The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3)

by Mackenzie Morgan

  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.”

  Chris handed Kevin a sheet of paper. “These are the ministers who have told us they want to come to the reception.”

  Kevin glanced over the list. “That’s more than I expected, but at least they’re not all bringing their wives.”

  “But most are.” Chris slumped down in his seat and sighed. “Kevin, how are we going to pull this off? Joan and Cryslyn took it for granted we can do this, but I’ve got some serious doubts about it.”

  “I know,” Kevin said, looking at the list. “And you know they’ll all have luggage.”

  “And a wedding gift, and what do you want to bet they won’t all be small? How are we going to do this?”

  “It wouldn’t be so bad if we knew where we were going,” Kevin said, still going through the list. “I know where a few of these houses are, but I’ve never been to most of these towns.”

  “And I haven’t been to any,” Chris moaned. “Well, that’s not totally true. I’ve been to Walnut Springs. I’ve never been to Ryan’s house, but I bet Warren can tell me how to get there. Oh, and by the way, I want that one since it’s the only place I know.”

  Kevin laughed. “There’s got to be a way.”

  For a few minutes they sat in silence, thinking. Then Kevin snapped his fingers. “I may have a way. Let’s go find Laryn.”

  “Okay, but what are you thinking?”

  “The key works with a map, right?”

  Chris nodded.

  “So if we were in a town and had a map of that town with the minister’s house marked, maybe we could use the key to go to the house.”

  “I thought the keys only worked with maps made by brownies.”

  Kevin frowned. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Maybe I just assumed it. I could be wrong. Let’s give it a try.”

  “All right, but we need to find Laryn to do that. Come on.”

  It took them twenty minutes to find her. She and Steve were at the lot where she wanted her house built. They were making a sketch of the house to send to Shadron and were trying to decide where they wanted the front door.

  After both Kevin and Chris weighed in on the decision, Laryn asked why they were looking for her, so Kevin explained his idea about using town maps once they got to the right town.

  “I’ve never tried it, but it should work,” she said.

  “Well, we want to test it,” Kevin said. “You’re familiar with Ardmore aren’t you?”

  Laryn nodded.

  “Could you draw a map of the town with Allisandra’s house marked?”

  Laryn grinned and nodded.

  Steve handed her some paper and ten minutes later, she had a map of a town with a big X on one of the houses near the eastern edge of town. She handed the map to Kevin. “This is Allisandra’s house, right here.”

  “Thanks. We’ll let you know if it works.”

  Kevin and Chris left Laryn and Steve to their house plans and headed back to the office. As soon as they were in Kevin’s office, he shut the door and handed Chris his key to Terah. “When you get to Ardmore, try to use that map to go to Allisandra’s.”

  “How am I going to know if I’m at the right place? I don’t know her. Do you want me to knock on the door and ask her if she’s your aunt? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  Kevin shook his head. “You won’t have to do that. If you end up at the right place, I’ll be there. I’m going to use the gate key to go straight to her house.”

  Chris nodded. “When do you want to do this?”

  “Let’s try it now. If it works, we’ve got to get messages out to all those ministers asking for maps.”

  Kevin showed Chris wher
e Ardmore was on their big map of Camden, then, with a quick, “See you there,” he turned his key.

  Chris concentrated on Ardmore, took a deep breath, and turned the key to Terah. Moments later, he was in the middle of the road that led through town. He took the map Laryn had drawn out of his pocket, looked at the X, and turned the key again. The next time he left the energy field he was in front of a one-story house that had a lot of windows, a front garden, and Kevin at the front door, standing beside a very pregnant woman.

  “Chris, I’d like for you to meet my Aunt Allisandra,” Kevin said as Chris walked along the path towards them. “And Allisandra, this is my assistant, Chris.”

  “Myron explained about your experiment. Glad to see it worked,” Allisandra said. “I’m sure you need to get back to the office, but you’ll come in for a cup of tea and something to eat, won’t you?”

  She may have phrased it as a question, but they weren’t fooled by that. Refreshments weren’t being offered, they were being required. So Chris and Kevin accepted her invitation and followed her into her kitchen.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When Kevin and Chris returned to the office an hour later, Laryn was waiting for them. “Tea and cake?” she asked with a grin.

  Kevin nodded.

  “She can be hard to refuse when she sets her mind on something,” Laryn said. “So, I take it the map was a success.”

  “It was,” Chris said, “and if you’ll excuse me, I want to draft a message for the pages to send to all the ministers who’re coming requesting town maps.”

  “Might not be a bad idea to request maps from all the ministers,” Laryn said.

  “I’m going to,” Chris said as he opened the door to head out, “but we need the ones for the reception first.”

  “Also tell them they have to be able to pick up and hold whatever they bring with them,” Kevin said. “I can pick up extra stuff, but you can’t.”

  “Good point,” Chris said. He turned towards the pages. “Elin, Cameryn, when you finish the letters I gave you this morning, I’ve got a new batch that need to go out. And we need to add a couple of sentences to the ones you’ve already done before they’re sent.”

  Chris pulled the door shut behind him just as the groaning started.

  Laryn laughed. “Can’t say I miss that part.”

  “What?” Kevin asked.

  “The groans and moans when you need them to do something they don’t want to do.”

  “Who?”

  “The pages. You’re as oblivious to what goes on out there as Badec was. When he first moved his desk in here, I thought it was so his visitors would feel like they had his undivided attention and that whatever they said would be confidential. I know better now. He put his desk in here so he wouldn’t have to deal with the drama of running an office.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Our pages are the most cooperative, polite, and pleasant group of kids I’ve ever met.”

  “You keep on believing that,” Laryn said, grinning. “You don’t want them to be meek and timid though. You need a little spunk out there.”

  “I know. I’m just glad I’m not the one who has to listen to it.”

  “Well, I just wanted to find out if the map worked, so I’ll be on my way,” Laryn said as she stood up.

  Before she made it to the door, someone knocked on it. When she opened it, Joan and Karl were on the other side.

  “He’s all yours,” Laryn said as she motioned them in.

  “But you’re the one we were looking for,” Joan said. “We need to ask you a couple of questions. And if we ask you here, it’ll save having to tell Kevin later.”

  After they all sat down, Joan said, “We want to adopt Caitlyn and Corey. How do we do that?”

  Laryn frowned. “They’re living at your house. You’re feeding them. You see to it they have clothes and anything else they need. Everyone knows you’re looking after them. What else do you need?”

  “Isn’t there something formal? Something to make it official?”

  “Well, each town director keeps a record of births and deaths in their area and turns that list in to the district minister once a year. When a new family moves in, they get added to the list, and people who leave get taken off. I guess you could have Tolliver add them to the list as your children. He keeps the register at his store,” Laryn explained. “Why? Has someone said something?”

  “No, nothing like that.” Joan looked at Kevin. “It’s doubtful their mother’s going to be found, isn’t it?”

  Kevin hesitated and then nodded. “I hate to admit it, but yes.”

  “We want the children to feel secure, like they have a place to belong. Right after they first got here, Caitlyn kept asking when they’d have to leave, where they’d have to go, and would she and Corey be able to stay together. Corey didn’t say much at first, but lately he’s been asking the same questions. We want to put their minds at ease.”

  Laryn nodded. “I guess Tolliver could bring the register to the castle and we could make a big deal about recording their names with yours. Would that work?”

  Joan nodded. “That sounds good.”

  “Anything else?” Laryn asked as she started to get up.

  “Just one more thing,” Joan said, looking at Laryn.

  Laryn settled back down in her chair.

  “Both you and Steve are artists,” Joan began.

  Laryn frowned. “Steve more than me.”

  “Caitlyn’s afraid she’s going to forget what her mother looks like. And since I’ve never seen her, I can’t help her remember. From the little bit Caitlyn’s said, I know she has long blond hair, but that’s about it. Could you and Steve go to Ashmont and talk to some of the people who knew her parents and draw sketches from their descriptions?”

  Laryn’s mouth dropped open. Then she shook her head. “I know I can’t. I can’t answer for Steve, but drawing the sketch of a real person without ever having seen them, and have it come out looking like that person would be really difficult. I just don’t know, Joan.”

  “Well, can you ask him?”

  Laryn didn’t answer immediately. “I’ll tell him Caitlyn’s worried she’ll forget what her mother looks like and that it’s a shame the people who knew her mother can’t draw a sketch for her. If he thinks he can do it from a description, he’ll bring it up and volunteer to try, but I won’t ask him to do it.”

  “Fair enough,” Karl said.

  Then Laryn asked again, “Anything else?” When there was no response, she stood up and said, “See you at lunch,” and left the office.

  After she was gone, Joan turned to Kevin and said, “Remember the sketches Steve did while we were in Rainbow Valley? If someone could really describe her, he could do this.”

  Kevin frowned. “I know what you’re picturing, something along the lines of a police sketch artist. But this is different, Joan. Caitlyn’s young enough that if he gives her a picture and we tell her it’s her mother, whether it is or not, in her mind, that’ll be what her mother looks like. I’m not sure he’ll be willing to do that. I’m not sure I would even if I had the talent.”

  “I hadn’t thought about it like that,” Joan admitted. “Well, we’ll just have to wait and see what he says.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Marcus was waiting when Kevin got back from lunch. “Do you have a minute?”

  Kevin nodded and sat down behind his desk. “What’s up?”

  “I’ve got a question about the drills we worked on yesterday,” Marcus began. “I understand practicing with the shield. That one makes sense. But I don’t understand the idea behind catching the arrows. What’s the purpose? Wouldn’t it be better to concentrate on the shield?”

  “If your only interest is self-defense, and the attack is going to be quick, then yes, the shield is your best bet,” Kevin answered. “But sometimes you need to do more. If you have a shield up, you’re safe, but you’re also helpless, and so is anyone with you. If Rhianna had been caught behind
a shield Monday, she wouldn’t have been able to throw her knife. It would have bounced off the shield, giving the archer time to get away. Then there’s the case of an ambush. Suppose there had been four or five archers out there firing from several directions. Putting up a shield large enough to cover a wide area takes a lot of energy. How long can you hold out? What if you run out of energy before they run out of arrows?”

  “All right, but how is catching their arrows going to help? We wouldn’t get shot, but there’s still the problem of running out of energy before they run out of arrows.”

  Kevin nodded. “Remember the competition in Zander? When you changed the wagon wheel?”

  Marcus frowned, but nodded.

  “You used two outstretched hands at the same time, didn’t you?”

  Again, Marcus nodded.

  “So, if you’re up against an archer and you’re using one outstretched hand to catch his arrows, you can use another one to attack.”

  Marcus’s frown deepened.

  Kevin stood up. “I think you’ll understand better if I show you. Come on. Let’s get Chris and head out to the meadow.”

  When they reached the meadow, Darrell and his archers were getting ready for their practice session with Marcus. Kevin gathered everyone around. “I want to run a couple of demonstrations for Marcus. I know I can get Chris and Darrell to help me out, but I’d like a couple more archers. Any volunteers?”

  Brandon frowned. “Does this involve shooting at you?”

  Kevin nodded. “Are you man enough to try it?”

  “No, sir,” Brandon said as he stepped back.

  “Oh, come on,” Kevin said. “You’re not going to hit me! I won’t let you.”

  “You might miss,” Meech said.

  “You saw me yesterday,” Kevin said. “I won’t miss.”

  “Sorry, sir,” Yanel said. “Even if it’s an order, I can’t do it.”

  “Oh, all right,” Kevin said. “Chris, Darrell, I guess it’s just us.”

  “Those of you who won’t play need to clear the field,” Darrell said, motioning towards the sidelines. After the others had gone, he turned to Kevin. “What are you going to do?”