by M. J. Putney
Nick nodded. “All that, but especially the RAF. It’s a lot to ask of a handful of pilots. Casualties are horribly high.”
And every time the Rainfords saw a dogfight, they’d wonder if their oldest son was up there risking his life. “You said your brother, Joe, was all right?”
“So far, but he’s been shot down twice, once over the channel, once near London. He escaped both times with no serious injuries.” After a silence, Nick continued, “He hasn’t told my parents, but he did tell me so I wouldn’t get any romantic notions about the RAF. If this war goes on for another couple of years, I’ll be called up.”
Tory smothered a horrified gasp. She hadn’t recognized that Nick might be in uniform soon.
Seeing her expression, Nick said soothingly, “Don’t look like that, Tory. It doesn’t matter if I choose land, sea, or air. None are necessarily more dangerous than living in Lackland and maybe have an airplane or bomb fall on my head.”
“I do not find that a cheering thought,” she said tartly.
“I don’t, either, but I don’t have much choice. Nor would I stand on the sidelines while my friends are dying for England.” His voice lightened. “Joe was home for a weekend leave a fortnight ago. He spent most of it sleeping and eating Mum’s cooking, but he did say that the Nazis have bungled their air war. They started out by pounding on Fighter Command, which means all the RAF airfields and aircraft, especially along the southeast coast. They could have totally destroyed the RAF if they’d kept that up.”
“I gather they’ve stopped, but why?” Tory asked.
“The Nazis bombed London,” Nick said succinctly. “Maybe it was a mistake since up till then, they’d attacked only fighters and airfields, not civilians. Churchill retaliated by sending bombers over Berlin. Hitler went berserk and now the Luftwaffe is concentrating on blasting London into smoking ruins. They’ve bombed the East End docks, St. Paul’s Cathedral, even Buckingham Palace, where the royal family lives.”
Tory caught her breath. She loved the splendid dome of St. Paul’s and tried to visit whenever she visited London. The current church had been built in the 1600s. It was appalling to imagine it bombed to rubble. “So innocent people are dying in London, but the airfields and pilots are spared to keep on fighting.”
“Exactly.” His lips twisted. “How many more people will die of this insanity? Would it be better if we just surrendered?”
“No,” she said instantly. “Everything I’ve heard from you and others in your time says that a world ruled by Hitler would be a dreadful place.” Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “Have you tried using your finder talent to locate Dr. Weiss? Is he near here and now?”
“My wits have been so scrambled I didn’t think to try. Let’s see.…” He closed his eyes and focused on the man he wanted to find. After a long minute, his eyes popped open. “He’s near here, Tory! I’d guess within two or three miles of this cave. I could walk right up to him, I’m sure of it!”
“If you could walk three miles at the moment,” she said dryly.
Nick smiled, unabashed. “By tomorrow I should be able to. This may be easier than I thought, Tory. If I can break Dr. Weiss out of his captivity, I can bring him here and take him through the mirror to Lackland.”
“A good plan, but the breaking him out of captivity part needs work,” Allarde’s voice said from the cave entrance.
Tory jumped to her feet, increasing the range of her mage light so she could see him clearly. Allarde wore shabby twentieth-century clothing and carried a large sack. “It looks like you were successful. Did you run into any trouble?”
“Nothing serious.” He set the sack down. “Nick, you look much better.”
“I am.” Nick offered the bag with the remaining biscuits. “Healed by chocolate digestive biscuits. Here are two for you.”
Allarde ripped open the small bag. “Your era has some definite advantages, Nick. I wonder if biscuit boxes could be thrown through a mirror like our message stones?”
“What a wonderful idea!” Tory exclaimed. “It should work.” She was getting better at being near Allarde as a friend. Or at least she was reasonably sure she wouldn’t throw herself into his arms and refuse to let go. “Tell us what happened. Nick’s finder talent says Dr. Weiss is only a few miles away. Is he right?”
“Castle Bouchard is very near, so if your scientist is there, we’ve come to the right place and time.” Allarde bit into his first biscuit, savoring the chocolate. “There’s a village, St. Christophe, a mile or so from here. In the town center I saw a sign pointing toward the castle and saying three kilometers, which fits. On a side street I found a little shop that carries used clothing and such, so I acquired what we needed.”
“How?” Nick asked. “Surely it wasn’t unlocked. Did you break in?”
“That would be ungentlemanly,” Allarde said with a glint of humor in his eyes. “So I magicked the lock. It was simple to move the internal bits so I could walk in. You should be able to do the same thing, Tory.”
“It never occurred to me to try.” Her eyes narrowed as she imagined how one might unlock a door. She gave a short nod. “But I will next time I have a chance.”
“I have no talent for moving objects,” Nick said regretfully. “A good thing you do. What did you find besides the undistinguished outfit you’re wearing?”
“I assume your own clothing won’t draw much notice here since we’re in your time, but it might be good to cover up with an overcoat. This looks like something a young French farmer would wear.” He opened his sack, which turned out to be a ragged blanket tied at the corners, and extracted a dark garment.
Nick’s nostrils flared as he shook out the coat. “Smells like a farm, all right. This should cover anything too English-looking in my appearance.”
“Did you find something for me?” Tory asked.
Allarde dug deeper into his bag. “There was a schoolgirl’s outfit, but it was much too large. Since you found trousers practical when Nick took us sailing, I decided to get you boys’ clothing.” He handed several folded garments to her. “I’m sorry they aren’t as clean as you might like.”
Tory examined her new outfit. The coat was drab but warm, and the hat would obscure her features. Though the trousers were shapeless and too long, they could be rolled at the ankles. Disgraceful though it was for a lady to don trousers, she’d found unexpected freedom wearing them on their trip to Dunkirk. “No one will give us a second glance. I’m just sorry it’s necessary to steal.”
“I don’t like it, either, but we don’t have much choice,” Allarde agreed. “Since I had some coins with me, I left a gold guinea. The shop owner might be able to get some value from that.” He produced two more tattered blankets. “These are worn, but better than trying to sleep on stone.”
“You did well.” Tory shook out the blanket he gave her. It was small and woven of coarse, ugly wool, but it would keep the drafts out.
“I have food, too. Bread, this block of cheese, and a bottle of white table wine.” Allarde set a sizable slab of cheese and two skinny loaves of bread between them, along with a bottle. “I also picked some ripe pears from a tree on the way back.”
“You can forage for me anytime, Allarde.” Nick pulled out a folding penknife and began slicing the cheese. “You had a flawless mission.”
“Not really,” Allarde said wryly. “The owner lives above the food shop I entered. She heard me and came down holding a shotgun.”
“Good heavens!” Tory exclaimed. “Did she raise the alarm?”
“I lifted my hands in the air and tried to look harmless while I explained that I merely needed to buy food. My French must have more of an English accent than I thought because she cut me off and said she didn’t want to know more.”
“She probably thought you were a British aviator.” Nick cut a ragged piece of bread. “My brother said there are Frenchmen who secretly help downed pilots escape.”
“That would explain it. She didn’t say much, but she wrapped u
p the cheese and bread and gave me the wine and told me to leave quickly and quietly.” Allarde put a piece of cheese on bread and bit in with pleasure. “She said something odd. That I must be careful not to be seen since there are no men in St. Christophe.”
Nick frowned. “I’ve heard there are towns where the only males left are little boys and old men. All the men in between were shipped to Germany to do forced labor.”
Tory sucked in her breath. “Are you sure your century is more civilized than ours, Nick?”
“No,” he said bleakly. “But it reminds me why we need to keep fighting rather surrender to Hitler.”
Allarde opened the wine bottle and took a sip. “A light table wine, but it goes rather well with the bread and cheese. Nick?”
Nick wiped the mouth and tasted. “Nice. This will make a dashing and romantic tale for our grandchildren.” He passed the bottle to Tory.
“Assuming we live long enough to have grandchildren.” She tried not to think how Allarde had drunk from the same bottle. They were comrades, not lovers, and this was just wine.
Nick reached for more bread and cheese. “A few pieces of this and I’ll be ready to go find Dr. Weiss.”
“We shouldn’t travel by daylight,” Allarde said. “Even this late, I had to avoid several German army trucks on the road. Better we rest through the day and head for Castle Bouchard when it’s dark again.”
“Will you be rested enough to return home by then, Tory?” Nick asked. “Or will you wait to see how our mission goes?”
“I’m going with you, of course,” she said calmly. “I have no intention of sitting here in this cave and wondering if you two fools are dead or alive. I’m a mage, not a helpless schoolgirl.”
Allarde looked appalled. “It’s male nature to protect women and children.”
“If you’re saying that Tory needs protection, you’ll be in trouble,” Nick said with a grin. “I’ll be glad to have her along. She’s one of the most powerful mages in the Irregulars, and her talent for blending power from all of us could be useful. Having her increases our chance of success.”
Allarde caught Tory’s gaze, his gray eyes troubled. “I can’t persuade you to the wiser course?”
“No, but you can give me one of those pears.”
He gave her a pear and she polished it on her sleeve before sinking her teeth into it. The pear was ripe and sweet and juicy. “Lovely. This is the best picnic I’ve ever been on.” She took another bite.
The best, and also the strangest. But she couldn’t regret being near Allarde even if an impassable barrier remained between them.
CHAPTER 22
Tory and the others slept most of the day. She awoke to soft rain and early dusk. After eating again, they set off into the night. As the rain increased, she was grateful that Allarde had thought to acquire coats and hats for them. Though her hearth-witch magic kept her warm, the rain was still wet.
A pity they didn’t have a weather mage to push the rain away. Hiking through unknown territory in darkness, mud, and rain was an adventure she could do without.
Nick led the way, never hesitating except when choosing the best way to detour around a farmhouse. They passed one farm close enough to set off a chorus of barking dogs, but there was no sign that humans noticed them. If the women and children were working the farms, they were probably too tired to wake easily.
After an interminable walk, Nick said in a low voice, “Dr. Weiss is very close. Just the other side of the hill, I think.”
They headed up a hedged lane just wide enough for the three of them. Tory was tiring, though she’d rather drop in her tracks than admit that to her male companions.
They reached the hilltop and got their first sight of Castle Bouchard. “Dear God,” Allarde whispered.
“No wonder your father said it was impossible to rescue Dr. Weiss,” Tory said, stunned by the massive stone escarpment. The stone castle rose from the crest, well above their present height. A sheer cliff dropped to the small village below, while a lake glinted to the left of the escarpment.
The village was surely as old as the castle, but the weathered stone buildings had been transformed into a military camp surrounded by barbed wire and guards. A road snaked up and around the cliff, probably climbing to the castle by a less impossible route.
The perimeter fence was swept by searchlights and a guardhouse controlled the main gate. Other guards could be seen stolidly patrolling inside the compound. “It might be possible for us to get into the castle,” Tory said doubtfully. “But I don’t know how.”
“Dr. Weiss isn’t in the castle. He’s in that long low building at the base of the cliff.” Nick frowned as he sought more information with his finder’s talent. “It might have been a hospital. Now it’s a combination of prison and laboratory. I think he lives and works there along with some other captive scientists.”
“Are you sure, Nick? That building doesn’t seem quite as impossible as the castle.” Allarde studied the laboratory, which had barred windows and its own barbed-wire fence within the larger enclosure. “Though bad enough.”
As they watched, a motorcar came sweeping through the darkness to stop at the main guardhouse. Two guards emerged immediately and saluted the passenger before opening the gate to admit the vehicle.
“That’s an SS vehicle,” Nick said softly. “The Shutzstaffel. Hitler’s protection squad. They’re known for ruthlessness and absolute loyalty to der Führer. A nasty lot. The officer in the car is probably the commandant of this camp.” The motorcar cut through the village and onto the road that climbed up and around the escarpment.
Tory studied the fences. The laboratory enclosure was at the far right end of the compound, not far from the main fence. “I can get inside. I’ve been counting the seconds between sweeps of the spotlights, and I could float over the fences and get to the laboratory without being seen.”
“No!” Both her companions spoke so quickly they sounded like one voice, Allarde’s louder than Nick’s.
Allarde continued, “If you safely reach the laboratory door, you might be able to unlock it, but you’d have trouble finding Dr. Weiss without Nick. If you find him, you’ll have to get him out of the laboratory and over both fences. Can you lift a grown man twice your size and carry him that far in the interval between light sweeps?”
She frowned as she calculated. “You’re right. Carrying a person bigger than I am would be slow and difficult and dangerous. So much for that idea.”
“Nick, have you thought about how you’ll convince Dr. Weiss to leave with a sixteen-year-old stranger?” Allarde asked. “A scientist will have trouble believing in magic. And he might not speak English.”
“Which is why I’m grateful you volunteered for this mission. You’ll have to come with me to do the talking.” Nick sighed. “I have thought about this. Dr. Weiss will certainly be startled, but he’ll want to escape. Performing some simple magic, like mage lights, should be enough to persuade him. I hope.”
“Then what, assuming you convince him?” Allarde asked. “Did you originally plan on cutting through the fence wire? You don’t have the tools.”
“I thought I’d be better prepared,” Nick admitted. “I didn’t expect to come tumbling through the mirror so soon. Luckily you’re here. With your talent for lifting heavy weights, we won’t need wire cutters.”
“My skill is best at lifting inanimate objects. Tory is better at living beings,” Allarde said with a swift glance at her. “If we blend our powers, we should be able to lift several people and move them fairly quickly.”
Tory winced as she thought of how they’d shared energy when they danced on air at Kemperton. It had been joyous. Intimate. How could she bear to allow him in her mind again? How could either of them bear it?
She turned her gaze back to the compound. “With several of us together, I doubt we could move fast enough to avoid the spotlights. If we’re seen leaving, they could shoot us out of the air like pheasants.”
“S
o we can’t do anything even though we’re so close,” Nick said tautly. “I have an itchy feeling that we must work fast because Dr. Weiss’s situation might change. If it does, it won’t be for the better.”
“Think of this as a scouting expedition,” Allarde said. “We need as much information as we can gather through observation if we’re to have a chance of success when we make our move.”
“The voice of reason speaks, and is right,” Nick said. “Once we know what we need, we can send a message stone to Lackland for supplies. Since flying would make us easy targets, we’ll need those wire clippers. Powerful ones.”
“You won’t find those in our time,” Tory said.
“I can get cutters from Polly. She promised to check the mirror every day I’m gone.” He frowned. “I can get a message to her, but I don’t know if she has the mirror magic to send something back.”
“Since you have mirror magic, there’s a good chance she does also,” Tory said. “It would be more reliable if you or I went to Lackland in person to get what is needed, but who wants to do that if it can be avoided?”
“Magic is wonderful, but it doesn’t remove all obstacles.” Nick frowned at the compound. “If the fence is electrified, cutting it won’t work because anyone trying would get a dreadful shock. Likely an alarm would go off, too.”
“Going over the fence would be best if we can manage it safely. I wonder if it might actually work better in daylight, when there aren’t any spotlights. The laboratory is in a fairly isolated corner of the compound.” Allarde’s gaze methodically scanned the area. “I’ve only seen two guards patrolling. They should be easy to avoid, especially with our stealth stones. A gray, rainy day would be ideal.”
The rain had slowed, but thunder boomed nearby and the rain increased. Tory jumped at the sound. The guns of Dunkirk had made her skittish about loud noises.
Thunder. Lightning.
An idea struck. “Nick, where does the electricity for the spotlights and the military facilities come from?”
He scanned the compound, then pointed. “The power lines come in through that pole over there.”
