The MirrorMasters by Lora Palmer Page B

landscapes beneath a purple sky. A vicious hailstorm swept through a glowing jungle. A mile-high wall of water battered an island, demolishing every glass skyscraper in its path. Layers of ice and snow entombed a tropical beach, stilling the waves in the sea and turning palm trees into frozen, glittering jewels.
    Faster and faster the images came, shifting too quickly for us to comprehend any of them. I’d lost control again. Now the pictures in the mirror blurred together, and I struggled to relax enough to let the power flow through me so I could slow them down. Whenever I glanced away from the mirror or closed my eyes to take deep breaths, the images disappeared altogether. Eventually, after many more fizzled attempts, another image focused in the mirror. Clearer this time, it showed me as I was now, along with a young woman. This woman resembled me, with the same vivid green eyes. She had similar bone structure, with high cheekbones and full lips. The wavy blond hair was shorter than mine, shoulder-length, but other than a few subtle differences, the woman could pass for an older version of me.
    "I knew it was you!" Kara exclaimed, breaking my concentration.
    "Maybe." I shrugged. "Maybe not. But who is the older girl?"
    "You could have a sister."
    "Yeah. She wasn't me," I realized. "I think you're right, Kara."
    "A sister?" Jenny’s voice trailed off. Her gaze still fixed on the mirror where the image slowly faded away.
    "Anything’s possible. And now we know that Leah's the MirrorMaster."
    "How?" I asked. "How do we know we're not just imagining this because we want to help these people? Even if it's me, we still have no idea where to find that other girl, or how we'll get this box back to that other world. Unless it's possible to actually travel through the mirror…," I said, half-teasing, but the possibility somehow held a ring of truth to it.
    "Maybe you can," Jenny said, her expression thoughtful.
    "Or maybe they came here in spaceships. Spaceships that are still here and can take you home," Kara suggested.
    "No, no, no. No way! I can't just...go there." Panic and curiosity warred within me at the idea of leaving Earth. As if directed by some inner force, I stood and backed away in protest, shaking my head. However unrealistic and farfetched, the thought of leaving behind everything I knew and everyone I loved was overwhelming enough to make me rebel against it with all my might. Trembling all over, I sank down onto the papasan chair and breathed deeply again with my head in my hands, struggling to regain my composure.
    Jenny came over to put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Look, we don’t even know for sure whether or not some other world is in trouble. We have to keep searching for answers, and we’ll figure this craziness out."
    Slightly reassured. I ran a hand through my hair and leaned my head back against the chair. "Yeah, we will."
    "We've had a great start," Kara added. "We have a long way to go, but we've found out a lot already."
    "I'm tired," I murmured, closing my eyes for a moment. It was a struggle to keep them open. "I'd like to try more, but I can't. How are you guys feeling?"
    "A little tired, but not as drained as you," Kara said.
    "I'm fine," Jenny said, playing with a lock of my hair.
    I let her. Jenny had always been like an older sister, and moments like these served as a powerful reminder of that. Without her — or David or Kevin, for that matter — I didn’t know how I’d manage next year.
    "Good. So we'll try this again another day," Kara suggested.
    "I think we should also talk to Madame Helena again and check the library to look for newspaper clippings of any unusual events — anything that might help us find others," I said.
    "And we should check the social services records," Kara added. "I know you haven't wanted to do this, Leah, but we need all the information we can get. Maybe that girl you saw is your sister. Maybe she's here somewhere on