The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (14 page)

“Well, that might be worth knowing,” Janine said. “But if you do hear about a boat like that, what are you planning to do about it? Go on board and rescue them by yourselves? I don’t see that happening.”

“We’ll let Myron know,” Caezar said. “He can decide how to handle it.”

Kevin nodded. “Caezar and Ramen are information people, just like you.”

“They may be useful for that,” Janine grudgingly agreed, “but I don’t see them being a lot of help in a rescue.”

“Sister, there’s not going to be a break-out at the slave house. The rescue we’re working on isn’t going to happen in Glenarbour. We’ve made arrangements for something else, something that won’t upset the relationship between the sisters and the slavers. That’s much too important to sacrifice for a show of power. Sure, we could go blasting in there and break the captives out, but we’d end up getting a lot of innocent people killed in the process. That’s not going to happen.”

“I don’t see why not. If you came in here and did your job and rescued those people, no one would connect the Sisterhood with it. The only reason we might get connected with the rescue is because you’re shirking your responsibility. Well, let me tell you one thing, I won’t.”

“Good,” Kevin said. “Because your responsibility is to see to the health of the people in the slave quarters and to do nothing, and I repeat nothing, to jeopardize the relationship between the Sisterhood and the owners of that house. The rest is, as you put it, my responsibility. Leave it to me.”

“Humph. I would, if I could. You say you’ve made arrangements, but you haven’t told me what they are.”

“And I’m not going to give you the details. You’re just going to have to trust me on this.”

“And therein lies the problem. I don’t trust you. I don’t even know you. Trust has to be earned and built up over time, and you haven’t earned any with me.”

“Do you trust Brena?”

“Of course.”

“Then ask her if you can trust me.”

“I might just do that.”

“Do. And while you’re at it, ask her if you can trust Caezar and Ramen. But in the meantime, if you need anything or if you want to tell me anything, let them know.”

“And how am I supposed to do that? Go searching through all the taverns in Glenarbour for them? Do you know what happens when a sister steps into a tavern? Everyone in there has an ache or a pain that needs to be taken care of immediately. I’d be swamped before I made it halfway across the room. If one of them did happen to be in there, the only way I could speak to him was if he got in line with all the rest of the men and waited his turn.”

Caezar shook his head. “Not necessary at all, ma’am.”

Ramen nodded and asked, “Does the chapel have a front porch?”

“Of course,” Janine snapped.

“With a handrail on the side?”

Janine frowned, but then she nodded.

“Hang a white towel on the handrail if you need us,” Ramen said. “We’ll check by several times a day. If we see a towel, one of us will come inside, probably with a headache.”

“Well, I guess that’s better than nothing,” Janine said. “But be sure you check often. Don’t make me come find you.”

Both men nodded and Caezar said, “If there’s nothing else, we’re going to head out while the streets are still empty.” Then he looked at Kevin. “Myron, we’ll keep in touch.”

“Before you leave,” Janine said, “Myron will be here Thursday morning for another progress meeting. I think you two should be here, too.”

Caezar nodded and then looked at Kevin. “Anything else?”

Kevin shook his head.

After Caezar and Ramen were out of sight, Janine said, “You can leave now too, Myron. I hope you have better news for me on Thursday than you did today.” Then she turned around and walked away.

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin dropped Alek off in the office and then made his way upstairs. He felt worn out and most people were just getting up. Breakfast wouldn’t even be served for another 45 minutes. What was it about dealing with that woman that made ten minutes seem like hours? Sort of the antithesis of the saying “time flies when you’re having fun.”

After Kevin changed clothes, he took out his key and left for Timera Valley. When he arrived on the front porch of the chapel, he could smell coffee and something that smelled a lot like apple pie. He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

A couple of moments later, Verna pulled the door open. “Good morning, Myron,” she said as she stepped aside to let him in. “We were just about to sit down to breakfast. Come on back.”

“Thank you, Verna.” Kevin smiled. He hadn’t appreciated how welcome most of the people on Terah made him feel until he met Janine. “Something smells good. Have you been baking this morning?”

Verna laughed. “Not me this time. We knew you’d be dropping by, so Brena made some sweet apple buns. We thought you might like them, and we know Chris will. She’s already packed up a couple for you to take back to him.”

“You do know my assistant,” Kevin said with a laugh. “But how? He hasn’t been out here that much.”

“Let’s say his reputation precedes him,” Verna said as they reached the kitchen. “Now, have a seat and I’ll get you some coffee.”

Kevin sat down and sipped his coffee while he waited for Brena. A couple of minutes later, she breezed in and plopped down in the chair opposite him. Verna set a cup of tea in front of her.

“So, how did it go?” Brena asked as she picked up her tea cup.

“I’m not sure,” Kevin admitted. “I introduced Caezar and Ramen, but she wasn’t all that interested in them. In fact, she sort of implied they were useless.”

“Why?”

“She said they wouldn’t be a lot of help in a rescue operation.”

“Oh, no.” Brena shook her head. “She’s planning to break them out if she finds them, isn’t she.”

“I’m afraid so,” Kevin said with a slow nod. “I told her I had a plan to rescue them that wouldn’t end up getting a lot of innocent people killed and that she was there purely for information purposes.”

“I bet that didn’t go over well.”

Kevin shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Did she say anything about my letter?”

Kevin shook his head again.

“Maybe it was late getting there.”

“We can hope.”

“When do you see her again?”

“Thursday morning.”

“Fine. Between now and then, find someone else who can identify the captives.”

“They won’t be allowed in the slave quarters.”

“No, but they’ll be allowed at the auction. Didn’t you say that you already have someone who’ll buy any of the captives who show up?”

Kevin nodded.

“So all this person needs is someone who can point them out, right?”

Again, Kevin nodded.

“Fine. Then as long as you have someone there on the day of the auction, we’re covered. There’s no need for Janine to be there. After all, Kaja’s there. She’ll take care of anyone who shows up in the slave house. She’s been working there for over ten years and hasn’t given the slavers any reason to complain.”

Kevin frowned. “Are you suggesting that I take Janine back to Ashmont?”

“Yes.”

“How am I going to do that? She’s not going to go willingly, and as you yourself pointed out, she wears a pendant.”

“I’ll go with you and tell her I need Theresa somewhere else and that we have the auction covered. Then I’ll thank her for helping out until we could get everyone in place, and tell her it’s time for her to go back to her patients.”

“You think that will work?”

“One can hope.”

“And what do we do when she refuses?”

“Haven’t worked that part out yet. But I’ve got until Thursday morning to come up with it.” Brena stood up to go. “Don’t forget to give Chris those sweet buns I packed for him.”

~ ~ ~ ~

When Kevin left Brena’s, he dropped Chris’s sweet buns off in his office and headed to Ashmont to see if Theresa needed Hayley. Alma answered the door when he knocked, invited him in, and suggested he join Theresa in the kitchen.

Theresa was finishing her coffee when he walked in. She raised her eyebrows and nodded towards the coffee pot.

“No, thanks,” Kevin answered. “I’ve already had several cups this morning. Can we take a walk?”

Theresa nodded as she stood up. She rinsed out her empty cup and then led the way out the back door. Neither of them said anything until they were out of earshot of the chapel.

“Well, I guess my question was answered when Alma opened the door,” Kevin said. “And I will say she was a lot nicer this morning.”

“Good. Neither of us has brought up what happened yesterday, but since she’s still here, I’m assuming she’s decided to stay.”

“At least for today,” Kevin added.

Theresa nodded. “At least for today, and she is trying to be nicer.”

Kevin nodded.

“So, how did things go with Janine this morning?”

Kevin brought her up to date on everything, including Brena’s plan to bring Janine back to Ashmont Thursday morning.

“Can’t say I’ll be sorry to go home,” Theresa said. “Most of the residents have returned and it’s time for things to get back to normal. Having Janine here will help. I’m a reminder of what happened.”

“Good point,” Kevin said. “I’ll have to remember that Thursday morning. That’s one more reason she should leave Glenarbour.”

“Other than preventing a war with the slavers, you mean?”

“Not just the slavers,” Kevin answered. “With quite a few of the seated sorcerers as well.”

“Who are you going to take to Glenarbour to identify the captives, provided they even show up there?”

“I don’t know. But we don’t need anyone until the eighteenth at the earliest, probably the nineteenth. I may put Sgt. Nance in charge of finding someone.”

“What are you going to do about Marcus and the guards?”

“I’ll take them home Thursday morning, too. Director Asar and Sgt. Nance can have their town back. I imagine they’ll be glad to have us gone.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Theresa said. “Lt. Martyn won’t be back Thursday.”

“True, but Gen. Crandal seems to have a lot of faith in Sgt. Nance. Still, I’ll let the general know. If he wants to put someone else out here, we can.”

“Do you want me to tell them?”

Kevin shook his head. “I’ll see Marcus tomorrow evening. He can let the guards know after he tells Sgt. Nance. And I’ll ask him to talk to Sgt. Nance about finding someone discrete to take to Glenarbour for the auction. Then, if Sgt. Nance has any questions or concerns, I’ll talk to him Thursday morning.”

“All right. What time should I expect you?”

“Janine favors daybreak meetings, but I’ll have to give her time to pack. I’m not sure, but it’ll be early.”

“Okay. I’ll be ready.”

Chapter 11

Defensive Measures

It was a little after 9:00 by the time Kevin made it to the canyon lands, and the first thing he saw when he got there was Rhianna.
“What’s she doing here?”
he mentally asked Glendymere.

“I mentioned I had asked Jonquin to join us this morning and they asked to come along. Landis wants to see what a magical sparring match looks like, not that she’ll be able to see much actual magic,”
Glendymere answered. Then he included Landis and Rhianna.
“Jonquin’s waiting for us at Broker’s Island, so if all of you will hang on, I’ll take us there.”

Kevin shook his head.
“No. I can’t do this, not with them there. I’ll get killed!”

“Not if you concentrate you won’t. Now let’s go. Jonquin’s not going to wait all day,”
Glendymere answered him.

Kevin touched Glendymere’s leg and within moments they were on the island where he had first learned to cast a net. Kevin sighed in relief. There wasn’t much here for Jonquin to work with. He should be able to handle this.

Jonquin looked at Landis and Rhianna.
“I didn’t realize we’d have an audience. If we’re going to put on a show, let’s go someplace that’s got a little more to work with.”

“Jonquin,”
Glendymere said with a nod towards Landis,
“This is Myron’s apprentice, Landis, and her assistant, Rhianna.”

Jonquin tilted his head in their direction.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a sorcerer who had an elf for an assistant. Usually the other way around.”

“What do you mean?” Landis asked.

“Some elves hire humans to assist them, and a few hire sorcerers to handle things their magic can’t, like moving things or blowing them up,”
Glendymere answered.

Rhianna frowned. “What do you mean? It’s not in our nature to destroy things.”

“Hitting a boulder or a tree stump with an energy bolt blows it up. That’s what I was talking about,”
Glendymere explained.

Rhianna nodded.

“So, are we staying here or going someplace more interesting?”
Jonquin asked.

“Up to you,”
Glendymere answered.
“You’re the one sparring.”

“Then let’s go to Spara’s Isle. Lots of nice stuff over there. Myron, you come with me so we can use your key to get there.”

Glendymere nodded and as Landis and Rhianna touched his leg again, he turned his key.

When they emerged from the energy field, they were on a different island. This one had sandy beaches, lots of shells and pebbles, and a tall but skinny mountain that was spewing smoke and black ash.

“Much more fun,”
Jonquin said as he headed towards the far end of the island.
“Just say when, Glendymere.”

Kevin looked around and groaned. He was not in the mood for this today. He’d already dealt with Janine. That should have been enough grief for one day. Before he had a chance to dwell on his lousy day any longer, a barrage of energy bolts headed in his direction. He threw up his net and the battle was on.

Although Landis and Rhianna couldn’t see the actual bolts, they saw what looked like lightning flashing all around the island. A few minutes later, a wave rose out of the ocean fifty feet off shore and headed for the island, getting taller as it rushed towards shore. At the last moment, it split, half rolling around the north end of the island and half rolling around the southern end.