The Map Maker's Quest (5 page)

“All right,” Jane said. The steel in her voice returned when she saw the tiny tears falling from Bella's eyes. This madness had to stop, even if it cost her everything she would find a way to stop Cain.

 

Chapter Five

The Riddle

J
ane appeared just down the shore of Lake Superior from where the boat landing had once been located. Above them, perched on the jutted out pillars of stone, stood Split Rock Lighthouse with its beacon slowly spinning even though its time as a working lighthouse was long over. The beach was empty, and she stumbled awkwardly for a moment, Bella clung to her neck with all her might. The passage through the Divide had been much harder this time and it had taken all of her strength to push through the dark curtain.

“Oomph,” Bella grunted. She clung to Jane's jacket collar as she tried to stand up. Her legs wobbled. “I didn't realize it would be like that.”

Jane sat down on the bench by the small wooden storage building and looked out over Lake Superior as her head cleared. “We made it,” she said when her voice returned. The water was choppy today, and the waves crashed into the stones sending spray high into the air. The mist that managed to make it this high on the shore was cold and brought a chill to her body. She looked around the edge of the shack and let her eyes trail up the steps. There was a long wooden stairway that ended in the trail leading over to the main part of the lighthouse.

“Jacob and the others are supposed to meet us here,” Jane said. “Let's keep your presence here a secret for a while.”

“I can make myself invisible for a time,” Bella said.

“How long can you stay invisible?” Jane asked.

Bella tapped her foot and then faded from view, “This world is full of energy, probably all day if I need to. In our world there are many people using the world magnetic lines to power machines and their own powers. Here no one is using them.”

“Good,” Jane replied. “Just stick with me and I'll make sure no one else knows you're here.”

They waited for another hour talking quietly, and Jane smiled, thinking if anyone saw her talking they would think she was losing it. Two hours later Jacob and Jackie had still not arrived and a group of six people were walking about the beach taking pictures of the distant lighthouse.

“I wonder where they are,” Jane whispered.

“I don't know,” Bella replied. The sun was fading away and there was a chill in the air.

Jane's thoughts turned dark as she thought about Jacob and Jackie alone together, her sister was more beautiful than she was. Maybe Jacob was falling for her.

Twenty minutes later a pair of figures appeared down the shore to the south and Jane's thoughts turned again. She could tell right away it was Jacob and Jackie. As they got closer she saw troubled looks on their faces.

“What happened?” Jane asked when they arrived at the wooden shack. Suddenly there was another flash of movement and Tasker appeared from the Divide looking worried.

“Adherents attacked us at a gas station in Two Harbors,” Jacob said. “We managed to escape but they seemed to know we were coming.” Jacob looked suspiciously at Tasker but held his silence.

“Someone is feeding Cain information about our movements,” Jane said through tight lips. She gave Jackie a quick hug and then gave Jacob a much longer one. When she finally released her grip on him Jackie smiled at her and giggled into her hand. “What!”

“Nothing,” Jackie snickered.

“Let's get moving,” Jane grunted.
She loved having her sister back but sometimes . . . well . . . no she loved having her back,
Jane thought. They started up the long stairs, and she felt Bella settle onto her shoulder. The sudden reminder that the invisible fairy was present startled her and she paused.

“What's wrong?” Jacob asked. He put his hand on the opposite shoulder and looked by her up the stairs. Her heart beat a little faster and she looked back at him and smiled. His grip was strong and the wisp of a scent of his cologne reached her.

“Nothing,” Jane replied. She started up the steps again and by the time they reached the top, she was breathing heavily. Then she realized they had only finished climbing the first flight of the wooden steps. There was a platform and then the stairs continued up until they reached a gravel path framed by stone retaining walls. With a deep breath she followed her sister and Tasker up the next section of steps using the railing for support, adding strength in her legs.

“Is it empty up there?” Jane asked quietly.

“It looks like the last few people just walked back to the entrance,” Jacob said. He was crouched at the end of a stone wall watching the empty grounds. They were all crouched down out of sight. Just beyond the wall sat three houses once the living spaces for the staff who stayed on grounds. Jacob watched as one of the guides exited the lighthouse and locked the door. They stayed out of sight until they heard the door close off to their left.

“Let's go,” Jacob hissed.

The four of them hurried across the grassy grounds until they reached the stone steps leading up to the lighthouse. At the top of the steps a stone building to the left contained the remains of fuel tanks and generators. They were only for display now, but Jane could feel the presence of the massive hunks of iron.

Just to their right was the white walled building that housed the lighthouse. They all gathered around the locked door.

“How do we get in?” Jane whispered. The door was locked shut and there was an iron padlock holding a secondary lock.

“Give me a minute,” Tasker muttered. He pulled a pair of thin pieces of metal from an inner pocket on his shirt and leaned close to the lock. “I'm pretty good with locks, a legacy of my youth I'm afraid.” He slipped the lock picks into the lock and began turning the small tumblers inside.

“I can just cut them off,” Jacob said. He pulled his sword out and motioned to the locks. His voice faltered as the iron padlock came off cleanly in Tasker's hand. The dwarf looked back and raised an eyebrow at Jacob.

“Almost done,” Tasker said quietly. He slipped the lock pick into the next lock and lowered his face as close to it as possible. There was only a padlock and the lock built into the door handle, but the people working at the lighthouse had locked both of them.

This one was a little harder, and Jane fidgeted from where she was kneeling down and watching for any sign of trouble. She glanced back at the dwarf and watched as he continued to fiddle with the lock. Jacob looked over at her and shrugged as if to say I told you so. When she looked back, her heart leapt in her chest. A man was crossing the grounds towards the steps.

“Hurry someone's coming,” Jane hissed.

“Almost got it,” Tasker responded. A moment later the lock clicked open and they all hurried inside.

“Quick close the door,” Jane said. The man was nearing the bottom of the stairs, and he seemed to sense that something was out of place. Jane turned, scurried into the open door, and watched as Tasker slipped the door shut and held it.

“Where's the padlock?” Jackie asked suddenly. She watched as a look of horror crossed Tasker face, he looked down and then pointed to the bottom of the door.

“It's outside on the ground,” he whispered.

Jacob rolled his eyes as he groaned quietly. He sneaked a look outside the lighthouse and saw the lighthouse keeper round the corner. He paused as he examined the door. Jacob saw his eyes widen slightly and then he hurried and bent over to grab the lock.

“I told Jim to lock this a dozen times,” the man muttered. “When will he learn to double check his work?”

From inside the small main room they heard him shake the smaller lock to make sure it was secure. Jackie frown as she heard the thick lock slide into place and the thick iron lock click shut. The man pulled once on the lock and padlock and then turned and vanished into the darkness.

“Nice job,” Jacob muttered. He glared at Tasker and wondered once more if the dwarf was the one feeding information to the Adherents. “How do we get out now without alerting everyone.”

“Let's just find the clue,” Jane muttered.

“What are we looking for again?” Tasker asked.

 

Set in iron,

Etched in glass,

Revealed by light,

Read the words,

Follow the path.

 

“Hmm etched in glass,” Jacob muttered. “Lights?” He turned and began inspecting the lanterns and lights around the main room.

“I don't think it's down here Jacob,” Jackie said with a smile.

“Where else would it be?” Jacob replied.

“Uncle Ernie would have needed something he knew would never go away,” Jane explained. “Lanterns and lights could break or be replaced.” She stepped into the next room that was circular and housed the steps leading up into the air.

“There's only one light in this place Uncle Ernie would have known would never be replaced,” Jackie said. She pointed up into the air and nodded her head towards the circular stairs leading up into the upper floor of the lighthouse. They climbed around the wrought iron steps and entered the upstairs room of the lighthouse. It was dark and Jane knew that they dared not turned the lights on.

“I'm going to climb up into the mirror and see if I can find it,” Jane said. She looked around until she found the switch that would stop the light from circling. “Jackie, when I get up there flip this switch. Hopefully, when the mirror stops spinning no one will notice for at least a few minutes.”

“Do they ever turn it on?” Jackie asked curiously.

“Couple times a year at most,” Jacob replied. “You know I've lived this close to Split Rock all my life, and the first time I visit it is after dark and without paying. How horrible is that?”

Jackie nodded and smiled at him.

Jane walked to the green housing that protected the mechanism and climbed up on top of it. She remembered from her last visit that the massive mirror turned on a container of pure mercury and was rigged to a counter weight that had to be wound every couple hours. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, she continued to work her way up until she reached the top she called down to her sister, “Okay, throw the switch.”

“It's off,” Jackie shouted up to her.

Jane waited until the light stopped moving, and then she pushed her way up into the interior of the light. She examined the glass shards and immediately spotted one that was different. There was one near the top of assembly with a three etched into the surface. It could have been there for decades and no one would have ever seen it. She pulled her amulet out of her shirt and looked it. There were numbers on almost all of the glass pieces and it took her a moment to locate the seven at the bottom of the mirror. Two minutes later she located the one and four but even after she found them all, she didn't know what to do with them.

“What's taking so long?” Tasker called up to her. He leaned forward and peered up into the mirror.

“I found all the marked pieces, but what do I do with them?” Jane called back. Her heart started beating faster, and her palms started sweating. “All of them have numbers on them.”

“Do they come out?” Jacob asked.

“No,” Jane pushed on the mirror piece in front of her that had the seven on it but it was firmly held in place.

“No other marks on them at all?” Jackie said.

“Nothing,” Jane said.

“The riddle said to follow the path,” Jacob reasoned. Desperately, he tried to remember the entire riddle but his mind was drawing a blank.

“What path?” Tasker asked.

Suddenly Jackie leapt up onto the first steps and tapped her sister on the leg; “Try drawing a line between the top and bottom and the two sides.” She tried to look up into the mirror but her sister was blocking too much of the entrance.

Jane followed what her sister was saying as she said it. She drew a line with her finger between the three and seven. Carefully she tried to mentally draw a line between the one and four. The spot was right in the middle of two mirror pieces, so she reached up and pushed on one of the glass lenses. The first one didn't move so she tried the second and the brass fittings holding it in place gave way.

“I got it,” Jane said breathlessly. The glass moved easily when she put her hand on it and flipped completely around. On the back of the glass she saw the words and read them out loud doing her best to commit them to memory.

 

Mansion of wood, built from iron,

Fire and stone, call it home,

Ghosts rise up and sadly watch,

Down the tunnel, a rod of iron

Take this shard, to light your path.

Four markers wait, to find the treasure.

 

“Take the shard?” Jane muttered. Carefully she reached out and pulled at the mirror. It held firm.

“We need to hurry, Jane,” Jackie hissed. She tried to look around her sister but Jane had pushed higher into the mirror assembly and she now blocked the entire opening.

Jane heard Jackie calling to her but she pushed up higher yet and brought both arms up. She reached up around the edges of the mirror piece and felt for anything that would release the bit of polished glass into her waiting hand.

She could not find anything that felt like it would loosen the piece and she needed to hurry. “Bella?” Jane said quietly.

“Yes?” Bella replied.

“Can you see anything?” Jane asked. “Around the back or edges of the shard?” She felt the small weight on her shoulder shift as the fairy made her way up Jane's outstretched arm to examine the mirror.

“I got it,” Bella said after a moment. “Put your other hand out and I'll unlock the fitting.” She waited until Jane's hand was under the shard and then grabbed the small brass lever and pulled with all her might. First a small clicking, then the latch holding the shard in place released its grip.

“I got it,” Jane said. She slipped the piece into her pocket and hurried down the ladder. The moment she was clear of the opening Jacob pushed the lever back into the original position and once again the light mechanism began to turn around and around. At one time it had been the savior of many ships. Now its single eye was dark as it looked out across the rolling waters of Lake Superior.