The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (13 page)

“Sorry you had to wait, sir.” Brandon rubbed his face with his hands. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I woke you up. Sorry about that,” Kevin said. “Do you know where Marcus is?”

Brandon shook his head. “The last time I saw him was when he headed out this morning. I feel sure he’s made it back to Ashmont, but he hasn’t come here yet.”

Kevin nodded. “Thanks, and sorry I woke you.”

“That’s okay, sir. I’ve got to get ready to go on duty anyway. We have coffee if you want to come in and wait for him.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll go see if Theresa knows where he is.”

“If he shows up here, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him,” Brandon said as Kevin turned and walked down the steps.

“Thanks. And again, sorry I woke you up.”

Kevin and Rigel walked back down the path to the main road, but before Kevin turned towards the chapel, he spotted Marcus coming from the other direction with a man Kevin had never seen before. They stopped at the junction of another small road and talked for a few more minutes, and then the other man turned down the small road while Marcus headed towards Kevin and Rigel.

The three of them walked towards town until they reached a vacant building. Kevin sat down on the edge of the boardwalk and Marcus sat beside him, but Rigel continued on to a narrow alley a few feet away. After glancing down the alley, he leaned back against the building and watched the road.

“So, did you find out anything?” Kevin asked.

“I’m not sure,” Marcus answered. “A couple of fishermen noticed a strange boat in the area last week. One of them even spotted it early Saturday morning, and it was headed towards the Kivee, but I don’t see how it could be the one we’re looking for. They both described it in enough detail that I know they’re talking about the same boat, but the man who saw it Saturday morning said there was no way it had seventeen people on it. It was riding too high in the water for all that weight, even if most of them were children. And when you add in the crew …”

“And that’s the only strange boat they saw?”

Marcus nodded. “I’ll head farther down the river tomorrow and try to talk to some of the people along the Kivee. Maybe they saw a second boat, or several small ones. If the slavers took the captives out by boat, someone must have seen something since they didn’t leave until after daylight. It would have been well into morning by the time they made it to the Kivee.”

Kevin nodded. “Have things settled down around here? I know a few more families have returned. There are more lighted houses tonight.”

“I think over half the town’s back, but they’re still uneasy. Sgt. Nance isn’t happy either. Not enough of his men are back yet, and he’s angry about it. He feels like they ran away from their duty, and he has a point. I know they were trying to protect their families, but they left the town in a vulnerable position. He’s really grateful to you for bringing in some help. You made an ally there.”

“He seemed like a good man the little bit I saw of him.”

“He is.”

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Well, there is one thing,” Marcus said hesitantly. “I saw Sister Theresa chopping wood earlier. I went over to do it for her, but she wouldn’t let me. But the thing that got me was she’d been crying.”

“Theresa?”

Marcus nodded. “I asked her what was wrong. She said it was nothing, but her face was red and splotchy, her cheeks were damp, and her eyes were puffy.”

“Okay, thanks,” Kevin said slowly. “I’ll find out what that’s about.”

“Wish I could say don’t let her know I told you, but there’s no way around it.”

Kevin chuckled. “No, not this time. She’s going to be mad at you.”

Marcus shrugged.

“But she’ll get over it,” Kevin added as he stood up.

Marcus grinned. “At least I don’t have to sleep up there tonight.”

“I’ll check back with you tomorrow evening.”

“I won’t be back by then. I want to go up and down the Kivee a few miles. Let’s say Wednesday evening.”

“I’m not sure what time I’ll be able to get here Wednesday. Believe it or not, I have to go to a family dinner, and Laryn will kill me if I don’t show up.”

Marcus laughed. “Let’s meet at Lt. Martyn’s.”

Kevin nodded. “I’ll see you there, and Marcus, be careful. Watch your back.” Then Kevin turned to Rigel. “I need to talk to Theresa, so we’ll probably go for a walk. You can wait inside if you want to, but I doubt you’ll find it as friendly as most chapels. If I were you, I’d wait outside.”

A few minutes later, Rigel stood on the back porch while Kevin and Theresa walked around the backyard of the chapel. Kevin caught Theresa up on all the news from the castle and then said, “Marcus told me he found you chopping wood and crying earlier today. Want to tell me about it?”

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Theresa, you don’t cry at nothing.”

Theresa rolled her eyes. “I was mad, really mad, and when I get that angry, I cry. I hate it, but I can’t stop the tears. I just wanted to work off my temper in my own way, and chopping wood’s a good way to do it. Marcus was sweet. He wanted to finish chopping the wood for me and he wanted to fix whatever was wrong. But the only thing he could do was get out of my way and let me handle things on my own. And that’s all you can do, too. Let me handle things myself. I’m not fragile, Kevin. I can take care of myself.”

“I know that. But something upset you, and I need to know what it was. I won’t interfere if you don’t want me to, but I need to know.”

“Why?”

“Because I put you here, in this place, where something happened to make you angry enough to cry.”

Theresa looked at him for a long minute and then shrugged. “It was Alma. She kept contradicting me all afternoon. If I said a patient needed one type of tea, she wanted to give them a different tea or a poultice. If I wanted to bandage a wound, she said it would heal better left uncovered. If I wanted to leave it uncovered, she insisted on bandaging it. I didn’t want to argue with her in front of people who’ve known her for years and who she’ll be treating after I’m gone, but it was getting ridiculous. When I realized I was about to tell her what I thought of her, of Janine, and of the way they run roughshod over these people, I decided it was time to chop wood. So I chopped and cried, and when I was calm again, I went back inside and told her she had a choice to make. She could either back me up and treat me with respect or she could pack her bags and go back to wherever she came from until Janine returns from Glenarbour, but I wasn’t going to put up with her undermining me with the patients any longer. I told her it was her choice. Make it, and make it now, but if she stays and it happens again, the choice won’t be hers. I’ll throw her out in a heartbeat.”

“Wow. I’d have loved to have been there to see that.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Anger isn’t pretty, even when it’s justified.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t end up with an opal burn.”

Theresa’s mouth dropped open. “I didn’t think about that. Oh my goodness, what if I’d marked her for life? That would be horrible!”

“But you didn’t.”

“But why didn’t I?” Theresa asked with a frown.

“The only time I’ve seen your pendant spark was when the bounty hunters stopped us looking for Taelor. You were angry then.”

Theresa thought for a moment. “I wasn’t angry as much as I was scared. Maybe that’s the difference. I was acting angry, but what I really felt was threatened. Today, I didn’t feel threatened at all, just angry. Maybe fear’s the trigger. At least I hope that’s it. Remind me to ask Glendymere about that the next time I’m in Rainbow Valley.”

Kevin nodded. “So, do I need to bring Hayley back?”

Theresa laughed. “I don’t know. Alma went to her room, but I don’t know whether she packed or not. But if she does choose to leave, I imagine she’ll wait till morning to go.”

“I’ve got to go see Janine tomorrow morning, early. I’ll drop by after breakfast and check with you about Hayley.”

“Okay. Are you going to be able to handle Janine?”

Kevin shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning.”

Chapter 10

Sister Janine

The knock on the door came entirely too early to suit Kevin. With a heartfelt groan, he rolled out of bed and opened his door.

“Good morning, sir,” Rupert said. “You asked me to wake you at 4:30.”

Kevin nodded. “Thank you. If you don’t see me within the next 15 minutes, check on me. I don’t think I’m awake yet.”

With a chuckle, Rupert nodded and walked back towards his post.

Kevin splashed water on his face and pulled out a pair of leggings and an old tunic from the days before he arrived in Milhaven. Then he made his way downstairs, nodded to Rupert, and walked through the quiet castle.

When he reached the small cove of trees on the other side of the river, he closed his eyes and let the magic flow. As he worked his way through the familiar routine, his mind cleared. By the time he was done, he was ready to face the day.

Chris woke up while Kevin was outside. He stepped out on their adjoining balcony and watched as the magic rose and fell above the treetops. Kevin was in good form, not too flamboyant, but not subdued either. He was right where Chris liked for him to be.

While Kevin finished his routine, Chris went down to the kitchen to get some coffee and something to eat for breakfast. Miranda wasn’t in yet, but the guards kept coffee going all night, so Chris poured two cups, grabbed a couple of day-old pastries, and headed back upstairs to Kevin’s room.

Kevin came in a couple of minutes behind Chris. They hadn’t quite finished their coffee before there was a knock on the door.

When Kevin called out, “Come in,” Alek opened the door and said, “Caezar and Ramen have arrived. We’ll be in the reception area whenever you’re ready to go.”

Kevin nodded. “I’ll be down in a minute. Thank you.”

Alek pulled the door to and left.

“Guess I’d better go.” Kevin drank the last swallow of his coffee. “I’ll be back before I go to Ashmont.”

Chris nodded. “Any particular reason?”

“I want to change back into my regular clothes. And I’m sure I’ll need more coffee after dealing with Janine.”

Chris laughed and wished him luck.

Kevin went downstairs to the main office where Alek, Caezar, and Ramen were waiting for him. He almost didn’t recognize the two ex-soldiers. With their hair trimmed and faces shaved, they looked middle-aged instead of ancient, and with clothes that actually fit, they looked trim and neat instead of slouchy and chunky.

Kevin took out his key and looked at the two ex-soldiers. “I probably don’t need to say this, but keep in mind that Sister Janine wears a dangerous pendant, and if she sees you as a threat, it will react, no matter what your intentions.”

Caezar and Ramen both nodded as they each placed a hand on Kevin’s arm. Alek joined them, and a few moments later, they were standing between the shed and hedge behind the chapel in Glenarbour.

Janine wasn’t out there yet, so they settled in to wait. Kevin was beginning to wonder if he needed to send Alek to the back door of the chapel to let Janine know they were there when she stepped around the corner of the shed.

“About time you got here,” she snapped. “I was out here thirty minutes ago and stood here, waiting and waiting. I finally went back inside to see if you’d sent a message saying you couldn’t make it.”

Kevin frowned. “We said 5:30. It’s just 5:30 now. Why were you out here at 5:00?”

“I said daybreak. It’s past daybreak now. It’s light. I didn’t want to take any chances on your being recognized. But since you’re late, we’re going to run that risk.”

“Sister, no one else is out for at least half a mile. And besides, no one can see me back here,” Kevin argued. This wasn’t going well. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I want to introduce Caezar and Ramen. They’ll be your contacts should you need to get a message to me.”

Sister Janine looked Caezar and Ramen up and down, and then up and down again. By the time she’d finished scrutinizing them, her nose was turned up and there was a deep frown on her face. “These two old men are the best you could find to help me rescue the captives? How are they going to help? What can they do?”

Keep an eye on you
, Kevin thought, but he said, “They’ll spend a lot of time in the taverns, and they’ll hear things you wouldn’t.”

“They’ll hear men talk about women,” Janine spat out. “Mainly their wives. I don’t see how that kind of talk is going to get us anywhere.”

“That’s not all men talk about, Sister,” Caezar said. “They talk about what they’ve done, what they’ve seen. If anyone’s been involved in a raid, they’ll brag about it.”

“Then they’re fools,” Janine hissed. “Who would brag about something like that?”

“Why not? Being a slaver isn’t against the law, and it pays well, better than most jobs,” Caezar answered. “Men always brag when they’re making a lot of money.”

Janine started to say something, but Kevin held up his hand. “He’s right. Raiding’s against the law, slavery isn’t, and neither is being a slaver. Once they make it out of Camden, they’re free and clear. We can’t touch them and they know it. You might not like it, but that’s the way it is. And since there’s a risk involved, and a certain amount of danger, men will brag about it. And if anyone’s recruiting men to work as slavers, Caezar and Ramen will hear about that, too. That could lead us to the person behind the raid on Syrando. It’s information, and the more information we have, the more we can do.”

Janine didn’t look convinced.

Ramen cleared his throat. “While they’re sitting around in a tavern, men also talk about things they’ve seen. If anyone’s noticed anything funny along the docks, they’ll mention it. Maybe someone will notice a boat that’s not been around before, or one that’s riding low in the water. Or maybe someone has delivered more food to a boat than they’d need for their crew. That could tell us the captives haven’t been unloaded yet, that the slavers are waiting until time for the auction to unload.”