followed the instructions I gave him, he has made a jump that keeps him in Egypt-only it will be a different Egypt in a different time from the one he left. It took me a long time to work that out, but it is incredibly useful.”
Giles accepted this without comment. They proceeded up the long ramping incline of the hill to the top, where they paused to look down into the valley beyond. If there was an old straight track down there, it was well hidden. After taking in the view for a moment, Giles asked, “What is this place?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I have not explored this world. I only use it as a sort of stepping-stone to get from one ley to another. There are many such as these-unknown worlds, I call them.” She laughed. “Mostly because I don’t know anything about them.”
“Are there people hereabouts?”
“A few,” replied Mina. “Farmers and the like. I have seen them working in their fields beyond those hills just there. Once or twice I have encountered them herding sheep in the valley as well. I don’t know what country this is, or what language is spoken. I hope we won’t be here long enough to find out.” She pointed to the silver sliver of water coursing along the wide valley bottom. “The ley is just on the other side of that little stream. Once we reach it, we’ll be on our way.”
Soon their feet were swishing through the bracken that covered the hillside all the way down to the banks of the stream, where they stopped to refresh themselves before moving on.
“There it is,” Wilhelmina said, indicating a rough stone shaped like a magician’s hat rising from the weeds near the bank. “That marker is where it begins. You will see the line once you are on the path. It is not very long, so we must be in step and up to speed when we reach the stone.”
“And this ley will take us to Scotland?”
“I’m sorry, Giles, no. We must make two more jumps to get there from here.” She pulled from her pocket a small brass object shaped like a river stone, twisted a tiny dial, and held the thing in the direction of the marker.
Giles watched, and when nothing seemed to happen Mina cast a glance at the sky, observing the clouds and the position of the sun.
“I think we have an hour or two to wait before the ley becomes active,” she announced, stuffing the little device back into the pocket of her trousers. “We might as well rest and try to sleep a little. We may not have much chance when we get to Edinburgh.”
They rested then, and when Mina again tried the device a tiny blue light flickered on the brass casing. Satisfied, she said, “The ley is not yet at full strength, but it is active.” She explained that they must be in step and make the jump on the ninth pace from the marking stone. “This is important,” she told him. “If you feel that it is not working, stop at once. Do not take another step. We will hold hands so that we do not become separated.”
She saw his worried expression. “Relax, Giles. I won’t lose you.” She held out her hand. “Ready?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Then here we go.” She started for the stone in long, measured strides that, after three or four paces, Giles matched easily. They reached the stone and Wilhelmina counted off the steps. Between the fifth and sixth, the light dimmed as if a cloud had passed before the sun; at the seventh step, the wind whipped up; between the eighth and ninth, there arose a screeching howl and rain lashed out from nowhere. And then the ground dropped from beneath them and they stepped into thin air.
But only for an instant. Their feet touched the ground with a jolt that carried up through the bones of their legs. Giles staggered, but Mina held him up and they walked on into the sunlight of a crisp autumnal morning beneath scattering grey clouds on a promontory above a wide, sweeping bay. The sea was dotted with whitecaps as the wind blustered out of the west.
The next jump took them to a barren desert in the middle of a storm; biting wind swept over a dune-filled desolation, kicking up gouts of sand and red dust. Thankfully, their sojourn in this inhospitable place was short-lived. The next ley was only a few hundred meters away and, guided by Wilhelmina’s homing device, they found it easily and were able to use it at once without waiting.
“Sorry about that, Giles,” she said upon completing the jump. “That was a shortcut. It saved us a lot of time.”
He coughed dust from his lungs and wiped grit from his eyes. “Where are we now?” he asked, taking in his new surroundings. They had arrived in what appeared to be a well-maintained parkland-a long green lane of mown grass between rows of mature elm trees. Rising behind them was the broad shoulder of a steep hillside; the rest of the park was obscured by the trees.
“Welcome to Edinburgh,” Mina said cheerily. “Or Midlothian, at least. Look at you,” she said, patting his arm. “You forgot to be sick. You’ll soon be a master of ley travel.”
Giles looked around, taking in his surroundings with a wary expression.
“Have you ever been to Scotland?”
“I have never travelled beyond the Cotswolds,” he told her. “Before joining Mr. Livingstone, that is.” He glanced around warily and confided, “But I have heard that the Scots are barbarians who eat their young.”
“Only in the Highlands,” she teased, and began walking down the wide grassy lane. “In the capital, folk can be most refined. You’ll see. The year is 1819, with any luck, and we have come to see a man called Thomas Young. He is a doctor, a physician with a practice in London-but he’s here with his wife, Eliza, visiting his wife’s sister and family.”
“Dr. Young is an important man?” wondered Giles, falling into step beside her.
“Yes, very. Besides medicine, he has gained an international reputation as a leading scientist. He speaks thirteen or fourteen languages and has written on everything from geometry, physics, medicine, and mechanics to philosophy, colour, and music. In short, he will become known as the last man on earth to know everything.”
“Is that why are we going to see him?”
“Indeed it is. Among all his other accomplishments, which are considerable in themselves, Dr. Young is also the world’s leading authority on all things Egyptian.”
They left the grassy lane and entered a more public area of the park, walking easily among trees and bushes coming into the full leaf of high summer. “Dr. Young is currently conducting expeditions to Egypt. He goes there every autumn to excavate and advance his studies into archaeology and hieroglyphs.” She glanced at the taciturn young man beside her. “You know about the Skin Map?”
He nodded.
“What do you know?”
“I know that Sir Henry set great store by it, my lady. And I know he and Mr. Livingstone were killed for it.”
“Yes, well, Dr. Young is going to help Kit find the Skin Map.”
“He knows where it is?”
Wilhelmina shook her head. “No, he doesn’t. But if the map is to be found in Egypt, he is the man to find it.”
The park run ended in a wide expanse of lawn behind a brooding baronial-style edifice-the house of a wealthy shipping magnate. “This way,” said Mina, turning away from the stately house. “They are a bit touchy about trespassers. We best stay out of sight.” She led them to a low iron fence, swung easily over it, and started down a rutted road. “We’re still a few miles from the city, but with any luck there will be a coach along and we can catch a ride.”
The expected carriage did not appear, however, and they reached Edinburgh through its grubby suburbs of low, mean houses, their whitewashed walls darkened by the smoke and soot of Auld Reeky-which in no way prepared Giles for the impact of the sprawling city itself. By the time they reached city centre the effect was complete; Giles took in the grand red stone buildings lining the streets and the citizens going about their business. A sprawling castle soared high above them on a sheer rock cliff right in the heart of the town, and Giles could only stand and gape in mute wonder.
“What do you think?” asked Wilhelmina.
“It is a fine and handsome place,” Giles concluded, looking around. “Greater even than London-more buildings of stone, and the carriages are bigger.”
“That’s just the beginning.” Just then a clock high up in the tower of a church at the far end of the street began striking the hour: three o’clock. “We best hurry along. We don’t want to disturb them at home over tea.”
