[7: "In other words,"]

The clock ticked past the minutes. Janet stepped out into the courtyard and
tried to get her bearings. The passageways and halls turned in such a way
that it was almost impossible to navigate without help, though the places
they'd been had had windows to the outside, so it didn't feel so much like
getting lost.

She smelled the roses growing along the sunny wall just outside the doors. 

The giant clock ticked once more, then gave a half-ring of a bell to signal
the quarter hour.

She stepped back inside hurriedly. 

"What now?"

"I don't know."

The door swung open silently. The hall inside was dark, cavernous. A high
window with stained glass let filtered light land just in the center of the
room. The oblong window combined with the slant of the sun to make a perfect
circle of dazzling light, dust motes dancing back and forth, like a
kaleidoscope that escaped its tube. Three young women, dressed simply and
plainly stepped out of the shadows and into the circle. 

"Wilkommen." They spoke in unison. Janet wondered if they practiced, though
it seemed effortless and natural.

Maura stepped into the hall, and grabbed Janet's hand and pulled. "Come on!"

The doors swung shut behind them. Janet didn't notice until the heavy sound
of them coming to rest.