LeOmi's Solitude (32 page)

* * *

“Sometimes, I wonder if it was a good idea to
have you two coneys living in a dorm room. You are always getting
into mischief.”

Their home away from home in her book bag was
getting a little small or they were getting a little too big. They
needed to be out more but that was like moving the clock around to
what LeOmi wanted. There were just certain things that were
feasible and other things that were not. But she loved them so
much; she couldn’t imagine how she could ever let them go.

The bad thing was that they were always
hungry, always eating and always making a mess of one kind or
another.

They spent so much time with her books that
she was sure that they could read and write just as well as she
could.

Julia Diefenbuacher’s class had been so
boring today that she had actually pulled out the Journal for a
while and then put it in the book bag, with the coneys.

Ever since then, they wouldn’t stay still.
They were bouncing on and off each other and even popping their
heads out occasionally; they hardly ever did that in Julia
Diefenbuacher class.

When LeOmi got back to the dorm room she laid
her back pack on the bed as she always did. The coneys piled out,
turned and looked at the bag, then at her then back at the bag.

“What is in there, you sillies?” She looked
in and pulled out everything in the bag. “Did you lose a piece of
fruit in there, or a nut? There isn’t anything of any special
interest. What…?”

She turned just in time to see the coneys
going after the Journal. When she tried to grab it one actually
hissed at her. “Hey.” She slapped her hands together. The coney
looked up at her and his eyes were actually glowing. She grabbed
the book and held it up above her head.

It was hissing, at the book, not at her, at
the book.

Something slid around in the book. She looked
and there was a metal design that was lodged in under the
leather.

She worked it out and the metal piece was the
key. Immediately she put the key in the indention and turned it
until she heard a click.

The coney’s eyes glowed reddish orange, and
then, the intruders were in her room. There were two of them with
hoods and masks over their faces. There was absolutely no way to
tell what tribe they were from or if they were even from a tribe.
Their chests were heaving up and down from breathing hard, as if
they had run hard for miles just to get there.

LeOmi dropped the Journal and immediately
grabbed her sword from Aaron’s Grasp.

The coneys scurried underneath the bed and
one of the intruders reached for Journal but was bulldozed by
Thorpe whose answer was to tackle everyone in the room, except for
Mrs. Shadowitz. Bodies were flying everywhere.

Suddenly the small room was full of Magi with
drawn swords.

Gunnison appeared at the door, “Grab
them.”

One of Gunnison’s men said, “I can’t they are
all slippery.”

“Tackle them! Throw the ropes”

One of the assailants were tackled and bound
and his mask was removed.

“What happened to the other one?”

“Whoever it was is gone.”

Mrs. Shadowitz asked, “LeOmi, do you know
this one?”

LeOmi clutched the coneys in her arms,
shaking her head back and forth.

“They were just here, they were breathing so
hard, like they had to work hard to get here.”

“There are ways to do things like this, but
it tasks the body greatly.”

“Could they have used this same method to get
to Grand-Père?”

“I suspect so.”

LeOmi said, “Mrs. Shadowitz, how did you
know?”

“We have kept a close eye on you since your
grandfather was killed.”

Mrs. Shadowitz walked over to the coneys,
“What is wrong with his eyes?”

“That is what I had just noticed when they
showed up. The coney chewed on the corner of the Sumerian Journal
Translation. That is when I found the key concealed in the leather
lining of the cover. There was a… it should still be here, I don’t
think they got a chance to get it.”

LeOmi found the Journal under the bed, “The
key was embedded in the cover.”

Mrs. Shadowitz looked but she didn’t touch
the book. “So as soon as you turned the key, these two villains
showed up?”

“Yeah.”

“There are two things that concern me. The
first is that they will return to try and get what they have not
stolen.

“And second, your coneys have been exposed to
something saturated in the ancient leather. We should get them to
the animal healers as soon as possible.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“I am sorry, but I need to borrow this
journal for a while. I also need you to report to the Council of
Elders about this attack.”

“Okay.”

“I will keep your book as safe as I can. May
I borrow your book bag? Do you have another that you may carry the
coney to the animal healer?”

“Uhhh, I guess I could use the
pillowcase.”

“Good girl. Thank you.”

“All right, could you please put that in the
book bag and give it to me, the less people that touch it the
better.”

Bekka pushed her way into the room, “Ma’am.
Is everything all right?”

“It will be Bekka, as soon as we get to the
bottom of this. Do you know this man?”

“No. Was he the assailant?”

“One of them. The other got away. Apparently
there was some type of alarm associated with the book.” She pointed
to the book bag.

Gunnison said, “Excuse me ma’am, we are ready
to take him to Mattaraw Prison.”

“Leo, what about the other one?”

“He can’t have gone far.”

“Thank you, Leo, and your men.”

LeOmi retrieved the coneys from their foot
locker and slid them into the pillowcase, talking and trying to
reassure them the whole time.

* * *

Bekka went to the animal healer with LeOmi.
The male coney had to stay for observation. They gave him lots of
water and fruit to help flush his body. If that didn’t work they
would put him to sleep and flush him out with a tube and warm
glycerin water. It wouldn’t be pretty, but if he was poisoned, he
might die.

The female coney didn’t want to leave his
side, and everyone thought it was best if she didn’t.

* * *

The Council of Elders was beginning to be a
less intimidating place; LeOmi had been there so much.

Mrs. Shadowitz began, “The villain was
identified as a former student from several years ago. Actually it
was thought that he was dead. It seems obvious that he allowed
himself to be captured instead of his cohort. It is perplexing as
to why that would be. There are several theories but of course none
of them are pleasant.”

“LeOmi, how long have you had the Sumerian
Journal Translation?”

“It was my mother’s. She had put it in a bus
depot locker for me and my father to find. We retrieved it just
before Christmas; I think that it can help me find my mother’s
killer.”

“You may be right, considering the events of
this evening. Don’t you agree Council?”

There was mumbling and conferring between the
group.

She heard the story of her mother’s death
relayed to one of the elders.

“Did you have your coney checked?”

“Yes, they are monitoring the male. He had a
reddish orange glow to his eyes. Apparently, he ate some of the
corner?”

“It would seem so.”

“I usually keep the Journal in Aarons Grasp,
but today when I gathered everything, I just put it in my book bag.
The coneys were acting absolutely bonkers and as soon as I got to
my room I let them out onto the bed. That is when I saw that the
cover had been chewed and that the key was hidden there. As soon as
I turned the key into place, I was rushed by those two and then
Gunnison’s security team showed up almost simultaneously.”

“Mrs. Shadowitz, did you find out anything
about the Journal?”

“We have sent it to the artifact specialists.
I must tell you though, there has been a suggestion that we may
need you to come and help us.”

“Help?”

“Well, obviously the thieves wanted you and
the Journal.”

“Oh.”

“We would attempt to set off the alarm just
the way that you had done.”

“No one has opened it yet?”

“No. We need to act as quickly as we possibly
can. The enemy has not had time to plan, so now is when we need to
strike back. Do you have any idea who may have been trying to get
to the Journal?”

“Julian Compton is the suspected killer. He
is the man that Sergeant Polaris, back in New Orleans, thinks
killed my mother and maybe a lot of other people too.”

“Julian Compton has something to do with the
Journal?”

“Sergeant Polaris and I think he does.”

* * *

The next day, Bekka took LeOmi to the lab
that the journal had been taken to.

Mrs. Shadowitz was there, “LeOmi please
observe at a safe distance, but not too far away. We may need your
assistance.”

A gentleman with a lab coat approached them.
He was impeccably groomed with short salt and pepper hair.

This is Mr. Sieggler. He is in charge of the
study of new artifacts.”

“Many of us are eager to take a look at the
book. There is an oddity about the mechanism.”

“The lock?”

“Indeed, it seems to have had an addition to
it recently. A power source of some type and something else,
possibly a sensor. We think it must read blood or DNA and if it
matches certain parameters, an alarm is signaled.”

Mrs. Shadowitz said, “That seems
outlandish.”

“Nevertheless.” Mr. Sieggler seemed a little
offended, “LeOmi, please attempt to open the lock.”

As LeOmi turned the star shaped key, the
hinges made a noise.

“Continue, Miss Jones.”

She turned the key until the bandings was
completely separated from the other metal pieces. She tried to turn
it farther and then she decided to turn it back the other way. When
she did, the metal latches separated and the lock opened.

Mrs. Shadowitz left the room when the key
turned, and now as the scientists took the unlocked journal from
LeOmi and studied the open lock; Mrs. Shadowitz grabbed her arm and
backed her away from the book.

“LeOmi, we have had a startling
occurrence.”

“What?”

“We found the second thief. Would you like to
come and see?”

“Well, I was hoping to see the Journal…”

“Oh, these scientists take a bit of time,
every time you think they are close to giving you a conclusion, one
thing reveals another thing and they go off in another direction.
Believe me it is better to have them come to you than you waiting
for them to come up with something that you can understand.”

They both looked back at the table that had
people with white lab coats all around it, so much so that she
couldn’t see the Journal any longer.

“Come.”

LeOmi remanifested with Mrs. Shadowitz. They
were outside of the mountain, at Slone’s alcove. No one was there.
They continued inside to the Council Chambers.

Her father arrived, “Well I believe that you
three know each other. Meet the intruder in your room LeOmi, the
slippery one who got away.”

Ruby was led into the chamber by two
guards.

Mrs. Shadowitz turned and exited.

LeOmi said, “Ruby?”

Jacob Jones said, “Oh no.”

Ruby turned so that her back was to her
family her long hair flowing down her back.

LeOmi heard Mrs. Shadowitz and the rest of
the Council of Elders enter and take their seats.

“Ruby Jones, you stand before this assembly
today, caught red handed in the act of committing a crime of theft
within The Seventh Mountain. Have you any explanation for your
activities?”

Ruby just stood there. It was obvious that
she did not intend to say anything to anyone about anything.

LeOmi walked around the curving wall so that
she could see Ruby’s face.

“Are you working for Julian Compton?”

Her face was without expression and her
demeanor remained the same.

“Would you like to say anything on your own
behalf?” She simply shook her head no.

It was hard to watch, and even harder to
understand why Ruby would betray them just as their mother had
done.

LeOmi and her father came out of the chambers
dazed and tearful.

Ruby was taken to Mattaraw Prison.

LeOmi started singing, “I come to the garden
alone, while the dew is still on the roses…”

Bekka laid one hand on her shoulder and in
the other she held up LeOmi’s book bag, “Let’s go check on the
coneys.”

* * *

When they reached the animal healers, the
coney were up and running around. They had taken over the place
just like they took over everywhere that they had ever been.

As soon as they saw LeOmi, they jumped on her
and snuggled into her arms.

Kayleen was there, “He may show some signs of
fatigue later on, but that is to be expected nothing to worry
about.”

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

Mrs. Shadowitz entered the animal healers. “I
thought that I might find you here. We do need to talk.”

They followed Mrs. Shadowitz back to her
small office, she offered a cup of tea, but they declined.

“Jacob, I am sorry about Ruby. There is
always hope. She is young. We must pray that her heart will
change.”

“Yes, there is always hope.”

“Mrs. Shadowitz, did she have something to do
with Vincent DuBose death?”

“We only suspect, but she has said
nothing.”

“I see.”

“In the mean time Jacob, I must insist that
you stay close. You have been furnished a little house in Magi City
for the time being, for your own protection.”

* * *

Bekka said, “This will be LeOmi’s first time
to Magi City. I want to take her there on the subway, so she will
know her way back.”