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‘Hector!’ Star said, shocked. ‘You grassed us up! No one was supposed to know where she was going.’
‘I certainly didn’t know,’ Iliana said crossly. ‘You could have told me.’
‘I didn’t want to stop her going,’ Hector said reasonably, ‘but there was no way I could let her put herself in danger without having someone there to help her. Since you and John were away I knew Simon was free for a few days, so he agreed to follow Trinity to Middlesbrough, where she was meeting some clients, and then board the same train as her down to Whitby. Which he did.’
‘So what happened?’ Sky asked Simon. ‘How come you couldn’t stop her being taken?’
Simon shook his head, looking for the first time at a loss. ‘Honestly, it all happened so fast I can’t explain it. But if Zephyr hadn’t got in the way maybe she’d still be here with us. Then again he might well have saved her life. Who knows?’
‘Zephyr? So Zephyr was in Whitby with Trinity? But why? How?’ Star frowned. ‘No one told him she was going to look for Sister Agnes did they?’
‘It’s possible he heard us, though,’ Harley said thoughtfully. ‘He, Kendrew, Amlodd, and Bob were sitting quite near us, remember? They kept looking over at us, too. They might have heard enough to tip them off about her plans.’
‘All I know,’ Simon told us, ‘is that when I got off the train at Whitby I spotted Zephyr Ambrose straightaway. Naturally he didn’t notice me. He had no idea who I was, after all. Besides, his eyes were fixed on Trinity. I’m amazed she didn’t notice him but evidently she didn’t. I suppose she was too preoccupied.’
‘So what happened after that?’ I asked, desperate for any information that would help us rescue my sister.
‘I followed Trinity—and Zephyr—around all day. She was traipsing up and down the harbourside, all over West Cliff, calling at the amusements, shops, and pubs. She headed over the bridge and began to explore the East Cliff. Quite honestly I was beginning to tire myself, and I think Zephyr must have been exhausted.’
‘Poor Zephyr,’ Sky said tearfully. ‘He did all that to keep her safe, and she didn’t even know.’
‘We headed down Church Street,’ Simon continued. ‘She went into just about every business down there and then…’ He shook his head. ‘It was so quick! Honestly, I still can’t get over it. She’d reached the bottom of the hundred and ninety-nine steps, and I think she was deciding whether to climb them. I was leaning against the wall of a building nearby, pretending to scroll on my phone. I saw Zephyr out of the corner of my eye, and then suddenly there was this flash and I looked up. I caught a glimpse of someone bending over Zephyr, and then they were both gone. And that’s when I realised Trinity wasn’t there either.’
‘What did this someone look like?’ Iliana urged.
Simon shrugged helplessly. ‘I’m sorry. It was just too fast for me to see.’ He looked at Hector. ‘I couldn’t make it out. They were like quicksilver.’
Killian gave a bitter laugh. ‘Like quicksilver? Sounds like Malliss. He’s one of the Pendragon minions and he can move fast.’
‘And could he do what was done to Zephyr?’ Raiden asked.
Killian nodded. ‘Of course.’
My heart sank. ‘So does this mean that Malliss definitely took Trinity?’
Simon looked doubtful. ‘Honestly? I can’t be certain of that. I saw Zephyr’s body and I saw him whisked away by whatever this creature was, but Trinity had already gone. Unless this Malliss—if that’s who it was—is lightning fast I don’t see how he can have taken Trinity then come back and done all that to Zephyr in the blink of an eye.’
‘Couldn’t you have gone back?’ Keely asked.
‘Gone back where?’ Simon questioned.
‘Gone back in time,’ Keely said impatiently. ‘At the very least you could have watched what happened a few times until you saw who did it.’
‘Time isn’t our personal film show,’ Simon said, somewhat testily. ‘We can’t just keep rewinding and forwarding to our satisfaction. We have responsibilities.’
‘But you’re Guardians!’ Sky cried in frustration. ‘Surely you can go back in time and stop Trinity from going to Whitby? You could stop Zephyr from being killed, too!’
Hector shook his head. ‘It doesn’t work like that, Sky. We must interfere in time as little as possible. It could be that it’s crucial for Trinity to be in Whitby for all we know. Suppose whatever’s happened to her is a vital part of events, and we stopped it from happening? How much damage might we do?’
‘But you saved Mother Clipson,’ Star pointed out. ‘You went back and found her dying in the dungeon, and you and Jennet saved her life. Why couldn’t you save Zephyr’s? Just go back in time and get him out of there before he dies.’
Hector gave a heavy sigh. ‘Believe me, I wish I could. Mother Clipson was dying, not dead. When a person has died, and the soul has departed, they’re no longer anything to do with us. They belong to the reapers and another place. We can’t make the dead live again. I’m sorry. It’s just not how it works.’
‘Well, that’s pretty rubbish if you ask me,’ Star said, folding her arms, while I tried to absorb the fact that there were evidently such things as reapers, something else I’d assumed to be a myth. ‘Only Guardians can travel in time and change events and you won’t even do it. What’s the point of you then?’
‘Star!’ Castor said, shocked. ‘Show some respect.’
‘You’re not being fair,’ Simon said. ‘As Hector explained, we can’t know if a specific event will have major repercussions in the future, and therefore we can’t interfere unless it’s absolutely essential.’
