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As they were heading back up, Miss Calloway looked at Hector. “I was hoping to get more done. I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Goffe.”

“Oh, d-don’t worry about it. I’m, uh... er... I mean, there’s no rush.”

“We’ve charted out most of the first tower,” she said. “You’ll be pleased to know that the overall condition isn’t quite as bad as it looks. Each area where we’ve encountered a fracture appears to have been the result of isolated incidents rather than that of a single, greater event.”

“Er, you mean... all these collapsed hallways aren’t even related?”

“Well, they could be linked in that the same person or group of people created them while moving through the castle, but it seems very unlikely that they were caused by something like an earthquake.”

“Oh...”

“And then of course, you have the area with the darker stone, which is in such good shape that I find it slightly baffling. Moreover, I’m not sure what type of stone that was, either. You have a very curious house here, Mr. Goffe.”

“Ah... yeah...”

By the time they reached the surface again, Jamal had already gone to fetch food for everyone at Amelia’s request. The surveyors mainly just seemed happy to be out in the daylight again.

Hector checked on the reconstruction team. Already, they were making progress. They’d picked the lone tower on the far side of the property to start work on, no doubt because it was the least destroyed out of all of them. When he’d first arrived late last night, this had been the tallest and most impressive tower he saw with its four, arguably five, floors; but now that he’d seen the giants that lay underground, this thing looked like a dwarf.

Hector saw his mother and Amelia sitting together and chatting on a large chunk of overturned stone. He considered venturing over to speak with them, but Garovel got his attention first.

‘Ah. I sense Voreese approaching. Brace yourself, Hector.’

That made him smile as he looked up and around. The clear blue skies made it easy to see, and after a moment, he spotted her.