Page 26 of The Midwinter Mirror
The news about the children doesn’t surprise me. I was really hoping they would turn up, but I didn’t expect it. Because I know in my heart that they’ve gone through a mirror to fuck knows where—a mirror that no one can see and probably no one can open.
Except we need to find a way. Clearly, it’s been closed and hidden by some sort of spell, and I’m guessing it needs a mirror mage to open it.
God, we need Amber.
But she’s way beyond reach.
And there are no other mirror mages left. Khronus, the old king of Astrali, a right bastard, killed them all. The only other person—and I use that word “person” lightly—who might be able to help is Selene. And while I’ve never been a praying sort of person, I’ve prayed to her more than a few times over the last few days.
But getting a goddess’s attention makes winning the lottery look easy. I guess most of the time she’s just not listening.
Holly’s mum clears her throat. Everyone looks at her as she pulls something out of her pocket, then glances at her husband. He nods, and she steps toward Holly, holding out an envelope. It’s yellowed, thick parchment. Her hand is trembling.
Holly stares at it as though it might bite. “What is it?” she asks.
“I believe it’s a letter from your birth mother.”
What little color Holly had fades from her cheeks. But she reaches out and takes it. She stares at it for long moments.
“She said we were only to give it to you if you ever found out,” Holly’s dad says.
Holly glances at me—about time—but I can’t help her here. Finally, she opens the envelope and pulls out a piece of paper. She scans it, frowns, scans it again, then scowls and shoves it in her pocket.
Everyone is watching her.
She glares around the room. “Aren’t we supposed to be having a meeting?” she snaps. “Well, meet.”
I really want to know what’s in that letter, but I guess it will have to wait. Everyone is quiet. I don’t think anyone knows where to start, so I guess it’s up to me.
“The children are gone,” I say. “And I don’t think we’re going to find them here on Earth.” Holly snorts—at least whatever was in the letter has snapped her out of her apathy. I ignore the snort. “I believe they were lured through a magical mirror at Silvergate.”
“So what do we do?” her dad asks.
I’d filled her mum and dad in on the whole other-world stuff last night, so it’s not coming as much of a surprise to them. I think about how to word this.
“Most mirrors open into this chamber on Astrali, but there’s been no sign of the kids there.” I’d called Brown this morning; he’d checked it out for me. “So right now, we have no clue where they’ve gone, and it could have been anywhere.”
“So can we open the mirror?” Holly’s dad asks.
“Only if we know the spell—and we don’t. We need a mirror mage, and there are none left.”
“What’s a mirror mage?”
“A particularly powerful witch who can create mirrors and portals to other places in other worlds.”
“Oh.”
I turn toward Josh and Milo. Josh had told me this morning that they’d discovered some information that might be of use. “Josh, what did you two find out?” They’ve been researching themyths and legends of the area, seeing if they could come up with any answers—any reasons why the children might have been taken.
Josh jumps to his feet. Grimlet stuffs a last chocolate in his mouth and flies up to perch on Josh’s shoulder. I see Holly flinch—I don’t think she’s quite accepted Grimlet yet.
“Go on,” I say.
“Okay, so this all started a long time ago—like five or six thousand years ago, when the village was just starting up. There’s this legend that when it snows on the winter solstice, then the Wild Hunt comes through the mirror at Silvergate.”
“Where from?” Holly snaps. “Where is this Wild Hunt supposed to be the rest of the time?”
Josh looks straight at me and grins. “Get this—according to the legend, they came from the stars.”
