The Talisman

Jack decides that they are going to flip from the downstairs bathrooms. They go into the bathroom and concentrate on the transition. Jack believes he can now flip without the juice if he concentrates hard enough. When they reach the Territories, he sees Wolf running towards a cliff. He says they’re near a “Pit” (402). The Pit looks like a prison, at least a mile across, filled with smoke and workers who mine green ore as Gargoyle-like creatures guard them. Jack sees a cart fall on a slave, breaking his spine. The slave is Ferd Janklow.

They flip back into the bathroom, where Singer approaches Jack. Jack punches him but Bast hits him with his cast on his forearm and stops him. Jack realizes that Bast was one of the creatures he saw whipping the slaves in the Pit. Gardener enters the room. They club Wolf and Gardener injects Jack, saying he will soon be pulling a wagon up the “spiral road” (411).

Wolf is in the Box again. He is silent quiet as the sun sets, which makes everyone nervous. Gardener has the boys put Jack in a straitjacket for another interrogation.