Ivor lurched suddenly forward. The time pressure peaked and Jacob put the hammer down. The Time Train accelerated forward, disappearing at speed in a direction no human eye could follow; and just like that, they were gone.

I waited for a moment, looking around me, but nothing changed. So I just got on with my own plan. What else could I do?

Molly and Subway Sue took my small group off to a relatively quiet corner of the War Room so they could explain the Damnation Way to us. There was a certain amount of disagreement between them over details, the two of them almost coming to blows over certain obscure references and sources until I separated them, but they seemed firm enough on the main outline. They started at the beginning, which turned out not to be the Damnation Way itself.

“You see,” said Subway Sue, “in order to understand that, you have to understand the Rainbow Run.”

“The Rainbow Run is an expression, or manifestation, of the old Wild Magic,” said Molly. “A race against time and destiny, to save the day. It’s not given to many to attempt it, and even fewer survive to see it through successfully to the end. I don’t know anyone who’s even tried since Arthurian times. But it is said . . . that anyone who can run the hidden way, follow the Rainbow to its End, will find their heart’s desire. If they’re strong enough, in heart and soul and will.”

“It’s not how fast you run,” said Subway Sue. “It’s how badly you need it. How much you’re prepared to endure . . . to run down the Rainbow is not given to everyone. And there are those who say that what you find at the Rainbow’s End isn’t necessarily what you want, but what you need.”

“The Rainbow Run is an ancient ritual,” said Molly. “Older than history.”

“Older than the family?” I said.

“Older than humanity, probably,” said Molly. “It’s . . . an archetype, a primal thing, spanning realities. A thing of dreams and glories, grail quests and honour satisfied. One last chance to defy the Dark, and snatch victory for the Light. Or so they say.”

“Who created it?” I said.

“Who knows?” said Subway Sue. “This is the old Wild Magic we’re talking about. Some things . . . just are. Because they’re needed.”

“So . . . why can’t we use the Rainbow Run, instead of the Damnation Way?” I said.

Molly and Subway Sue looked at each other. “Because we don’t know how to find it,” Molly said quietly. “We’re not . . . good enough, pure enough.”

“The Damnation Way is the underside, the dark reflection of the Rainbow Run,” said Subway Sue. “The other face of some unimaginable coin.”