The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) Read online

  “Well, I know a couple of guys who would probably do it, and Brena could even vouch for them.”

  Kevin frowned. “Who?”

  “Caezar and Ramen.”

  Kevin’s mouth dropped open. “Chris, they’re still in Timera Valley. I completely forgot about them. Why didn’t you remind me I needed to go pick them up?”

  “I thought you already had.”

  Kevin shook his head. “I’ll go first thing tomorrow morning. I don’t know about asking them to do something else for me though, not after forgetting about them.”

  “If you don’t tell them you forgot about them, it won’t even cross their minds. They’ll figure you left them there to keep an eye on things, just to play it safe.”

  “Right. Would you buy that?”

  “No, but I know you. They don’t.”

  Kevin rolled his eyes. “But if they would go, I could tell Janine they’re the ones who watched over the chapel in Timera Valley after Brena was attacked.”

  “You’re assuming she knows about the attack. I doubt Brena wanted the other sisters to know someone bopped her over the head and stole the dragon’s flame lamp.”

  “All right. Suppose I ask her if she knows about the break-in, without mentioning anything else about it. Then I could tell her Caezar and Ramen kept an eye on things in Timera Valley while we took care of the culprits. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds fine to me, but I’m not Janine, and if she doesn’t know about the break-in, she may not believe you. But if Brena sent her a letter saying there’d been a break-in and Caezar and Ramen had watched over her and Verna while you took care of the crooks, that might carry some weight.”

  Kevin nodded. “Guess I need to add a trip to see Brena to my to-do list for tomorrow.”

  “You could do that before you talk to Caezar and Ramen.”

  Kevin shook his head. “I need to ask them to go before I talk to Brena. They might say no.”

  “They won’t.”

  “They might.”

  Chris shook his head. “They’re soldiers. If you need them, they won’t say no.”

  Chapter 7

  A Busy Monday Morning

  While Kevin was running through his workout Monday morning, Landis and Rhianna were making their way down Wildcat Mountain to Willow Canyon. It was earlier than usual, barely light enough to see the trail, but Landis was excited. She wanted to get this day started.

  Fifteen minutes ago Rhianna had been sound asleep when Landis barged into her room, dressed and ready to go. Rhianna felt sluggish as she followed her friend down the mountain, and to make matters worse, Landis hadn’t stopped talking since she’d opened Rhianna’s door.

  Forty-eight hours ago Rhianna was having to pump Landis up while she listened to her complain about how tiring it was and how much she hated it. And now? She was all bubbly and excited, couldn’t wait to get back to work. Rhianna shook her head. It wouldn’t last out the day. Glendymere would give her a new task, and the complaints would start all over again.

  Rhianna was so caught up in her own thoughts she wasn’t paying any attention to what Landis was saying, so when Landis asked her what she thought, Rhianna was at a loss. “What do I think about what?”

  “You weren’t listening to me, were you?”

  “I’m still half asleep, and I have trouble following you when I’m wide awake. So, one more time, what do I think about what?”

  “Now that I can gather magical energy, I’m going to talk to Glendymere about asking Myron to start working with me. I think I’m ready. What do you think?”

  “I don’t know. Seems to me if you were ready, Glendymere would be telling you, not the other way around.”

  “Well, I’m going to talk to him about it anyway.” Landis picked up her pace.

  When they reached the floor of the canyon, Glendymere was standing in front of the cave entrance. “I’m glad you’re here. I need to leave in a few minutes and I thought I was going to have to leave you a note about today’s task.” Before he could say anything else, the look on Rhianna’s face stopped him cold.

  “What? Huh?” Rhianna asked with a deep frown on her face.

  “What’s confusing you?”

  “How can you write a note?”

  “Like this.” Glendymere floated a piece of paper and a pen to the wall of the cavern and proceeded to write their names. Then he floated the paper to Rhianna. “See?”

  After Rhianna looked at the paper, she handed it to Landis.

  Landis frowned as she looked at it.

  “Do you have a question, Landis?” Glendymere asked.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Magic. You’ll be able to do it too once you learn how to use your magic. And that brings us back to what I want you to do today. I want you to find your connection with Terah again, but this time, I want you to picture a large ball in your mind. As you draw the energy into your body, let it fill your mind, and as it fills your mind, pour it into that ball, and I want you to keep pouring energy into that ball until you can’t get any more in there. Then I want you to put a cap on it and trap the energy inside. Do you understand?” Landis stared at him with her mouth open, so he turned to Rhianna. “Talk her through it like you did Saturday. Keep her going as long as you can.”

  Rhianna nodded, but there was a frown on Landis’s face again, so Glendymere asked, “You have another question, Landis?”

  “When can I start using this magic I’m drawing in? I thought now that I’ve found my connection with Terah, I could start doing something with it.”

  Rhianna saw a sparkle in Glendymere’s eyes, like he was going to laugh.

  “Landis, you aren’t quite ready to use magical energy yet. It’s like you’re standing outside of a huge room and before you can start using magic you have to get to the other side of the room. Inside, there’s a winding maze you’ll have to navigate, but before you can enter the maze, you’ve got to get into that room and right now, the door’s locked. What you did Saturday was like finding out where the key is kept. Understand?”

  “Not really.”

  Rhianna sighed and shook her head. “He’s saying you’ve got a long way to go before you’re ready to work with Myron.”

  “Exactly,” Glendymere said with a nod. “And while we’re on the subject of Myron, Rhianna, I’ve asked him to start working with you next Sunday. I’ll need your assistance when Landis begins drawing magical energy from the wind. Your family would normally show you how to use your connection with nature, but since you’re here helping his apprentice, I feel it’s only right that Myron teach you.”

  “No!” Rhianna blurted. “I mean, that’s not necessary. I’m sure Duane would come for a while. He could teach me.”

  “I’m sure he could, but I’d like for Myron to do it. After all, you’re here more or less at his request. Now, I really must be on my way. Landis, I’ll be interested in seeing how much energy you can secure in that ball when I get back this afternoon.” Then Glendymere spread his wings and leapt into the sky.

  Rhianna stared at Glendymere as he soared towards the east, thinking they weren’t done with that conversation. A couple of seconds later she felt sure she heard the dragon laughing, but after Glendymere disappeared into the clouds, Rhianna shook her head. Must have been her imagination.

  Then she turned to Landis. “If you’re going to fill that ball before he gets back, we better get started. Where do you want to work? Out here or in the cave?”

  “Let’s go inside.” Landis turned and walked into the cave. After they reached their workroom, she removed her shoes and planted her feet solidly on the ground. Then she squared her shoulders, gritted her teeth, and said, “You know, I have a feeling I’m going to really hate that ball.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  While Landis was attempting to draw energy up through her feet, Kevin was in Timera Valley trying to find the campsite Caezar and Ramen had set up. He’d already flown around the lake and used his seeing eye to search t
he shore. Then he’d checked along the sides of the road that led between the mountains back into the valley. He’d spent the last half hour flying around the edge of the valley, searching the woods with his seeing eye, but so far, he hadn’t found one trace of the men. He couldn’t even spot any smoke from a campfire.

  Just as he was about to give up, a flash of light near the top of one of the mountains caught his eye. He used his seeing eye to zoom in on the area. There, under a lean-to, sitting beside a fire that didn’t seem to give off any smoke, were his two ex-soldiers, looking every bit the mountain men they were supposed to be.

  A couple of minutes later, Kevin floated over the lean-to. He wasn’t sure whether he should call out to them before he landed or not. While he was trying to decide, he heard someone say, “We have coffee if you’d like some.” As Kevin’s feet hit the ground, Ramen stepped out from under the lean-to with two cups of coffee in his hands. As he handed one to Kevin, he said, “We were beginning to think you never would find us.”

  Kevin took the cup of coffee. “You knew I was looking for you?”

  Ramen nodded. “We were on top doing our morning rounds when we spotted you flying around the lake. We thought you might be looking for us, but you never looked up. When you headed towards the valley, we came back to our campsite. We figured you’d spot it right off, but when you didn’t, we started flashing you with a knife.”

  Kevin shook his head. His seeing eye skills were getting rusty. Time to schedule some practice with it. “I thought your camp would be near the lake or the valley floor.”

  “We noticed.” Caezar grinned.

  “We have several blinds scattered about, but this is our base camp, and has been for a while,” Ramen added.

  “We started staying up here after Colin left. We figured you’d either found the people who broke into the chapel or had reason to believe they wouldn’t be doing it again,” Caezar explained. “We introduced ourselves to Sister Brena and told her to hang a white towel on the back door knob if she ever needed us. We can see it from here.”

  The main thing that struck Kevin was they had introduced themselves to Brena. “You told Sister Brena I brought you out here to keep an eye on things?”

  “We didn’t figure you’d mind,” Ramen said, a bit hesitantly.

  “No, not at all. In fact, it’ll work in our favor if you’re willing to take on another undercover assignment.” Kevin looked at the two men for a moment. They looked rather grubby with their long hair and beards, but their clothes were clean, even if they were about worn out. “You’ll need to clean up a bit for the next one though, if you’re interested. And you’d have to give up sleeping under the stars and settle for a bed.”

  “Just what do you have in mind?” Caezar asked.

  Kevin explained about Syrando and Sister Janine’s plan to keep an eye out for the captives in Glenarbour. “I’m afraid she doesn’t have much faith in any of us from Milhaven, me especially. I thought maybe having the two of you in Glenarbour might make her feel a bit better about the whole situation, but if you go, you’ll have to stay through the auction, basically two weeks. Would you be interested?”

  “We can’t go as mountain men,” Ramen said. “They avoid places like Glenarbour.”

  “You could go as yourselves, two retired soldiers. From what I’ve heard, you’re both pretty well known in Milhaven for your Octuro skills. Want to play in Glenarbour?”

  “Now that does sound like fun,” Caezar said with a nod. “And I have to admit, being able to shave, take baths, and wear clean clothes on a regular basis sounds good, too.”

  “And we get to eat someone else’s cooking!” Ramen agreed. “When do we leave?”

  “How long will it take you to pack?” Kevin asked.

  “Half an hour,” Ramen answered.

  Kevin nodded. “I need to see Sister Brena for a minute, but I should be back by the time you’re done.” Then he lifted off the ground and up over the treetops.

  A few minutes later, he landed at the foot of the steps leading to the front door of the chapel. As soon as he knocked, Brena opened the door.

  “I thought I saw you floating around a little while ago. Made me think I was losing my mind for a minute there,” Brena said as she headed towards the kitchen and the inevitable cup of tea.

  “I was looking for Caezar and Ramen,” Kevin explained. “I take it you’ve met them?”

  “Ummm.” Brena poured two cups of tea. She set one in front of an empty chair on one side of the table and the other in front of a chair on her side. She motioned Kevin towards the chair across from her as she sat down. “I would have thought you’d introduce them to me yourself, but never mind.”

  “Brena, when I brought them here, you were unconscious.”

  “Verna wasn’t.”

  Kevin hesitated a moment. “I felt like the fewer people who knew about them, the better.”

  “You didn’t trust Verna at that point, did you?”

  Kevin didn’t answer.

  “That’s all right. I understand,” Brena said as she sipped her tea. “As far as I know, she never realized it, so it doesn’t matter. But for future reference, you can trust her.”

  Kevin sighed. “I know you have complete faith in all of the sisters, Brena, but …”

  “No, not really. I never did trust Gerry very much, and to be honest, Janine’s a bit of a worry. That’s why you’re here today, isn’t it?”

  Kevin nodded. “I don’t think she trusts me to handle things if she finds the captives.”

  “And you’re afraid she’ll go off on her own, try to rescue them, and end up causing both of us all kinds of headaches.”

  “To put it mildly.”

  “I agree. So, what are you going to do about it?”

  “Wait a minute,” Kevin said, frowning. “If you’re not sure she’ll play by the rules, why did you have me take her to Glenarbour to start with?”

  “Because I know her. If I hadn’t made arrangements for her to get there, she’d have gone on her own, and neither of us could have done a thing about it. I couldn’t have sent you after her to drag her back. She’s got a pendant. And she’ll only listen to me up to a point. If she thinks she knows best, she’ll act on it, no matter what I say.” Brena took another swallow of tea. “She has tunnel vision right now. She doesn’t see the larger picture and she’s not interested in seeing it. All she sees is that someone she feels responsible for is in danger, and that makes her dangerous to anyone who tries to get in her way, me included. You can’t fault her loyalty, or her sense of duty, but it may lead us into a real mess if you don’t come up with something. So, like I asked earlier, what are you going to do about it?

  “I’ve made arrangements to have someone at the auction who’ll buy any of the captives from Syrando who show up there. That person will take them to his home province where they’ll stay until arrangements can be made to bring them back to Camden, but I’m not going to take them back to Syrando.”

  “That’s fine, but I doubt it’ll be enough for Janine, especially as she doesn’t really know you.”

  “That’s why I want to put Caezar and Ramen in Glenarbour. I’m going to tell her they’re working for me and she can get a message to me through them, and if she runs into any problems, they’ll be there to help her.”

  “Or stop her,” Brena said under her breath. “All right, but why should she trust them?”

  “Does she know about the break-in last summer?”

  Brena thought for a moment and then nodded. “I don’t remember how, but she did hear about it. I got a note from her asking if there was anything she needed to know. I let her think it was just a couple of stray bandits who thought that since this chapel was the home of the Sisterhood, there’d be money here. But I did mention you’d put a couple of soldiers in the area to keep an eye out in case the thieves had been part of a larger gang.”

  “If you send her a note introducing them, would that make them more acceptable to her?”
>
  Brena nodded. “It should, but be sure to remind them she wears a pendant, and even good intentions, if interpreted as a threat, can spark it.”

  “I will.”

  “When are you taking them up there?”

  “I’m supposed to meet her tomorrow morning around daybreak. I thought I’d take them then.”

  “Good.” Brena stood up and put her cup in the sink. “Anything else?”

  Kevin shook his head and finished the last swallow of his tea.

  “Then I’m going to go write that note,” she said as she took his cup and set it in the sink with hers. “She should have it before you get there. And if you can, drop by tomorrow morning and let me know how she reacts.”

  Kevin nodded as Brena breezed out of the kitchen and headed down the hall to her office.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Kevin didn’t get back to his office with Caezar and Ramen until a few minutes before 9:00. After arranging to meet them in his office at 5:00 the next morning, he left for Ashmont.

  No one was on the street when Kevin got there, but a couple of the stores were open. He walked up the front steps of the chapel and knocked on the door.

  When Alma opened it, she said, “You’ve come to see Sister Theresa again, haven’t you? You do realize she’s a Sister of Healing and has certain obligations and duties, don’t you? She doesn’t have time for personal visitors.”

  “But you’ll still tell her I’m here, won’t you?”

  “Humph!” Alma muttered and stomped off down the hall.

  A little bit later, Theresa emerged from the back area of the chapel, wiping her hands on her apron. “Sorry. I was with a patient, although I’m not sure why. He kept saying nothing was wrong, but Alma insisted I had to check him out.”

  “Was something wrong with him?”

  Theresa shrugged. “Not that I could find. Anyway, you’re here for the children, right?”

  Kevin nodded.

  “Good. And I want you to take Hayley back, too.”

  “Don’t you need her here?”

  Theresa shook her head. “With the children gone, there’ll be even less to do. Alma doesn’t let her do anything but clean anyway. And if she goes back with you she can help look after the children. At least they know her.”