**********
Caroline had been sulking around the house. Joyce had had just about enough. It was time for action. She was going to take things into her own hands. She picked up the phone and dialed her mom’s number. Margaret answered on the fourth ring. It didn’t take long for Margaret to pick up on Joyce’s concern.
“Well Joyce, I haven’t heard from Bev for two days now. We usually talk every day. If it makes you feel better I will call this afternoon.”
Joyce sighed. “Thanks Mom.”
“You’re welcome Honey. I will call as soon as I talk to Bev.” They hung up.
Joyce made her way up the stairs to Caroline’s room. She stopped at Caroline’s open door. She stood there watching Caroline read. She was sitting on her bed. The curtains blew in the breeze from the open window.
Caroline sensed her mom standing there. Without looking at her, Caroline said, “Hi Mom. Come on in.”
Joyce went in and sat next to her on her bed. “What are you reading?” Caroline closed the book and showed her the cover. “Any good?”
“Uh huh.”
Joyce smiled and asked, “It is a beautiful day outside. How about a walk?” Caroline wasn’t exactly thrilled about going, but her mom had been asking her to spend time together. Caroline smiled. “Sounds like a good idea. Let me grab my shoes.”
Joyce was pleased her daughter was willing to go, even though she knew Caroline would rather stay home and read. “All right then, I will meet you downstairs.” Caroline placed the book on her nightstand. She slid off her bed and reached for her shoes under her bed. She stood up and stretched. When she finished stretching, she slid her feet into her shoes. She looked at her shoes and frowned. She instantly regretted having told her mom she would go. What if by some chance Charles came by or called? Well, she couldn’t very well sit around and wait any longer could she? Hadn’t she done enough of that already? She walked down the hallway.
A familiar voice reached her ears and she instantly perked up. It was Charles! She bounced down the stairs with a smile on her face. He was standing in the entryway. Just then the phone rang and Joyce went to answer the phone. Caroline stood face to face with Charles. They just stood still, smiling at each other. He asked her if she’d like to go for a walk. She nodded.
Joyce was talking to Margaret. Margaret said, “I can’t get ahold of Bev or Carson, so I am going to go over there.”
Joyce laughed. “We had a visitor just drop in. Charles is here. I think things are all right.”
Margaret breathed a sigh of relief. “Good, call me later.”
Joyce said she would. She went to find Caroline and Charles. They were out in the yard. Caroline turned and called to her mom, “Do you mind if we go for a walk?”
Joyce waved to them from the door. Kevin came from around the corner. He wrapped his arms around her. They stood there for a moment. Kevin kissed Joyce on her cheek and then closed the door.
CHAPTER 62
Dimitrios took a nice long hot shower. He had plenty of time to sort through things. Like a puzzle, he started putting the pieces together. By the time he turned off the water it was all clear in his head. The first thing to be checked off the list is the most important. I’ll get dressed and ready. Then, I will call Cassia and make sure we are still a go. He was feeling much better about this morning. There is nothing like a nice shower to put things in perspective. Once that was taken care of, he’d have time to meet with Fiona at the library. He’d use the disk to travel there and nonchalantly ask a few questions. A couple of months ago he and the Prime Minister had been discussing new additions to the collections housed in the library. Now would be a good time to discuss this with her. The Prime Minister had given him free rein. The groundwork had been laid. He had a plan.
Then with any luck, dinner tonight with Cassia wouldn’t be a complete disaster. He picked up the phone and dialed. On the second ring Cassia picked up the phone.
“Hello.”
“Cassia?”
“Yes.”
“Are we still on for tonight?”
“Yes, of course, Dimitrios.”
“Very well then. When are our reservations?”
“6:30.”
“I’ll arrive at your place around 5:30.”
“That will be fine. Dimitrios?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for the flowers. They are lovely.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like them. See you at 5:30.”
“See you then…” She knew he had already hung up.
That went over well. He was pleased. He stood up and went to get his jacket and flying disk. He headed out the door and straight for the library. He had had enough exercise for one day. He wasn’t about to walk, plus he didn’t want to be late for his date. Using the disk would allow him to stay a little longer and talk if need be.
Once he arrived at the library he picked up his flying disk and took the steps several at a time. Once inside he looked around. There were a few people here and there. He walked over to the librarian’s desk. The assistant saw him and made her way over to greet him. They visited for a moment before he asked to see Fiona. She went to find the head librarian. Dimitrios stood by the desk and waited. Fiona came around the corner in a hurry as always. She had her hand out and in a quiet voice said, “Dimitrios, to what do I owe this pleasure? May I be of assistance to you to locate something?”
Dimitrios shifted his weight. He suddenly felt sneaky about his business with her. “No, I’d like to discuss something of importance with you. Is your work pressing at the moment? I could come back later if you are busy.”
“Absolutely not. I wouldn’t hear of you being inconvenienced by having to come back. Now is a perfect time to discuss whatever is on your mind. Shall we meet in my office?”
He followed Fiona into her office and sat across from her.
She asked, “How may I assist you?”
Dimitrios began discussing the plans he and the Prime Minister had formulated earlier. He could see she was paying special attention to every detail. She was taking notes as he talked. Her face was beaming. Dimitrios knew the library had become her life’s work. Her family through the centuries had kept the library going with their generous endowments. He could see how pleased she was, as she discussed the possibilities at great length with him. He liked her ideas. He would be sure to discuss them with the Prime Minister. Dimitrios was sure he would approve. Dimitrios stood up, shook her hand and said, “This has been a very productive meeting. I’d like to meet with you again when the Prime Minister and I incorporate the ideas you just presented.”
She nodded. “I’d like that.”
As they were walking out he mentioned, “I’m glad that Mr. and Mrs. Jones were able to use the library for research today.”
She stopped, gave him a puzzled look and asked, “Is that a problem?” Dimitrios smiled. “No it isn’t a problem. They are welcome to use this facility. I was just commenting.” She nodded. Then he pressed on. “Do you happen to recall what they were researching?”
Fiona thought for a moment and said, “Yes, I do recall what they were researching. They asked for books about obscure facts found in legends. I told them I needed more information. I showed them to a section I thought they could benefit from. Would you like to see the books in that particular section?”
He smiled and said, “No, thank you. I think I know the section you referred them to. It won’t be necessary for me to check.” They shook hands. He thanked her before leaving.
As soon as he left she quickly went about her business. She thought: Tonight the library will have one less book. It was a book that was on loan from her family so it would just simply disappear. Had Dimitrios asked to see the book it would have made her task a little trickier. Since he didn’t look at that particular book, she didn’t see any reason why its disappearance should cause a problem. On her last round, she collected the book when no one was looking. She slid it into her coat liner. When her shift wa
s over she stayed a moment longer and erased all traces of the book. It was a rare book. Like so many of the specialty books on loan, often they were overlooked unless she placed them in the hands of the person researching. She told her assistant goodnight and closed up her office. Instead of heading home she was heading somewhere else, the Jones’ Passageway.
Seeing Fiona in this part of the Hub made Dimitrios suspicious. He wouldn’t have thought a thing about it, except that he had just come from the library. He watched her walk by. He figured she was heading for the Jones’ Passageway. It’s not very often a person calls on another Sojourner through a Passageway. It’s a complicated process. One has to send word by Sojourner Mail, and then wait for a response. He pondered that. How would she have gotten a response this quickly? Had this been planned? He figured he’d be better off looking into this later. Right now he needed to stay focused on Cassia and their dinner tonight.
CHAPTER 63
She had no idea what day it was, or the time of day. She just saw him sitting beside her. He was whispering in her ear, “Mama wake up. I need you. You sleep all the time and Dad’s mean.”
Joseph came in and scolded him for waking Dolores saying, “She’s very sick, and shouldn’t be disturbed with your nonsense.”
Dolores remembered their words. The next time Joseph came to give her the magic pill, she didn’t swallow it. She did this for some time.
She lay in bed crying wishing she had the strength to get up. She felt very weak.
When she heard Ruthie at the door, it gave her strength to sit up on the side of the bed. Joseph was telling Ruthie that she was still asleep. Ruthie’s voice seemed very shaky as she asked to see her friend.
Dolores hollered for her friend as loud as she could. Ruthie burst in through the door. “My goodness Dolores! Joseph, what have you done? Just look at her.”
Sterling was crying, “Mama, Mama, Mama.”
Shortly afterward the ambulance came and took her to the hospital. Joseph brought Sterling to the hospital after school to visit. Joseph complained over and over how he hated hospitals. She needed to get better so she could leave. She would improve when she returned home to his care. People came to see her, but Ruthie was the only constant visitor.
Several days passed and she was finally able to leave the hospital. Ruthie drove her home. As soon as Sterling saw her, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him into her arms. The look on Joseph’s face as he came out of the house let her know instantly that she could never let her guard down again. If she were to get sick he wouldn’t be the one to help her. Ruthie walked her inside the house and helped her get situated before leaving. For the most part life resumed as usual, with the exception that Dolores began watching Joseph more intently.
CHAPTER 64
Charles had just returned from his walk with Caroline. He was glad he had walked over to see her. He headed straight for the office. As he walked in, he noticed Bev and Carson standing and staring at the Passageway. “What’s going on? Are we expecting someone?”
Bev replied, “Fiona requested a visit tonight. She should arrive at any moment.” Charles joined them and waited. The Passageway opened and Carson stepped through.
Fiona kept reminding herself she couldn’t possibly get into trouble for this, or could she? What was she thinking? She was sure this was the right thing to do. After all this was her book. She had been surprised to get a response from Mr. Jones so quickly. He had responded that they would be happy to receive her. Fiona entered their Passageway stall. She was certain she was in the correct place because Mr. Jones had said he would put a symbol on the bar for her to identify the correct one. She placed her hand over the lit circle at precisely the correct time. Mr. Jones came to see her on the other side so she could enter their Passageway. She followed him and entered the office.
She and Bev greeted each other. “Charming,” she said as she looked around.
Carson came back through the Passageway. Fiona thanked them for seeing her on such short notice.
Bev said, “Fiona it is our pleasure to see you. Thank you for thinking of us.”
Fiona blushed. “Well thank you. It is more than just a visit though.”
Charles asked her if he could hang her coat during her visit. She said, “No thank you.”
He led her to a chair. She sat down on the edge of the seat. Charles and Carson brought chairs for themselves. Bev sat in the chair next to Fiona. Airabelle sat on Charles’ shoulder. She had their attention. Fiona said, “Well, you see, I too had a visitor this evening. Dimitrios came to the library to inquire about your research. He knows you have a Mystic Journal, Mr. Jones.”
Everyone looked at Carson. Carson patted his pocket even though he knew it wasn’t in there any longer. They had put it in the vault. “I guess that wasn’t a very good idea placing it there.”
Fiona smiled kindly at him. “The average Sojourner might not think twice about it. Anyway, when he came to visit, he inquired about the section of the library you were interested in. I told him you inquired about obscure facts.” She reached into her coat liner and pulled out the book Bev had been reading at the library. Bev covered her mouth.
Fiona reached for her. “It’s okay Bev. It belongs to my family. It was on loan to the library.” Bev nodded. She continued, “When he left I went back to get it. I don’t have anyone to pass this down to, so I am giving it to your family. I believe it is the actual documentation behind the Mystic Journal in your possession. However I doubt that it belongs to your family line. May I be so bold as to ask how you came into possession of a Mystic Journal?” Carson divulged the story to her.
She nodded and said, “That explains a lot. It is a shame that it is believed there aren’t any more in existence.” Carson asked her how she was so sure there weren’t any more. She raised an eyebrow and said, “Because my family had the only other one known to exist. That is how I recognized yours. All the pages in my journal have been used. May I see yours?”
Carson walked to the vault and retrieved the journal. He handed it to Fiona. She put on her glasses and carefully opened the journal. She looked up at him in astonishment. She started to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. Finally she said, “Mr. Jones, I am amazed! Only one of the pages has been used. Do you realize what a treasure you have here?” Everyone in the room shook their heads. She laughed and said, “This is amazing!”
She closed the book and pointed out the potion stain on the front. When she rubbed her finger over it a fingerprint appeared. “You must find the secret potion and the heir in order to use this. The only way to do that is to find the eccentric recluse. He’s the only one still alive that dabbles in potions of this kind. He’s the only one who might know the correct potion to unlock this Mystic Journal.”
Charles asked, “Did he help you?”
“No my dear, my potion was passed down from my family. I wasn’t in need of it anyway because my pages were already used up.”
“How do we find him?” asked Charles.
She shrugged. “My guess is the Whispering Forest. I don’t know. I’ve never been in need of his assistance.”
Carson asked, “If he’s a recluse, and no one talks of ever seeing him, how will we find him?”
“My guess is the rightful heir will know.”
“Fiona, she died years ago,” Bev said.
Fiona thought for a moment. “The heir died along with all others?”
Bev replied, “No Sojourners are actively practicing in the family.”
“I see that is a shame. Hmmm. Are any of them able to practice?”
“Yes,” Carson said
“Then you have found the rightful heir and this person will know the way.” Charles asked, “How?”
Fiona smiled. “Instinct. Tell the heir the story and see what happens.”
She stood up. “I must be going now. No doubt I will be discovered. Dimitrios is the best at what he does. When Dimitrios asks you, I’d tell him the truth. One more thing, the journal i
sn’t just another journal. That is why they are called Mystic Journals. They aren’t exactly what they seem. Remember they had a spell cast on them. I’d proceed with caution, just like with all enchanted Sojourner tools.”
Fiona smiled at Charles and said, “Good luck. If anyone can solve this mystery it is you. I have a feeling there is a reason you have had all this attention lavished on you.” She pointed to the book and said, “In the event that the rightful heir doesn’t come forward Charles, you may still keep the book. I’d like it to remain with the Mystic Journal.” Charles thanked her.
Then she continued, “One more thought. If a rightful heir isn’t identified as a Sojourner, then we may search for another means in which to research this Mystic Journal. Let me know if you need my assistance.”
Bev stared at the book and tears came to her eyes. “Fiona it is such a lovely book.”
The librarian smiled. “I love it when books are appreciated.”
She hugged Bev and said, “I must be going now.” They walked her to the Passageway. “It gives me great joy to know that a Mystic Journal is still in existence that has not been used. I am so amazed at this discovery.” When the Passageway opened she and Carson walked through together. On the other side Carson thanked her and told her they would see her at the library soon. She nodded and made her way to join the slow moving flow of Sojourners in the Hub. When Carson lost sight of her, he closed and secured the door to the Passageway and returned to the office.
When he entered he observed Bev sitting in the chair looking through the book. She stopped and looked up at him. When she could speak, she said, “Al’s family is royalty.”
CHAPTER 65
The Prime Minister closed the coat closet door. He had had a long day. He picked up a book he had been meaning to read for weeks now. He looked over at the stack of books that lay in between the door and the bookshelf. When am I ever going to read all of these books? Better yet why do I continue to buy them? He sighed. He knew reading was a luxury he didn’t have time for. He looked at the book in his hand and set it back down. Well, at least I tried. He ran his hands through his hair. It was going to be another long night. He wondered what Dimitrios was doing. He had a meeting scheduled with him and Nathaniel in the near future with regard to Charles’ progress and his investment strategy.
The Xidoran Prophecy Page 55