Disclaimer: All characters and plot elements from The Dark is Rising Sequence belong to Susan Cooper. The rest is mine.
2. The Mirror
Jane slept very fitfully. She'd been up late searching for the stone Will wanted. She hadn't been able to find her box of treasures and had to give up when her mother insisted she go to bed. Her dreams were filled with the long-suppressed memories that had suddenly been re-awoken. But they were so mixed up together, they seemed to merge into nightmares and she woke up in a cold sweat.
She let out a long breath, releasing the tension in her face and tried to relax. She closed her eyes and thought of Will. His smile always surprised her, how it transformed his rather serious features into a face shining with light. And quickly she fell into a calm, deep sleep.
* * *
Will woke with a start, wondering for a moment where he was. He saw his brother Paul in the bed across the room and relaxed. But somehow his mind was still full of a panic that wasn't his.
'Jane' he thought. 'Don't worry, you'll find it,' and he drew the gold ring out from under his pillow. The room was dark, but he could see the stone shimmering as if it had an inner light of its own.
He pictured Jane's face, full of concern and just whispered softly "Remember". Then he slipped the ring back beneath his pillow, lay down and slept.
* * *
The sun streamed through the curtains and Jane woke feeling more rested than she had in weeks. She lay still for a minute, enjoying the feeling of refreshment, then suddenly jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. She opened the cupboard under the stairs and moved several large boxes, till she came to a small one tucked at the back. She tore off the brown packing tape and there was the old wooden writing box in which she kept her treasures.
She raced back upstairs with it, sat on her bed and opened the lid. In a small compartment that might once have held an ink bottle, was a tiny tissue paper bundle. She unfolded the tissue and there shining up at her was the beautiful stone flecked with blue and green.
***
"I found it" said Jane brightly, as she hurried towards Will who was sitting on a bench beneath a tree in the square. The sun was already warm, it was going to be a scorching day.
"Good" said Will. "Everything OK at home?"
"Yes, Mum's got an agent coming to see her pictures this morning, so she was happy for me to be out of the way."
Will smiled. "Have you been to the castle yet?"
"No, I hadn't really thought about going."
"Come on, we can see it together."
Shrugging, Jane led the way out of the square and along the busy high street. The castle, which had been there for centuries before the city, sat as an odd contrast next to the main shopping street. It was set in large grounds surrounded by towering stone walls that had been restored in Victorian times.
They paid the entrance fee and walked towards the Keep. Will stopped, trying to let his senses guide him to where they should go.
"What is it?" asked Jane, but Will didn't reply. He turned left through an archway in another building and they came out into the gardens. There were lawns and hedges and topiary yew bushes clipped into peacock shapes. Will kept walking down the gravel pathway.
"Where are we going?" asked Jane, almost trotting to keep up, slightly irritated by Will's lack of communication.
At the end of the path, they went through another archway, this time formed by a green beech hedge. They were now in a little knot garden with low box hedges and lavender in full flower. Bees buzzed busily from flower to flower and Jane looked around trying to trace the pattern the hedges made. Will walked on, his senses buzzing as much as the bees so he was only half aware of where Jane was. He stopped on the far side of the garden by a high stone wall, where there seemed to be another little arch.
"Over here" he called to Jane. She ambled up, feeling hot and annoyed at him. When she got closer she realised the archway was actually a mirror reflecting back the intricate arrangement of box and lavender, so that it looked like there was another garden beyond where they stood.
Will sat down on the grass. The wall gave some shade, so Jane sat down and clasped her hands round her knees. She didn't try to cover her annoyance.
"I'm sorry," said Will, fully aware now of her feelings. "I had to make sure we could get through."
Jane was curious to know what he meant but stubbornly chose not to ask.
"Can I have your stone now?" he said, trying to not to respond to her unspoken hostility. "Please?"
A little reluctantly, Jane dug the stone out of her trouser pocket and handed it over. At the same time Will got the ring out of his pocket too. The stones shone together in the sunlight, a vivid blue-green.
"Here," Will said. "Try it on" and he handed her the ring.
"Oh" said Jane in surprise. She sat up and slipped the ring on the index finger of her right hand. It fitted perfectly. Around the stone and holding it in place were unusual twists of fine gold wire, and the yellow gold of the ring itself was engraved in a Celtic design. She held out her hand, admiring the ring on her finger.
"It's very beautiful," she said.
"It was given to me in the Lost Land and belonged to a king," Will said softly. He had a far-away look in his eyes as he remembered events that seemed a thousand years ago. "I made it for you."
"You made it? But how?"
Will laughed. "My Dad's a jeweller, remember. I help in the shop sometimes in the holidays and he's been teaching me a bit."
"But why do you need my stone?"
"For this."
From his other pocket he took out a fine gold chain with a sort of pendant attached made of gold wire. "They're Lightning Stones; they have special properties – the power to clarify thoughts and certain powers of protection. We'll need them to get where we're going."
Opening the pendant on an invisible hinge, Will placed the stone inside and closed it up. It fitted exactly, the wire holding the stone firmly in a golden cage. Jane watched him totally absorbed. He held up the chain so that the pendant spun and glinted in the light.
"Will, are you going to tell me why you've come back?"
"Yes, I suppose it's about time," he said, but suddenly he looked behind him; there was someone standing in the archway. An older teenage boy, probably 17 or 18 was watching them and had seen the pendant.
"That's a pretty thing – I know someone who'd like that," the boy said advancing rapidly towards them.
"Run!" Will called to Jane, and they leapt up, heading for the archway.
"No you don't" the boy shouted and dodged back to the only exit from the garden. Will and Jane both stopped. The boy grinned menacingly.
"I wish I didn't have to do this," sighed Will, and he stretched out his right arm with his five fingers spread wide pointing at the youth. Jane heard him whisper a word she couldn't understand and the boy at once stood frozen, face still grinning.
"But I thought the Dark had gone," begun Jane.
"Oh, he's not from the Dark," said Will. "You're right, the Dark has no power now, he's just a human, one driven by his own greed and selfishness. I can't change what he is, but I can distract him from what he was doing."
He turned to her. "I'm sorry, the explanation will have to wait a bit, we have to get out of here before anyone else comes."
He took the chain and put it round his neck, tucking the pendant beneath his T-shirt. Then he pointed again at the youth, who immediately came to life but turned round and walked straight out of the garden. A few moments later they heard him calling after a friend and his footsteps quickly faded away.
"Let's go" said Will, but instead of heading for the archway, he walked back to the mirror.
"Will, where are you going?" called Jane, puzzled.
"Over here"
"But how can we get out of here, there's no door in this wall" she said, arriving by the mirror. She stared at Will, then at her own reflection, hair untidy, face bewildered.
"The mirror is a doorway" said Will. Jane looked doubtful.
"Look, you've got to trust me in this, like you always trusted your Great Uncle Merry. Have you still got the ring on? Good, then just hold my hand and don't let go."
He took her half-offered hand and they moved closer to the mirror. Will could feel Jane's reluctance, but knew they had to go right now, so gripped her hand more tightly. He also knew that if she lost touch with him, she could be caught in a place out of time, where it would be hard to find her again.
He touched the mirror with his other hand, saying words in the language of the Old Ones and walked through the glass. Jane suddenly felt her legs go very shaky but, taking a deep breath, she walked forwards.
As she passed through the glass, she felt an icy coldness envelop her body. There was a rushing noise in her ears and a mistiness all around her. Then it was gone and they were standing by a small clump of trees on a green hillside with only the sound of a skylark filling the air. editing