The reflection showed his mother, dressed in gray sweats, standing in a home studio with her violin in playing position. Next to her stood a younger version of Nathan, maybe two years his junior, also with a violin in hand. With each one looking at sheet music on a stand in front of them, his mother spoke, but no sound came forth.
Kelly gave voice to the image. “Your mother says, ‘Watch my fingers, Nathan.’”
His throat clamped so tightly he couldn’t reply. He shuffled as close as possible and readied his bow again, squinting at his mother’s hands. After the first note, her fingers glided along the neck, then stopped as she spoke to the boy again.
Kelly whispered, “‘Now you try it.’”
Nathan played the notes again, this time with perfect precision.
His mother tucked her violin and clapped. Lifting her bow, she played the next few measures. Her fingers again seemed to caress her instrument as a gentle angel would pet a lamb. She paused and pointed her bow at the younger Nathan.
This time, the real Nathan didn’t wait for a command. He played the notes flawlessly, copying his mother’s tender touch.
The tri-fold mirror image slowly darkened.
“She says she’s going to play the rest all the way through, so watch carefully.”
Nathan set his bow again and leaned close. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and his tongue dried out. “It’s so fast. I’ll never be able to copy it just by watching.”
“Yes, you can, Nathan. I believe in you!”
He looked up at her. “Did you say that, or did my mom?”
“I said it.” Kelly bit her lip before continuing. “You’re the best, Nathan. I’ve never met anyone like you. I know you can do this.”
Nathan let his mind drift back to that day he stood with his mother, looking up at her in wonder as she played this intricate piece with blinding speed and flawless beauty. As she leaned toward him, the view seemed to envelop him, bringing her face so close that her fair skin and jet black hair loomed over him like a protective mother eagle. With a whisper, she blew on his knuckles.
Kelly’s voice gave life to the whisper. “May the breath of God fill your soul with the melody of everlasting love.”
Shivers ran up his arm, across his shoulders, and into his other hand. As his mother straightened and readied herself again, his fingers seemed charged with energy, begging to fly into action.
Francesca Shepherd played. Nathan Shepherd answered. Though her reflected instrument sang in silence, he channeled the sound to the same violin, feeling her energy and passion flow through his fingers as each note rang sweet and true.
As the celebration of musical zeal threaded rapid runs across the ebony fingerboard, the reflection in the tri-fold mirror altered with the same fervor. Within seconds, the telescope room in Earth Blue took shape.
Kelly’s voice seemed a distant echo. “It’s working!”
Francesca played the last measure with a dazzling flair. Nathan copied her movements, adding a dip of his body and an accentuated vibrato as he pushed the bow through the final note.
The moment he finished, his mother bowed toward him. Tears welling, he bowed in return, barely able to restrain the spasms in his chest as he gazed at her face, the gleaming eyes, the rose-petal cheeks, and the lovely smile as she laid a hand on his shoulder, “Well played, my dear son, an aria of strings for our heavenly Father.”
The touch brought an electrified jolt, shocking him back to reality. He turned to Kelly. “Did you say that?”
Tears streaming down her cheeks, she lowered the mirror and embraced him. “I couldn’t say it,” she whispered as she brushed her lips across his cheek. “You must have heard her yourself.” She pulled his wrist gently. “Come on. We can’t wait for the sun. We’ll have to use the camera.”
After laying the violin in its case and packing it and his mirror in the saddle bag, he followed her to the front of the tri-fold mirror. When Kelly raised the camera to her eye, a hint of brightening crossed the storm-ravaged field. The orange ball in the sky edged under the bank of clouds and aimed its beams directly at the mirror. The polished glass bounced the rays. The middle pane directed its beam straight out while the other two mirror panels angled the light, intersecting their reflections with the central radiant shaft.
At the point the beams met, a vertical halo of brilliant colors formed, an oval-shaped rainbow that pulsed at twice the frequency of a beating heart.
Nathan jerked Kelly’s hand. “Jump for the colors!”
They leaped together into the halo. The rainbow enveloped their bodies in a wash of yellow, blue, and red, altering the grass at their feet into a blaze of hues, as if a frenzied artist had brushed every color from his palette across the littered field.
In the reflection, the telescope room expanded and swarmed over them with dim shadows. The familiar perimeter walls bent around their bodies, the tour entry door on one side and the elevator on the other. Soon, everything settled, and they were once again standing under the high-arching, reflective dome.
Kelly tugged on Nathan’s sleeve. “Looks like we’re alone.”
“You’re not!” The pert female voice came from under the computer desk. Daryl emerged, carrying the shotgun with both hands.
Clara followed, wincing as she straightened slowly. “Tight squeeze under there.”
“We heard someone coming,” Daryl continued, “so we scooped up all our stuff, turned out the lights, and hid. We think it was Mictar. He saw the stiff and took off, so he’ll probably be back soon.”
“I take it you delivered Francesca?” Clara asked.
“Yeah. Sort of.” Nathan lowered the saddle pack to the floor. “She’s in good hands.”
“Earth Red has sped up in comparison to Earth Blue, so you have to hurry.” Daryl gave Nathan the shotgun, then reached into her pocket and transferred four shells to his pocket one by one.
“Let’s send them home,” Clara said as she backed up toward Daryl’s computer. “I’ll hang on to the other mirror for safekeeping.”
Daryl reached for the laptop’s mouse pad. “Click your heels together, Kelly-kins, and remember to say your line!”
As she picked up the saddle pack, Kelly looked down at her feet, letting the camera dangle low. “You mean, ‘There’s no place like home’?”
“You got it!”
“This isn’t Kansas,” Kelly said. “It’s Illinois.”
Daryl pointed at her. “You’d better say your line, or a tornado might take you back to Oz.”
“Listen, Miss Hollywood, don’t talk to me about tornadoes. I was just —”
“Cool it, ladies.” Nathan set the shotgun against his shoulder. “I hate to be the cowardly lion, but we’d better get out of here.”
As if to accentuate the point, the elevator door closed and headed down. Someone must have called it from below.
“Time for us to make tracks.” Daryl waved at them. “Have a good trip.”
The lights once again flashed on. As before, the image in the mirror above seemed to descend and spread out, enveloping them in its grasp. Everything around them morphed into warped shapes and intermixing colors. Seconds later, the scene cleared, revealing the telescope room once again with Clara and Daryl staring at them. If not for their different clothes and the lack of a dead man lying on the floor, it would have been impossible to tell that they had transported at all.
Clara ran forward and embraced Nathan. “We have to hurry,” she said. “According to the schedule on the computer, Interfinity is showing the telescope to a tour group in ten minutes.”
Daryl typed madly on the laptop’s keyboard. “I’m restoring the computer to how we found it.” After a final tap, the mirror above transformed into a view of the morning sky, dark blue, with hints of orange filtering in from one side.
Kelly extended the saddle pack toward Nathan. “I’ll trade you. I’ve always wanted to ride shotgun.”
“I hear voices.” Daryl nodded at the tour entry door. “O
ver there.”
“They’re coming.” Clara pointed at Daryl. “You hold the camera. We might have to run, and Kelly has her hands full.”
While Daryl pulled the camera strap over Kelly’s head, Clara punched the elevator call button. As soon as the door opened, she rushed inside and squeezed against one side wall, while Daryl flattened against the other. Nathan pushed between them, leaned the saddle pack against the back door, and turned to face Kelly, backing up as far as he could. She stepped in, but in order to fit past the doorway, she had to set the gun butt on the floor and straddle the barrel with her legs as if riding it like a witch on a broomstick.
As they squeezed together, Nathan eyed her. Now she was a gun-toting angel, a pixie with a pop. After all the references to The Wizard of Oz, a silly question lodged in his brain. Are you a good witch or a bad witch? He rolled his eyes at his own lame joke and kept it to himself. For better or for worse, Daryl was rubbing off on him.
Once everyone had cleared the door, Nathan pressed the button for the bottom level. Across the way the tour door opened, and a tall man in a black business suit entered the telescope room. He stared right at them but disappeared from sight as the car door slid shut.
Nathan gave Clara a nudge. “That was Dr. Gordon. He saw us.”
“Just what we need,” she replied. “They’ll probably have a guard waiting at the bottom floor.”
Daryl shook her head. “Not likely. I changed the code on the door leading to the secure area. It’s the only one I didn’t change back.”
As the motor hummed, Nathan raised his voice a notch. “My father left me a note saying we could trust the Dr. Gordon on Earth Red, so I don’t think we have to worry.”
“But he might be from Earth Blue,” Kelly said. “Could you tell if he had a wound on his cheek?”
“I’m pretty sure he didn’t.” Nathan glanced briefly at the barrels again. “Just in case, get the gun ready. It should still have one shell in it.”
Kelly slid the gun upward through her hands and propped it on Nathan’s shoulder. As soon as the door opened, she angled it outward, ready to shoot, but no one was there.
Nathan grabbed the saddle bag and withdrew the mirror from inside. When the others had filed into the elevator’s alcove, he crept toward the hall and signaled for everyone to stay back. “I’ll see if the coast is clear.” He held the mirror at an angle that allowed him to see the curved pathway toward the security door. No one in sight.
He shoved the mirror back into the saddle bag and hoisted it up. “I’ll bet Gordon didn’t sound the alarm. Let’s make a break for the back door.”
With Nathan leading the way, all four padded as swiftly and softly as possible. When they reached the secured door, Nathan peeked through the window. A heavyset woman stood with her back to them, vacuuming the hallway carpet at the intersection to the exit corridor.
He backed away from the door. “Clara, where’s your car?”
“In the main parking lot. At least I hope it’s still there.”
“Kelly’s Toyota is out in the woods, so we’ll have to split up. They’ll be looking for me, so while Kelly and I try to sneak out the back door to her car, you and Daryl can play it cool and go out the front door. Let’s meet at a gas station at the main highway, but if something happens, we’ll be in touch by cell phone.”
Clara nodded. “An excellent plan.”
“Kelly,” Nathan said, touching the shotgun. “Better leave that here. It’ll attract attention.”
“It’ll discourage pursuers.”
“Okay. Have it your way.” He curled his arm around the saddle bag and pushed the door open. “Let’s go.”
He jogged quickly toward the maid, cut around her to the right, and headed for the exit. Hearing a loud shriek, he glanced back. Kelly ran close behind, the shotgun in full view, while the maid flipped open a mobile phone and punched a button.
Nathan burst out the back door, still unbroken in Earth Red, and the two dashed down the stone path that led into the woods. As soon as her car came into sight, Kelly unlocked the doors with her key fob and tossed it to Nathan. “You drive.”
He caught the keys and flung open the driver’s door. While Kelly hopped into the passenger’s side, he set the saddle pack in the rear seat and slid behind the steering wheel, inserting the key and cranking the engine in one motion.
Kelly sang out, “We’ve got company.”
A guard carrying a handgun jogged toward them, too heavy and slow to catch up in time. He stopped and pointed the gun. “Stay right where you are, or I’ll shoot.”
Keeping her eye on the guard, Kelly reached toward Nathan. “Got more ammo?”
He dug the shotgun shells from his pocket and poured them into her lap. “Don’t let him see the gun.”
“I got it under control. Just be ready to peel out.” As he lowered her window, Kelly broke down the twin barrels and slid a shell into the empty chamber, keeping the gun out of the guard’s view.
“You’re only going to scare him off, right? He’s just doing his job.”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” The moment she locked the gun in place, she propped it up on the window frame. “Floor it!”
Firmly gripping the wheel, Nathan slammed down the pedal. The tires skidded wildly in the grass, throwing two rivers of dirt behind them. A bullet cracked through the rear window and slammed into the backseat.
Kelly fired the shotgun. In the wake of a deafening boom, she rocketed backwards into Nathan’s lap just as the tires finally caught hold. The car shot forward. He jerked the wheel to the right, narrowly avoiding a massive oak, then slid into a sharp turn to the left as he tried to aim the car toward the main parking lot.
When the car straightened, Kelly pushed against the glove box and slid back to her seat.
Nathan tried to look back at the guard. “Did you hit him?”
“No, but he’ll probably have to change his underwear.” She grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Look out!”
Three guards stood at the edge of a parking lot on a rise about fifty yards away, aiming rifles with scopes. She grabbed her shotgun again. “Swing to the left so I can get a good view!”
“You gotta be kidding me! No more shooting!” He pulled the car to the right. “We’ll have to take a shortcut.”
She pointed straight ahead. “You’re heading for a creek!”
“I see a bridge.”
“It’s just a footbridge!”
“Not anymore.” Several loud cracks sounded from the guards. Two bullets clanked against the car’s frame. Nathan zoomed onward.
The steep-banked creek dug into the landscape a mere thirty yards away. The closer they got, the narrower the footbridge seemed, just skinny slats nailed over thin plywood.
As another bullet ripped into the trunk, the Camry roared ahead. “We’re too big!” Kelly screamed.
“Think thin!” He pressed the accelerator. Hitting a small incline just before the bridge, the tires leaped onto the slats and clattered ahead. The rearview mirrors slammed into the guardrails, folding the mirrors against the sides of the car. As wood splinters flew all around, the bridge sagged precariously. Seconds later, the Camry flew off the end and surfed down an embankment that led to a covered walkway in front of the main entrance.
“More people!” Kelly shouted.
“Including Clara and Daryl.” Nathan laid on the horn and pumped the brakes, trying to slow down without going into a full slide, but the wet grassy slope gave barely any traction.
The crowd scattered. He jerked the wheel back and forth, avoiding a dog and a petrified old lady, until he finally spun the car and stopped on the concrete walk, leaving the rear door no more than three feet from Clara and Daryl.
“Get in!” Nathan ordered. “No use taking two cars now.”
Clara threw open the door, and she and Daryl piled in, Daryl still clutching the camera. He slammed down the gas again, and, with at least a dozen people looking on, he jumped the curb, bounced into the
parking lot, and zoomed away.
More rifle shots echoed behind them, but no bullets hit the car. With the shotgun barrels now pointing at the floorboard, Kelly laid her head back. “I think I’m going to be sick!”
Nathan let out a long breath, flapping his lips as he relaxed his grip on the wheel. “When my stomach catches up to me, I’ll pass around the barf bags.”
Kelly gave his arm a light punch. “Where’d you learn to drive like that?”
“Getting away from a kidnapper in Boston.” He angled his head toward her and grinned. “But no one seemed to care. Everyone else drove the same way.”
Daryl leaned forward from the backseat. “Think they’ll chase us?”
Nathan glanced up at the rearview mirror. “I see Gordon Red’s Lincoln, but I don’t know if Gordon Blue has the same kind of car or not.”
“I don’t trust either one,” Kelly said. “We’ll have to outrun him. With the moves you have, you’ll shake him for sure.”
He pushed the gas again, but the engine responded with a clattering sound. “Uh-oh. That’s a bad sign.” As the Camry tried to climb a hill, it slowed and sputtered. “Better load up the shot-gun, Kelly. You might have to discourage another pursuer.”
She leaned out of the window and sat on the frame, her sneakers now barely touching her seat. “I got him in my sights,” she yelled, “but he’s not backing down!”
Clara patted Nathan’s shoulder. “Kelly’s my kind of girl.”
“Can you tell who it is?” Nathan called, leaning her way. “Is it Gordon?”
“Can’t tell yet! But he’s closing in fast!”
Nathan yanked on Kelly’s ankle. “Don’t shoot! I’m pulling over! I can’t outrun him.” He guided the chugging car to the side and stopped, pulling the emergency brake to keep it from rolling back down. “Everyone else stay here.”
He opened the door and stepped out onto the road. Kelly balanced on the window frame, her shotgun now lying on the roof, but her finger stayed poised at the trigger. “Steady there, deadeye,” Nathan said, winking at her. “I think it’s going to be okay.”
She smiled and winked back. “I gotcha covered, hot rod.”
As a warm breeze whipped their clothes, the black Town Car drove up and stopped about a hundred feet behind the Camry. Dr. Gordon emerged slowly and lifted his empty hands.