Dark Mirror (25 page)

“Just what we need,” Jack said tartly as he lurched up, bracing one hand against the wall. “The reminder that most of us will have to do this again.”

“Maybe it becomes easier with practice,” Elspeth said as she rose.

There was one person who hadn’t spoken up. Concerned, Tory moved along the wall to where her roommate lay huddled and apparently unconscious. “Cynthia?”

She knelt on one side and Elspeth on the other. Elspeth rested her hands on Cynthia’s head and sent a rich flow of healing energy. “Cynthia, can you hear me?”

After a minute, Cynthia’s lashes flickered up. “That … that was
ghastly
!”

Tory sat back on her heels, relieved. “I warned everyone.”

“I thought you were exaggerating to make yourself sound braver,” Cynthia grumbled as she sat up.

“She’s being insulting,” Tory said mischievously. “Obviously Cynthia is getting back to normal.”

Cynthia gave Tory a scowl fierce enough to blister paint. Allarde offered his hand to help her to her feet. “But we all made it here, which is quite amazing. I suppose we must go outside to learn if we’ve reached our destination.”

“This looks right. The amount of dust, the footprints.” Nick started down the tunnel. “I marked the way in when I came with Tory, just in case I ever had reason to need the mirror. I didn’t expect it to be so soon!”

“I’m ready for fresh air,” Tory said as she collected her mage lamp and followed Nick. The others came after her with a bobbing of mage lamps.

She was relieved to see that the abbey looked exactly as she remembered from her previous trips through the mirror. There were gasps when the other Irregulars saw the ruins of their school. It was one thing to be told what to expect, another to see it.

It was a very dark night that felt like May. “We’re here,” Nick said quietly. “The abbey looks right and the blackout is in effect, or we’d see along the shore.”

Tory hadn’t known that when she’d emerged here before. Darkness had seemed natural since she’d never seen electric lights. “I hope there’s lots of food at your house. Time travel makes me ravenous.”

“I think the portal burns some of our own energy in order to work,” Allarde said thoughtfully. “That would explain why the transit is so tiring and disorienting.”

“A good theory,” Elspeth said. “Perhaps we could travel with food so we could start rebuilding our energy as soon as we arrive.”

“Next time, I’ll carry shortbread.” Tory dimmed her mage lamp to the barest of glows. “We need lamps to get out of the abbey without tripping and breaking our necks, but keep them very dim.”

“What if we want to use more light?” Cynthia asked.

“Concerned citizens will come after us threatening to call the police because we’re violating the blackout.” Nick dimmed his light, then headed toward the gate.

The others fell in behind him. Tory waited and brought up the rear. At least on this journey, she knew what to expect.

The Irregulars’ journey to Lackland was shorter than Tory’s had been because they walked to Nick’s house on the bluff rather than down into the village proper. Even so, there was plenty to intrigue the Irregulars who were seeing paved roads, power lines, and motorcars for the first time. Tory thought it was fortunate that the blackout hid their conspicuous group from curious eyes.

Jack whistled when they reached their destination. “This house belonged to my uncle. It was smaller then, though.”

“The property has been in the family forever. We have several acres, so there’s privacy and room for a large garden. And some chickens that my mother just bought,” Nick said. “My dad says every generation has added something.”

He bounded up the steps and swung into the kitchen. “Mum, Polly, I’m back!” As soon as everyone was inside, he flicked on the overhead light. There were gasps of surprise. Cynthia looked admiringly at the fixture above. “This would be a great help when one is dressing for a ball.”

“Or reading a book,” Allarde said.

“Or doing embroidery,” Elspeth added.

Feet pounded down the stairs and Polly and Anne Rainford surged into the kitchen dressed in nightgowns and robes. “You’re safe!” His mother hugged Nick with rib-bruising force. “When I found your note that you would try to find Tory by going through Merlin’s mirror, I was ready to do murder!”

“She’s not exaggerating. You’d have been in big trouble if you got yourself killed, Nick!” Polly gave Tory a fierce hug. “Oh, Tory, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!”

“Not only did I make it to 1803, but I’ve returned with help.” Nick waved at the Irregulars, who filled most of the small kitchen. “These are classmates of Tory’s who volunteered to come because they have talents that will be useful. Unless—has the situation in France become better so help isn’t needed?”

Mrs. Rainford sighed. “No such luck. The government hasn’t publicly admitted the magnitude of the disaster, but things are going from bad to worse.”

Nick’s face tightened. “Then it’s a good thing I went for help. Mum, Polly, can you guess which one is our very distant relation Jack, the weather mage?”

Mrs. Rainford’s gaze went unerringly to Jack, with his fair hair and handsome, wide-cheekboned face. “You must be the Rainford.”

“Yes, ma’am. Jack Rainford at your service.” Jack glanced at his companions. “Nick didn’t have much time to learn names, so I’ll do the introductions. This is Lady Elspeth Campbell, Lady Cynthia Stanton, the Marquis of Allarde, and, of course, you know Lady Victoria Mansfield.”

Mrs. Rainford and Polly blanched. “Tory?” Polly said faintly. “You’re Lady Victoria?”

Tory shrugged. “Students at Lackland Abbey are stripped of our titles. I’ve found I don’t really miss mine.”

Pulling herself together, Mrs. Rainford said, “I hope that none of you object to plebian potato and leek soup. I made a great pot of it in the hopes that Nick would return soon. There’s enough for all, but I’m sure it’s not what you’re used to.”

Elspeth smiled. “It sounds lovely. Don’t think of us as a pack of aristocrats but as a group of hungry young mages.”

“Just as alarming in a different way!” Polly said.

“I’ve been feeding hungry young people for years, so that I can manage.” As on Tory’s visit, Mrs. Rainford lit a gas burner on the stove and pulled a pot of soup onto it from the back burner. “Polly, you and I need to change. Lady Victoria, could you show your friends the facilities?”

“I’m still Tory, Mrs. Rainford.”

“I shall try to remember.” The teacher’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t expect five guests. I haven’t enough beds. There should be enough blankets and pillows, but you won’t have much comfort or privacy.”

“I know this is a great imposition,” Allarde said in his soft, deep voice. “But we shall manage. It will only be for a day or two, I assume.”

“First, we eat. I’ll make sure the soup doesn’t burn, Mum,” Nick said. “Then we hold our war council. There is much to discuss.”

No sleep for the Irregulars tonight, Tory suspected as she led the others upstairs. She just prayed that they’d be able to help hold off catastrophe.

CHAPTER 26

Serious talk was delayed until everyone had eaten at least one bowl of the hearty potato leek soup. Nick wolfed down three bowls before setting down his spoon. “Let us know the worst, Mum. What’s happening?”

“The Nazis are closing in on Dunkirk, and the Luftwaffe is doing terrible damage to the port and troops waiting for evacuation.” Mrs. Rainford glanced at the Irregulars. “The Luftwaffe is the German air corps. They’ve bombed Dunkirk’s huge oil storage silos, and fires are so fierce that you can see the clouds of black smoke from here.”

“Maybe the smoke will confuse the Luftwaffe,” Nick said, grasping for hope. “Anything that blocks the pilots’ view will help the evacuation.”

“I hope you’re right,” his mother replied. “A national day of prayer has been declared for tomorrow. Every church in the country will be praying for a miracle to save our troops, and none too soon. Tomorrow afternoon the Admiralty is going to start evacuating men from Dunkirk with passenger ferries.”

The shocked silence was broken when Jack said jauntily, “Well, here we are, Mrs. R. Your miracle!”

The teacher smiled a little. “I surely hope so. Along the coast here, everyone is talking about how the Admiralty is requisitioning self-propelled pleasure boats. The Dunkirk harbor is being bombed to uselessness, so shallow draft vessels will be needed to get close enough to the beaches to pick men up.”

“Has
Annie’s Dream
been requisitioned?” Nick asked.

“I sent a letter to the Admiralty when they announced they were compiling lists of possible boats, but I haven’t heard anything back yet.” Mrs. Rainford’s hands fisted. “I want to be doing something!”

“We will,” Tory said firmly. “How have you learned so much about what’s going on if the government is trying to hide the news?”

“Remember you showed me how to scry the future by looking into a bowl of water?” Mrs. Rainford smiled sheepishly. “I’ve been practicing, and sometimes I can see vague images of what’s going on at the naval headquarters under Dover Castle. The Royal Navy has been moving destroyers to the southeast for days. They’re planning on two days of evacuation, though they’ll keep going if possible. They’ll have to go longer to have any chance of getting most of the men out.”

“How useful to have a view into headquarters,” Elspeth said admiringly. “I have some scrying ability. If we work together, perhaps we can get clearer visions.”

“And perhaps … we can locate my husband,” Mrs. Rainford said in a low voice.

“We can try.” Elspeth’s gaze was compassionate.

“The small ships make weather work even more critical,” Jack said thoughtfully. “Rough waves make it hard to stay afloat, much less pick up soldiers, especially if the piers have been destroyed and rescue will have to be from the beaches.” He closed his eyes as he evaluated. “There’s some bad weather threatening on the Continent. If we get to work right away, we can keep it from forming up, but there’s no time to waste.”

“This is what we came for.” Cynthia had the distant expression that meant she’d also been evaluating the weather. She had recovered from her transit and was looking unnaturally serious. “This system isn’t too bad, but if the evacuation goes on for days, we’ll need a huge amount of power. Can we do that, Jack?”

“I hope so. Once we get rid of this pattern and stabilize the calm, maintaining it won’t take as much energy.” Jack’s expression was less confident than his words.

“What can I do?” Polly asked. Though she was the youngest person present, her expression was not that of a child.

Jack studied her with unfocused eyes, reading her energy. “You’ve got a lot of natural weather talent. If you pay attention to what I’m doing as we work on this system, you’ll pick up the basics of weather magic quickly. With three weather mages, we can set up watches later for maintaining the calm.”

“How can we nonweather mages help?” Allarde asked.

“We need to do a full circle now to flatten that Continental weather pattern. It will also give us a chance to practice blending our energies properly.”

“We do need that,” Tory agreed. “There is such a wide range of ability and experience in this group and we don’t all know each other. I assume we’ll have general mages stand watch with the weather workers to supply power so no one burns out?”

“I hadn’t thought that far,” Jack said, “but it’s a good plan.”

“We won’t need so many beds if we take turns sleeping.” Allarde got to his feet. “Where shall we set up our headquarters?”

“The sitting room is largest, and it has the most comfortable furniture and a view out over the channel,” Polly said. “At least, it does in daylight when the blackout curtains are pulled back.”

“Good.” Jack scanned the other mages. “Everyone wash up or whatever and meet me in the sitting room.”

Tory headed for the stairs. It wasn’t her first choice to embark on major magical work when already tired, but not having a choice might be the first lesson of war.

*   *   *

Jack was fidgeting with impatience as the others trickled into the sitting room. “Come along now,” he snapped. “The longer it takes us to get going, the more power it will take to destroy that weather system, and we need to conserve our power.”

“It’s not our fault the house has only one water closet!” Cynthia retorted.

Jack wisely didn’t comment on that. He began moving chairs into a rough circle that included the sofa. “I’ll sit in the middle of the sofa. Polly, you sit next to me to make it easy to follow what I’m doing. You opposite me, Tory. That should be the best place for you to work on the energy blending. Elspeth on my other side, then Nick and Cynthia. Mrs. R. by Tory, Allarde on her other side. Make yourselves comfortable.”

“You want me to join your circle?” the teacher asked, surprised.

“You’ve got power and we need it.” Jack’s usual laughter had dropped away and he was dead serious. “To become a team, we must blend our energies.”

“Anything I can do to help.” Mrs. Rainford took the chair next to Tory’s.

Tory took her seat, thinking the dining room chairs would be uncomfortable in an hour or two. Jack was wise to take the sofa since he had the most demanding job.