Marta finds an old watch in Granny Martha's wardrobe and discovers it can talk. The watch hints that the other things in the closet wake at night, and something is about to begin.
Marta usually hated Saturday mornings at Granny Martha's house. The stairs complained under every step, the kitchen smelled of dried herbs and something sharp and old, and the guest room held the biggest trouble of all: the wardrobe.
It stood beneath the window like a dark, polished giant, with carved leaves climbing up its doors and two heavy brass keys that Granny Martha never left lying around. Marta had always suspected the cupboard was hiding something. She just had not expected it to be alive.
That afternoon rain tapped softly against the glass while Granny Martha hunted through the wardrobe for old keepsakes. "You can look too, if you like," she said, swinging one door open with a long creak.
Marta leaned closer. Between stiff dresses and tangled scarves, something gleamed on the shelf: a small round watch on a thick gold chain. She picked it up. It was colder and heavier than she expected, as if it had been waiting in the dark for years. The glass tickled her thumb. Then a tiny voice said, "About time."
Marta dropped the watch with a gasp. It bounced once on the rug and lay still, except for the hands, which spun backward so fast they became a blur before stopping at one o'clock in the morning.
"Don't be frightened," the watch said, sounding almost pleased with itself. Its tiny face turned toward her. "My name is Alfred. And if you're clever, you can help me. There are other things in this wardrobe that speak only after dark."
Marta stared at the open doors. Inside, the dresses hung motionless, the scarves did not stir, and the shadows in the back of the cupboard seemed deeper than they should have been.
Then the wardrobe gave a soft shudder.
A feathered hat slid off the top shelf and landed with a whisper at Marta's feet. At the same moment, a thin rustling sound swept through the clothes, like someone inside the wardrobe had just taken a careful breath. Alfred's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Stay with me until dawn," he said. "Because tonight, it begins."