Cassandra's eyes opened slowly. The first thing she saw was a small green head with a long snout flanked by a pair of long feeler-like whiskers. Two round black eyes blinked rapidly at her and she heard an almost questioning trill. She drowsily raised her hand and clumsily patted the serpentine head. Another green head with long ears and large round eyes popped into view.
"Franklin! Thistle!" she whispered, tears of happiness blurring her vision.
The two dragons nearly broke her eardrums with the overjoyed screeches they emitted as they forced their way into Cassandra's arms, licking her face as fast as they could make their long tongues move. They so smothered her with "kisses" that she had to push herself upright. As she tried to control the wildly wriggling creatures, Cassandra realized that she was on an exam table in the Library's infirmary. The memory of her terrifying arrival on the time machine returned.
Within seconds, Eve, Flynn, Jake and Ezekiel were at the groggy Librarian's bedside, and a raucous, emotional reunion erupted, filled with tears, shrieks of joy, laughter and crushing bear hugs all around. Everyone was thrilled to have her back, their celebration dimmed only by the continued absence of Jenkins. Suddenly, Cassandra froze in place, her eyes round with fear.
"The Heart of Sorrow!" she cried, looking around the room in a panic. "Mr. Judson said it needed to be locked away in the Library as soon as I got off of the time machine...!" Flynn nodded in understanding and reached out to grasp her shoulders.
"Don't worry, I've taken care of it!" he told her. "I locked it into the.."
"No! Don't tell me!" Cassandra cut in. "If I don't know where it is, I won't be tempted to go and see it!" Carsen frowned in confusion and exchanged a look with Eve standing next to him.
"I...don't understand," he said. Cassandra shook her head violently.
"It doesn't matter right now; I'll explain later!" she said. "Is Jenkins here?" She could tell instantly that he wasn't by the way her friends' faces fell.
"We were hoping he was coming back with you," said Eve. The look of desolation on Cassandra's face nearly took the Guardian's breath away.
"Stone, why don't you go get something for everyone to drink and bring it to the workroom?" she instructed quietly without looking away from the distraught Librarian. "Jones, you wrangle the dragons. We'll meet in the workroom, and then Cassandra can fill us in on what's been happening with her and Jenkins."
"Right," Stone answered, and turned to leave the infirmary, while Ezekiel tried to subdue the excited dragons and Eve and Flynn helped Cassandra off of the exam table.
Jake ran to the kitchen and quickly grabbed the first thing he could find, a six-pack of beer in the refrigerator. He ran all the way back to the workroom, and when they were all seated at the table, everyone looked expectantly at the bedraggled redhead.
With Franklin and Thistle clinging to her and warbling happily, the Librarian began to tell them what had happened to her and Jenkins after the Heart Stone had taken them from the Annex, breaking into tears almost immediately. While the others sat, enraptured and horrified by her harrowing story, as she related everything, from the moment she first heard the voice of the Stone in the Annex to the moment Charlene had to gently pull her away—sobbing and begging for just a few more minutes—from the side of the gravely ill Jenkins in order to put her on the time machine prototype. By the time she was finished, Cassandra looked even paler and more drained than when she first arrived a few hours ago.
As soon as she stopped speaking, Flynn began to bombard her with questions. She was too upset to answer very many of them, and Eve quickly stepped in, shooting her husband a warning look as she put a protective arm around Cassandra and helped her to her feet.
"That's enough for now, Red," the Guardian said quietly, giving her a fast hug. "You look like you could use some sleep. Let me help you to your room and..."
"No!" Cassandra barked, her eyes rounding with panic. She caught herself and continued more calmly. "I...I can't sleep there, not without Jenkins!" Tears welled up in her red-rimmed eyes again and she lowered her head. Eve could feel the younger woman's shoulders trembling beneath her arm.
"That's okay," said Eve, giving the grief-stricken woman another quick hug. "You don't have to. We'll put you up in one of the guestrooms until Jenkins comes back, okay?" Cassandra nodded, a relieved look coming to her face as she looked up again.
"Thanks, Eve," she said thinly. Baird looked over at the men.
"Jake, Ezekiel, go get one of the rooms ready while Cassandra and I go and get some of her things from her room," she instructed them.
"On it!" acknowledged Jake. Now bursting with joyous energy at getting one of their friends back, he and Ezekiel jumped up and raced each other towards the corridor.
"Flynn, could you take care of Franklin and Thistle and clean things up here while I'm with Cassandra?" the Guardian asked. Flynn nodded and reached out to take hold of the protesting dragons.
Eve walked the young Librarian to the huge suite of rooms she shared with Jenkins. The moment they entered the bedroom, Cassandra stopped and looked around at the familiar surroundings, the place where she and Jenkins had shared so much love and pain and joy and had shared so many secrets. The room was exactly as they had left it—bed neatly made, one of the Caretaker's suit coats still draped over a large wing-back chair; it seemed like a lifetime ago since she was last here. The room still smelled faintly of Jenkins's favorite cologne. Tears rolled down Cassandra's cheeks, and she scrubbed them away angrily.
"I can't believe after all the crying I've done lately that I even have any tears left!" she said sharply, forcibly pulling herself together. She smiled wanly at Baird. "Sorry, I'll try to keep the waterworks under control."
"It's all right, Cassandra," said Eve, reaching out to lay her hand on one of the Librarian's forearms. "You've been through a lot! You have a right to cry!" Cassandra shrugged.
"I don't know, I just kind of always had this picture in my head of a Librarian being a lot tougher and braver and not so...weepy," she said in a joking voice that sounded forced to Eve's trained ear. The Guardian stepped closer and put both of her hands on Cassandra's small shoulders.
"It's okay," she repeated firmly, looking directly into the younger woman's blue eyes. "It's okay to cry if you're upset." Eve had the distinct feeling that there was something else going on here.
"Yeah, I know," said Cassandra, her voice beginning to shake. "It's just that...I want to be brave for Jenkins, you know? Keep a level head, stay cool, stay logical. I…I want him to be proud of me. As a Librarian. And here I am, bawling like a baby over every little thing..." She dropped her gaze as she spoke, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of the snug jacket she was wearing.
"Jenkins is proud of you, Cassandra! You know he is!" reassured Eve. Suddenly, Cassandra broke down completely into harsh, ragged sobs and threw herself into Eve's arms.
"What if we never get him back, Eve?" she cried. "What if he's stuck in the past forever? What if I never see him again? What if something happened to him after I left and now he's dead? And I just left him there, all alone! How could I have done that to him, Eve? How could I have abandoned him like that?" Cassandra wept as if her heart was breaking. Eve closed her eyes and quietly held Cassandra, letting her friend just cry it out for the next several minutes. When the tears appeared to be lessening, she let go of the Librarian and backed away.
"Better?" she asked gently. Sniffling and blotting her wet cheeks again with her sleeve, Cassandra nodded.
"Good," said Baird. "Now listen to me: One—Jenkins is proud of you, I know he is, because I'm proud of you. Two—we're going to find a way to bring Jenkins back!"
"But..."
"No 'buts'!" Baird cut her off. A thoughtful look came to the Guardian's face and she tilted her head to one side.
"You said that Charlene and Judson were the ones who got you back to our time," she mused aloud. "So it stands to reason that they're also working to get Jenkins back here as well. They didn't happen to mention any ideas to you about how they were going to do that, I suppose?"
"No, nothing specific," answered Cassandra, shaking her head. "I spent pretty much all of the time I had left there with Jenkins; he was still unconscious when I left. They said it might be months or even years before he was completely healed. Charlene said it might be weeks before he even woke up." Her voice cracked and she quickly fell silent. As she dabbed her eyes again, a thought came to her.
"How did you guys know that I was going to show up in the Annex tonight?" she asked, changing the subject before she lost control of her emotions again. Eve quickly told the Librarian about Charlene's final words to her before she went through the mirror to join Judson, and then about how they found the book that Charlene had referred to and the message inside that told them the exact day when Cassandra would return to the Annex from 1912.
"We didn't know the exact time, though," said Eve, chuckling. "It was just dumb luck that we were actually there when you materialized!"
"Sorry about the floor, by the way," she Cassandra sheepishly. Eve started to say something when she noticed a strange, excited look suddenly come over Cassandra's face, the Librarian's eyes widening with a mixture of astonishment and hope shining in them.
"Are you all right?" the Guardian asked nervously, slightly tilting her head. "Do you...do you need a bucket or something...?"
"Omigosh!" Cassandra breathed, practically vibrating as she stared at Eve. "Mr. Judson said something to me that didn't make any sense, either, just before he activated the time machine!"
"What?! What did he say?!" asked Eve, her face reflecting the eagerness and hope of her friend.
"He said, 'Never be late for an appointment'," Cassandra recited. "Like I said, it didn't make sense at the time, I thought he just really sucked at saying 'goodbye' back in those days, but maybe…"
"But maybe he was trying to give you a message!" finished Eve, her excitement building. "Maybe he was trying to tell you…where to look for information about Jenkins? Maybe a date for when he's going to return?"
"The Appointment Book!" Cassandra shrieked suddenly, reaching out to grab Eve's hand. "Has anyone looked in the Appointment Book lately?"
"No!" exclaimed Eve, her eyes almost as wide and glowing as Cassandra's. "I don't think anyone's looked at it in weeks! We've been too worried about finding you guys!"
Without another word, the two women screamed excitedly, then turned and bolted out of the room and down the corridor, shouting for the men.
Eve went straight to Jenkins's desk and began to claw through the various files, books and papers stacked on it, sending a squealing Franklin and debris flying. While she looked for the Appointment Book, Flynn, Jake and Ezekiel bolted into the workroom.
"What is it? We heard somebody screamin', what's wrong?" demanded Jake as he ran over to the high, oaken desk, the others right behind him. They were startled to see a large grin on the Guardian's face.
"Seems Judson had a little book rec for Cassandra just before she was sent back to 2019!" she informed them. She at last found the small book and snatched it up, crowing in triumph. "A-HA!"
"The Appointment Book!" growled Stone, his eyes lighting up in understanding. "We never thought to look there!" As everyone crowded around the front of the desk, Eve opened the book and frantically flipped through its pages.
"Start with today's date! Today's date!" said Flynn, barely able to contain his excitement. He reached out to pull the book from her hands, but Eve impatiently slapped his hand away.
"I got it! I got it!" she snapped back. Eve's fingers trembled as she found the correct page and began to scan it. A look of confusion clouded her face and she looked up at the anxiously waiting team.
"There's only one entry," she said faintly. "All it says is, 'Magic mirror in my hands'." Everyone looked around, exchanging bewildered glances with one another.
"The magic mirror?" repeated Cassandra, trying to tease some sense out of the cryptic entry. "Like…our magic mirror?" She turned to look at the tall antique to the left of Jenkins's desk. Ezekiel ran over and began to search the glass and its dark walnut frame for clues.
"No, not our mirror," Jacob suddenly spoke up, snapping his fingers. "'Magic mirror in my hands'—its talkin' about a hand mirror!" Everyone turned to Flynn. Startled to suddenly be the center of attention, the Librarian shook his head frantically and shrugged.
"The Library has several magic hand mirrors, but I don't see how any of them could possibly relate to Jenkins or to time travel," he said slowly, his brow wrinkling in puzzlement.
"Maybe as a means of communication?" offered Eve, desperate for a connection. "Are there any mirrors that allow someone to communicate with people in the past?" Flynn grunted and frowned.
"I guess the closest thing to that would be the Mirror of the Hungry Ghosts," he answered tersely. "It allows you to speak with the dead of any time in the past. But the Library doesn't possess it. It's been lost for centuries." The senior Librarian threw his hands into the air and turned around to begin pacing in agitation.
"Magic mirror in my hands. Magic mirror in my hands. Magic mirror in my hands." Flynn repeated the formula over and over as he paced. Meanwhile, Ezekiel finished his examination of the Library's Magic Mirror, and stood up with a look of disgust on his face.
"If it is this mirror, I can't find anything," he said, throwing his hands into the air and letting them drop to his sides. He moved to stand directly in front of the dim glass.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall! How the hell do we get Jenkins back from 1912?" he demanded snarkily. Everyone jumped when Jacob suddenly let out a loud whoop.
"Jones, that's it! You're a genius, man!" he yelled and ran over to slap the thief's back, hard.
"I already know that, mate," answered Ezekiel warily. "But what are you talking about?" Jake looked at the others, a gleam in his eyes.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," he said. "The story of Snow White, get it? Wicked queen asks her mirror who's the fairest of them all, and it tells her it's Snow White."
"Yeah, and…?" prompted Eve, making a "hurry up" motion with her hand.
"That's in the Disney version," he said, grinning. "In the original version, the wicked queen owned a hand mirror!"
"And so the original formula was 'Magic mirror in my hands'!" interjected Flynn, clapping his hand to his forehead.
"Exactly!" confirmed Stone, jabbing a finger at Flynn.
"Wait—that mirror is real? And the Library owns it?" asked Cassandra, alarm in her voice. "But what does that have to do with Jenkins? Mr. Judson didn't curse him with it or something?!"
"No, no! Not cursed!" Carsen hurried to assure her. "And yes, the Library does have it! I'm not sure yet what the connection is, but the mirror itself is completely neutral. It has no will of its own, evil or good; all it does is answer questions—OH!" Flynn's eyes widened as he realized what he was saying, and he whirled ecstatically around in a complete circle.
"The wicked queen's mirror answers questions!" he yelled, then turned and ran from the workroom. The others looked at each for only a few seconds, then all four of them set out after the Librarian, everyone running as fast as they could as they tried to catch up to Flynn.
Everyone clustered around Flynn as he carefully lifted the ancient mirror from its battered and faded red leather case. The mirror itself was a round, polished piece of copper approximately the size of a dessert plate. It was set in a backing of intricately-carved ivory, cream-colored with age, with writhing serpent-like creatures at equidistant points along the edge of the circle to bring the entire thing into a more easily-handled square shape. Flynn held his breath as he raised it in front of him and adjusted it in his hands.
"This is the mirror of the Lady Katharina von Hatzfeld of Germany, the original 'wicked queen'," he said, almost in awe. "It's long been rumored that she poisoned her stepdaughter, Margaretha, in order to keep her from marrying the Crown Prince of Spain in the 1500's—that gruesome little incident became the inspiration for the Grimm Brothers' version of 'Snow White'. The mirror itself, though, is of Hittite origin, of course."
"Of course," repeated Eve sarcastically. Flynn missed it completely, and continued his lecture.
"Lady Katharina acquired it under mysterious circumstances and is said to have used it to keep track of her family's political and social enemies." He turned around slowly so that the others could get a better view of it.
"Why wouldn't she want her stepdaughter to marry a prince?" asked Ezekiel in confusion. "Wouldn't that be like marrying into easy street or something for the family?"
"Not in this case," said Flynn. "It wouldn't have been as politically advantageous for Margaretha's family as you might suspect. So, when Margaretha refused to obey her family's wishes…" Flynn drew a finger across his throat and grimaced.
"How do we use it?" asked Eve, wanting to get away from the unpleasant subject of filicide. She squinted as she peered at the dim, blurry reflections of the team in the burnished copper.
"We simply ask it a question, and it answers us," said Flynn. Eve turned to look at him warily.
"That's it?" she asked, unconvinced. "Just ask it a question? No…hocus-pocus, no…crazy magic spell doo-jiggies…?"
"Just ask it a question," repeated Flynn, grinning smugly. "Watch!" He held the mirror up so that only his face was reflected in its surface and cleared his throat.
"Magic mirror!" he practically yelled. "When is Jenkins coming back to the Library?"
Nothing happened.
Flynn glanced around nervously and turned back to the mirror.
"Maybe it didn't hear me," he laughed dismissively. He cleared his throat again and sucked in a deep breath.
"Magic Mirror!" he shouted, causing the others to wince. "When is Jenkins coming back to the Library?"
Nothing happened.
"Maybe it only understands Hittite?" offered Jacob, stifling a smirk. Jones didn't even try to hide his.
"This is serious!" said Cassandra, glaring at the two younger men, and they instantly became serious again. She turned back to Flynn and held out her hands. "Can I try?" Flynn gently passed the mirror to her and she examined it thoughtfully.
"In the fairy tales, when the queen asks her mirror a question, it's in the form of a couplet," she mused aloud, then looked into the mirror.
"'Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?'" she said idly. The mirror remained unchanged.
"Maybe it really does only understand Hittite?" said Ezekiel uneasily. He turned to look at Jake. "How's your Hittite these days, mate?"
"No!" said Cassandra, her eyes lighting up. "Not Hittite. Lady Katharina couldn't speak Hittite; she spoke German. But it does have to be a couplet, a rhyming couplet; the movies got that part right!" She looked around at the others. "Like a miniature summoning spell; the sing-song cadence and harmonics are essential elements of a summoning spell! And Charlene and Mr. Judson gave us the first line for this particular spell..." She raised the mirror again and closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them to look intently into the eyes of her own reflection.
"Magic mirror in my hands, when comes the greatest knight in all the lands?"
The copper surface of the mirror burst into a warm glow of golden-reddish light. Cassandra tightened her hold on the mirror as she turned her head away and shut her eyes. The flash lasted only a second, then dimmed to a soft, gently radiating halo that traced the circular outline of the mirror. Cassandra opened her eyes and turned her head back to the mirror, and the young Librarian gasped in amazement. Instead of her own face, Cassandra and the others saw the slightly blurred tableau of a large, underground room filled with massive rectangular stones lined up in straight rows.
"Oh, gracious Mistress, filled with longing love so keen!" a soft, velvety voice sounded from somewhere within the mirror in perfect American English. "Behold! Herein awaits your noble knight, unseen!"
"Where is this?!" Cassandra gasped quietly, dumbfounded as she stared at the sight, her heart pounding as vague dread set in.
"The Library's Crypt?" questioned Flynn, staring uncomprehendingly at the scene in the mirror. "He's in the Library's Crypt?"
"The Library has a crypt?" asked Eve, turning to look at Carsen. "How did I not know that the Library has a crypt?!"
"I dunno," he replied, shrugging, his eyes still staring at the image in the mirror. "It's in the manual."
"What manual?!" she demanded, her voice filled with bewilderment.
"The manual for Tethered Guardians…that...I…forgot…to tell you about before now…" answered the Librarian slowly as he made a pained face. "I am so sorry, sweetie, I meant to tell you about it earlier but I…"
"Okay, maybe you guys could argue about this later?" interrupted Cassandra frantically, her tone shrill and frightened. "Right now, can we focus on finding out why Jenkins is currently buried in a crypt?! Because he was alive when I left him!" Eve reached out to put her hand on the young Librarian's back.
"I'm sorry, Cassandra," said the Guardian, a steely look coming to her blue eyes. "And you're right, we need to focus on Jenkins!" She turned her gaze onto Flynn.
"Take us to the crypt, Flynn," she ordered. "Now!"