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"Go where no one will, where it is forbidden, offer hope. . . . Jack and Jill went up the hill, the sea, the sea, came from the sea . . . go where the dark hides a mirror of water. Face your fear and bind the magic fast to you!"
"Come along now, Miss Hawkins," the nurse says, grabbing hold. Nell won't budge. She fights against the nurse with a brutal fierceness. Her shirt rips along the arm seam so that the whole of the sleeve pulls off in the nurse's hand. The crowd gasps. Nell's beside herself.
"She means to use me to find it, Lady Hope! She will use us both, and I will be lost, lost forever! Don't let her take me! Do not hesitate! Set me free, Lady Hope! Set me free!"
Two burly orderlies have arrived with a straitjacket.
"Come with us, miss. No trouble now."
Nell kicks and screams, showing that surprising strength again, but she is no match for them. One hooks her slender neck in the crook of a beefy arm, while the other forces Nell's grasping hands into the jacket's arms and tightens the laces at her back. Her body sags against the men, who half carry, half drag the limp girl till all that can be heard are her whimpers and the dull thud of her heels against the floors.
The crowd is loud with shock over the spectacle. Tom asks the musicians to resume playing. The music works to quiet the room, and soon some of the braver souls are at the dance again. I'm shaking all over. Nell's in danger, and I've got to save her.
I push my way to Felicity and Ann."I've got to slip away and find Nell," I say.
"What did she mean, 'Beware the Poppy Warriors'?" Ann asks.
"It seemed like madness," Felicity adds, "what do you make of it?"
"I think it was a code for us, for finding the Temple," I say. "And I'm certain Miss McCleethy was listening too."
Felicity scans the crowd."Where is she?"
Miss McCleethy is gone from her place near the pillar. She is not among the dancers, either. She has vanished.
Felicity looks at me, wide-eyed."Go to her at once!"
I steal from the room as quickly as possible, running for the women's ward. I've got to reach her before Miss McCleethy does. She has found me! Right. Well, I'm not about to let her take you, Nell. Don't you worry.
The corridor is busy with the comings and goings of the nurses. When the last nurse leaves, I hike up my skirt and fly to Nell's room, as fast as I can.
Nell sits in a corner. They've taken off the straitjacket. The beautiful corsage has been damaged, the petals torn and flattened. Nell rocks back and forth, banging her head each time against the wall just slightly. I take her hands in mine.
"Miss Hawkins, it's Gemma Doyle. Nell, we haven't much time. I need to know the location of the Temple. You were just about to say it when they took you. It is safe now. You may tell me."
A thin stream of drool works its way out of the corner of her mouth. An odor like overripe fruit scents the tiny gusts of her breath. They've given her something to sedate her.
"Nell, if you do not tell me how to find the Temple, I fear we are lost. Circe will find it before us, and then there is no telling what could happen. She could rule the realms. She could do this to another girl and another." From far below us, the music changes tempo as another dance begins. I do not know how long I can be gone before they begin searching for me.
"She'll never stop," Nell's raspy voice scrapes through the silence."Never. Never. Never."
"Then we must stop her ourselves," I say. "Please. Please help me."
"It's you she wants, you she's always wanted," she slurs."She'll make me tell her where to find the Temple, just as she made me tell her where to find you."
"What do you mean?"
A sound pricks at my ears. Footsteps in the hall, coming closer. I'm up at the door, peeking out. Someone comes. Someone in a deep green cloak. She stops to check each room in the gallery. I close the door gently.
"Nell," I say, my heart racing."We've got to hide."
"Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet . . . frightened her away, frightened her away."
"Shhh, Nell. You've got to be quiet. Here, quickly, under the bed."
Nell is a small girl, but weighed down by the drug, she is hard to maneuver. We fall to the floor together in a heap. With effort, I manage to push her under the bed, then follow her. The footsteps stop at Nell's door. I've got my hand over her mouth as the door opens. I don't know what I fear more, that Nell will suddenly speak out and reveal our hiding spot or that the pounding of my heart will announce us.
There's a whisper in the dark."Nell?"
