Journey Through the Mirrors by T. R. Williams Page B

disengaged. Mr. Perrot followed Jasper into a neatly organized cement-fortified vault, which was half the size of the work room.
    “We moved all of Mrs. Ford’s stuff from Logan’s house a few weeks ago. Art stuff in front of us. Files, books, and other office stuff over to the left. Jewelry, trinkets, and other valuables are in the secondary safe to the right. But you’ll need Logan to get into that. He is the only one with access.”
    Mr. Perrot walked straight ahead. A smile came to his face. “These are Cassandra’s mosaics. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them.”
    “Aren’t they gorgeous?” Jasper said. “Three of them are headed to the commemoration. It’s going to be a mosaic extravaganza! Logan plans to display the rest here at the studio.”
    Mr. Perrot chuckled at Jasper’s exuberance, then turned to the mosaics, set up on eight easels. One depicted three dolphins swimming in the ocean. Another showed a woman gazing into a mirror. Mr. Perrot moved closer to a third mosaic, which was roughly half a meter tall and the same wide. “This one is my favorite. It took Cassandra more than a year to make it.” Two trees stood on top of a hill in some far-off imaginary land. One was tall, the other much smaller and situated in the foreground. “I just love how majestic these trees look,” Mr. Perrot said, running his fingers over the many small, multicolored tiles. “This scene is from one of the Chronicles stories, you know.”
    Jasper shook his head. “Which story is that?”
    Mr. Perrot turned to Jasper with an incredulous look. “You young people really need to bone up on your history. The world rose from the ashes of the Great Disruption because of the Chronicles and all the wonderful stories in the books.” Mr. Perrot turned back to the mosaic, shaking his head in mock disgust. “Everyone should read the fable of the Golden Acorn. What are they teaching you in school these days, if not that?”
    Jasper walked over and stood in front of the seventh and mostabstract mosaic of the group, which was just more than half a meter tall and approximately three times as wide. “Logan told me that his mother never explained to him what this mosaic depicted,” Jasper said, tilting his head from side to side and stepping back to try to figure it out. “It looks like a broken dish or something.”

    Mr. Perrot looked at the mosaic. “Yes, that one is a real head scratcher. Cassandra always taunted me for not being able to discern its meaning. As far as I know, she never told anyone, except perhaps Camden.”
    Jasper shrugged, giving up on interpreting the mosaic. “So what are we looking for?”
    “Ideally, items from the days of the first Council,” Mr. Perrot said. “Anything that might shed new light on the experiences or accomplishments of the original Council members. We can start with those,” he added, motioning to a set of boxes stacked against the wall.
    They were filled with file folders, books, art supplies, and other knickknacks. Jasper started rummaging through plastic containers that held an endless supply of arts-and-crafts materials. Mr. Perrot uncovered a sturdy, heavy metal box that contained a trove of mosaic tiles of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Jasper found a box with some thin circular objects that shone when they caught the light. “What are these?” he asked, holding one up.
    “Those are DVDs,” Mr. Perrot answered with a chuckle. “That is how the world once distributed its music and movie entertainment.”
    Jasper gave the disk a quizzical look and tossed it back into the box.
    “Here we go,” Mr. Perrot said, pulling out a box of newspaper articles. “These are from the New Chicago Broadcaster , dated May 15, 2037, a few months after we came to Chicago.” He leafed through a stack of clippings. “After the Great Disruption, paper publishing was the onlyway to disseminate information. All the years of converting paper to digital went out the door in ten short