Burnside fiddled with the small ceramic key fob clipped to a belt loop. It was a miniature set of chimes, similar to the one he’d given Zani for her room. This set was decorated with beautifully faceted glass crystals instead of butterflies. It produced a sound that was like the larger version, only much quieter, like the chimes were blowing somewhere far away. She found the sound quite calming.
“That sounds like an excellent plan.” Burnside nodded his approval.
“It won’t be long now.” Zani pointed to the lightning that etched the sky up ahead.
“Then we’d better get ready.” Burnside pocketed the flask and hobbled toward the mirror. “Let’s do this.”
* * *
After several minutes of waiting,the storm came upon them suddenly.
“We need to go now!” Zani said as the crack of lightning and boom of thunder echoed around them, shaking the airship. She only hoped the ship would be all right in their absence. Burnside had assured her it would continue to follow along at a safe distance.
She’d waited until the absolute last minute to climb onto Burnside. She cringed as she felt his struggle to stand with the added burden of her attached to his back.
“Hang tight,” he rasped and together, they stepped into the mirror.
In her mind, since the train was traveling below, they should have been falling. But in porting reality, they simply stepped into the mirror and out into the tiny compartment between two train cars. The train rounded a bend as they arrived and Zani had to steady Burnside as the walls accordioned out and the floor joints beneath them pivoted to accommodate the turn.
“I’m just up there, the third compartment,” Zani said as they crept into the hall. Thunder continued to rumble outside the train car and the rain fell faster. She fished around in her bag and carefully harvested another pinch of Liminal Lint.
“This is it,” Zani said. She handed her satchel to Burnside for safekeeping. “Don’t move a muscle,” she joked.
“I’ll be right here whenever you need me.” Burnside removed the tiny set of chimes from his belt loop and clipped them to the satchel’s zipper. He then slid the satchel over his head and onto his body crossways.
For Burnside, and everyone else on the train, time would appear to march on as usual. It would only be frozen for her, thanks to the gift of her pet liminal. Zani paused for a minute, paying attention before she cast the spell. In the distance, she could hear the clink of china and the wheels of a dining cart being pushed between compartments as the conductor made deliveries.
“Good luck,” Burnside croaked. And then she sprinkled the lint on her head.
Liminal lint upon my crown,Between the ticking moments dwell.
Freeze the flowing stream of time until I bid this dust farewell.
At once, the train ceased swaying beneath her feet. The world went silent. Outside the windows, the rain was frozen. It clung to the windows in unmoving rivulets lit by the blue streak of lightning that was frozen in the sky.
Zani made her way through the empty corridor. She quickly slipped into her train compartment. She saw herself frozen in time, staring out the window. She’d been oblivious, her arms wrapped protectively around the warded case.
“I’m so sorry to do this to you,” she apologized to herself as she used her wand to undo the wards and release the locks. “This is going to make you crazy for the next several months. But the good news is that your wards didn’t fail you! It’s going to be such a relief when you figure that out!”
She reached into the case and carefully removed the bloodstone amulet. The large stone was cold in her hand. Even as everything else was so eerily still, the stone seemed to beat—pumping like a human heart. It cast odd, blue, watery shadows on the windows and walls.
Zani knew she didn’t have time to dither. She recreated the wards, then she located her satchel on the seat beside herself and stuffed the stone deep, deep inside, into that one inner hidden pocket that she was always forgetting about when she went to clean out the bag. The stale piece of gum and a subway ticket from four years ago that were still languishing there bore witness to that fact.
As she spun to slip out the door, she caught a glimpse of herself. She wasn’t at all surprised by the reflection in the window this time. Her wild hair was floating, and her face was pale.
Quickly, before the Liminal Lint enchantment wore off, she exited the compartment. Outside in the hallway, Burnside was still frozen, holding her bag, fingers on the chimes which she could almost hear starting to chime in the distance.
She knew the spell was breaking because a single rivulet of rain began to trail down the window. The floor vibrated and the lightning bolt that split the sky branched out in slow motion. She broke into a run.
“Time to go!” Zani linked her arm with Burnside’s, dragging him back toward the space between cars. By the time they reached the doorway, they were hurtling forward once more, back into real time.
“We did it!” Zani exclaimed, taking the bag back from Burnside. She reached inside and felt the stone in the hidden pocket. “I can’t believe it was here all along.”
“I suspected as much the minute Will told me about the time slip,” Burnside confessed. “There’s always a catalyst. ‘Residue’ was a long shot. At best, it might have caused a single slip of a moment or two.”
“But you couldn’t just tell me…” Zani looked into Burnside’s wise old eyes.
“No,” he agreed. “You had to be ready. And you had to figure it out yourself.”
