He ll be back, whispered the woman sadly.
He always comes back.
The man patted her hand comfortingly, and they drifted away.
Molly and I walked off across the grounds, and there, coming towards us, were the Regent of Shadows, the Armourer Patrick and Special Agent Diana. They nodded easily at us and the Regent actually grinned.
I ve been keeping an eye on you through the car. We re going with you to help rescue the family. Because they re my family, too.
Oh, hell, I said. Why not? The more, the merrier.
CHAPTER TEN
I was ready to go straightaway, but Molly would have none of it. She folded her arms tightly and gave the Regent her very best I see right through you look, before bestowing an equally harsh glare on Patrick and Diana. All of whom, to their credit, stood their ground and smiled pleasantly back at her.
I am really not happy that you ve been spying on us all this time, Molly said flatly to the Regent. Why would you do that?
Because Eddie is my grandson, said the Regent, entirely unfazed. I wanted to see him in action, to see if he really was everything the reports made him out to be. And I have to say, I am very impressed, Eddie. Allowing yourself to be taken prisoner like that so you could get close to Crow Lee And, of course, now that you have a real chance of going after our family, I have to go with you.
Why? said Molly bluntly.
The Regent smiled and spread his hands, almost helplessly.
Anything for the family.
All right, Molly said reluctantly. I ve been around Eddie long enough that sort of makes sense, but what are they doing here?
She jerked her head at Patrick and Diana, who just smiled pleasantly back at her. I looked at them, too. At the way they stood together, like they belonged together and always had. I still couldn t shake the feeling that I knew them from somewhere, that there was something familiar about them.
These are my two top Special Agents, said the Regent. There s no one else I d trust more to watch my back in a perilous situation. After all, it s been a long time since I was out in the field. I might be a bit rusty.
Patrick and Diana both started to laugh at that, only to turn their laughter into entirely unconvincing coughs as the Regent looked at them sternly.
Exactly! said Molly. No offence, Regent, but you re a bit long in the tooth for this. We don t know what kind of dangers we ll be heading into. We can t carry passengers.
She does have a point, I said. We have no idea what kind of world Crow Lee has sent the Hall into, except, knowing him, it s hardly likely to be anywhere pleasant. There s no telling what kind of opposition we ll be facing.
In our game, the Regent said calmly, in the hidden world of secret agents and unnatural enemies, you get to be as old as me only by proving very hard to kill. I think you ll find I can keep up and look out for myself.
Molly gave up on him and turned her glower on me. Are you sure you want to do this, Eddie? Take an old man and two strangers into an unknown situation?
I know, I said. You re completely right, of course. But I just have this feeling that they belong here. That they have a right to be included.
Molly threw both hands up in the air and actually stamped a foot.
Oh, well! That s fine! Everything s going to be all right because you have a feeling!
I had to grin. You re always telling me I need to get in touch with my feelings.
This isn t what I had in mind! Oh, hell. Just get on with it. Before I get a rush of common sense to the head.
So! the Regent said cheerfully, rubbing his old hands together. How are we going to do this, Eddie?
Actually, I said, I m still working on that. As a wise man once said, I m making this up as I go along. We start with the Merlin Glass.
I took out the Glass, and the Regent and Patrick and Diana all crowded in for a good look. I turned the silver-backed hand mirror back and forth, and it gleamed innocently in the sunlight.
I sort of thought it would be bigger, the Regent said finally.
It will be, I said.
I tossed the hand mirror into the air before me, and it immediately shook itself out to the size of a door, hovering just above the grass. The Regent and his agents made pleased and impressed noises, but I had a suspicion they were just being polite. Where the mirror reflection should have been, the Glass was now showing a blank, colourless emptiness that actually hurt the eye if you looked at it too long.
I thought it was supposed to show a silvery tunnel or passage, said the Armourer Patrick. That s the usual sign of an interdimensional interface. Not that there is a tunnel, of course, silver or otherwise; it s just an image your brain supplies because the mind is too limited to cope with what s actually there.
It s not showing anything at the moment because it s between settings, I said, trying hard to sound like I knew what I was talking about. I haven t supplied the Glass with the correct arrival coordinates yet. And for that I need this: Crow Lee s remote control.
Space and time, Molly said suddenly.
Hold on, go back, go previous. I ve just had an idea.
Oh, that s always dangerous, I said.
Hush, you. Could you set the Glass to send us back into the past? Then we could arrive in the other world, immediately after the Hall and your family arrive there!
I have thought about that, I said. But this is going to be a difficult enough jump as it is. I have no idea how this remote control works or even exactly what information it holds. So I really don t want to add any unnecessary complications. Except for this.
I showed them the Drood compass I d acquired from the tomb in Egypt.
A compass? the Regent said, politely.
Preprogrammed to point to Droods, wherever they might be, I said. This will point the way, and the remote will supply the exact arrival coordinates. Between the two of them, they should get us there.
Are you sure about that? said the Regent.
I smiled as convincingly as I could. The remote knows where the Hall is, so we follow the remote. And the compass. And if you know any good prayers or deities, now would be a good time to lean heavily on them.
I hefted the control in my hand. Just a simple box with a whole bunch of coloured buttons, none of which I felt like messing with. I pitched the compass through the Merlin Glass, which swallowed it up immediately, and then the remote. The grey nothingness pulsed quickly in a way that made me feel oddly seasick for a moment, and then it became the standard silver tunnel. I let out a breath I hadn t realised I d been holding and relaxed just a little. If that hadn t worked
At least now we had a destination. The Regent turned to Patrick and Diana and nodded briskly, and they both grinned widely. Suddenly they were both holding really big guns that had appeared out of nowhere. High-energy weapons clearly derived from alien tech.
Where did you get weapons like those? I said sharply to the Regent.
Oh, you know how it is. Some of my chaps just picked them up, the Regent said vaguely. It s amazing what some people leaving lying around. Behind locked doors in secret laboratories. They clearly didn t appreciate them. And whilst the Shadows, and now the Uncanny, are quite definitely mostly information-gathering organisations, sometimes, you just have to be ready to lay down the law.
Ready to rock and roll! Patrick said cheerfully.
Ready to kick bottom! said Diana. She smiled suddenly at me. You re not the only one with access to pocket
