“Let’s start with the short words, two or three letters. That should make it easier,” Jessica said. “I’ve copied down the trees, so we can work on the code. If it is a code.”
Timothy looked at Jessica in surprise. He didn’t know that she paid much attention to cracking codes.
“The short words are usually articles like an or the or prepositions, right?”
Timothy stared at her. “Yeah.”
“You’re not the only smart one, Timothy James Maxwell. I just may know more about grammar than you do. Look, these two groups of three trees are exactly the same. “So it could be and or the or out or—”
“There are too many three-letter words.” Timothy cut her off. “There aren’t as many two-letter words, especially ones that are used frequently. Maybe we should start there, with the two two-letter words we found.”
Jessica nibbled a strand of hair. “On, in, an, to, go . . . Seems like there are lots of two-letter words, too.”
“Okay. Look. These three words all start with the same letter.” Timothy pointed to two of the three-letter words and one of the two-letter words.
Jessica interrupted. “Did you know that the is one of the most common words in English? Let’s just pretend the word is the, then the two-letter word would—”
“Have to start with t, making it to!”
“I’m going to write it down, just in case.” In a small neat hand Jessica wrote the words on the scrap of paper. “But what about this group of trees? There are nine trees in the group!”
Timothy shook his head. “I don’t know. The only letter that matches is the last letter in the word, an e. But that’s all we know right now.”
“I can’t take this anymore! Let’s try again tonight with Sarah. I’m cold, and I want to ride the Ferris wheel, even if you don’t.” Jessica folded up the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. She pulled the mittens back on and, without turning around, headed in the direction of the lighted wheel.
Reluctantly, Timothy put the paper with the copy of the tree code in his bag. “Okay, okay. I’m coming.”
COMPASS POINTS
IFTY-FIVE DEGREES, FIFTY-FIVE minutes north; three degrees, ten minutes west. The latitude and longitude placed Electra in Edinburgh. What she would witness here, she did not know, but already forces were gathering in this northern city. As the year turned toward the time of greatest darkness, the struggle between Light and Dark always intensified. Each year the Dark hoped to quell the coming of the Light. Now it was midwinter’s day, the shortest and darkest day of the year. This far north, the sun set very early by human time, four o’clock. But the revelers in Edinburgh’s Winter Wonderland seemed not to notice. They shopped and ate, ice-skated and rode the giant blazing wheel.
As she watched the crowds of merrymakers, there were three things that she knew. The first was that the boy and the one-eyed man were both here, somewhere in the crowd of people. The boy was closer—she was sure of it. And the third thing was that she must not intervene. The affairs of humans were only to be witnessed. And there was something else, a restlessness in the air, as if the night itself were stirring.
“How long have we been waiting?” Timothy looked at his watch.
“Oh, stop complaining. I bet we’ll get on in the next seating.” Jessica craned her neck to look up at the descending gondolas. They had been waiting an awfully long time. But the wheel was slowing, and, sure enough, people were being helped out. “Come on, Timothy, it’s our turn!”
But Timothy wasn’t paying any attention to Jessica or the Ferris wheel. He was standing with his mouth wide open, and he was staring at a girl.
“Come on!” The words had barely slipped from her mouth when Jessica, too, was shocked into silence.
“It’s Star Girl. We’ve got to talk to her!” Timothy said.
The star girl was winding her way down the platform, clad only in a long blue dress; even in the bitter cold her arms and feet were bare. Her long silvery hair reflected the wheel’s thousand lights. As if she heard them, she looked right in their direction.
“Star!” Timothy called out.
“Please step into the gondola.” The attendant took Timothy by the arm.
“Hurry up!” A little girl behind them gave Timothy a shove.
“There’s nothing we can do now. She’s seen us, and she’ll wait.” Jessica grabbed Timothy’s other arm and hustled him on board.
They were the only two in their gondola. And as the Ferris wheel lurched into motion, both Timothy and Jessica leaned over to wave at Star Girl.
“Wait for us!” Timothy called out.
Electra solemnly nodded.
“This is so amazing!” Jessica looked out over the German Market into the vast night sky. “What do you think she’s doing here?”
“I don’t know, but it’s another sign that we’re in the right place after all.”
“Maybe she’ll know something about the map.” Jessica hugged herself against the cold.
Now that he was sure Star Girl would be waiting for them, Timothy relaxed. It was amazing, riding a giant Ferris wheel in Scotland right before Christmas with Jessica. Timothy stole a look at her. Jessica was leaning out as far she could, looking below and chattering about the people skating on the ice rink. Timothy wasn’t really paying attention to anything she said, but he liked the sound of her voice and noticed that when she was very cold, her cheeks flushed red, just like when she was very excited.
The dark silhouette of Edinburgh Castle loomed above them. A copper moon floated above its pointed towers and buttresses, while wisps of cloud passed like a tattered flag.
“It looks like it could be right out of stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.” Jessica looked at Timothy. “If I look down at the stalls below, I can imagine myself at the Travelers’ Market again.”
“Me, too.” Timothy recalled the bright wagons and stalls of the merchants in the Market between worlds, the friends he had made there, and, with a shiver, the terrible battle fought there. “Sometimes it seems like something that happened to someone else, like the map is something I brought back from a dream.” Timothy’s words surprised him; he wasn’t used to sharing confidences with anyone but Sarah.
“I know. And I was never more frightened than when you left and Sarah was turned into an ermine. I thought everything depended on me and that I would make a mess of it all.”
The wheel had reached its apex. Below, the night city glowed, and beyond the city a sprinkling of lights faded into vast darkness. The gondola rocked gently, a small world suspended between earth and sky.
“But you didn’t mess up. You found Cerridwyn, and you healed people. Lots of people wouldn’t have survived without you.”
“I remember you riding in on Gwydon, wearing the crown and playing those pipes and looking absolutely terrified.” Jessica laughed, and the fragile connection between them was broken.
“Yeah, well, I guess I did look pretty funny.” Timothy’s voice squeaked again, but instead of being embarrassed, he laughed with Jessica. “And now I sound just like those crazy pipes I tried to play.”
“You didn’t look funny at all. In fact, I thought you looked kind of glorious.”
Timothy had never been called glorious before, and certainly not by a girl. He liked the sound of the word, the way it made him think of battles and honor and knights. At the same time he wasn’t quite sure if Jessica was mocking him. He slipped a sideways glance in her direction, but she was looking up into the sky, lips slightly parted, and from her expression he had no way of telling at all.
A HORN IN THE NIGHT
UST AS SHE HAD PROMISED, Electra was waiting at the base of the Ferris wheel. As quickly as possible, Timothy and Jessica made their way toward the slender girl. Timothy noticed that most people who passed her stared at her in disbelief, and many gave her a wide berth.
She waited until Timothy and Jessica were almost to her side and then moved quickly into the crowd. They followed
her closely. She stopped only when they had reached the edge of the carnival rides, where darker alleyways joined with Princes Street and the shadows were thicker.
“Can we go inside somewhere? I’m just about to freeze to death!” Jessica’s teeth actually chattered in her head.
“Looks like there’s a pub down there.” Timothy pointed down a side alley where a rectangle of light spilled onto the dark street. Now he led the way, with both Star Girl and Jessica close behind.
The Lovely Lady was a neighborhood pub, out of the main tourist center but crowded with locals, families, and kids. Timothy and Jessica both ordered hot ciders while Star Girl waited at a small table in a corner.
“Star, why are you here? Is something important about to happen?”
“I have come to witness, and where I am called, I go,” she said simply.
“Are any of the others here—Gwydon or Cerridwyn?” Jessica continued.
“He is here.”
“Do you mean the Greenman?” Timothy asked hopefully.
“Balor of the one eye is here, and others are gathering as the darkness grows.”
The warmth of the pub faded as if all the light, chatter, and cheer had been sucked out with the name of Balor. He was like a black hole, Timothy thought, sucking everything good into oblivion. “He’s here?”
Electra nodded. “During these days, when the darkness prevails, he is bold. There is always a battle as the year dies. I have seen many before, and there will be many more between now and the end of time.”
How much could he tell Star Girl? She saw everything, but did she take sides? He didn’t know. Telling her about the map would be a risk, but with Balor so close, it was one he was willing to take.
“Mr. Twig gave us a map with a puzzle.”
Eyes wide and lips parted, Jessica shot him a look across the table.
“And they came looking for it.” Electra’s voice was calm and sure.
“Yeah, they did. There’s a code in the map, and we have some of the letters, but not enough.”
Jessica’s face was pinched with worry now. “Timothy, I don’t think we should—”
“Every map is a picture of a place in one particular time. Coastlines and boundaries change with time. Only the points of the compass are constant: north, south, east, and west,” Electra added.
“But this map doesn’t have any compass points. We were just getting a few more letters. Here.” Timothy pulled the creased sheet of paper from his backpack, checked to make sure that nobody was seated nearby, and smoothed it on the table. He stared at the rows of trees, the few words he and Jessica had managed to decipher.
Electra was silent.
Wasn’t she going to offer anything else? Maybe Jessica was right. He never should have shown her.
“Look!” Jessica’s voice was loud with excitement, and people at other tables began to glance in their direction. She dropped her tone to a whisper. “Here are a few more letters we missed!”
She carefully wrote, a-ainst the - - - - -
“Against the something!” Timothy’s voice cracked again, but this time he didn’t pause.
“If there is no compass, something else must be used to show direction.” Electra gazed serenely over the crowd.
“And this word must be stones!” Timothy filled in the letters they knew.
“But what about stones?” Jessica asked.
Electra stood abruptly. “Listen, do you hear it?”
“What?” Jessica asked.
“A hunting horn. The battle is about to begin.”
“I don’t hear anything!” Timothy checked his watch. “We have to meet my parents and Sarah in ten minutes!”
Jessica looked toward the door. Timothy followed her glance.
A tall man with golden curls walked in. His clothes were strangely formal: a dark vest and jacket, a silver-tipped cane. On his arm was an elegant woman with auburn hair piled high on her head. People turned to stare.
Timothy’s heart pounded in his ears. His hands turned to ice. He would know that man anywhere! Balor was here, in the pub!
“Come on, we have to get out of here!” Timothy looked at Jessica. Her face was pale and her eyes wide in alarm. He stood, snatched up the paper, and, rounding the table, grabbed her by the arm. “There has to be a back way out.”
Electra calmly stood, blocking Timothy and Jessica from Balor’s view.
Timothy dragged Jessica to the back of the pub, toward the kitchen and restrooms, down a dark, narrow hall. He yanked open the first door beyond the bathrooms. A storage closet.
“Hurry!” he hissed.
Jessica kept turning to look over her shoulder.
Timothy grabbed her hand. It was slick with sweat.
There was one last door at the end of the hall. Timothy turned the knob. The door remained firmly closed. He could hear Jessica breathing behind him. Dropping her hand, he pulled at the door with both of his. The door gave. Stuck, not locked. Cold air bit his face as he dragged Jessica out onto the street. He took great, gulping lungfuls of air, as if he had been submerged.
Without speaking, Jessica held out her hand. Hers, too, was trembling. Timothy gripped it, and they ran, dashing through the dark side street, back toward the lights of the German Market. Timothy looked for the castle to get his bearings. His parents and Sarah would be waiting for them on the corner near the gardens. Next to him, Jessica’s breath came in gasps.
Once they were on the main street surrounded by people and lights, Timothy slowed. Still without speaking they dodged between revelers, toward their meeting point. Timothy could see his parents and Sarah waiting on the corner.
Jessica broke the silence. “Do you think he saw us?”
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know for sure. I think Electra blocked us from view.”
“But she doesn’t take sides! She just observes, doesn’t she?” Jessica asked.
“How was the Ferris wheel?” Mr. Maxwell strode forward to meet them. Timothy thought he saw a flash of envy in his father’s eyes.
Sarah followed and linked her arm through Timothy’s. “The dancing was great. Not at all like the Celtic dancers I’ve seen in the States. Why are you breathing so hard?”
Before Timothy could answer, his mother cut in.
“But poor Mr. McMorn had to leave in the middle of it. Some kind of family emergency.” Mrs. Maxwell shook her head. “After he arranged for the outing and everything,”
“Let’s not stand here talking in the cold. I’m ready to call it a night.” Mr. Maxwell glanced at the sky. “The clouds seem to be gathering. Could be we’ll see some of that rare Edinburgh snow.”
As soon as possible, Timothy, Sarah, and Jessica rendezvoused in the small bedroom. Timothy and Jessica interrupted each other as they described their encounter with Electra, seeing Balor, and the small progress they had made on the code.
That night Timothy slept with the map beside him under the covers. He didn’t sleep well. In his dreams, he saw the Greenman, unable to move, frozen, while all around him the town of Edinburgh burned. But the fire was not hot; it was a freezing cold burn that caused buildings to explode and people to die in the streets.
ICE STORM, DECEMBER 23
HEN TIMOTHY AWOKE, he found that his covers were in a heap on the floor and he was curled into a small shivering ball in the middle of the lumpy sofa bed. He grabbed the blanket from the floor and wrapped himself in it. Then he looked out the window. The magic of what he saw hurt his eyes. Outside, the rare Edinburgh snow had not arrived. Instead, the world was coated in ice. It was a strangely beautiful and silent world. Every tree and light post glittered under a cold sun.
He watched as a red-faced man across the street tried to make his way down his walk. He stepped forward cautiously, one step, two, and then his legs flew up, and he was on his back like a beetle, legs and arms waving in the air. Farther down the street, a young woman bundled in a blue parka fared a little better. Hand over gloved hand, she pulled herself out
to the street along the iron railing in front of her building.
“Looks like an ice storm!” Mr. Maxwell had come into the room so quietly, Timothy hadn’t realized he was there. “And a doozy! We had them like this when your mother and I lived in the Midwest. Cars used to pile up in underpasses. They’d slide down and have no way to get themselves out.” He rubbed his hands together. “Wonder if there’s something wrong with the heat.”
Mrs. Maxwell came out of the bedroom, yawning. “The radio says that there are car wrecks all over town and that no one should try to drive. Isn’t the heat working? I’m going to make us some tea.”
“Lucky there weren’t any meetings today. Too close to Christmas, I guess.” Mr. Maxwell stretched. “I’m going to take a look at the radiator.”
Timothy had a sinking feeling in his stomach, heavy as wet cement. He remembered Electra’s words: “The battle is about to begin.” The ice storm paralyzing the city felt sinister, menacing. As if it had a purpose. “Won’t the sun melt off the ice?”
“It’s not supposed to get above freezing today,” his mother called cheerfully from the kitchen. “It’s beautiful out, don’t you think? And we don’t have to go anywhere.”
But Timothy wasn’t so sure. He was determined to return to the map store today, no matter what the weather.
By midday the heat still wasn’t working. Power outages were reported all over town. Mrs. Maxwell, wearing two sweaters and a stocking cap, hummed as she painted the view from the living room window. Sarah, Jessica, and Mr. Maxwell sat at the kitchen table with mugs of hot tea, heated on the gas stove. They played cards while Timothy tried to read. But his mind wouldn’t stay with his latest sci-fi novel. The radio had reported that some stores and restaurants were open for business, and he wondered if Seaborg Cartographers was one of them. The temperature inched up slowly, and road crews had managed to salt the glittering streets. He dropped the book onto the floor and walked to the window.
Time out of Time Page 15