-- a long, oval great hall. passages and doors lead off in all directions to god-knows-where. a double-grand staircase at the far end ascends to a landing shrouded in darkness before turning up the next floor. magnificent animal heads carved on the newel posts glare at her.
close on the complex puzzle of a field-cognition test. nell scratches solutions, erases, and finally looks up in frustration. she sits alone, tiny, in the murk of the vast vaulted great hall. the enormous chimney occupies half the wall on one side of the room.
nell and theo stand behind marrow and luke across from the fireplace. theo glances at nell. nell is shaken.
nell, blinded by tears, runs across the room toward the grand entry and the exit.  and stops.
nell bursts into the great hall and stops. at the far end of the room broods the vast fireplace, its chain curtains hanging like the veil to some hellish sanctuary.