You?”

“Apart from me,” said Daniel. “I feel like I know where we’re going. I mean, it’s as if I know how to get anywhere inside the Emporium.”

“Yup. The place gets under your skin.”

Ellie’s favourite door was located high in the Emporium, in a passageway with a polished floor made from black slabs of glass.

“Can’t you even give me a clue what’s inside?” said Daniel.

“And spoil the surprise? Never. Not knowing what’s coming is part of the magic. It’s a sort of test, I suppose.”

“I’ve had enough tests,” said Daniel. But it occurred to him then that perhaps Ellie was presenting him with the second test Mr Silver had mentioned – the one he wouldn’t see coming.

“You’ll like this one, I promise.”

She halted, and indicated the arched door ahead. Daniel shifted forward and inspected a golden sign, engraved with the following words:

The chamber beyond was in complete darkness. Daniel took a slow step back.

“Don’t be shy,” she said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. “Look, if we’re going to get along, you’d better get used to having a little fun.”

“I like having fun,” said Daniel, edging towards the doorway. He pointed into the blackness. “I’m just not sure this looks fun.”

“I’ll go first,” Ellie said. “I’ve done it a thousand times. Ready?”

Before Daniel could say anything else, Ellie grabbed him
tight, wrapping her arms around his waist, and pulled him over the edge.

He was falling. Falling so fast, with the wind tearing into his face and his eyes and his ears, that he couldn’t breathe. Ellie was no longer holding him. He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the moment when he’d smash into the ground.

It did not come.

When he opened his eyes, the world around him came to life.

Glimmering points of light erupted in the blackness, illuminating the heavens. Some were arranged in familiar constellations, others scattered like spilled diamonds.

Daniel realised that he was no longer frightened.

And he was no longer falling.

He let out a whoop of delight, the cool night air whipping through his hair as he flew, free as an eagle, through the night sky.

“Told you!” Ellie called as she tore past.

They lost sense of time as they flew, through fluffy clouds and falling snow in the crystal sky, until at last Ellie turned to him. “Head for the moon,” she shouted. “I’ll race you!”

Daniel did as she asked. The stars began to disappear, and the moon shifted and warped, becoming the familiar arch of a doorway.

They stepped from the sky onto the solid Emporium floor.

“So?” said Ellie, hopping on the spot. “What do you think?”

Daniel smiled at her enthusiasm.

“It’s magic,” he said.

“Of course it’s magic,” she said. “Magic is what Papa does best.”

Daniel glanced back at the Leap of Faith doorway as she led him away.

“How can one person do all of this?”

“Hmm?”

“Mr Silver. There are hundreds of doorways, thousands even.
How has he had time to do it all?”

Ellie smirked.

“Like I said, time does funny things. Papa’s been around for a while.”

“You mean he’s old? Older than he looks?”

“Much older. He’s very, very old.”

A staircase rumbled and shifted as they climbed it.

“Another thing,” said Daniel. “When the shop is open, you can’t turn a corner without bumping into a fire-breather or a juggler or something. Where are they now? Where do they go when we shut?”

“Come on,” said Ellie. “I’ll show you.”

Five minutes later they were at another door, with a sign that read:

Through they went, stepping into a revolving glass door, which deposited them in a grand, open room with pillars of black marble and a sweeping staircase. The black carpet was deep and soft. At the far end of the room, between two golden elevators, was a service desk.

Daniel had never stayed in a hotel, but he had seen them in movies and magazines, and this place seemed at least as posh as the places Hollywood stars liked to stay.

“This is the Nowhere Hotel,” said Ellie. “Every member of staff has a room here.”

“It’s not bad, is it?” said Daniel. “So how come I’ve never seen any of them coming and going from the shop? Don’t they go outside?”

Ellie brushed her curls from her eyes, a gesture identical to her father’s.  “Hasn’t Papa told you anything? The performers
can’t leave. They can’t go past the red curtain. It’s like a border, where the real world begins. They don’t exist out there. To them, the Emporium
is
the world.”

“But where did they come from?” asked Daniel. And then he raised a finger as the answer came to him. “Mr Silver wrote them all into his book, didn’t he? They’ve popped out of the pages, just like his Wonders…” He trailed off when he saw Ellie’s eyes growing wide.

“You know about Papa’s book?”

“Em … yeah. He showed me.”

“He must really like you. He never told me about the book till I was nine! And since I’m no good at writing in it, I’m not allowed to touch it. He thinks I’ll lose it or something.”

Daniel decided to change the subject. “So where do you stay?” he asked.

“Here. I’ve got a room in the hotel. Used to live in Papa’s private rooms with him but … well, we don’t always get along. He’s a good man. I love him, really I do. But he’s just so obsessed with the Emporium. I like it here, in the hotel. It’s my own space.”

“It’s just you and your dad?” said Daniel.

“Yup.”

“Where’s your mum?”

“Who knows?” Ellie said. “Papa says I was about a week old when she left me on the doorstep of the Emporium. She never came back. Not once.”

Daniel shook his head. “You know much about her?”

“Not really. I mean I’ve asked, obviously. Papa says I look like her. But I don’t know why she left me here, or why she didn’t want me. And I’ve sort of given up asking because Papa doesn’t like to talk about it, and I don’t like making him sad. I think he still loves her, even after all this time.” She was silent for a moment, staring straight ahead. Then she blinked and said,
“What about you? Where are your parents?”

“I’m an orphan,” said Daniel. “Dad was a fisherman. Died at sea when I was four. Mum never got over that. We moved to Glasgow and she died two years later. I can’t really remember much about them now. You know, real stuff, like how their voices sounded, or what their clothes smelled like … It’s like waking up and trying to remember a dream. It’s there, but only for a second, and then it’s gone again.”

Ellie gave him a sad smile.

“This really is a nice place,” he said, pointing around the lobby. “But it must be strange for the staff, knowing there’s a whole world outside the Emporium and not being able to see it. It’d drive me mad!”

The colour drained from Ellie’s face. “You don’t miss what you’ve never had. That’s what Papa says.” Something had changed in her voice.

“But can you imagine?” said Daniel. “Not being able to experience all of the amazing places the Nowhere Emporium visits? We’re lucky. We can see New York, and Cairo, and Paris … watch kings and queens and governments come and go. We get to see everything, Ellie … the whole of history—”

For a moment, Daniel thought she was going to reach over and slap him. But she closed her eyes, bit her lip and said, “I don’t feel very well. I need some air.”

She got up and rushed off across the lobby to the revolving door.

Confused and hurt, Daniel watched her for a moment, unsure what he’d done or what he should do. Eventually, he went after her, rushing across the lobby and through the revolving door, which spat him back out into the dark, sparkling corridors of the Emporium, right into the path of something that hit him like a train. Daniel slammed into the hard floor with a slap. He stared up at the concerned face of a huge bald man with a thick
neck; and then up further still into the eyes of an enormously tall woman with dark brown skin, who wore an amused look – and a live yellow snake around her neck.

“Don’t just stand there, Caleb. Help the boy up.”

The man offered an enormous hand, which swallowed Daniel’s hand, and pulled him to his feet.

“Sorry,” Daniel said. “I should have been watching where I was going.”

“What’s the big rush?” asked Caleb. The huge bald man was wearing baggy black trousers and a black waistcoat with gold piping, unbuttoned to reveal a beer belly and chest covered in black hair. In his hands, which were the size of frying pans, he held a scruffy, dusty old teddy bear with no eyes.

“I know you,” said Daniel. “You’re the fire-breather, aren’t you? The one who turns flames into animals?”

“Caleb, at your service,” said the man. He jerked a fat thumb towards the impossibly tall woman. “This is Anja.”

Anja nodded.

Caleb held out the stuffed bear. “And this is Mr Bobo.”

Daniel stared at it. Caleb raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“Um … Hello, Mr Bobo.”

Caleb smiled. He said, “I found him many years ago, lying on the floor of one of the corridors. A child from the real world must have dropped him.” He cradled the bear in his arms like a baby, proud and delighted that he owned something from the world beyond the Emporium.