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was sixteen, already been working near a year. Youngest to graduate ever! Usually we don’t get to graduate level until about age sixteen or seventeen.” Jae sounded like he was trying to be proud of Ivan, but it came across as more of a sore subject.
    “How about today?” asked Colin. “Are you busy?”
    “Maybe I can talk my dad into letting me take you into Grimble.” Jae ran into the house and came back out, smiling. “I can’t believe it, he said yes. Guess he figures getting you two acquainted with Grimble is as important as magic practice.” They departed immediately. The twins felt a nagging desire to keep their minds busy.
    “What’s Grimble like?” asked Meghan. Jae thought about it, unsure of how to explain. She added, “Let me guess, another one of those ‘we have to see to understand’ things?”
    “Sorry, kind of.”
    “I’m sorry, Jae, but I’m a little confused,” admitted Meghan as they walked. “Why don’t you stay here permanently? It’s safe here, right? You’re not that large of a group.” Jae laughed.
    “I forget how little you know about us. We are only one of nine groups.”
    “Nine?” repeated Colin. “When do you see the other groups?”
    “We don’t. That’s why we are working so hard to get back home, for good. We all have friends and family in the other groups. It was done that way on purpose, so that if one group was wiped out, the whole family wouldn’t be lost.”
    “That’s absolutely appalling, Jae,” breathed Meghan.
    “Yes, it is,” he agreed.
    The twins now understood Billie’s actions the previous day, too. The woman in the photo: she had not seen her in eleven years. The picture was getting clearer.
    “No wonder they don’t trust anyone,” sent Meghan to Colin.
    “The words, welcome to Hell come to mind!” he declared. She had never heard her brother use such a strong word.
    Outside of the wagon, the sky was darker and the foggy air smelled stale. There were trees, but they were leafless and dead.
    “Is there a way, Jae, to at least keep in contact with the other groups?” asked Colin, hesitantly.
    “We do leave messages behind. Problem is, sometimes another Svoda group may not get them for months, or years.” Jae stopped at a small stone bridge. Two tall dead trees grew up out of the bridge, and the stream bed below had long dried up. With the exception of a few Svoda Gypsies (who couldn’t take their eyes off the twins) the town was deserted. They crossed the bridge, and so far, Grimble did not prove impressive. The buildings were empty and run down. Nothing looked open for business. Then, as they stepped off the bridge, silvery shadows formed, some floating in the air.
    Without any warning, one such shadow floated right by Colin’s face.
    “Was that a ghost?” asked Meghan.
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    “That’s why it’s a little hard to explain,” laughed Jae, seeing their faces. “Grimble is a ghost town,” he explained. All at once, silvery essences floated into and out of walls, buildings, and even the ground. Some you could see straight through and some looked like they were alive.
    Yet you could tell they were dead, as their movements flowed easily across the ground and their bodies shimmered as they did so.
    “This isn’t like any other ghost town I’ve ever seen,” said Colin, coming around. “This is impressive!”
    “Oh, I think one of them touched me,” whined Meghan. Jae and Colin broke into amused laughter.
    “It does take a bit of getting use to,” said Jae. “But don’t worry, the worst it can do is leave you feeling the cold, creepiness of death.”
    Colin continued laughing at Meghan until he felt the rush of something icy against his skin. A ghost floated up out of the ground on the exact spot Colin stood. It bellowed something about getting out of the way, and flew off.
    “Not so pleasant, is it?” chided Meghan.
    “C’mon. Something I wanna show you guys,” said Jae. They jogged a few buildings down and stopped at