Big Ben chimes the half hour. I poke my head out the side of the cab. Stretched ahead of us is a sea of horses, wagons, cabs, carriages, and omnibuses. We're perhaps a quarter mile from the station and hopelessly stuck.
I call out to the driver. "If you please, I should like to get out here."
Darting between snorting horses, I step quickly across the street to the sidewalk. The walk to Victoria is short, but I find I am weak from my days in bed. By the time I reach the station, I have to lean against the wall to keep from fainting.
Forty minutes past five o'clock. There is no time to rest. The platform is awash in people. I shall never find them in this chaos. I spy an empty newspaper crate and stand upon it, searching the crowd, not caring about the scowls I receive from passersby who find my outrageous behavior insulting to ladies everywhere. At last I spy them. They're standing on the platform with Franny. The Worthingtons haven't even bothered to come see their daughter off with a kiss and a tear or two.
"Ann! Felicity!" I shout. More black marks against my character. I hobble over to them.
"Gemma, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't to leave for Spence for days," Felicity says. She's wearing a smart traveling suit in a flattering mauve.
"The magic isn't hers," I explain breathlessly. "She hasn't been able to bind it."
"How do you know?" Felicity asks.
"Nell told me. She must not have enough power on her own. She needs me to do it." "What should we do?" Ann asks.
A whistle blows. The train to Spence sits on the track in a haze of smoke. It is ready. The conductor stands on the platform calling passengers to board.
"We're going in after them." I say.
I see Jackson and Fowlson have arrived. They see us too. They're coming straight toward us.
"We've company," I say.
Felicity spies the men."Them?"
"Rakshana," I say."They'll try to stop us, control it all."
"Then let's give them the slip," Felicity says, boarding the train.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
"THEY'RE BOARDING THE TRAIN TOO!" ANN says, panicked.
"Then we shall have to get off," I say. We're almost to the doors when the train lurches into motion. The platform disappears behind us, the well-wishers waving through first one window, then the next and the next, until they cannot be seen at all.
"What do we do now?" Felicity says. "They'll surely discover us."
"Find a compartment," I say.
We search left and right until we find an unoccupied cabin and pull the door shut. "We shall have to work quickly," I say. "Take my hands."
What if I can't summon the door? What if I am too weak or the magic has been compromised in some way? Please, please let us in once more.
"Nothing's happening," Felicity says.
Down the corridor, I hear the opening of a door, Fowlson's voice saying,"Terribly sorry, not my cabin after all."
"I'm too weak. I need your help," I say. "We must try again. Try harder than you've ever tried at anything in your life."
We close our eyes again. I concentrate on breathing. I can feel the soft, fleshy warmth of Ann's hand beneath her glove. I can hear the brave thumping of Felicity's wounded heart, sense the heavy stain upon her soul. I can smell the earthy nearness of Fowlson in the corridor. I can sense a deep well of strength opening inside me. Every part of me is coming alive.
The door appears.
"Now," I say, and we step through into the realms once again.
The garden is wild. There are more toadstools. They've grown to nearly six feet or more. Deep black holes have been eaten away in their fat, doughy stems. An emerald green snake slithers from one of the holes, dropping into the grass. "Oh!" Ann screams as it narrowly misses her foot.
"What has happened here?" Felicity marvels at the change.
"The sooner we get to the Temple, the better."
"But where is it?" Ann asks.
"If I'm right, it has been under our noses the entire time," I say.
"What do you mean?" Felicity asks.
"Not here," I say, looking around."It's not safe."
"We should find Pip," Felicity says.
"No," I say, stopping her. "No one is to be trusted. We go alone."
I'm braced for an argument, but Felicity gives me none. "Fine. But I shall bring my arrows," she says, searching for the hiding place.
"You mean arrow," Ann corrects. Felicity has used all but one.