The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (47 page)

“Good. You do remember. Now, what color were her eyes?”

For a little bit Caitlyn didn’t answer. Her eyes clouded with tears again. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

“That’s all right, honey.” Joan gathered Caitlyn in her arms and held her close. She wished she had stopped with the hair. “It’ll come back to you.”

Caitlyn chewed on her lip and shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think I forgot.”

Joan didn’t say anything, she just held the child.

After a minute, Caitlyn asked, “Do you think Mommy’s forgotten me?”

Joan shook her head. “There’s no way in the world your mother would ever forget you. I can promise you that.”

Caitlyn snuggled down in Joan’s arms and began to relax. Joan thought she’d fallen asleep when she asked, “What if Mommy goes back to our house and we’re not there? How will she find us?”

“Well, if I were your mother and I went back to the house and you weren’t there, I’d go to Ashmont. I’d think someone there had taken you home with them to keep you safe until I got back. And when I got to Ashmont, I’d go see Sister Janine or Alma to see if they knew where you were, and you know what? They do. They both know where you and Corey are.”

“So she could find us?”

“She certainly could. Sister Janine would send a message to Sister Theresa, and then we’d take you and Corey back to Ashmont to your mother.”

“Oh. We wouldn’t live here anymore?”

“We’d go see your mother and see what she wanted to do. If she wanted all of you to stay here, you could.”

Caitlyn yawned as she nodded, so Joan eased her back down on the bed. Then she stood up and straightened the covers. “Go to sleep little girl, and dream of bunnies.”

Caitlyn’s eyes fluttered open. “Bunnies?”

Joan nodded. “Yes, nice soft, fluffy little bunny rabbits. Watch them hopping around a meadow, playing in the sunshine.”

Caitlyn smiled as her eyes slowly shut. Joan covered the glowstone on the nightstand but left the small night light over by the door. She had no idea whether introducing the idea of bunnies to the sleepy child had done any good, but at least her last thoughts had brought a smile to her face.

~ ~ ~ ~

After Joan left Caitlyn, she checked on Corey. He was sound asleep, so she went in search of Karl. She found him in the kitchen, with a glass of milk and half a dozen cookies.

“Hungry?” she asked.

Karl shook his head. “Not really. I came in here looking for you. You weren’t here but the cookies were, and they were calling my name. I couldn’t be rude, so I got a glass of milk and joined them.”

“Right.” Joan picked up one of the cookies and took a bite. “They’re good.”

“Oh, yeah,” Karl said as he polished off another one. “Where were you anyway?”

“Putting Caitlyn to bed.”

“For the last half hour?”

“She was upset. I’m afraid I stirred up some memories today when I asked her about the man on the boat.” Joan sat down at the table across from Karl. “She says she can’t remember what her mother looks like, and it’s worrying her.”

“Too bad Steve didn’t know her mother.”

Joan’s eyes opened wide. “What a wonderful idea. I’ll ask him in the morning.”

“Ask him what? To draw a picture of someone he’s never seen? Come on, Joan. The man’s good, but no one’s that good.”

“People do it all the time. Police sketch artists listen to what witnesses say and then sketch the person. Why couldn’t Steve do the same thing?”

“For one thing, he’s not a police sketch artist. There’s a lot of training involved in that.”

“Well, I’ll just ask him if he’d be willing to try. There’s no harm in that, is there?”

“I don’t know, Joan. If you ask him, he’ll say yes, especially since it’s for Caitlyn. And if he’s not able to do it, he’ll feel guilty for letting you down, but even worse, for letting her down. And who’s going to describe her? Caitlyn can’t. Corey might be able to, but I’m not sure we should ask him to try. That wound’s still pretty raw.”

Joan nodded. “Maybe I need to find someone to handle the description before I talk to Steve. I guess I could ask Sister Janine to do it. From everything I’ve heard, she’s very observant and organized, and she’s detached. There wouldn’t be any emotion involved for her.” Joan thought about the woman she’d never met, but whose influence permeated that chapel. “I’m not sure she’d do it though. She’d probably think it was a waste of time, that the kids need to move on.”

“Speaking of moving on,” Karl said, “if a key was involved in the raid, the chances of Kevin being able to rescue their mother just went from slim to none, didn’t it?”

Joan nodded. “She could be anywhere on Terah by now.”

“So should we go ahead and make arrangements to adopt them?”

“I’m not sure. Caitlyn asked how her mother could find her if she went back to their house and they weren’t there. I told her Sister Janine knows where she is, so it would be all right, but if she’s wondering how she and her mother are going to find each other, I’m not sure now’s the time to tell her we want to be her new Mommy and Daddy. She’s not ready to give up on the old one yet.”

“Corey won’t be either. Maybe we should approach this adoption a little differently.”

“How?” Joan asked.

“For one thing, we could let them continue to call us Joan and Karl. For another, we could tell them this adoption just lets everyone know we want them to stay with us until their mother turns up. At least that way they won’t have to worry about someone making them leave.”

“That sounds all right. When should we do it?”

“And how do we do it? What’s involved?”

Joan shrugged. “Guess I need to see Laryn tomorrow and find out.”

“Once we know what’s involved, we’ll decide when.”

Joan nodded. “But I don’t think it should be too soon. Maybe after the wedding?”

“You’ve changed your mind about tying it into the reception?”

“I think so. The ministers’ wives will see them at some point and ask questions, we can’t avoid that, and when it happens, I’ll tell them what happened in Syrando, but I don’t want to put the kids front and center.”

“But you think we can adopt them before Christmas, right?”

Joan nodded. “I could go along with that.” She picked up his empty glass and plate and carried them over to the sink. “And now, I’m ready for bed. How about you?”

Chapter 42

Working Out Some Details

While Joan and Karl were eating cookies, Darrell was at the desk in his room at the guard headquarters poring over the notes he’d made during that day’s interviews. He was only halfway through his original list and he’d already picked up more names to interview than he’d been able to check off. At this rate, he’d never be done.

Every person he’d interviewed had talked to at least one other person that morning, many had talked to half a dozen or more, but most of them weren’t sure whether Landis’s plans had come up or not. But even if they’d said there was no way her plans were discussed, he’d have to follow up anyway. And then their movements had to be checked out, to make sure they were where they said they were and not off meeting with assassins. The problem wasn’t his method, it was the enormity of the task.

He needed help. He needed someone who knew all the people involved, but who wasn’t really friends with many of them. He needed someone who’d lived in the area a long time, who’d been there before Badec was poisoned, someone who could spot anomalies, who would know if someone went somewhere they didn’t normally go, or spoke with someone they didn’t usually speak to. He needed someone who paid attention to what was going on around him. He needed someone who thought like a guard, and the only person he could think of who fit all those criteria was Cpt. Lawrence.

But could he be sure of Cpt. Lawrence? So far no one he’d interviewed had mentioned seeing the captain that morning. Maybe his first step should be finding out where he was during the storm, during the time Landis was eating breakfast, during the morning, and up until the time Marcus was shot. And he needed to find out where he was when Saryn was killed, too. If he could rule Cpt. Lawrence out, it would be safe to ask him to help in the investigation, and bringing him in would solve another of his problems. He could interview the soldiers on the list. They’d be a lot more likely to talk to Cpt. Lawrence than to him.

With the decision made to ask Cpt. Lawrence for help if he was cleared, Darrell divided the remaining interviews into two groups. Then he divided the alibis. By the time he was done, his to-do list was still long, but it looked more manageable than it had half an hour ago.

Darrell stacked the papers up and stored them in a hidden drawer he’d found in his desk. He had no idea who’d owned that desk before him, much less whether or not they’d discovered that little drawer, but he’d found it quite handy.

Then he covered the glowstone on his desk and the one on the nightstand, and fell into bed.

~ ~ ~ ~

Wednesday morning Darrell ran into Cpt. Lawrence as both men headed to the dining hall for breakfast.

“Captain, I was wondering if I could talk to you sometime today,” Darrell said as they entered the dining room.

“How about right now?” Cpt. Lawrence asked. “While we eat breakfast.”

“All right, but I’d like for our conversation to be private, so would you mind if we ate off by ourselves?”

“What about over there?” Cpt. Lawrence pointed to a small table set off by itself near the far wall.

“Perfect.”

Miranda had set out coffee, fruit, cheese, and pastries on a table near the kitchen door. At another table, she’d set out eggs, toast, jellies, and something that looked a lot like oatmeal.

Darrell fixed a plate of fruit and cheese, poured himself a cup of coffee, and made his way over to the table to wait for Cpt. Lawrence, who was getting eggs and toast.

After they were both seated, Darrell began. “I’m looking into the attack at the chapel, and I’d like your help in figuring out where everyone was that morning.”

Cpt. Lawrence sighed. “I was afraid that’s what you wanted to talk to me about. I’m sorry, but I won’t be any help at all. I wasn’t here.”

Darrell frowned.

“I was up at the mountain training camp.”

Darrell’s frown deepened.

“You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”

Darrell shook his head.

“You know Myron took a squad of soldiers over to the Kivee River to watch for the slavers, right?”

Darrell nodded.

“Well, those soldiers are from a special training camp we have in the mountains. All of the men up there are former slaves, and they spend their time learning to track and fight in hopes that one day they’ll get to go after a band of slavers. It’s what they live for,” Cpt. Lawrence explained. “Paddy runs it, and he’s been in charge ever since it started, but it’s under Gen. Crandal’s command. He goes up the first Sunday of the month and spends the night. On Sunday afternoon, he and Paddy review the troops and have them run through some mock rescues. Then, that evening, he and Paddy meet with the squad leaders to discuss problems and plans.”

“All right, but why were you up there?”

“Gen. Crandal knew Myron wasn’t going to be here Sunday night and he didn’t think it was a good idea for both of them to be gone. At the same time, Paddy and his men had prepared the mock rescues for Sunday. Gen. Crandal felt like someone had to show up, so he sent me. I left here mid-morning Sunday. I had planned to be back by lunchtime Monday, but after that storm hit, I stayed put and helped out up there. I didn’t get back until late Tuesday afternoon, so, you see, I can’t help you out. I don’t know where anyone was Monday.”

A slow grin spread across Darrell’s face. “That’s even better.”

It was Cpt. Lawrence’s turn to frown.

“Since you weren’t here, you have no preconceived ideas about what may or may not have happened. Let me explain what I’m doing.”

Then Darrell told him about the breakfast conversation, the note to Hayley, all the people who needed to be interviewed, the alibis that would have to be checked, and all the cross-checking that would need to be done. “I was hoping you’d help me investigate. Would you be willing to do that?”

“Absolutely!” Cpt. Lawrence answered. “And if we do find the leak, I want a few minutes alone with him to find out if he had anything to do with Badec’s illness.”

“No problem, but keep one thing in mind,” Darrell said, “It may not be a he. It could just as easily be a she.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Chris and the pages were trying to figure out which ministers had yet to respond to their invitation to the reception. At last count, 45 were coming, and 40 of them were bringing their wives. Twenty had sent their regrets, but that left fifteen who had not answered one way or the other. Chris wanted to send them a letter stating the guest list would be closed as of Sunday, November 10, so if they intended to come, they needed to get their acceptance in by then.

Just as the pages were sitting down to start copying the letter, Darrell walked in. He looked over at Chris with his eyebrows raised.

Chris nodded. “Ariel, Isak, your trainer’s here.”

“Trainer?” Ariel asked, frowning.

Chris nodded. “Cpt. Darrell’s here to work with the two of you on self-defense. Good luck!”

“But these letters,” Ariel said, holding up the draft Chris had written. “They need to go out this morning.”

“We can do it,” Cameryn said, grinning, while Elin snickered.

Chris nodded, so Ariel and Isak got up and headed towards the door. After they left, Chris picked up a stack of papers and said, “If you need anything, I’ll be in Myron’s office.”

After he sat down in Kevin’s office, Chris said “You should have seen Ariel’s face. I don’t think working out with Darrell is at the top of his fun list.”

“Not the top of mine, either,” Kevin admitted, “or it wasn’t until I learned how to use magic. Not so bad now.”

“Are you going to work with Marcus after lunch today?”

Kevin nodded. “As far as I know. I haven’t heard otherwise.”