The Forgotten Door by Alexander Key Read Free Book Online

good.”
    Thomas frowned, but Mary said, “Let him try it, Thomas. I’m sure he can manage Rascal.”
    â€œUm — O.K. We’ll chance it this once. And here’s your knife, unless you want me to keep it in the safe. You don’t want to lose anything like this.”
    â€œOh, I won’t lose it, sir. I’ll need it to — to —”
    â€œGo on,” Mary said quietly. “You need it to — to do what with it?”
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe it will come back if I run with Rascal. I think running will help.”
    As he darted out the door, Mary said, “He’s upset, Thomas. I think he sees the truth. Can’t you see it too? You’ve got facts enough — or is it that you just don’t want to face the facts?”
    â€œBut, Mary, they don’t make sense. I can’t —”
    â€œLook at him!” she gasped, staring through the rear window. “Thomas — look! ”
    In his eagerness to release Rascal, Little Jon was racing up the steep lane. Unconsciously he had made his feet light, so that his boots hardly touched the ground. Only a deer could have equaled his upward bounds.
    â€œYou win,” Thomas said finally, expelling a long breath. “I don’t know how he got here, and I can’t understand why some things are so familiar to him — but he didn’t come from this world.”
    â€œOf course not. What are we going to do?”
    â€œH’mm. Seems like the important thing is to find out how he got here, if we can. I’m afraid I see trouble ahead.”

He Remembers Something
    S LEEP DID NOT COME EASILY that night. For a long time Little Jon lay motionless beside Brooks, thinking of the day while he listened to the sounds beyond the window — the familiar and unfamiliar sounds of a world he didn’t belong in.
    Somehow, by some accident, he had been lost on a planet that was not his own. It had been hard for the Beans to admit that to him, but of course there wasn’t any other answer. Only, how did he get here — and why did so many of the wild creatures seem familiar?
    Thomas had a theory about the wild creatures, and life on other planets. As they puzzled over it that afternoon, Thomas had said, “The latest belief among astronomers is that our Earth wasn’t made by chance. It’s the result of certain exact conditions. There are other suns just like ours, and the same laws affect them. So there are bound to be other worlds like ours — with life developing on them in almost exactly the same way. If there are people like Jon on them, then naturally —”
    â€œI won’t dispute you,” said Mary, “but that doesn’t solve Jon’s problem.”
    That was when Thomas suggested they get some help.
    â€œOh, good heavens, no!” she exclaimed. “How could anyone really help us? You know how people are. Don’t you realize what a mess it would be if officials started buzzing around? The papers would get it, and we’d have reporters and half the world swarming all over the place. Honestly!”
    â€œUm — guess you’re right. Thank Pete some idiot like Angus Macklin didn’t find you, Jon. It was lucky we happened on you when we did.”
    â€œNo, it didn’t happen that way, sir. I picked you.” He explained to the Beans how he had waited for them.
    â€œThat settles it,” said Thomas. “If you picked us to help you, we’re sticking by you. Now, here’s the crazy thing to consider: Our civilization is pretty advanced — the most advanced on Earth — yet we’re just beginning space travel. We’re not able to reach distant planets yet. So — how did you, whose civilization seems to be behind ours, ever reach us? You must have —”
    â€œThomas,” Mary interrupted, “you’re starting off wrong. Can’t you see how wrong you are?”
    â€œBut,