Madeleine turned back to face Karyn after closing the door behind her. She thought that it would only be a few minutes before the boy and Simone returned to the other side of the door, but that should be enough time for her to explain some of what was happening to the young woman in front of her.
“Are you sure zat you are alright?” she asked Karyn as she walked over.
“Apart from a pain in the rear where it hit the floor, I am fine,” Karyn said with a faint smile on her face.
“Good, good. Now I must try to tell you what is happening. You may not believe me, but it is true,” Madeleine began.
“Ok,” Karyn said, not knowing what the French woman was talking about.
“I was told zis by ze woman who had zis job before me. So I tell it to you how it was told to me. I am sorry if it does not make complete sense,” Madeleine said.
“Ok,” Karyn replied, still not sure what she was talking about.
“Zere are certain places and certain times zat are connected to each other by a door… perhaps more zan one door,” Madeleine started in a serious tone.
“A door?” Karyn asked, remembering how she and Jon had arrived where they were now.
“I will answer what I can when I have finished,” Madeleine replied, sounding more like an old school teacher than she would ever care to admit.
Karyn, not wanting to say anything that would upset the woman, simply nodded.
“Good, good. Zese doors only appear at certain times, and only a very few people can see zem when zey appear in a place,” Madeleine told Karyn.
“What happens to those who can’t?” Karyn asked.
“Zey freeze in place. For zem, it is as if time itself stands still,” Madeleine answered with a look on her face that showed she was not happy at being interrupted.
Karyn began to realise that what this woman was describing was exactly what she and Jon had found when they had arrived.
“Can I continue?” Madeleine asked with a look on her face that made Karyn more than a little afraid of her.
“Sorry,” she said quickly, not wanting to get on the wrong side of her.
“Only a very few people even know zat zis door exists. When I was first told about zem, I believed it was only a made-up story, but from time to time I have seen ze effect zey have. So now I know it was never a story at all,” Madeleine said.
“That doesn’t explain what happened to me,” Karyn said, pointing to the clothes that she was currently wearing.
“Just before or just after zese doors appear, time, space… whatever force controls zis… becomes weak and unstable. When you collided with Simone, things became confused,” Madeleine explained.
Karyn looked at her with a deeply confused expression. “Confused how?” she asked.
“Whatever force is responsible for zis was no longer sure where ze two of you belonged. It did not help zat you fell in here while she fell outside. It must have decided zat you belonged here, and zat she did not. Zat is why you are dressed ze way you are,” Madeleine said.
“You can tell whatever this thing is that it made a mistake, can’t you?” Karyn asked.
At that moment, there was a knock at the dressing-room door.
“Ah… zat must be your young man,” Madeleine said.
She was secretly grateful for the interruption so that she did not have to explain the rest of it to the young woman — at least not yet.
