Dark Mirror 2 - Dark Passage (17 page)

Tory ran.

Not quite literally, but she gave Allarde a bare nod before spinning away and taking refuge in the nearest tunnel leading out of the Labyrinth. She stopped when she was out of sight and leaned against a wall, heart pounding. Broken hearts were supposed to get better. Hers wasn’t cooperating.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of something beside Allarde. Cynthia was a good topic. In the weeks that had passed since the end of the holidays, Cynthia had recovered enough power to disguise her scarred cheek herself.

Tory was grateful for that. The winds off the English Channel were freezing, and she needed what hearth witchery she had to stay warm in the viciously drafty corridors.

There was no more talk of changing roommates. Tory and Cynthia were getting along well, perhaps because they knew each other’s secrets.

There was still no word from Nick Rainford in 1940.

Despite settling back into the school routine, Tory had felt restless, as if something was about to happen. She wasn’t sure what. A message from Nick? Invasion by Napoleon’s army? She would reach her breaking point and shatter into small pieces?

With a sigh, she opened her eyes. This particular tunnel led to Merlin’s mirror, which she hadn’t visited since before Christmas. Of all the Irregulars, she had the strongest affinity for the mirror. Even several turns of tunnel away, she could feel the deep thrum of its energy.

Should she check the mirror to see if a message had arrived from Nick Rainford? He was the first person Tory had met when she accidentally fell through the mirror and was terrified by the strange new world she found herself in. She would always be grateful for his taking her home to his family, and becoming her friend.

But Jack checked the mirror regularly, and Allarde and Elspeth probably did the same. A message stone was unlikely to lie unnoticed for long, so there was no need for Tory to look. She was upset enough already without subjecting herself to the mirror.

She was heading back to the hall when she felt a twang in that deep energy. Something had happened at the portal.

Hoping it was a message from Nick, she swiftly made her way to the mirror, mage light in hand. She rounded into the corridor where the mirror blazed invisibly. To her shock, a motionless body lay on the chalk floor below.

The blond hair looked like Jack Rainford. Had he come looking for a message from Nick and fallen?

Not Jack,
Nick
! She ran the remaining distance and dropped on her knees beside the limp body. Tossing her mage light up to hover over her head, she gently rolled Nick onto his back. He was breathing, thank heaven, but his hand was icy cold when she clasped it.

She rubbed his hand between hers, surprised at the calluses and scars he’d acquired. He had been doing heavy labor recently.

“Tory?” His eyes fluttered open. “Thank God I’m in the right place!”

She frowned as she helped him sit up. “Nick, what happened? We’ve all been worried because we hadn’t heard from you. Are Polly and your mother all right?”

“They’re fine.” Nick tried to stand and lurched so badly that Tory was barely able to keep him from falling. Once he was steady, they began walking back toward the hall, Nick leaning heavily on her.

“And your father and brother?” She’d never met his brother, Joe, who had been training as an RAF pilot, but Nick’s father, Tom Rainford, had led her to the greatest adventure of her life.

“They’re also well,” he assured her. “But the tunnel to the mirror collapsed when bombs landed on the abbey ruins. Rather than try to clear it, I mapped the surrounding tunnels and found the shortest way to reach the mirror. It took time, though.”

“I can imagine!” Tory exclaimed. “A good thing chalk is soft.”

“Not soft enough.” He held out one callused hand. “When I finally broke through to the mirror, I found a whole pile of stones with messages.”

“Why didn’t you send us a message immediately?”

“It’s complicated,” he said with a sigh. “Are the other members of the weather brigade in the hall? Easier to talk to everyone at once since I need advice.”

“Advice is easy,” she said warily. “Going through the mirror to help would be a very different matter.”

“Believe me, I know! It’s not something I would ask of anyone else.”

“You did once before.” She glanced at his face, thinking he’d aged in the last months. He and Jack, his distant relative, were about the same age, but Jack always seemed older. Perhaps having lost his father young had matured him. Now Nick looked older than Jack. A lot older. “You’d ask again if you thought it necessary.”

“You’re probably right,” he said with rueful humor. “Things are bad, Tory. Evacuating so many soldiers from Dunkirk made it possible for Britain to keep fighting, but now the Nazis are trying to bomb us into surrender. Since Lackland is right on the southeast coast, we have fighter planes and bombers flying overhead all the time. I’ve seen more dogfights between the RAF and the Germans than I can count.” He swallowed. “Sometimes the pilots manage to bail out in time, but not always.”

It sounded dreadful. “You said your brother is all right?”

Nick’s face eased. “Joe has had some close escapes, but he’s never been injured. Mum gave him the sixpence you infused with protective magic, and it’s working.”

Privately Tory hadn’t much faith in the coins she’d charged with magic before returning from her first trip through the mirror. She’d given them to Nick and Polly and their mother mostly as a token of her gratitude. Perhaps believing in luck helped create luck. “Given the magical talent in your family, Joe may have some special abilities that are helping him stay safe.”

“I surely hope so.” They were nearing the main hall, so Nick straightened, removing his arm from around Tory’s shoulders. “Better not to show up draped over you. Allarde might not like it.”

The usual pain stabbed through Tory. She managed a brittle smile. “No need. We are no longer together.”

Nick stopped and stared at her. “How is that possible? Even I could see the energy bond between you.”

“It’s complicated. Don’t worry, there was no horrid fight. It’s just … better this way.” Tory was relieved to enter the main hall so she needn’t say more.

Most of the Irregulars had left for home. Usually the two teachers and the student prefects were the last to leave, but tonight Miss Wheaton and Mr. Stephens had left earlier than usual. They were in love with each other, and Tory guessed they had wanted some private time.

Unfortunately, Allarde was the prefect for the boys’ school, so he was still present, along with Elspeth, Cynthia, and Jack and Rachel Rainford. To her surprise, Tory noticed an energy bond between Cynthia and Jack. Was there something going on there? They squabbled all the time.

Now that Tory thought about it, Cynthia had been avoiding Jack since the spring school term began. Something interesting must have happened during the holidays. Given Cynthia’s snobbishness, it would be delicious if she couldn’t resist Jack’s considerable charm.

Tory’s companion was recognized immediately. “Nick!” Jack was the first to leap up. He reached Nick and pounded him on his shoulder. “Where the devil have you been?”

Nick gave a tired smile. “Sorry to have worried you.”

“The mirror passage was as ghastly as usual, I see.” Elspeth took Nick’s hand so she could send him healing energy. “A message stone would have been easier than coming in person.”

“I presume you had your reasons.” Allarde studied Nick narrowly. “You want us to go through the mirror with you.”

“That is
not
going to happen!” Cynthia exclaimed.

Elspeth arched her brows. “You’d better explain yourself quickly, Nick, or we’ll all perish of curiosity.”

“Mustn’t have that.” Nick sank into the nearest worn sofa. The Irregulars had become skilled at taking care of someone suffering from mirror shock. While Nick repeated what he’d told Tory, he was efficiently swathed in a blanket and fed cups of steaming tea and all the currant cakes left from the evening’s social session.

As Nick paused to eat his fifth currant cake, Jack asked impatiently, “I’m glad you were able to clear your way to the mirror. Are you ready to tell us what brought you back in person rather than tossing a rock through?”

Nick swallowed the last bite of cake. “I wanted Tory’s advice. The old accounts say that Merlin or whoever made the mirrors created seven. Maybe that’s just poetry, but there is more than one. When I’ve made the passage, I’ve sensed that there were other portals besides this one. If I’ve sensed that, surely Tory has, too, since she has the strongest mirror magic.”

“I have,” she replied. “But only very dimly. I don’t know where or when the other portals go.”

“I’ve felt them, too.” Frowning, Elspeth brushed back her silvery blond hair. “If I had to guess, I’d say the portals go to different locations, and for someone gifted in mirror magic, each portal could be used to reach different times.”

Nick leaned forward eagerly. “Might one of the portals be in northern France?”

“It’s possible,” Tory admitted as she recalled her ancient British history. “The creator of the mirrors would likely place them in territories his people traveled to regularly. That would include Great Britain, Ireland, northern France, and the Low Countries. I’ve no desire to explore those other portals, though!”

“That’s exactly what I need to do,” Nick said flatly. “Explore the mirrors to see if I can find a secret way into northern France.”

The room was utterly silent until Jack asked incredulously, “Why would you want to do a mad thing like that? Didn’t you tell us the Nazis have occupied France?”

“Which is why I have to find my way in secretly,” Nick replied. “There’s a man there who needs rescuing, a scientist named Daniel Weiss. Apparently his work could be vital to the war effort.”

“Then why isn’t the government doing the rescuing?” Allarde asked. “Why do you need to be involved? Surely your father wouldn’t ask his sixteen-year-old to do something so dangerous! He probably hasn’t recovered yet from seeing you at Dunkirk.”

“He hasn’t.” Nick ran tense fingers through his unruly blond hair. “I’d better go back a bit. I told you my father had gathered some very useful information about the Germans when he and his men retreated to Dunkirk. Because of that, he was recruited by some mysterious intelligence agency. He’s based outside of London and manages to get home for a couple of days every few weeks.”

“Which is nice for you all, but…?” Jack prompted.

“The most recent of those weekends, Dad received a visitor, a research scientist from Oxford called Florey. This fellow had already asked for official help in getting Dr. Weiss out of France. When he was told that wasn’t possible, he came to plead his case directly with Dad since they have some mutual friend and Florey is desperate.”

“And just how did you happen to hear this very interesting conversation?” Cynthia asked tartly.

Nick smiled, unabashed. “It was a warm night, so I decided to enjoy the fresh air under the open window of my father’s study.”

“Why did Florey think Weiss should get special treatment when everyone in France is under the control of the Nazis?” Allarde asked.

“Dr. Florey leads a team of scientists for some really important research, and he thinks Dr. Weiss can help them succeed. Plus, Dr. Weiss is Jewish and Hitler hates Jews. When he became chancellor of Germany, persecution and restrictions on Jews increased horribly. The same thing is happening in the countries he’s conquered, so Dr. Florey is worried about Weiss’s safety as well as needing his help.”

Tory frowned. “Why does Hitler hate Jews so much?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said. “But two years ago there was a giant riot across Germany and Austria. It lasted for days and Jewish homes and businesses were smashed and destroyed. A lot of people died, more were injured. It’s called Kristallnacht because the streets in Jewish neighborhoods were filled with broken glass.”

Everyone gasped. Tory didn’t have to know any Jews personally to be appalled. “How can Hitler treat his own citizens so horribly?”

“Because he’s evil,” Nick said flatly.

“And because he needs scapegoats,” Allarde said soberly. “Someone to blame for all the ills of society. When people are unhappy about their lives, tell them that a group that’s a little different is the cause of their problems, and they’ll follow a tyrant into hatred. The history of war is all about
us
against
them
.”

Painfully aware of how right he was, Tory asked, “What kind of work does Dr. Weiss do that’s so valuable to this Dr. Florey?”

“This research team is trying to perfect a drug that can save people from dying of blood poisoning or infections like pneumonia,” Nick said, his voice sober.

This time the silence was awed. “Is that really true?” Elspeth asked in a hushed voice. “Mage healers like me spend most of our time trying to stop inflammation from spreading and killing patients. A medicine like that would change the world.”

“I hope so.” Nick shook his head, remembering. “A classmate of mine scratched his knee playing cricket. It was hardly anything, but blood poisoning set in and he died.”

Tory guessed all of them knew of such cases. Inflammation was always the great fear after an injury. “If Dr. Weiss can help create such a medicine, I see why he needs to be rescued, but why won’t the government do it?”

“After hearing him out, Dad said that he knew of Dr. Weiss’s research and agreed that it has great potential, but there is simply no way to get him out of France. The Germans have locked him up in a castle near Calais, and it’s surrounded by troops. Dr. Weiss has been given a laboratory and assistants because the Nazis want his work, too.”

“If the military intelligence lads can’t get Weiss out, it’s unlikely anyone else can,” Jack pointed out.

“From what I’ve heard…” Nick said.

“Under windows?” Cynthia asked acidly.

“Sometimes.” Nick gave her a quelling look which had no effect on her whatsoever. “British intelligence is sending agents into France and building a network with Frenchmen working against the Nazis, but that takes time. There aren’t enough resources to rescue a man who is heavily guarded. But I can try. And I will.”