Big Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans Page B

THERE!’ and had just managed to snag his father’s sleeve with one hand when there was a soundless explosion, and he was no longer in the museum, but in a white, windowless room, standing on a blue and purple rug, looking at a painting of a volcano.
    â€˜
More magic
,’ he said, his voice a whisper.
    He looked around. His father was nowhere to be seen. The room was very large; it looked like something out of a stately home, with a massive fireplace, a grand piano in one corner, and three separate doors. It was full of sunlight, the white walls so bright that they hurt his eyes.
How can it be full of sunlight when there are no windows?
he wondered, and then he looked up, and heard himself shout in surprise.
    There was no ceiling to the room. Above him stretched a clear blue sky. The only visible object was a tall square tower with a balcony running all round the top of it.
    â€˜Hello!’ shouted Stuart. ‘Anyone around? Dad? Are you here somewhere?’
    There was no answer.
    He walked over to the nearest door and opened it. It led to a concrete cell, bare except for a mattress on the floor and a bucket of dirty water. There was no ceiling on the cell, either. He closed the door again and opened the one next to it. Beyond lay a long sunlit corridor with yet more doors opening off both sides. He walked along the corridor and chose a door at random. It opened into a stable, in which an enormous horse was furiously stamping its hooves. It swung its head round and glared at Stuart with fierce reddish eyes, and he quickly closed the door and tried the one opposite. Inside was a room with a trickling stream instead of a floor, and a set of stepping stones which split into three paths, each leading to another door. The sun twinkled overhead, the tall tower casting the only shadow.
    Stuart picked his way across the stepping stones, and chose the left-hand door. It opened straight onto a blank brick wall. He let the door swing shut again, and stood there, thinking hard.
    â€˜It’s a
maze
,’ he said slowly.
    And then he heard someone high above him call his name.
    Or rather, half his name.
    â€˜Stu!’
    He looked up, startled.
    Way above him, on the balcony at the top of the tower, stood his father.

‘HI, DAD!’ YELLED Stuart, waving. ‘Are you all right?’
    Rather hesitantly, his father waved back. ‘This is most odd,’ he called down, his voice faint with distance. ‘What is this place and how did I get here?’
    Stuart tried to think of a simple way of explaining the vast and complicated truth, and then decided that he couldn’t. ‘You’re in a dream,’ he yelled. ‘A very peculiar dream. Can you get down from there?’
    â€˜There’s a steep set of stairs with a door at the base but the door has a bolt that is not on my side. I’m stuck here, I think.’
    His father sounded disorientated and a bit wobbly, and Stuart realized that he would have to take charge himself; after all, it was his third magical adventure – he should know something about it by now. ‘Dad, can you see I’m in a sort of weird maze?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Can you work out which way I should go? You must have a really good view from up there.’
    There was a pause while his father peered down, moving his head as if following a path. He walked right round the balcony at the top of the tower, disappearing from view for a few seconds, before reappearing and calling down to Stuart.
    â€˜Yes, I think I can see where you should go. You would end up at the foot of this thing.’
    â€˜What thing?’
    â€˜This thing that I’m on. This tall thing.’
    â€˜The tower, you mean?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    Stuart stared up at him. He couldn’t see his father’s expression from this distance, but it was clear that something was very wrong.
    â€˜Why didn’t you say
tower
?’ he asked.
    â€˜I can’t,’