“This is a good place to stop reading.” He closed the journal and placed it along with his glasses on the table. He walked over and stood by Carson.
Carson took the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it. “This letter is from the Sojourners’ Council.”
“I’ve read about the Sojourners’ Council. I just passed that part in the journal…”
“You can’t be considered a Sojourner until you have their approval. They are concerned about your age. At this time a Sojourner doesn’t begin until they are eighteen.”
Charles frowned and said, “Eighteen. I thought you said you started when you were sixteen.”
“I did, but young people today have a hard time keeping a secret… I guess the Council had some close calls. I made a special request because of my age.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not getting any younger and time seems to be going very fast. That’s all. They will either say yes or no.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“Maybe so but the rules are the rules. We will need permission to continue any further. Now let’s see what they have to say.” He laughed. “One very important word, ‘approved’! We’re in business.” He reached over and ruffled Charles’ hair. “Okay now that we know for sure that we can get started, full speed ahead.”
Charles looked at the official letter. It had a tracking number and several Sojourner numbers at the top. Carson glanced over at him. He stood up and pointed out several things about the letter. He started with the numbers at the top. “These numbers represent the Sojourner’s mailbox. This set of numbers and letters correspond to an address where the letter or package should arrive. The next set of numbers are our Sojourner Identification Numbers for all three of us.”
“I have an Identification Number already?”
“Here it is under my number and Nana’s.” Charles smiled. “You should receive the rest of your paperwork very soon.” Charles handed the letter back to him.
Charles was determined to finish reading the journal so he could begin his adventures. He went to sit down. He put on his glasses and began reading. The time passed very quickly. After a few hours Charles saved his spot in the journal with his bookmark, stood up and stretched.
Carson turned around in his chair and asked, “Taking a break?”
“Only for a minute. The journal is hard to put down. I can’t believe I am almost finished reading it.” He walked over to the wall of books and asked, “Are all of the books on the shelves journals?”
“Yes. Our family history is all there beginning with Wendell Scott. He was a wealthy industrial business owner, as well as a famous numismatist and a philatelist.”
“Go on please.”
“Collecting became his favorite topic of discussion with those in his social circle. The night Wendell’s daughter married, at the reception, he began talking to the groom’s father, Stewart Hollingsworth. Stewart mentioned he had a rare stamp that he wanted Wendell to look at. They agreed on a time to meet again. When the appointed time came Stewart brought the stamp out of his hidden vault. It was in a special casing designed just for it. He gave Wendell a pair of specially made wire rimmed glasses to look at it. Wendell indignantly said, ‘I don’t need glasses. I have perfect vision.’
“Stewart insisted he put them on. Wendell protested but eventually did and nearly jumped out of his skin when he looked at the animal on the stamp. It appeared to have leapt out of the stamp right at him! Stewart calmed him down with a glass of brandy. Then Stewart calmly explained that he had obtained a special stamp that only certain people could see what he just observed. He told Wendell about a secret society he was involved with and asked him if he’d be interested in joining them for a meeting. Wendell thought the man had lost his mind. He hurriedly gathered his things and politely but hastily left Stewart’s house.”
Charles asked, “If he left then how did we become Sojourners?”
“Well, months passed before Wendell and Stewart met up again. The next time they met was by chance at a social gathering. Wendell once again found himself in a conversation with Stewart and his colleagues. When the colleagues left Stewart asked him in private if he’d considered his invitation to attend the secret society’s meeting. Wendell was annoyed but politely declined and went on his way.
“It wasn’t until Stewart and a long-time friend of Wendell’s came to him together, that the two of them were able to convince Wendell that he should attend the meeting. His friend clenched Wendell’s curiosity by naming names of those who had already attended and had become members. Wendell then decided to go and find out more information. When he attended the meeting they presented their methodology to him and made a sensible case as to why he should become a member.”
“After hearing what they had to say he decided to join their group?”
Carson nodded and said, “Yes. He did.” He pointed to the large sculpture across the room. Charles nodded. Carson looked toward the journals. “That’s the short version of how it all started. The journals are the documentation of everything that has happened since. Some are more exciting than others. You are welcome to read any, or all of them.”
Charles nodded. “I will.” He still had questions but decided to go back to his chair and continue reading. He was as excited as ever to finish reading and begin Sojourning.
As Charles began to grow tired of reading, his eyelids fluttered for a second. He began to find himself drifting off into the faint mechanical sounds of the cuckoo clock as it kept time. He was very tired and found himself in a trance-like state that felt very foreign. He could see through his blurred vision that Carson was standing in front of him trying to get him to snap out of it, but he wasn’t sure how exactly to respond. Charles could tell that Carson was talking to someone who had a distinct and unfamiliar voice, but he couldn’t tell whom it was. Carson took off Charles’ Sojourner glasses. Then he took a tiny brass bell from his pocket and held it up in front of Charles and rang it, snapping Charles instantaneously out of his trance. Charles blinked his eyes a couple of times as he came to.
Charles, still woozy, asked, “What caused that? I was reading and then all of the sudden I was…”
Carson was concerned as he stared at Charles. “Charles, the clock on the wall is a Sojourner clock. It can do that to a Sojourner. It’s harmless but can be annoying. I keep this bell nearby to keep from being susceptible to it.” Charles rubbed his eyes.
Carson continued, “I think you are finished reading for now. If you want to read later, that would be fine.” He looked at the clock. “It’s lunch time anyway. How about if we have lunch with Nana?” Charles agreed. Carson straightened his desk and put things away before they left the office. Charles noticed out of the corner of his eye that Carson inconspicuously opened the door to the birdcage as he walked by.
As they walked to the house Charles said, “When all that happened back there, I thought I heard a voice…”
“You did.” He opened the back door to the kitchen and Charles entered the room.
Bev looked up from what she was doing. “I suspected you might work right through lunch.”
They washed their hands, then went to the refrigerator and started to help get things out for lunch.
She asked Charles, “Are you learning a lot?”
“I am. I can’t wait until I can actually become a Sojourner.” They sat down to eat.
Bev said, “It won’t be long and you will.”
Charles told her all about what he’d learned from reading the journal as they ate lunch. When Charles told her about the incident with the clock Bev became very quiet. After they finished their chicken salad sandwiches Charles saw the quick glance Bev gave Carson.
Carson stood up, kissed her on the cheek and said, “Charles and I are going back to the office to work some more.”
“Okay, sounds like a good plan to me. I can’t wait to hear all about it later.”
As they walked back to the
office Carson said, “Maybe you should take a break from the journal and I can show you some other interesting things.”
Charles reluctantly agreed, “Okay, but I’m really close to finishing the journal.”
Carson went to his desk and got his glasses. He then very slyly closed the birdcage door as he walked over to where Charles had set the journal down. He picked it up and turned ahead of where Charles had his bookmark. He put on his glasses and began reading about James’ first coin that he had bid for at auction.
James wrote in his journal: “My father and I extensively researched this coin’s history. We just recently completed the riddle book prior to the auction. We were confident that our answer was correct. The answer to the riddle itself was very obscure and we were hoping that no one else had made the same discovery. We knew that if several other Sojourners had the same answer, we ran the risk of a bidding war.
“Once we arrived at the auction we were informed that three of us who had submitted riddle pages had been correct. My father kept a positive attitude calming my nerves as we waited. Finally our coin was up for bidding. I was very nervous about the odds as I looked around the room. I wondered whom we would be bidding against. When it became apparent that someone else in the room was aggressively bidding on the coin, we set our limit as to how high of a bid we would place in order to obtain the coin. It became apparent that the other bidder would go to any length to purchase that particular coin. We finally decided to drop out of the duel that had become too costly for our means. We left that day with a headache and empty handed. As we walked back to our Passageway, exploring the Hub as we went, we had a discussion about the auction. We wondered why someone would bid so high on this particular coin, and questioned if he had knowledge of the coin’s history unavailable to others.
“We decided to discover who this person was. Looking through the archives we traced the coin to a quaint little peddler’s shop in Austria. My father and I traveled to the shop and waited at a bistro across the street to observe the man who had purchased the coin out from under us. We decided that we’d try to interview the owner of the shop after the man left to see if we could gather more information about the coin and its new owner. We figured if we did our homework we may be able to keep an eye out for an opportunity at a later date to purchase the coin.”
Charles put on his glasses. He was standing close enough to be able to read along with him. When Carson stopped, Charles read ahead on his own. “So Fredrick Von Hazen purchased the coin for his private collection? Did you ever discover if he knew about the other coin’s existence? Did you buy my coin from Fredrick’s family estate? Was the coin you gave me for my birthday the same coin James was bidding on?”
Carson grinned and nodded his head. “Yes to all of your questions. Fredrick’s granddaughter’s last name is now Keller.” Now Charles was beginning to understand.
Carson took off his glasses and folded them before placing them in his shirt pocket. He then went to get the key to the vault. He walked over, opened it and disappeared inside. Charles walked over and watched him through the vault doorway as Carson withdrew the key to a particular drawer. He looked over at Charles and said, “I want to show you something.”
Carson went over to the table inside the vault. Previously used candles and matches were on it. Carson relit them. Charles put his glasses on top of his head, went in and stood alongside him. Carson turned to the drawers and unlocked the one that held Charles’ birthday coins. He withdrew the coins Charles received for his birthday. He put on a pair of white gloves that were inside the drawer. Then he carefully took the coins out of their protective covers and placed them one on top of the other. He continuously turned them, pausing at different symbols on the coin. Nothing seemed to be happening. It seemed to Charles as if Carson was entering symbols into a combination lock. When Carson was finished he held the coins out from his body. The coins projected a multitude of different symbols all around the vault.
Charles walked around and looked at them. One in particular was interesting to him. He lowered himself down on his hands and knees to get a closer look. “What are these?”
Carson was trying to hold still while Charles looked at them. “I’m not sure what the symbols represent. I’m guessing each symbol has something to do with the spell Leiandros cast on the coins. Yesterday I began rereading Jules’ novel. As I was reading I came upon an interesting verse in one of the chapters about the coins being placed together to create meaningful light. So I thought I’d investigate. When I was out here last night I tried out my theory and this is what I discovered. It seems like it might be a code of some sort.”
Charles stood up. “Wow, that’s interesting all right. It may become an unsolvable mystery given the coins’ history.”
Carson thought about that for a moment. “It’s a possibility, but I like a good challenge.”
Charles agreed that he did too. He pointed to the symbols on the coin and asked, “So where could we research these?”
“I may know of the perfect place to start.”
“Where would that be?”
“The Hub Library.”
Charles pointed in the direction of the sculpture. “Through that thing?”
“Yes, through the Passageway.”
Charles gave that more thought. “I’m trying to imagine what that is going to be like.”
“Soon you will find out.”
Carson returned the coins to their protective covers and replaced them into the drawer. He closed and locked the drawer. Charles extinguished the candles. He turned and followed Carson as he returned the keys to the drawer. Charles closed the vault door. Carson let Charles spin the wheel on the vault. Then he walked over to his desk and replaced the vault key back in its secret hiding place.
Once he did that he turned to Charles and said, “I am going to send a letter that I have written by Hub mail.” He selected the letter from a stack of papers on his desk. He carefully folded the letter and placed it in the nearby envelope. Then he pulled a seal from the middle desk drawer. He showed it to Charles. “This is what our family seal looks like.” Carson took a candle out of his desk. He lit it to melt the deep crimson wax and sealed the envelope. He set it on the edge of the desk. “Ready to go.”
Carson continued, “A time long ago, when the Hub was a lot safer than it is today, a Sojourner in our family used a bird to convey her mail through the Hub.”
“Like a carrier pigeon?”
Carson laughed under his breath. “Something similar to that.”
“Sounds like a fun way to deliver mail.”
Charles noted the voice that he had previously heard while in his trance say, “It was.”
Charles startled by the voice asked, “Who said that? I’ve heard that voice before.” Carson answered, “Airabelle.”
“Airabelle who?” Carson pointed to the bird in the golden birdcage.
“Huh? I don’t understand.”
“This is Airabelle.”
Charles looked closer at the perched bird. “Is she real?”
“Of course. She’s what we call a bluebird of good fortune.”
“I believe I saw her fly the other night. I think she lit up in the night as she flew from the office.”
“You did.”
“I thought I was dreaming.”
“No, it was Airabelle...”
Charles looked her over. She was like no other bird Charles had ever seen. Airabelle was about the size of a parakeet. Her feathers were a brilliant blue accented with slightly darker blue tips. The plume of feathers on top of her head was a lighter blue. Her beak was navy. Her eyes were a striking gold. She wore a mask of navy feathers around her blue eyes. Her legs were navy blue. Charles asked, “Does she talk much?”
Carson couldn’t help but chuckle. “All the time, nonstop! Sometimes regrettably too much.”
Airabelle kept as still as a statue.
Charles asked, “How do you get her to talk?”
“Well, you
just talk to her. Like this…” He leaned in closer to the cage. “Airabelle?”
The bird playfully corrected him, “Airabelle Darling.”
Carson decided to play along. “Oh, so is that the way you want it today?”
“Yes, yes it is.”
“Okay then, Airabelle Darling it is.”
Charles stared at her and asked, “Did you sprinkle pixie dust on her?”
Not amused Airabelle said, “That’s a whole different story...”
Charles said to her, “I can’t believe you converse. How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Have an actual conversation.”
She was confused. “What do you want me to say?”
He tilted his head to the side. “Why didn’t you talk before?”
She briefly fluttered her wings and when she did her whole body illuminated blue. “You never asked.”
“She’s exquisite.”
“She is exquisite,” Carson agreed.
Airabelle said, “I’ll remember that.” They ignored her remark.
Charles asked, “Do all Sojourners have birds?”
“No, she’s the only one able to fly in the Hub. No other animals or birds are allowed.”
Charles was intrigued with her. He looked every detail of her over very carefully.
“Is she the only one of her kind? I’ve never seen anything like her before.”
Carson thought about that. “I don’t know. Vivion was the one who found her.” “Where did she find her?”
“She discovered her in England.” Carson went over to the journals and pulled Airabelle’s story. They put on their glasses. He opened it to a page with a holographic image of Airabelle.
She cocked her head to one side admiring her image and said, “I looked so much younger.”
Carson laughed. “You never change Airabelle…”
He handed the journal to Charles. Charles sat down and read about when Vivion found Airabelle. “So Vivion noticed her in a tailor’s shop. She admired Airabelle and made an offer, a year’s worth of wages to purchase her.”
Carson said, “The best deal she ever made.”
The Xidoran Prophecy Page 4