The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (34 page)

“Probably.” Marcie put the last tray of cookies in the oven. “When he heard about the fish fry today, he went down to help. I imagine he’s either tending the fires or cleaning fish.”

Lisal crinkled up her nose. “You’d think he’d have called on me before he did anything like that. He’ll be all messy and smelly now.” Then she looked over at Hayley like she’d just noticed her. “Hello, I’m Lisal.”

Hayley smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m Hayley. It’s nice to meet you.”

Lisal nodded. “You’re not from around here. I’d know you if you were. Where are you from?”

“Milhaven.”

“Milhaven?” Lisal asked with a frown. She turned back to Marcie. “Isn’t that where Marcus has been for the past few months?”

Marcie nodded. “Hayley came with him for a visit.”

“With him? They came here together?”

Marcie nodded.

“So that’s why he went there,” Lisal spat out. “I knew it! I knew there was someone else. That two-timing …”

“Wait a minute!” Hayley held both her hands up for Lisal to stop. “Just wait one minute. I don’t know where you’re headed with this, or what you’re getting ready to say, but I didn’t meet Marcus until after he started working with Myron. I’m Sister Theresa’s assistant, and Sister Theresa and Myron have known each other for years. I met Marcus through her. Don’t go blaming me for anything where he’s concerned. And we may have come here together, but we’re not together like you’re saying. We’re friends. We work together. That’s it.”

“So you say,” Lisal said, venom dripping with each word.

Hayley’s eyes darkened. “Yes, so I say.”

Rayne had sat at the far end of the table, watching the whole scene. Her eyes were as big as saucers and her mouth was shaped like an “o”. Marcie looked at her daughter and then back at Lisal.

“I think it’s time for you to head back to Bridgeport, Lisal.” Marcie walked over to the door and opened it. “I’d hate for you to miss the picnic.” She held the door open until Lisal gave up and left.

“Sorry about that,” Marcie said as she shut and latched the door.

“Is she … I mean … are they …?” Hayley asked, very conscious of Rayne taking it all in.

“No! Absolutely not!” Marcie sighed. “At least not as far as Marcus is concerned. What’s in her head is another matter.”

“She thinks they’re married already,” Rayne said as she licked cookie batter off her fingers.

Marcie looked at her daughter, frowned, and said, “Rayne, go hitch the horses to the wagon. We need to load up soon.”

Rayne rolled her eyes. “Mother, there’s no reason to make me leave. Everyone in town has heard her say they’re betrothed. She’s told everyone who’ll listen, and he goes around behind her and says they aren’t.”

Marcie sighed. “Well, there you have it in a nutshell.”

“I see,” Hayley said quietly. “I didn’t mean to cause any problems. I could stay here during the picnic.”

“Nonsense,” Marcie snorted. “It’s not your fault the woman’s crazy. He’s told her he’s not going to marry her, that he doesn’t love her, but it doesn’t do any good. I know he wanted to work as a sorcerer, but if it hadn’t been for her making his life so miserable he’d probably have stayed around here, done odd jobs as a sorcerer, and worked with Thom. They had a lot of ideas about expanding the business to other things, like hauling goods, or breeding horses, even building and selling wagons and buggies, but Lisal just wouldn’t leave him alone. Sometime I’ll tell you some of the stories.”

“Mother!” Rayne said, again rolling her eyes. “I already know those stories. You forget I live here, too.” She turned to Hayley. “One time Lisal went in Marcus’s house while he was away and rearranged his furniture, even threw some stuff out because she didn’t like it. She said it was going to be her house anyway, once they were married, so she was just getting a head start on fixing it like she wanted it.” Rayne grinned. “That night Uncle Marcus put wards on all the doors and windows at his place.”

Hayley glanced over at Marcie, who nodded. “It’s true. I imagine that’s one reason he brought you here this morning instead of taking you to his place. He never knows what to expect when he goes to his house, and I doubt he wanted to have to explain why he has wards up all over the place.”

“And that’s not all,” Rayne said. As she took a big breath to launch into her next tale, her mother shut her down.

“That’s enough, Rayne. None of this is any of your business. If Marcus wants to tell Hayley what Lisal’s done, it’s up to him, not us. Now go hitch up the horses. It’s time for us to load up.”

Rayne’s shoulders slumped and she let out a long-suffering sigh, but she got up and slowly made her way out the back door.

Marcie shook her head as she removed the cookies from the oven and set them to the side to cool. “Sorry about that, but she was having entirely too much fun talking about Lisal. It’s a source of embarrassment for Marcus, and once Rayne starts talking about something like that, she doesn’t want to let go of it. I’d hate for him to walk in while she’s in the middle of one of those stories.”

“Sorry,” Hayley said, feeling a bit embarrassed herself. “I didn’t mean to get anything started.”

“You didn’t.” Marcie put her hand over Hayley’s. “You’re an innocent bystander in all of this. I hope Lisal won’t make a big scene during the picnic, but if she does, don’t worry about it. It won’t be the first time she’s done something like that, and it won’t come as a surprise to anyone there.”

Before Hayley could think of anything to say, the back door swung open again, but this time the person standing there was grinning from ear to ear and holding a baby in her arms. “I heard we had a guest in town,” said the young woman. “A friend of Marcus’s.”

Marcie smiled and reached for the baby. “Shel, this is Hayley. Hayley, this is Shel, Thom’s younger sister. Shel, her husband Gorge, and Evan, this adorable little boy, live next door.”

Shel picked up a warm cookie from the tray. “I’m glad to meet you. Do you work at the castle, too?”

While Marcie played with Evan, Hayley answered Shel’s questions. By the time Shel ran out of questions, Rayne was back. It was time to load up and go.

~ ~ ~ ~

When they got to Bridgeport, Marcie parked in a large field with the other wagons. The makeshift tables were on the other side of the fire pits, near the docks. Hayley wasn’t sure how many trips she made, but by the time all the food was unloaded, she was hot and thirsty. She looked around for some pitchers or barrels, anything that might indicate something to drink. While she was looking, she sensed someone behind her. When she turned around, a young boy was standing there holding a glass of water.

He tilted his head and asked, “You’re Marcus’s friend, aren’t you?”

Hayley nodded. “My name’s Hayley.”

“I’m Caleb.” He held the glass out. “This is for you.”

Hayley took the glass. “Thanks. Did your mother send you over with it?”

Caleb shook his head. “You were thirsty, so I got it for you.” He glanced around the slowly growing crowd. “Looks like most of the people are here now. We’ll be eating soon. Marcus is with my father over at the boat. I’ll go let him know you’re here.”

Hayley watched as Caleb wound around people and tables, making his way towards the boats tied up at the docks. As Caleb disappeared into the crowd, Hayley sat down at the closest table. After a few minutes, an older couple sat down opposite her.

“Did you come with Marcus?” the woman asked.

When Hayley nodded, the lady introduced herself as Gloria, Marcus’s foster mother. “He told us he’d brought a friend with him, but he didn’t mention how pretty you are.”

Hayley smiled and thanked the woman.

“I’m Morris, Marcus’s foster father,” the man said, reaching out to shake Hayley’s hand. “Marcus says you work with a sister?”

“I’m a sister’s assistant.”

“What does that mean,” Gloria asked.

“Well, mainly it means I do whatever Sister Theresa needs me to do. I help her with patients, make sure we have enough supplies, tend to the herb beds, gather herbs, dry them, make poultices and teas, and do almost everything a sister does except use my hands to heal.”

“How’s that different from a chapel aide? We don’t have a chapel in Bridgeport, but we had one where I grew up, and the chapel aides did all of that.”

“Yes, ma’am, they do,” Hayley said with a nod. “The big difference is I work with Sister Theresa no matter where she’s assigned. If I were an aide, I’d stay at the chapel and work with whatever sister’s assigned there.”

Morris shot a quick glance over to his wife. “So you may have to leave Milhaven?”

Hayley nodded. “If Sister Theresa does.”

“What if you’re married?” Gloria asked.

Hayley shrugged. “I don’t know. No one’s said what would happen in that case and I haven’t asked. Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have any plans along that line.”

A slight frown passed over Gloria’s face before she smiled and said, “Well, I hope all goes well for you, dear.”

Hayley wasn’t sure what to say so she didn’t say anything. Before the silence could get awkward, Marcus walked up and the conversation turned to food and lunch.

During lunch several people came by their table. Some came to say hello to Marcus, some to ask when he was moving back home, and a couple wanted to know if he’d be around long enough to do some work for them, but no matter what pretext they used for dropping by, their eyes were on Hayley the whole time they were there. The one person Hayley didn’t see was Lisal.

Lunch lasted for two hours, and then, almost as if by signal, people gathered their stuff together, cleared the tables, and loaded the wagons. Half an hour after the exodus started, the tables were down, the fires were out, and most of the wagons were gone.

After they unloaded Marcie’s wagon and stored the left-over food, everyone drifted outside. Marcus and Lance played with Caleb while Hayley talked with Marcie and Rayne. Around sunset Marcus caught a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. When he looked towards the flash, he saw Kevin standing near the edge of the yard.

“Guess it’s time to go,” Marcus said to his sister as Kevin walked towards them.

After Marcus introduced everyone, Marcie grabbed Hayley’s hand. “Please come back for another visit, sometime when you can stay longer. And don’t worry about giving us any notice. If you get the chance to come, just come. We’ll be here. You’re always welcome.”

Hayley hugged Marcie. “Thanks. I had a lovely day and I hope we can come again before long.”

A few seconds later, they were in the backyard of the chapel in Milhaven. As Hayley thanked Kevin for taking them, she remembered Theresa had asked her to see if Kevin could take them to Rainbow Valley Tuesday morning.

“As far as I know right now,” Kevin said. “How long do you want to stay?”

“She said something about Saturday. Would that work for you?”

Kevin nodded. “Tell Theresa I’ll be here around 8:30 Tuesday morning. If anything comes up and I need to change that, I’ll let her know.”

Chapter 31

Mapleton

After dinner that evening, Kevin and Chris went to the office. As Chris shut the door, he asked, “Anything we need to go over before we leave for Mapleton?”

“If Robyn agrees to talk to her, I don’t want Landis or Rhianna to know anything about it until I pick him up.”

“Okay, but how are you going to explain picking them up?”

“Rhianna thinks it would be a good idea for Landis to see what a sorcerer does on a day-to-day basis. She’s never been around a human sorcerer, so she has no idea what they do. I thought I’d ask Marcus to set up some typical jobs and let her follow him around for a day. I can use that as a cover for her meeting with Robyn.”

“When are you planning to do it?”

“I don’t know yet. Marcus will be easy. All I’ll have to do is give him a couple of days’ notice, but Robyn’s different. I thought I’d let him set the date and go from there.”

“And speaking of Robyn, we’re supposed to be there in a couple of minutes.”

“Are you ready?” Kevin asked as he stood up.

Chris nodded and placed his hand on Kevin’s arm. Seconds later, they were in Glenice’s office in Mapleton. Glenice was standing out of the way behind her desk but Robyn wasn’t there.

“Where’s Robyn?” Kevin asked.

“He won’t be long,” Glenice said.

“Any particular reason he asked us to come straight here?” Chris asked.

Glenice walked towards the door. “Maybe you should ask him. I’ll get you something to drink.”

After the door shut, Chris frowned. “Did that seem a little off to you?”

Kevin nodded. “Something’s happened.”

“Do you think maybe someone spotted us around here?”

Kevin shrugged. “No idea. Let’s see what Robyn says.”

For nearly ten minutes, they sat in silence. Then they heard someone come down the hall and pause in front of the door to Glenice’s office. Chris stood up and put his hand on Kevin’s shoulder in case they needed to make a quick exit, but when the door opened, it was Robyn. He was balancing a tray of drinks with one hand while opening the door with the other.

Chris took the tray and set it on the desk while Kevin stood up to shake the older man’s hand. “Thank you for seeing us.”

Robyn shook Kevin’s hand and nodded. “Sorry it had to be on a Sunday evening, but I always eat dinner with the sisters on Sundays and then hang around and play Octuro with them. Game’s going to start before long, so let’s get down to it. What can I do for you?”

“Is everything all right?” Kevin asked. “I mean, Glenice seemed a bit tense this evening, and she’s always been so easygoing before. And you seem a little stressed yourself.”

Robyn shrugged. “We’re a little uneasy these days. A few weeks ago, a man moved to Mapleton, by himself, no family. That in itself isn’t worrisome, but he’s been here a month now, and all he does is walk around asking questions and watching. And he’s not watching just one person. He’s watching everybody. And he questions everybody. Who are you? Where are you going? What do you do? How long have you lived here? Where are you from? Where are your parents from? And on and on and on. It’s got everyone on edge. I don’t know if he’s one of Rolan’s men or not, but I don’t want to take any chances. We’re all being careful these days, watching what we say, who we say it to, and who’s around when we say it.”