“But what’s the point?” Jamie interrupted. “You’ve already told me that the Old Ones are going to come back again.”
“Well, that’s an entirely different argument. Just because we know they’re coming back, doesn’t mean we can’t try to stop them. And the longer we keep them out, the more time the world has to restore itself.”
“Do you really have no idea where I can find Scott?”
“I’m sorry. But he must still be alive. If he’d been killed, Flint would have replaced him and he would have somehow managed to find you.”
There was a loud screeching sound and something swooped out of the sky, landing on the outstretched branch of an oak tree on the other side of the river. Jamie started up, alarmed – but it was only an eagle. He wondered where it had come from. It wasn’t moving now and seemed to be staring right at him.
Matt had noticed the bird and Jamie had the impression that it meant something to him. “There’s one more thing I can tell you that might help,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“There are two gates that exist in my world and yours. We made the first of them ourselves today. Inti and I will design the second very soon. But there’s something else that you need to know about. There are also twenty- five doorways.”
“What do you mean?”
“How do you think we’ve travelled these great distances to find each other? Inti has come from the other side of the world and I can assure you he didn’t take a boat! The doorways are short cuts. You go in one door and you come out another a thousand miles away. There are doorways in your world too.”
“Where?”
“They are all in sacred places – or places that have become sacred mainly because the doors were there. Places of worship. Buildings of one sort and another but also caves, burial chambers, even hills. They’re marked with the same five-pointed star that we carried on our banners. It’s the symbol of the power of Five. You’re going to need to find them. All of you.”
“How do we do that?”
“There’s a map. It was drawn by a man called Joseph of Cordoba. He was a monk but they made him into a saint. He was one of the very few men who knew about us and our war with the Old Ones. He put the map in his diary and it shows all twenty-five doorways. Find the diary and it will give you the secret paths around your entire world.”
“How do I get back to my world?” Jamie asked.
“That’s easy. Someone has sent a guide for you.”
Jamie looked across the river. “The eagle?”
Matt nodded.
“What do I do?”
“Follow the eagle. He’ll show you where to go.” Matt got to his feet.
The two boys stood looking at each other.
“Goodbye, Jamie,” Matt said. “You and I will meet again.”
“I’m glad I was able to fight alongside you, Matt.
Say goodbye to Inti and Scar for me. And to Flint.” Jamie unsheathed his sword one last time. He held it for a moment, not wanting to let it go, but he knew he couldn’t take it with him. He handed it over. “Look after Frost,” he said. “I only had it for a little while but it served me well.”
The two of them looked at each other one last time. Then, leaving Jamie beside the river, Matt turned round and walked back towards the camp.
Jamie glanced at the eagle, which stirred slightly, ruffling its feathers. “Which way?” he called out.
The eagle flew the short distance to the next tree, then a little further to one set back from the river. Its message was clear. Jamie was expected to swim across. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea. The river was deep and cold and the water was flowing very fast. But it seemed he wasn’t going to be given a choice.
“Whatever you say…” He climbed down the gully and waded in.
He was halfway across and well out of his depth when he realized that the current was too strong and he wasn’t going to make it. The river had him in its grip and it was carrying him downstream, sweeping him along between banks which rose up ever higher, blocking out the light. Worse still, his clothes were weighing him down, threatening to drag him beneath the surface. Jamie began to panic. He turned round, wondering if he could call out to Matt for help. But Matt was far away by now and the moment he opened his mouth he found himself swallowing water. Desperately, he thrashed around. If he couldn’t reach the bank or catch hold of something, he was going to get pulled under. It was crazy. Had he come through so much simply to drown?
The eagle was still watching him, perched in another tree. Jamie caught one glimpse of it and guessed that what had happened had been quite deliberate. He had been invited into a trap and like a fool he had walked into it. The water – freezing cold – churned and foamed all around him. He went under. Gasping, using all his strength, he broke through the surface and breathed again. Ahead of him he saw a cave, a jagged hole in the rock. The water was rushing into it and Jamie was being dragged along too.
He managed to scream once and then he was sucked into utter blackness. He was pulled under again – and this time there would be no coming back up. Water flooded into his nose and mouth. He was spinning round and round. How had he allowed this to happen? He was certain that this was death.
And then nothing.
Jamie opened his eyes.
He was lying on his side, wrapped in a blanket. He was in the Mojave Desert and it was dusk. There was a small fire in front of him and he could feel a burning pain between his shoulders. Joe Feather was leaning over him. The Intake Officer was smiling, his face filled with relief.
He was back.
BACK TO RENO
“How long have I been here?” Jamie asked.
“Two nights and two days,” Joe Feather replied.
“And where exactly are we?”
“We’re south of Boulder City. In the mountains. Nobody’s going to find us here.”
Jamie made a quick calculation. His time unconscious in this world seemed to equate with his time fighting and surviving in the other. He watched as Joe poked a stick into the campfire, making the sparks leap up. The sun was setting and soon the evening would grow cool, but the fire was really there to boil water, to cook their meal and to provide them with a little light once the night came. There was no sign of Daniel. He was asleep in the tepee.
“There are things I need to ask you,” Jamie said.
“Are you well enough to talk?”
Jamie moved his shoulder blade. The moment he had returned to his own world, the wound had come back. He could feel where the bullet had hit him. He would probably feel it for years to come. But it wasn’t hurting too much now.
“We had to cut you open,” Joe said. “We took the bullet out and dressed the wound with willow bark.” Jamie looked puzzled. “It’s traditional. But it also makes sense. Willow bark contains salicylic acid – it’s a natural painkiller.”
“Who did it, Joe?”
“Me and a friend.”
Jamie nodded. “Well, thanks…” He certainly wasn’t going to complain. He’d seen much worse injuries in the last two days.
“Here…” Joe lifted a kettle from the fire and poured boiling water into two tin mugs. Whoever had driven them here had left them with plenty of supplies. Joe had made a rose-coloured tea that tasted slightly bitter. “Meg gel tea,” he explained. “It purifies your blood. Maybe it’ll push some of the toxins out of the wound.”
