The professor stared after him with a look of anguish.
David slept badly. The triumph he’d felt over discovering the photo of Eddie had soon given way to a dreadful worry that they wouldn’t reach him in time.
Time.
It all came back to that in the end, and dreamwalking was giving David a new perspective on time that turned the commonsense world inside out. Everyone was worried about Eddie’s future, about finding him and keeping him alive, but the bizarre truth of it was this: Right there and then, in the present, as David lay sweating on his bed, Edmund Utherwise was already dead.
And yet it was David who was the ghost!
When he eventually got up and dressed he couldn’t face breakfast. He went straight to the Somnarium to see how preparations were going, but when he arrived he had the definite impression he wasn’t expected. Or needed, even. A young researcher with a harassed look took pity on him and showed him through to the Archive anyway.
The Archive of the Dreamwalker Project, a lofty rock chamber off the Map Room, was dominated by a Showing Glass almost as high as the window in the Lodge. Despite the room’s name, the only papers David could see were the files and printouts around Professor Feldrake, as if the man somehow carried his own personal atmosphere of old-fashioned academic disorder wherever he went.
The professor was standing with a team of researchers to one side of the enormous screen, while two groups of three dreamwalkers stood directly in front of it. One group consisted of Petra, Dishita, and Théo, the other of people David hadn’t met before. Before them, gigantic images passed across the surface of the Showing Glass: static photographs of trains, hurrying passengers, uniformed porters, and soldiers, all interspersed with short bursts of sound and film. The photo David had found briefly appeared, and David’s eyes shot straight to the face of Eddie, looking lost in a crowd of evacuees. To the side there was a stream of smaller images showing 1940s clothing, cigarette cases, spectacles, and other personal items.
David walked slowly over to Petra as a photograph of an elaborate station clock towered in front of them, its hands moving by digital manipulation until they reached noon.
“What’s all this for?” he whispered.
“To help us dream up our target date, time, and place,” said Dishita, overhearing. “We need visual, geographic, and temporal references in order to dreamwalk accurately to a precise point in time and place. Some dreamwalks take weeks of careful preparation, but this one is actually quite straightforward. Paddington station is a well-documented building.”
David knew the station quite well himself, but glancing up at the black-and-white photos of Paddington in the Age of Steam, he could tell he was going to see something extraordinary.
The briefing rounded off with a blizzard of technical details and schematic diagrams of the building that David struggled to follow. Then the researchers stood back and the professor raised his eyebrows at Dishita.
“We’re ready,” she said in a confident tone. “We’ll get there.”
A fair-haired boy who must have been the leader of the second team nodded agreement, but asked, “Is six of us enough, Professor? Shouldn’t we send in a third team, just in case?”
“No, we need to keep this as low-key as possible. Dishita has been dreamwalking for hours already, laying the groundwork for the police pickup. All you need to do is watch over it and stop the Haunting from interfering. Beside, you won’t be just six — David Utherwise is going with you.”
The second team eyed him with curiosity and some suspicion.
“I don’t want to be rude,” said the fair-haired boy, “but might there not be, er … a training issue with David?”
One of his team snickered, and Dishita and Théo exchanged glances. David clenched his fists.
“He’s key to this mission.” Petra moved over to David’s side. “More important than the rest of us put together.”
“Well said.” Professor Feldrake came and stood among them all. “Not only is he our only native Londoner, but his connection to Eddie more than makes up for his lack of experience. It would be foolish to keep him back.”
“He is a liability,” said a voice from the darkest corner of the room, and David turned to discover that Roman had been standing there the whole time. “And he’ll be no use against Adam.”
“I have made it very clear that no one will fight Adam,” the professor said firmly. “These dreamwalkers are authorized to confront other members of the Haunting, but no one is to take on Adam himself. I would be grateful if you restricted yourself to security matters in the present, Commander, and left me to handle the past.”
No one spoke in the Archive after that, but David saw Roman catch Dishita’s eye before he left the room.
The two teams of dreamwalkers were led from the Archive to the Somnarium and got onto their beds in silence. It occurred to David that he should probably be nervous about going on his first live dreamwalker mission, but he was too preoccupied with a more fundamental worry. The lives of those he loved the most — their very existences — were on the line, and with this came the terrible dread that he himself might be utterly erased if something went wrong. He glanced over at Petra, and for a second he wondered if anyone would even remember him if he was snuffed out. To be so entirely destroyed that you were never even born was a fate worse than anything he could imagine. There was no question, he had to reach Eddie at any cost, forget rules and fancy briefings. If it came to it, he’d even fight Adam single-handedly. After all, what did he have to lose?
The professor gave them all a last word of encouragement. His anxious face was the last thing David saw before the nurse came over and placed the mask over his eyes.
She pressed the button.
David slept.
David was dreaming.
It took a moment to become fully aware, but the worry in the pit of his stomach forced his mind to focus. The chaotic jumble of the dream began to clear around the familiar figure of Petra. She was holding his hand, pulling him down a featureless hallway.
“You haven’t been shown how to navigate yet,” she said, “but it’s not complicated. As with everything here, you just need to use the power of your mind. As long as you know where you want to be, you should be able to go there, but for now I’ll help you. The others are waiting through here.”
David allowed himself to be drawn through an open door. He found himself in a small room, entirely blank except for another door opposite him. It was closed.
“Welcome back to the dreamrealm,” said Dishita. She motioned to David and Petra to stand with Théo. “The other team is already in place, so let’s not waste any time. Misty?”
David was surprised to hear the computer’s name here, but even more surprised by what happened next. A cascade of colored light poured down out of nowhere into one corner of the room and formed into a shape. Then the shape snapped into focus. It was a golden-haired girl in her midteens, dressed entirely in white, her hands behind her back and her head tilted to one side.
Her appearance was as enchanting as her voice and David was transfixed. It almost ached to look at her. Even as he stared, though, he felt that she was too beautiful somehow, too perfect to be real. But he couldn’t help staring anyway. He heard a cough and tore his eyes off the lovely apparition for a moment to find that his mouth was hanging open. Petra and Dishita were glaring at him with eyes like daggers. Théo looked on, amused.
“Yes, Dishita?” said Misty, who then added with a wink, “Hello again, David.”
David started to mumble hello back but Dishita spoke over him.
“Misty, please confirm the weather and lighting conditions at Paddington station.”
“You are about to go out into a clear winter’s day. The temperature at noon was 2.1 degrees Celsius. Sunlight will penetrate the building in some places, including platform one. You should be careful of that.”
“We were all at the briefing.” Petra put her hands on her hips. “We don’t need y
ou to tell us to be careful.”
“That’s not fair, Petra. I’m only trying to help.”
“The most helpful thing you can do is keep out of the way.”
“I think I should come with you on this mission. I can be very useful …”
“No!” snapped Petra. “We’ll call you if we need something.”
“Thanks, Misty. You may go,” said Dishita. Misty put her hands on her hips in an exact copy of Petra’s pose and then melted out of sight. Dishita turned to Petra. “It doesn’t help anyone if you treat her like that. You’re teaching her all the wrong things, you know. When you’re not just offending her, that is. She’s our only link with the Map Room.”
“Offending her? That faked-up Tinker Bell? She’s just a dumb machine,” said Petra. “The science guys would love to replace us all with dumb machines.”
“Haven’t you noticed how much like you she’s getting?” said Dishita.
“That’s not fair …” Petra started to say, but clamped her mouth shut. Dishita grinned.
“Now listen up. Our instructions aren’t quite as simple as the professor made them sound in the Archive.”
“What do you mean?” said Petra.
“Roman has the right to brief us as well.” Dishita sounded defensive, as if she was preparing for an argument. “This is still a rescue mission, but the police will handle that once I’ve set things in motion. Our job is to make sure the Haunting doesn’t interfere, but …”
“… but Roman wants us to go after Adam,” said Théo, nodding. “It is well. I am not afraid of him. We can hit hard too.”
“Théo, no, don’t talk like that!” said Petra. “Macho, like it’s just a game. Adam’s too strong. Remember Carlo? He wasn’t afraid either.”
“This isn’t a discussion,” said Dishita. “The professor’s instructions are to help the police pick up Eddie, but Roman has given us separate orders. Théo and I will corner Adam. Petra, you’ll back us up if … if needed.”
“You’re going to combine?” said Petra, and David caught a shy exchange of glances between Dishita and Théo.
“It’s the only way to be sure,” Dishita said. “It’s not as dangerous as they say.”
Petra shook her head and looked away.
“What about me?” David said.
Dishita gave him a cool look.
“Since you’re here, you can help most by keeping your head down and your eyes open.”
“I’m not just a piece of luggage. I want to do something.”
“This dreamwalk is dangerous,” said Dishita. “If it was up to me, you wouldn’t be here at all. And don’t question my authority, David; this is my team.”
“The professor doesn’t know about this, does he?” said David. “I thought we were just going to rescue Eddie. And what is combining, anyway?”
“You’re a long way from needing to know about that,” said Dishita. “And like I said, Roman has the right to brief us as well. We’ll get Eddie, but it makes sense to strike at Adam while we can.”
“Makes sense for you, you mean.” Petra’s hands were back on her hips. “Getting back at lover boy.”
“Shut up, Petra!”
“No. You know I hate Adam as much as anyone, but he’s too dangerous to fight. The professor’s right: We should just rescue Eddie and let Adam sweat it out with his new haunter friends. He’ll be nineteen soon; his dreamwalking days are ending. Don’t make this personal.”
“I said shut up!” Dishita snapped. “I’m not letting Adam get away again, and that’s the end of it.” She looked at Théo, who nodded back with a smile.
“Don’t worry, we will get him,” he said.
David said nothing, but he swore to himself that if there was going to be a fight with Adam, he wanted a part of it. The photo had been his discovery, and yet here he was being treated like a spare part, while everyone who was supposed to be saving Eddie argued over how to do it. He looked at Petra but she was staring at the floor.
“It’s time to go,” said Dishita.
She gestured to the other door and it swung open, letting in the pale light of a long-ago winter. David stared through it, and then followed the others as, one by one, they stepped out into the year 1940.
The four dreamwalkers were standing in an empty compartment of a stationary train. It stank of stale cigarette smoke. Through the door of the compartment and the window beyond, David could see another train — chocolate brown with a coat of arms and a sooty cream roof. Outside the opposite window was the bustle and wartime hurry of platform one, Paddington station, on December 18, 1940.
The people were wearing mostly dark gray or dun-colored coats, muffled up against the cold, their breath mingling with steam. An elderly porter trudged past, pulling a trolley of leather cases, and two young soldiers clumped the other way, rifles and kit bags slung over their shoulders. Everyone wore a hat of some kind, and several of the women had fur coats. David stared at it all with a bewildering sense of both familiarity and wonder, as if he’d just walked out onto the set of a period drama and had forgotten how to get back.
The spell was broken by Dishita’s voice. “You’ll need to be disguised, David. You’ll hardly blend in wearing that.”
Looking at the others, David saw that he was now the only one not dressed to fit the time and place. Dishita had on a long coat and a green woolen hat and scarf, while Théo looked like an adult in his raincoat, hat, scarf, and leather gloves. Petra was wearing a dark gray fitted winter suit that seemed far too elegant for someone who wasn’t supposed to be attracting any attention. She was even wearing lipstick, red like her beret. Somehow they all managed to make dressing in 1940s clothes look good. All three of them were looking at David expectantly.
David glanced down at the black dreamwalker suit he was wearing. “But how do I do it?”
“You’re in charge of your dreaming mind now,” said Dishita. “Decide how you want to be dressed and let your imagination do the rest. If you need inspiration, just look out of the window.”
David concentrated and tried to visualize some of the horrible clothes he’d seen Eddie wearing. Nothing happened.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Petra. “Relax. You’re trying too hard.”
David thought again: creased trousers, cream shirt, V-neck pullover, and squeaky leather shoes — vintage Eddie style. Seconds passed but he remained exactly as before.
“I can’t get rid of this stupid outfit.”
“Remember, you are not wearing that outfit at all,” Théo said. “Your mind has simply supplied it because that is what you were wearing when you went to sleep.” But he was already watching the platform and clearly losing interest in David.
“Don’t worry, I’ll dream up something for you,” said Petra, and suddenly David was dressed differently.
He caught a faint reflection of himself in the carriage window and felt even more like a film extra than before, in a blazer and stripy tie. For a moment it felt good to be dressed so smartly, but then he realized what he was wearing.
“A school uniform? Petra, thanks, but …”
“Ah, but I like you that way.” Petra gave him her brightest smile. “A young English gentleman. Head boy at a posh boarding school, perhaps.”
Théo smirked, and when David looked at Dishita there was no mistaking the doubt in her eyes.
“Never mind,” she said. “I’m sure you’ll get it in the end.”
David wondered how long it had taken Adam to first master this trick of disguises. He felt foolish as he followed the three dreamwalkers into the corridor and out onto the cold, dingy platform.
The exotic mixture of smells struck David first. Coal smoke and bitter-tasting steam were by far the strongest, but cigarettes and oil were there too, as well as a leathery, varnishy tang. Thinking about old things and the past, he’d been expecting mustiness, but this world around him was as fresh and vital as the present. And of course, at that precise moment, for David and the other dreamwalkers 1940
was the present. He looked about in wonder until a loud metallic whoosh made him jump. A new cloud of vapor rolled out across the platform, the result of some steam-powered event beyond his understanding.
“Look at the time,” said Dishita, pointing along the platform to where an ornate clock — the very one they’d seen back in the Archive — was visible above the vapor. “It’s 11:35. David, are you listening? We need to split up and find Eddie as soon as possible, and Adam won’t be far away when we do. The other team is already mingling with the crowds. Théo, you head to the main concourse — I’ve got to have a word with a policeman. Petra, find a good observation point over platform one. If we need to be in touch, call Misty, but only if you really need to.”
“We won’t,” said Petra.
“Excuse me,” said a voice, and they turned to find a girl with black pigtails looking up at David. She wore a blue school uniform with a golden dolphin on her blazer badge. Around her neck was a cardboard box, which David remembered from history lessons would contain a gas mask. “Please, do you know if this is the train for Bristol?”
“Er …” said David, who didn’t have a clue. “Yeah, I think you’re okay.”
The girl looked at him with great curiosity.
“Ok-ay?” she said like she was trying out the word. “Are you an American?”
Dishita stepped forward quickly.
“I’m very sorry, but my Canadian friend here is mistaken. Please disregard everything he says. I’m afraid we really don’t know where this train is going. Good-bye.” And she dragged David away, leaving the girl staring after them.
“What are you doing?” Dishita whispered at the top of her voice. “What’s the third law of the Dreamwalker’s Code, David? What are the first and second laws, come to that? You might have sent that girl on the wrong train! We are guests in this time, remember? Uninvited guests. Haven’t you got that yet? We mustn’t do anything to disrupt the flow of history.”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry …”
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