Kevin pictured the backyard of the chapel in Glenco, put his arm around Brena, and turned the key. When they arrived, Brena patted Kevin’s arm and said, “I’m fine. You can let go now.”
Kevin slowly removed his arm and looked around. “If I remember correctly, their workroom was out here, in a shed.”
Brena nodded. “Let’s see what Rochelle says.”
Five minutes later, Brena, Kevin, and Rochelle were seated in the chapel kitchen while Dora fixed tea for everyone.
“Are you sure it was an explosion?” Brena asked.
“Oh, I’m sure of that. The blasts woke both of us. It sounded like lightning hitting something, but it wasn’t lightning. There weren’t any storms around that night, not a cloud in the sky. And even though there was smoke and a lot of ash, there wasn’t any fire that we could see.”
Brena frowned. “What were you working with in there?”
Rochelle shrugged. “Same herbs we’ve prepared in there ever since I got here. We haven’t added anything new.”
Brena looked at Dora. “Have you worked with anything new in there?”
Dora shook her head as she sat down. “No, ma’am. Just the same herbs we’ve always had. Even our mortars and pestles are old. And we didn’t heat anything in there. All we did was cut and grind.”
Rochelle nodded. “That’s true. We didn’t have a stove in there.”
“What did you do for heat?” Kevin asked. “I mean, it’s chilly outside now, and I imagine it gets a lot colder than this. How did you heat the building?”
“We didn’t,” Rochelle said. “If it was too cold to work out there, we worked in here, in the kitchen.”
“What do you think caused it?” Brena asked.
Rochelle shook her head. “I have no idea, and I’ve spent plenty of time thinking about it over the past week. Hard to think about anything else.”
“When did it happen?” Kevin asked.
“Last Saturday night,” Dora answered. “Actually Sunday morning, since it was after midnight.”
“At first I wondered if something might have fallen from the sky,” Rochelle said, “but it wasn’t a case of a roof being hit and collapsing on everything, or one side being knocked down and then the rest of the building falling. Nothing was left, not one board. The whole shed was demolished. Something big enough to do that would still be sitting there, and there’s nothing, at least nothing we could find. The only thing we could come up with is something inside must have exploded, but there wasn’t anything in there that could have. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I wish I could have seen it,’ Kevin said. “Maybe I could have figured out what happened.”
“You mean what was left after the explosion?” Rochelle asked.
Kevin nodded.
“You can. Dora thought someone might want to check it out so we covered it with canvas and left it alone. We figured we could clean it up later if no one was interested in it.”
“Could you show me?” Kevin asked.
“Sure,” Rochelle said as she finished her tea.
When they reached the site where the shed had been, Rochelle and Dora lifted the canvas off the debris.
“See? That’s all that’s left,” Rochelle said. “Not much to look at.”
Kevin stared at the debris for a minute and then walked around the site and studied it from all sides. “This looks like a sorcerer’s blast.”
Rochelle and Dora looked at each other and then Rochelle shook her head. “We don’t have a sorcerer. I don’t know of one anywhere nearby.”
Dora shook her head, too. “There hasn’t been a sorcerer around here since Marcus left. I doubt there’s one within two days ride.”
“And even if there was, why would a sorcerer want to destroy our shed?” Rochelle asked. “That doesn’t make any sense!”
“No, it doesn’t,” Kevin admitted. “And I could be wrong, but that’s what it looks like to me.”
“Can we clean this up now?” Rochelle asked.
“I’ll do it,” Kevin said. “But I’ll need a shovel and a wheelbarrow.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Dora said. “We’ll take care of it.”
“No, I need to go through the debris to see if I can figure out what caused this.”
“I’ll help you,” Dora said.
Kevin shook his head. “That’s not necessary, but you can show me where you want me to bury the debris when I’m done.”
Dora led Kevin to a small gully at the edge of the woods. “We talked about using it to fill this in.”
Meanwhile Rochelle had gone to get Kevin a shovel and wheelbarrow. After she returned, Kevin said, “Why don’t you go have some more tea? This won’t take long.”
Rochelle and Brena went inside, but Dora headed for the barn. A few minutes later, she came back with a second shovel. “I’ll dump the wheelbarrow.”
Kevin started to argue but decided it was a losing battle. “Thanks.”
Two hours later, the debris had been carted off to the gully and the site was cleared. The only sign that anything had happened was the scorched ground.
After Dora emptied the wheelbarrow for the last time, she asked Kevin what could have caused the scorch marks. “We smelled smoke, but there wasn’t any fire. We got out here right after it happened and we stayed for a couple of hours to make sure.”
“The only thing I know of, other than a fire, that scorches the ground like that is a sorcerer’s energy bolt.”
“Is that why you wanted to clean this up? To see if there were scorch marks?”
Kevin shrugged. “I wanted to see if I could figure out what happened. And now I know.”
“You’re sure a sorcerer did this?”
Kevin nodded. “Now all I have to do is figure out who and why.”
“Will you tell us when you find out?”
Kevin hesitated. “To be honest, as long as you’re not in any danger, probably not. Some things it’s best if you don’t know.”
Dora nodded. “Like what happened to Sister Gerry.” Then she picked up both shovels and headed towards the barn. “Go on in and have some tea. I’ll get the wheelbarrow in a minute.”
~~~~
When Kevin and Brena got back to Timera Valley, she took him to her office and shut the door. “You think it was a sorcerer.”
Kevin nodded.
“The same one who killed Gerry?”
“I’m leaning that way, but I could be wrong.”
“Do you think it had anything to do with the mushrooms?”
“Probably.”
“You are going to find out what’s going on, right?”
“I hope so.”
Brena nodded. “In the meantime, be careful. Sleeping Angels may be rare, but they’re not the only poisonous plant around.”
~~~~
“Where have you been? You’ve been gone for hours!” Chris said when Kevin made it back to the office.
“Believe it or not, I’ve been in Glenco.”
“Glenco?!”
Kevin told Chris what had happened.
“Do you think it was Rolan?” Chris asked.
“Probably. It would explain the looks he kept giving me last week. Besides, who else could it be? There’s not a sorcerer for miles around there so it had to be someone with a key, and as far as we know, he’s the only one with ties to that chapel.”
“Who do you think he was planning to poison?”
Kevin shrugged. “Can’t be sure, but my money’s on either me or Landis, and since he has no idea where she is…”
“Do we need to hire a taster?”
At first Kevin thought Chris was joking, but the look in Chris’s eyes was deadly serious. “Absolutely not! Do you think for one minute I’d let someone eat something that might have poison in it? Anyway, my food comes out of the same pot as everyone else’s.”
Chris thought for a moment. “He got to your father through the cup of tea he had every evening. You have scog at night, but it c
omes out of the same barrel as everyone else’s. The only other thing that’s predictable about you is coffee, but your coffee comes from a communal pot, too. And you don’t put anything in it. Nothing is made especially for you. That may be your one advantage over your father.” Chris stood up. “I need to talk to Miranda.”
Kevin shook his head. “Why? I eat what everyone else eats. What’s the point of saying anything to her?”
“Because she runs the kitchen and I’m willing to bet not one morsel of food gets in there without her knowing about it. I’m going to tell her we’ve gotten word someone may be planning to poison you, that our source isn’t what we’d call reliable, but if anyone brings or sends anything to the castle that was made just for you, throw it away.”
“I’d really rather not say anything about this, Chris.”
“And I’d really rather not have you poisoned. Look, this way it won’t raise any alarms, but it will put Miranda on guard. Think of it as a first line of defense, as the least we can do to keep you safe. And I’m also going to tell Petri not to accept any gifts for you.”
Kevin frowned. “Do we have gifts coming here for me? I’ve never seen any.”
“No, but if someone’s trying to poison you, they’ve got to get it to you somehow.”
“But we don’t know that anyone is!”
“We have what might be called a pretty good circumstantial case and we don’t need to take unnecessary chances when we can avoid them.”
Kevin shook his head. “You’re overreacting.”
“I hope I am, but we’re still going to play it safe. Now, since I’m going down to the kitchen, want me to bring you something? You missed lunch.”
Kevin nodded. “A sandwich and coffee would be perfect, provided Miranda will let me have it after you scare her to death.”
Chris rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen.
~~~~
First thing Sunday morning, Miranda went looking for Neiven. She found him in his smithy. “Can you put some locks on my pantry and storeroom doors?”
Neiven nodded without taking his eyes off the horseshoe he was forming. “What kind? Sliders?”
Miranda shook her head. “Key locks.”
Neiven looked up. “Key?”
Miranda nodded. “And I’d like to have them on there by tomorrow morning if possible.”
“All right,” Neiven said slowly. “I’ll do it this afternoon.”
“Thank you.” Miranda turned to go.
“Miranda? Is everything all right?”
Miranda smiled at him. “At the moment, and I plan to keep it that way.”
~~~~
Monday morning when Miranda’s kitchen staff reported for the day, they noticed new locks on the pantry and storeroom doors. Rather than go through the explanation she’d come up with half a dozen times, Miranda just said she’d explain later.
As preparations for breakfast began in earnest, Miranda unlocked each room and supervised her cooks as they got what they needed, and then locked the rooms back up. Once breakfast was over, she asked her staff to join her in the dining room.
After they were all seated, she said that several times during the past couple of months, she’d gone in the pantry or storeroom to get something only to find they were out of it. “It’s not anyone’s fault, but with everyone going in and out, it’s hard to keep up with how much of everything we’re using. I need to keep a closer watch on our supplies to make sure we have what we need. All of you have become such good cooks that you don’t need me to tell you what to do anymore, so I’m not watching as closely as I used to. But if I have to unlock the door and watch you get what you need, I’ll know when I need to order something.”
At first her staff looked puzzled, but then Carrie spoke up, “All you need to do is think about what you’ll need before you start fixing something. Then make one trip into the pantry instead of half a dozen. No one could keep up with what’s being used with six people running in and out grabbing one thing at a time.”
When the others nodded and seemed satisfied with the explanation, Miranda said, “We don’t have to start preparing lunch for an hour. Take a break and meet me back in the kitchen then.”
After the others scattered, Cassie said, “All right. It’s just us. What’s going on?”
Miranda took a deep breath and looked into Cassie’s eyes. She’d known her for ten years and trusted her completely. “If I tell you, you have to keep it to yourself. No one else can know, and I mean no one, not even your family.”
“All right, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Chris told me they have reason to believe someone’s planning to poison Myron. He asked me not to accept any food or anything that could be used in any of the food or drinks unless I was sure of it.”
Carrie’s eyes widened.
“You know how people sometimes bring us stuff? From their gardens? Or something they made? Jars of preserves or jellies, canned vegetables?”
Carrie nodded.
“Until Chris tells me everything’s all right, we’re not going to use any of it. We’ll accept it with thanks, but then we’ll get rid of it. No one’s eating anything from this kitchen that we can’t vouch for. I don’t want anyone getting poisoned by anything that comes out of here.”
Chapter 70
Revelations
Three weeks later, shortly after daybreak on the first Wednesday of August, a falcon landed on the kitchen windowsill of the Chapel of Light in Milhaven. The note fastened to his leg was addressed to the Sister of Healing, Milhaven, Camden.
While Duri fed the falcon, Sister Agnes opened the note and read it. Then she asked Duri to tell Leira she’d be back as soon as possible, and ran out the door.
She was waiting for Kevin when he and Chris got to the office.
“Good morning,” Kevin said as he walked in. “Looking for me?”
Sister Agnes nodded.
“Let’s go to my office.” As Kevin opened the door for her, he said, “I’m ready for another cup of coffee. Would you like anything?”
“No, thank you. I won’t be here that long.”
Kevin followed her in and closed the door.
“This came this morning.” Sister Agnes handed him the message.
Kevin opened the letter and began reading.
Please see that Myron gets this immediately.
I hope this message reaches you in time.
Rolan, the Sorcerer of Brendolanth, intends to poison you in the same manner he poisoned your father. In order to divert suspicion, he plans to poison one or more of your aunts or uncles first, beginning with Kyle.
I know his plans because he bragged about them right before he tried to kill me. He thinks he succeeded, and I pray he never finds out otherwise.
Two years ago I was commissioned to find out where each of your aunts and uncles live and observe them to gather information on their families and routines. Had I had any idea how he planned to use the information, I never would have done it.
Please do not waste time trying to find me. By the time you get this, I will be far away.
As he read, Kevin felt the blood drain from his face.
“I’ll kill him!” he murmured. Then he yelled, “Chris!”
While he waited for Chris, he looked at Sister Agnes and asked, “Did you read this?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I thought it might be poison, but I’d hoped it was accidental.”
Struggling to keep his voice civil, he said, “I’m going to ask you to keep this between us. No one here was responsible for what happened to my father and I don’t want any of them wondering if they were the one who gave him the poison. This is on Rolan’s head and his alone.”
“You’ll let Laryn know?”
Kevin nodded.
Sister Agnes turned to leave when Chris opened the door, but before she left, she looked back at Kevin. “Be careful, Myron. Very careful.”
“I will.” Kevin stood co
mpletely still until Sister Agnes was gone and the door was closed. Then he ripped off his Key to Terah and handed it to Chris. “Go check on Kyle. Make sure he’s all right.”
Chris frowned.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on when you get back. Just find out if he’s all right!”
“What reason do I give him for popping in?”
“Make something up. Tell him I had a dream. I don’t care, just go!”
Kevin paced back and forth while Chris was gone. His mind was both whirling and blank. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t think, couldn’t plan, but he knew he was going to kill Rolan. Today.
The fifteen minutes it took for Chris to get back dragged by like hours. “So?” Kevin snapped almost before Chris was out of the energy field.
“He’s fine. I told him you had an uneasy feeling and wanted to make sure he was all right. He blamed it on your mother’s blood, said she had uneasy feelings every once in a while, too.”
Kevin held out his hand for the key. “Thanks for going.”
Chris closed his fist around the key. “Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
Kevin handed Chris the message.
After Chris read it, he said, “Gildan.”
Kevin nodded and held his hand out again.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Kill Rolan! What did you think I was going to do?!”
“That.” Chris clutched the key tighter. “Are you just going to barge into his castle and zap him where he sits?”
Kevin rolled his eyes. “I’m angry, not crazy! I’m going to hand the keys over to Glendymere, resign my seat, and then go challenge Rolan. I want him dead, but I won’t disgrace my father by murdering the bastard. That would be sinking to his level.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Give me the key, Chris.”
Chris shook his head. “You’re not leaving me here, not this time. I’ll see you in Willow Canyon.” Then with a flick of his wrist, Chris was gone.
~~~~
As luck would have it, Glendymere wasn’t home. Kevin paced back and forth in front of his cave, cursing the bad luck that was making him wait. He wanted to get on with it NOW! He wanted to ram his challenge down Rolan’s throat and watch him choke on it.
The Rambling Spy Page 75