“The Director of the Society is a busy woman. Who knows if she’d have any answers for us?Ifshe even had the time to look into it. Just getting a meeting with her might take ages.” Zani pursed her lips and glanced up at Will, reading his mind. “Even if we asked Maida to call in a favor with her godmother.” He’d been about to suggest that they tap Maida to ask for an audience with Amrita, counting on the close connection to expedite the request.
“Speaking of Maida, what should we tell her?” Will spoke in quiet tones, because even though it felt like they were alone at the moment, you never really knew who was listening. The silvery shell shaped Hearrings dangling from Zani’s perfect earlobes served as a reminder. Zani confessed she’d made the pair herself. They made it possible for her to eavesdrop on people from hundreds of yards away. It was enough to make Will consider getting his ears pierced.
“Maida is my best friend.” Zani bit her lip. “But I don’t want her and Arthur to worry. They have enough on their plate at the moment with moving in together, raising a teenager, and running this place.”
Will nodded curtly. Maida, who’d only just gotten used to the notion that magic was real, had seemed very unsettled by their time slip. It was too much, too soon. Besides, this was just an experiment. It might not work. Who knew how much of the stone’s residue had settled on Zani? Or how long that sort of thing lasted?
“I just want to be clear,” Will cautioned, “I can’t predict what will happen. I need you to be completely sure that you want to do this with me.”
Zani winced as Gemini, the shop cat, leapt onto their table, messing up her careful arrangement of items. The fluffy white cat fixed them with her mismatched eyes, one blue, one amber, as if judging their courage. Then she batted what appeared to be a large fluffy ball of weblike string off the table and leapt down to chase it.
“Of course I’m sure,” Zani said, lunging to rescue the string from Gemini’s paws. She rewound the ball and tucked it into the bag. The cat flounced off in a huff. “And I know there are risks associated with what we are doing. That’s why I’m packing everything we could need. Look.” She held up a pair of matched fobs. “These are Pairtags.” She clipped one tag to the belt loop on her jeans and leaned across the table to clip the other to the buttonhole of his vest pocket. Her hand lingered above his heart for a moment, and then she gave the fob a reassuring pat. “These will keep us from getting separated while we port.”
“Back in my day, we just held hands when we didn’t want to lose track of one another.” Granny Luna, who was tucked behind the coffee counter, couldn’t seem to stop herself from snorting. She was gazing down at the lurid green yarn that her crochet hook was working steadily, pretending to be only vaguely interested. But when she looked up, there was no mistaking the eager gleam in her eyes. “But then, we didn’t go gallivanting through time, either. I can’t wait to hear more about it! If it works out for the pair of you, there’s some legendary shops in Milan that I wouldn’t mind procuring some silk from.”
“Absolutely not, Granny!” How had Will nearly forgotten that Granny Luna was working in the cafe today? Usually, despite her diminutive size, her big, bold presence filled the room. But the wily old fairy had a way of using her innate powers to turn herself into a mayfly on the wall when it suited her. “And not a word of this to anyone. It’s just an experiment!” He shot Zani a look and waved a hand to fan his face, hoping she’d catch the gist. She nodded solemnly at Will.
“Of course not!” Granny gasped. “You know I am the very model of discretion. Your secrets are safe with me!” Her mischievous eyes lit up with curiosity as Zani withdrew the floral fan from her satchel. “Oh, what a lovely fan, Zani? Wherever did you find it? Is it for sale?”
“I’m afraid it isn’t,” Zani said. She stood and motioned for Will to follow. “This one is very special to me. Would you like to see how it works?” As they approached the coffee counter, she unfolded it.
“Oh, yes, please.” Granny nodded. She craned her neck away from the oversized espresso machine. “I swear this beast cranks out more heat than a furnace!”
“Well, this should fix you right up then.” Zani fluttered the fan at Granny.
“Ah, that’s so lovely.” Granny smiled a blissed-out smile and sighed as her cottony white hair blew back in the subtle breeze. When her eyes closed, Zani deftly snapped the fan shut and tucked it into her satchel.
“What were you just saying, dear?” Granny asked. “I lost my train of thought.” She blinked at them, waiting for them to continue the conversation she’d already forgotten.
“Will and I are going to go try to find a book he was just telling me about in the metaphysics section.” Zani squeezed Granny’s hand. “We’ll be back in a bit, but you don’t have to save our table.”
“Oh, I doubt anyone will fight over it in the next half hour.” Granny shrugged. “There’s always a lull before school gets out.”
“Ask Rosie to save me some cookies if you see her before I do,” Will said. He’d eaten more than his fair share at the Squeaky Wheel, but he was already beginning to wonder if he should have eaten more.
“Nobody ever comes all the way back here.” Will led Zani by the hand to the back of the bookshelf filled room. This is where they kept the least popular books. Thick, untouched volumes were piled in stacks.
“Whispers of Dust Motes: Divination Through Household Particles.”Zani read the title of a thick tome. “Or how about this one:Puddle Gazing: Scrying Techniques for Urban Witches?” She considered the book for a moment and then reached out for it. “Actually, that sounds kind of interesting.”
“You do NOT need to put that book in your bag!” Will objected.
“Fine…” Zani sighed and shoved the book back, disturbing the thick layer of dust on the shelf. Will promptly sneezed.
“It hasn’t been spelled for dust in ages here. It’s like the stacks that time forgot.”
“Well, then, it’s the perfect place for us to start our journey, no?” Zani pulled out the ball of string again, and looked around. “Help me find something to tie this to?”
“What’s it for?” Will asked. His hands had itched in anticipation of summoning the portal. Sometimes, all he had to do was simply think about porting and a physical reaction ensued. Or perhaps it was the press of Zani’s palm against his own. He released her hand.
“It’s just some Pathfinder’s Filament,” Zani explained. “Spun from spider silk. Lighter and stronger than the finest thread and practically invisible when stretched taut. It’s kept me from getting lost in many labyrinths.”
“You really think that’s going to work?” Will was dubious. He held out a finger to touch the string and was surprised at how soft and stretchy it was. He could hardly tell if he was even touching it because it felt like touching nothing at all. “How does it keep from getting tangled?”
“It adheres to the floor, or the walls. I’ll just tie it here.” Zani pointed to a metal rack of pamphlets that was bolted to the wall. She quickly tied the end of the filament into an alpine butterfly knot and shoved the ball back in her bag.
Will had no confidence that her spider silk would stand the tests of both space and time, but he remained silent about it. If it made Zani more comfortable, who was he to critique that?
“So what now?” She looked up, face fresh and eyes sparkling with unguarded, eager anticipation. Zani struck Will as someone about to leap without hesitation from a plane. She trusted him completely to be her parachute. Nimbly, she used a bookshelf to step up and launch herself at him. She hopped onto his back as easily as if she were boarding a bus.
