Horten's Incredible Illusions by Lissa Evans

”
    “What about a ‘loudest burp’ competition instead?” said Jokey Stuart, who then burped incredibly loudly and raised his arms in triumph. “I’ve won!”
    Stuart felt a tap on his arm. It was Silent Stuart, and he was pointing at the other end of the arch. Stuart followed him across. Silent Stuart placed a finger on one mirror, and Stuart peered at the image. And there it was—the little indented scar on the chin.
    “Thanks,” said Stuart hoarsely.
    “You’re welcome,” said Silent Stuart.
    “So you can speak?”
    “Only when I have to.”
    “So what are you doing the rest of the time?”
    “Thinking.”
    “Oh. Perhaps I ought to do a bit more of that.”
    Silent Stuart grinned, and together they went back to the easel. Stuart fitted the mirror into the frame, and suddenly the vast dark space full of arguing, moaning, yawning, sprinting, and burping Stuarts was empty. Only Stuart himself was left, and the mirror in the frame was now just a mirror. Stuart frowned, smiled, and yawned, just to make sure that his reflection did the same, and then he went over to the arch again.
    It too had changed. Instead of rows of Stuarts, each mirror now showed the image of an identical letter.
    A wide silver W .
    The light began to fade slowly, as if someone was turning a dimmer switch. The silver letters dwindled and disappeared. For a second there was complete darkness, and then the light flashed on again, and Stuart was back in the museum, blinking with the shock of it.
    “At last !” said April, who was sitting on the high bronze throne of the Reappearing Rose Bower, surrounded by the curling stems of a hundred metal flowers. “You’ve been ages and ages. And I’ve been dying to tell you what I’ve found.”

 

    CHAPTER 12
    “What?” asked Stuart, still a bit dazed. When he’d left, the room had been sunlit, but now the sky through the window was heavy with dark clouds, and the odd drop of rain streaked the glass. “Just a moment,” he added, going over to the Arch of Mirrors and retrieving the Magic Star from its socket. Before the adventure, it had had five spokes; now only four remained.
    April waited for him to return. She looked rather grand, sitting high on the throne, her legs crossed.
    “The reason I took ages was because I kept getting the wrong Stuarts,” said Stuart. “How did you find the right April so quickly?”
    She shrugged. “Easy. Like I said, I just looked for the one that was me. The one with my expression.”
    “What expression’s that?”
    “Sort of decisive and determined. It’s what makes me stand out from my sisters.”
    “And what expressions have they got?”
    “June’s very, very serious, and May’s just crazy and hysterical.”
    “Is she?”
    “You know, once you start observing instead of just guessing you’ll find it quite easy to tell us apart,” said April, sounding like a particularly bossy teacher. “Anyway, I want to explain about what I found. I was sitting here eating my lunch, and I accidentally dropped a grape down the side of the seat. When I tried to reach down for it, I felt a funny little lever.”
    “What happens when you pull it?” asked Stuart, suddenly curious.
    “I didn’t try,” said April, looking a bit offended. “ Obviously I was waiting for you.”
    “Well, try it now.”
    “Okay.”
    April slipped her hand down next to the seat and pulled something.
    Clickety-clack.
    She let out a squeak of surprise as the twining rose stems snapped together into a tight thicket, surrounding the whole throne like a silver basket.
    For a moment Stuart couldn’t figure out whether he was witnessing machinery or magic. “Are you still in there?” he asked, trying to peer between the branches. He couldn’t see a thing.
    “Yes, I’m here.” April sounded slightly nervous. “A sort of silver band has snapped across my middle. A bit like a seat belt.”
    “Pull the lever again,” suggested Stuart.
    “Okay. Here