Free Illusion Town by Jayne Castle

remember?”
    â€œRight.” Elias looked around. “It was over there by the House of Mirrors.”
    They started through the maze of attractions andconcession stands. Elias glanced at the sign over a tunnel that branched off the main room.
    â€œ WELCOME TO SCARGILL COVE, TOWN OF MYSTERY ,” he read. He glanced at Hannah. “What’s the significance of that attraction?”
    â€œDon’t you know any of your Arcane history?”
    â€œI’m a Coppersmith, remember? I’m also an engineer. History is not my best subject.”
    â€œScargill Cove was a little town in the Old World. It was where the headquarters of Jones and Jones was located during the twenty-first century, Old World Date, I think.”
    â€œOkay, I do know about Jones and Jones. So, was Aloysius Jones the only one who knew the location of this carnival?”
    â€œNo. The dreamlight talent who locked the gates knew it, of course. And a handful of people at the very top of the Society were aware of it. But over time the records got lost.”
    Elias glanced back rather longingly at the carousel. “Any idea of the history behind that merry-go-round?”
    â€œI think the figures on that carousel are re-creations of Mrs. Bridewell’s curiosities. She made clockwork toys back in the nineteenth century on Earth. She had a rare psychic talent for working glass. You will notice that all of the figures and sculptures are fitted with some weird dark glass.”
    â€œHuh. You’re right. The eyes of the animals and the windows in the little carriages—they’re all made of hot glass. Amazing. Glass has always been dangerous whenit’s combined with paranormal energy. The effects are highly unpredictable because it has the properties of both a solid and a liquid crystal. Who was this Mrs. Bridewell? Must have been some kind of Old World weapons dealer.”
    â€œYes, I think so.”
    â€œThose psi-coded dreamlight gates make for serious barricades inside the tunnels,” Elias said. “And it appears that the only entrance that leads directly to the surface has been blocked with hot psi for nearly two hundred years. I can understand why this place has been undisturbed for so long.”
    Hannah looked around. “There is another possibility. Maybe over the years a few people were able to unlock the gates and discovered this place but were either accidentally killed by one of the dangerous objects in here or got disoriented by the dreamlight and never made it out of the Underworld.”
    â€œLike the Ghost City,” Elias said. “But that sort of thing just helps keep legends alive.”
    They walked past the House of Mirrors. Hannah glanced through the dark entrance, caught a glimpse of creepy glass light, and quickly looked away.
    â€œArcane is going to have to bring in a lot of experts to handle the artifacts in this place,” she said.
    â€œYes,” Elias agreed.
    Hannah saw the fortune-teller booth and forgot about the House of Mirrors.
    â€œThere it is,” she said. She hurried toward the booth. “I just hope my necklace is safe.”
    There was a life-sized figure inside the glass booth, aman dressed in a tall pointed hat and flowing robes decorated with stars and ancient alchemical symbols. He had a mane of shoulder-length white hair, a white beard, and sapphire crystal eyes. There was a huge pile of paper fortunes in front of the figure.
    The colorful sign above the booth read, SYLVESTER JONES TELLS YOU YOUR FORTUNE
.
    â€œLike I said, I don’t know much about history,” Elias said. “At least, not Arcane history. But that name rings a bell.”
    â€œIt should,” Hannah said. “Sylvester Jones was the founder of the Arcane Society back on Earth.” She paused to look around. “Do you see Virgil?”
    â€œNo,” Elias said. But his attention was focused on the fortune-teller booth. “Those sapphire