Birdie stepped through the angled opening in the wall and into a narrow, curving tunnel. It was clean and level – unlike the dirt passages they’d crawled through earlier in the day – with round lights embedded in the floor to illuminate the path to the museum.
“Birdie?” Friedrich’s voice sounded muffled as he called to her from the storeroom.
She pressed deeper into the passageway. Several yards down, the tunnel split into three sections, one leading to the museum and the others leading off in distant directions. She started down the one to the right, but stopped when she heard Friedrich again.
“Birdie!” He was shouting now, a note of warning in his voice. “Birdie! Come back here!”
She glanced heavenward. She really did not want to have to deal with Friedrich. She turned around and headed back to the storeroom.
“Are you ready for tomorrow, then?” He was hovering in the opening with his hands on his hips and had to take a step back as she exited.
“Not quite.” She should have said not at all. She wasn’t ready for anything.
At least now she understood how the girl, and Friedrich, had slipped in and out of the storeroom so easily, but that did little to ease her mind. She needed to get the aventurine out of the fortress. Its connection to the past was stronger in the storeroom than it had been outside, and she guessed it would continue to intensify, just as it had in Bruges. The last thing she needed was to disappear into the past with everyone watching.
And who knew what she would find if she did? This was an armed fortress, and she was a teenage girl in shorts and a T-shirt. Not good.
To make matters worse, Kayla had seen the guard and the girl, too, so if the aventurine activated, she’d be right there with her.
If only she hadn’t let her touch the glass in Bruges.
“Better get busy.” Friedrich was still speaking to her, she realized. “You have an important role.”
“I’m a servant.” She met his close-set eyes.
“Yes, but you assist Princess Elisabeth, so it is important.”
“It is a good role,” Louisa called, smiling from the end of the table where she was helping Raina and Rich figure out their costumes. “I promise.”
Birdie returned her smile, but she didn’t feel very happy. She made her way to her seat and picked up her character sheet. She might need to make herself throw up or get a nosebleed or something equally horrible. That was the only way out of this.
Kayla bumped her arm.
“What?”
When she didn’t respond, Birdie twisted in the chair to face her. “What?”
Kayla held the aventurine in the air between her thumb and forefinger.
Anger flared through her. “Give it here.” She pushed her chair back and stood with one hand outstretched. “I mean it. Give it to me now.”
The other campers stopped what they were doing and stared at them.
“What is it?” Raina leaned forward.
“Should we go for a walk?” Kayla twitched the aventurine in her fingers so the gold caught what little light there was in the room. “See what this place was really like?”
“Give it back.”
“It’s getting warmer—”
“I said give it back to me. It doesn’t belong to you.”
Friedrich made his way over to stand between them. “There is a problem?”
She gritted her teeth. “Kayla stole a souvenir from my bag and I would like it back.”
“Is this true?”
Kayla shrugged.
“Return Birdie’s property,” Friedrich sighed, not bothering to hide his irritation.
Across the room, the crates shimmered back into view, barely there.
“Kayla.” Birdie watched the crates become clearer. “We need to—”
“Sure, Fred.” A slow smile spread across Kayla’s lips. “Whatever you say.” She lifted the glittering piece of glass on her palm and, with a flick of her wrist, tossed it to him.
“No!” Birdie cried. But it was too late.
Friedrich caught the aventurine in midair. “Ow – it’s hot.”
“Nice catch,” Ryan said.
But Friedrich didn’t respond. He was gazing around the storeroom. “Was zur Hölle—”
Louisa stood. “What is it, Friedrich?”
Birdie touched his elbow. “It’s okay.” She hoped the others wouldn’t hear, which was stupid, since everyone in the room was watching them. “Just give me the glass and I will fix this.”
The bearded guard emerged from the tunnel, very much awake. He was beefy and strong, and he started when he saw them.
“Um, Birdie…” Kayla scrambled back, knocking her chair to the ground. “I think he sees us.”
“Give it to me now, Friedrich,” Birdie urged as the guard drew his weapon.
Friedrich gaped at the burly man.
Birdie grabbed his thin wrist and shook it hard. He released his grip on the aventurine, and it tumbled into her hand as the other campers faded away.
The guard unsheathed his sword. He growled something in German, and the color drained from Friedrich’s face.
The guard charged toward them, shimmering into better focus as he advanced.
“Run!” Kayla yelled. She darted up the stairs and yanked the heavy door open wide. Tourists and villagers shuffled by, completely unaware of each other.
Birdie shoved the hot glass into her pocket and ran after her as a clatter filled the air. She pivoted in time to see the guard fade off, the tip of his sword just inches from Friedrich’s chin.
He stood frozen, his arms raised in surrender, staring into the empty space.
“I said, what is going on?” Louisa set down the mallet she’d used to smack one of the metal lunch trays. The sound had reverberated through the room like a gong.
Friedrich spun to her, completely flustered.
“Birdie? Kayla?” Louisa demanded.
“It’s… nothing.” Kayla let the heavy door swing closed as she jogged down the steps. When she passed Birdie, she smiled. “So sorry about your toy. I just, you know, found it on the floor. If it means that much to you, you should really take better care of it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Birdie said. “I thought we were friends.”
Friedrich had recovered enough to get angry. “Both of you. Outside. Now.” He marched up the stairs.
Birdie followed him, but Kayla headed toward the table.
“You, too, Kayla,” he said.
“Who died and made you boss?” She faced him and placed her hands on her hips.
“Go!” Louisa ordered from across the room, pointing to the stairs. Beside her, Raina and Rich exchanged confused glances.
“Fine,” Kayla huffed as she made her way back up the stairs.
Friedrich was silent as he marched down the path. He led them in the opposite direction of the ticket booth, away from Frau Hamel’s hawkish eyes. Birdie sensed the anger rolling off him, as if it were taking all his strength to keep from whipping around and confronting them right there in the open air.
They moved deeper into the ruin, passing through the courtyard, which was thick with tourists, and past the crumbling structures they’d explored before lunch.
He continued until they reached the largest structure, which was the former keep. They hadn’t entered it earlier – he’d said they weren’t allowed inside because of its condition. Birdie could see why. The freestanding walls around them soared at least three stories high, with gaping holes near the top where arched windows had once protected the interior. The ceiling had long-ago lost its battle with the elements, or with cannon fire, and the blue sky was all that remained above them. The floor was carpeted with gravel, interrupted by patchy grass and weeds.
Despite the open air, they were quite alone.
“What is this place?” Kayla searched the sky as she did one final pivot.
“It was the great hall,” Friedrich said. “In the keep.”
“Not so great anymore.”
Friedrich ignored her. “What happened back there?” he asked Birdie.
Good question.
She thought about lying, telling him she wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but that would be pointless. He’d seen the guard and the storeroom, and now he could never unsee it.
She started with the smallest amount of information she could.
“Kayla took my souvenir, and I wanted it back. She knew it was important to me.”
“Yes, but what is that stone? It cannot be what Kayla says.”
“It’s not a stone. It’s a type of glass called aventurine that was made in Venice in the Middle Ages.”
Friedrich nodded. “I am familiar with the Murano Island near Venice. It is famous for glass. You bought it there?”
Birdie shook her head. “No. I found it. That sounds crazy, but that’s what happened. I found it at the bed-and-breakfast my mom and I stayed at in Bruges. That’s in Belgium. They have a legend about the glass there.”
“Only it’s not a legend,” Kayla said. “It’s real.”
“I know where Bruges is.” Friedrich looked at Kayla. “And you stayed there, too, at this bed-and-breakfast?”
“Yes, with my grandparents. I met Birdie there.”
“And you’ve seen this glass before?”
“Yes. That’s how I know it’s real.”
Birdie shot her a warning glance, but Kayla continued anyway. “You saw what happened, didn’t you? How the storeroom shifted? It was full of food and supplies piled high. And the guard—”
“He was in costume.” Friedrich rubbed his chin. “But I’ve not seen him here before.”
“I’m sorry we disrupted the camp,” Birdie said. “I won’t bring the aventurine again.”
“Oh, please.” Kayla rolled her eyes. “He touched the damned thing so now he can see everything.” She rounded on Friedrich. “How did the crates get into the storeroom?”
Birdie watched Friedrich closely. He seemed to wrestle with his thoughts, trying to fit what he knew and believed in with what he’d seen in the storeroom.
She understood how he felt. She hadn’t wanted to believe either, as if believing in the aventurine meant admitting she’d lost her mind.
“I don’t know. They could have been superimposed somehow, maybe with projectors.”
“That guard,” Kayla said, “wasn’t a projection. And he wasn’t in period costume. He was in period – period.”
Friedrich considered her. “His sword was real.”
Kayla moved closer to him. “If Birdie gives you the aventurine, I will show you how it works.”
His eyes darted from Kayla to Birdie. He took a step back and hit the cool stone wall behind him.
Kayla slid in closer.
Friedrich ducked away from the wall and took two broad steps deeper into the keep. He held out his hand to keep Kayla from coming any nearer. “Birdie, it’s up to you. You can end this now.”
She considered her options. She doubted he would give up trying to figure out what had happened, despite appearing to give her a choice. “It’s dangerous. We don’t belong in that time and this was an armed fortress. You saw how the guard reacted when he saw us.”
“Then you are telling me what Kayla says is true?” He narrowed his eyes. “Prove it.”
She hesitated. “Okay. I will try to show you. Just once. Quickly. I can’t exactly control the aventurine, so I’m not sure if it will work. But whether or not it does, I’m leaving camp and taking it back to the hotel.”
Friedrich folded his arms. “Get on with it, then. The others are waiting.”
Birdie retrieved the small piece of glass from her pocket.
The golden speckles were already swirling – the glass growing hot in her hand.
The crumbling walls shimmered.