"Well, I suppose it's the most home-like place to be found in this forsaken piece of land," said Cynthia. "Let's go, then. And perhaps we should look for some mirrors to break and ladders to walk under while we're on the way."

Delia nodded, and they started walking.

"Where have we not gone, yet?" she mused. "There's got to be somewhere that we missed."

"The Mansion/observatory... Glenda's house... Gus's house/hut/thing... that glass room... the only places we haven't been are the little clumps of trees and the well outside the house." Neal said glancing over at Delia.

"The well--exactly. Remember what Selena said? Didn't she say it was dry?"

"Perhaps you should try jumping down it, Mr. Decker," Cynthia said brightly. "It might contain a portal leading us home."

"Or we could just throw a rock down it," Anna suggested, rolling her eyes.

"I'm much more inclined to go with Anna's idea, personally." Neal said as he walked over to the stone well. Glancing around the perimeter, the Darkling picked up a loose rock from the edge and held it over the black opening.

"Here we go..." with that, he dropped the rock into the well. A few minutes later the unmistakable sound of a rock hitting the earthy ground echoed back to the surface. "Well, it's still empty and has a bottom at least."

"I suppose that one of us is going to need to go down and have a look-see," said Cynthia. "Is the rope strong enough to support a human? Could we make a sling and send somebody down?"

"Rope? Who needs one those?" Neal said with a mischievous grin at Vegan Woman before jumping onto the edge of the well.

"Geronimo!" with that, Decker disappeared into the blackness of the well.

"HELLO?" Cynthia called down into the darkness, cupping her hands around her mouth. "CAN — YOU — HEAR — US?"

"If he just mysteriously died from some semi-ironic death, I'm going to assume you're the murderer and push you down the well," Anna commented idly.

"That would almost be appreciated if I were dead, but I really don't want her harassing me in the afterlife." Decker commented dryly from the bottom of the well.

Delia looked over the edge, then glanced at her watch.

"Eh, I've got time," she muttered, swinging her legs over the edge and dropping down beside Neal. "Hello, Sweetie."

She looked around the dry well, inspecting the stone walls.

"There's a notch in that one," she said, pulling a flashlight out and inspecting it. "The key could, possibly, fit in here. Who has it?"

"Please dear, not in front of the children." Neal said as Delia started inspecting the wall. Running his fingers over the key shaped hole, Decker fumbled around in one of his duster pockets. "Here we go."

Taking the key, he inserted it into the hole in the well... and turned. The familiar click of an unlocking mechanism filled the hole... followed by silence.

"Well, that was anticlima..." before Neal could finish, the floor beneath their feet opened and the pair disappeared.

----

After coming around from the fall, Decker quickly surveyed their new surroundings. They were in a room of some sort, apparently very large from the echoes though not much was visible thanks to hardly any lights being present. The only light came from a huge screen several feet away. From the screens illumination, rows upon rows of computer boards could be seen stretching on into the darkness. The constant low hum of the processors were simultaneously soothing and unnerving not to mention the heat emitting from them.

"I think we found Mother." Neal finally said dryly, dusting off his fedora.

"Well, couldn't I just assume you were the murderer at the same time and we'd only end up catfighting?" Cynthia said to Anna, equally idly as she peered down into the darkness where Decker and Delia had vanished. "Oh dear, I think they've fallen through the bottom of the well. Perhaps they're in some subterranean body of water now, being eaten by blind piranhas. I lost a bit of one of my pinky-toes to a piranha, you know. It was during the family's vacation in South America when I was eleven. Hmmm. Perhaps I ought to call down to them and make sure they're all right?"

Cynthia cleared her throat and shouted, "ARE — YOU — STILL — ALIVE?"