Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy)

by Thomas J. Prestopnik

  “Adelaide, I wanted to sat that–”

  Suddenly Dooley lurched forward, clutching both hands to his stomach, his breath knocked out of him as a pain shot through his body. Adelaide pulled her right hand back as if withdrawing a thrust sword, having rammed the tip of the broom handle squarely into his abdomen. Before Dooley realized what had happened, she scrambled to her feet while still holding onto the broom, accidentally hitting Dooley in the chin with the handle.

  “Ow! What are you doing?” he muttered with barely enough breath as he looked up at Adelaide looming over him, his eyes watering from the stinging pain.

  “Did you think you could keep me locked up forever, Dooley Kramer?” she sputtered, fully awake and recovered from her feigned injuries. “Well, mister, I don’t think so!” She waved the broom like an ill-trained swordsman. “I saw you coming up the stairs without Zachary this time, so now it’s an even match–you against me!”

  “But, Adelaide, I’m here to–!” Dooley felt the straw end of the broom hit him square in the face when he tried to stand up, sending him tumbling backward, his eyes and mouth filled with dust grains and dirt. “Stop that!” he shouted, rubbing his eyes as he spit out the cold, soily taste in his mouth. As he got to his feet, his head bent down while furiously wiping at his face, Adelaide hit him several times over the back with the broom.

  “I don’t know what you and your friend are up to, but I’m not letting you get away with it anymore!” she hollered, poking the straw bristles repeatedly into the side of Dooley’s head as he rapidly spun around to keep his face away from the crazed woman’s broom. “And why did Zachary go over to the shed tonight? I saw the other light heading that way.” Adelaide demanded an answer between her labored breaths as she continued hitting Dooley with the broom.

  “That wasn’t Za–!” The forest of frayed broom bristles again slapped Dooley in the face when he turned to Adelaide to offer an explanation. He whirled around in a blinding, dizzying circle, coughing and sputtering, unable to get his bearings. He felt the cool draft pouring in from the open door and knew he had to get outside and away from Adelaide so he could regroup and calmly explain to her what was happening.

  “I don’t want to hear your falsehoods!” she shouted. “And I refuse to spend another day in this wretched place!” The woman’s face tightened with the pent up rage that had been festering inside her for weeks. “You’ll have to kill me if you want to keep me here any longer!” she shouted, accompanying the remark with another crack of the broomstick across Dooley’s hunched back.

  “Stop it!” he yelled as a stream of stinging tears poured from his eyes as he blindly tried to find his way to the door. “Stop it, you crazy woman!” He again felt the coolness of the swamp air wash over him and hurried to the open doorway through a haze of tears and black spots, barely able to discern the knotty floorboards beneath his boots as he scrambled to get away from Adelaide’s incessant beating.

  “Get out of here, Dooley, and don’t come back!” Adelaide hollered, raising the broom but holding back her next strike as he bounded sideways out the door as if drunk, nearly tripping over his own feet and rubbing at his eyes with one hand while blindly reaching for the door frame or the staircase railing with his other. “And when Zachary shows his face around here, I’m going to–!”

  Her words were cut short by a deafening crack of wood and a petrified scream in the darkness. But both sounds were instantly swallowed up in the night. She gasped as she helplessly watched Dooley trip and stumble backward against the rotted wooden railing on the left side of the staircase, snapping it in half and falling into the shadows below. Cold, heavy stillness flowed into the room. Adelaide stood frozen in place, her eyes wide in horror and her mouth agape. She let the broom drop to the floor, wondering if what she had just witnessed had really happened. She then heard a flurry of distant voices swiftly approaching and snapped back to her senses. She grabbed the broomstick as a weapon and rushed to the doorway, gazing with shock at the broken railing, her heart beating wildly. She picked up the burning oil lamp on the topmost step and carefully walked down the staircase, her first taste of freedom after a long string of lonely, gray days.

  Adelaide held the lamp higher after she planted her feet on the ground, glancing around frantically in the darkness. The voices drew nearer amid the faint glow of another light. She now expected trouble from Zachary Farnsworth, but her resolve had been fortified after her encounter with Dooley. She gripped the broom handle tighter, ready to make what she thought might be her last stand. Still, she planned to make it a good one as two shadowy figures emerged through the darkness, one carrying a lamp similar to hers that gently rose and fell with every footstep.

  “Stop right there, Zachary Farnsworth!” Adelaide stepped forward, raising the broom and holding the light in her outstretched hand. “I fought off Dooley Kramer and I’ll do the same to you and your friend. I’m not scared anymore, so consider yourself warned!” Her heart pounded and her arm quivered, but she clenched her jaw, ready to face the last battle.

  “Adelaide, it’s me, Katherine Durant.” The voice sounded light and sweet in the oppressive gloom as if a breath of springtime had invaded autumn’s final hours. “I’m with Lewis Ames. We’re here to rescue you.”

  Adelaide couldn’t believe her ears. The friendly, familiar voice blanketed her trembling body and drove the fear and darkness from her mind. She lowered the oil lamp and dropped the broomstick as an astonished smile slowly enveloped her face. “Katherine? But how could you possibly…” She was speechless as Katherine and Lewis hurried over, their faces visible in the combined light of the lamps.

  “Are you all right?” Katherine asked, filled with worry as she wondered what had transpired since Dooley left her side.

  “Oh, Katherine!” Adelaide replied with unbounded relief as she reached out and flung her arms around the young woman while tears of joy streamed down her face. Lewis, holding the lamp, quickly grabbed the second one from Adelaide as the two women held each other. Adelaide buried her head in Katherine’s shoulder and sobbed for some time. Katherine quietly assured her that everything would be all right and that Zachary Farnsworth was nowhere in the vicinity.

  “You have nothing to worry about anymore,” she promised as Adelaide stepped back and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

  “But how did you find me?” Adelaide inquired, stunned that Katherine and Lewis were standing there.

  “It’s a long story,” she replied in a motherly fashion, looking upon the woman who appeared older and frailer since she last saw her. Yet a rugged determination swirled deep within Adelaide’s steel blue eyes and Katherine knew that she would survive this harrowing ordeal after some much needed rest and friendly company. “We’ll answer all your questions in due time.”

  “But where is Dooley?” Lewis asked. “We heard a scream and rushed over. What happened here?”

  “Something terrible,” she said, her voice choking up. Adelaide pointed along the side of the staircase. “He’s over there, but in what condition…”

  Katherine and Lewis glanced at each other, dreading the worst. When they looked up and noticed the broken railing on the staircase, they regretted not accompanying Dooley to the house. Katherine took one of the oil lamps from Lewis.

  “Wait here, Adelaide, and we’ll take a look,” she gently said.

  “No. I’m coming with you,” she firmly responded. “I have to see what I did, accident though it was.”

  “All right.” Katherine took her hand as Lewis led the way to the side of the staircase, all dreading to see what they feared in their hearts had occurred.

  As the pale light of the two lamps dispersed the thicket of shadows, the outline of Dooley’s shape grew visible against one of the round wooden stilts holding up the structure. As they drew closer, the light gently fell upon Dooley Kramer’s dead body couched in a thick bed of dried weeds. All were shaken by the sight of him lying sprawled out upon his back, his head and one arm bent at
awkward angles. Both of Dooley’s eyes were wide open. He blindly gazed up through a canopy of tree branches at a mass of gray clouds drifting silently overhead like a lone eagle in mournful flight.

  CHAPTER 83

  Some Much Needed Rest

  Adelaide was stunned when Katherine and Lewis led her to the shed where Maynard lay sleeping under Arileez’ spell. She stared in horror at his peaceful face for several disbelieving moments.

  “I thought Zachary and Dooley had carried in a dead body that night,” she whispered, gently touching Maynard’s warm, pale cheek. “So I guess this is good news.” Adelaide dabbed her watery eyes with the corner of her shawl. “Still, to think that Maynard has been here all this time under my very nose.”

  “There’s nothing you could have done,” Katherine assured her. “Lewis and I tried to wake him to no avail, so you wouldn’t have had any better luck. We’ll need to consult someone who knows a thing or two about magic to help Maynard.”

  “We could contact the wizard at the Blue Citadel who Dooley mentioned,” Lewis suggested. “I believe his name was Tolapari.”

  “If he’s still there,” Katherine replied, reminding him that the war council was held about five weeks ago. “In the meantime, we should take Maynard somewhere safe, but not in Kanesbury. No telling what would happen if Zachary Farnsworth catches wind of this before we talk to Constable Brindle.”

  “I agree,” Lewis said. “Who knows what a cornered man might resort to in order to hold onto power? Maybe I can find someplace where–”

  “No need to,” Adelaide gently interrupted. “I know exactly where we can take Maynard.”

  “You do?” Katherine asked.

  “The son of a dear departed friend of mine lives on a farm a mile or so east of Kanesbury. Emmett Trout and his wife, Lorna, run the place with their three children. I’m sure they’ll be happy to take Maynard in for a time until we can cure him.”

  “And will they take you in, too?” Lewis asked. “You can’t suddenly reappear in Kanesbury without sending the village into an uproar. Let us quietly inform Constable Brindle about what’s happened before we make a move. Katherine and I will bring Clay to your friends’ farmhouse and then to the swamp so he can decide how to proceed against Farnsworth. It’s most important that you and Maynard are restored to good health first.”

  Adelaide grimaced. “As to Maynard, of course. But me? I feel fine,” she insisted. “I survived here all this time, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, you did,” Katherine said with a caring smile. “But all the difficult days you endured will catch up with you soon enough. Use this extra time to recover and to keep an eye on Maynard. Lewis and I must return to Kanesbury to keep up a normal appearance, but we’ll try to visit if time allows.

  Adelaide nodded, knowing the young couple had her best interests at heart. And deep down, she admitted that she could use several days, perhaps even longer, to get some proper rest and nourishment. She thought she had definitely earned it.

  “But before we leave for Emmett and Lorna’s farm,” she said, “I need to know why Maynard and I were brought to this horrid place. I know Caldurian was involved because he visited Farnsworth when I was imprisoned in his cellar. But other than a few overheard scraps of information, I don’t know the entire story.” She emitted a weary sigh. “What exactly is going on in this crazy world of ours?”

  After they explained to Adelaide all they had learned from Dooley and told her how they had secretly followed him to the swamp, she returned to the house with Katherine to retrieve a few of her things. Lewis, in the meantime, carefully wrapped Dooley’s body in a blanket, lifted him over his shoulder and carried him just inside the trees. With a mix of unease and sadness, he buried him in a shallow grave using a shovel he found in the shed. He and Katherine planned to return with the constable to exhume the body as part of his investigation, believing the corpse would remain better preserved underground than lying in the shed. They also feared that if Farnsworth or his associates should return in the meantime, the body might disappear to cover their tracks.

  When Katherine stepped outdoors with Adelaide a short time later, Lewis had completed his grim task. Their next job was to carry Maynard’s body to one of the boats and cross the swamp. Lewis wiped his brow with a coat sleeve as they trudged once more to the shed. Though the first pale light of dawn still lay many hours away, everyone felt as if they had lingered here the entire night.

  “I’ll lift him under his shoulders and you take him by the feet,” Lewis instructed Katherine as they stood over Maynard’s body. “He’s much larger than Dooley, so I’ll need some help. Let me know if you have to stop and rest.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she replied, gazing at Maynard’s face. His eyes and thoughts were still closed to the world. She wondered what dreams, if any, occupied the man’s unending hours of sleep. “And to think all this time we believed that Maynard was journeying to Morrenwood to consult with the King. What other lies has Zachary Farnsworth fed to the citizens of Kanesbury?”

  “I hate to imagine,” Adelaide whispered, “though I fear we’ll find out in due course. Then we’ll know the real extent of the damage he and Dooley have caused. I’m sure it won’t be pretty.”

  They drifted across the swamp in somber silence. Lewis sat in one boat with Maynard, taking the shovel he had removed from the shed. Katherine and Adelaide paddled the other. When they reached shore, they carried Maynard to the cart and laid him in back, covering him with the additional blankets. Lewis saved one tattered covering to wrap around Dell Hawks’ body. He buried it in a second hastily dug grave among the low shrubs and weeds just inside the tree line, but not before retrieving the other half of the money that Dooley had given to the hired assassin. He handed the leather pouch with the silver and copper half pieces to Katherine to keep with the first one.

  “Maybe we can do something good with that money,” he said. “Something to reverse the damage that Farnsworth and the wizard have caused.”

  “It will take a lot to accomplish that,” Katherine sadly remarked as she and Adelaide watched Lewis dig a hole among the trees not far from where they had left the horse and cart. The two women held up the oil lamps to provide light. “Unfortunately, even a bucketful of coins won’t be able to undo the misery inflicted upon our friends and neighbors. Time can only accomplish that task.”

  After the body was buried and Lewis enjoyed a short rest, the trio boarded the cart, anxious to leave. Lewis took the reins and soon they were heading back up the narrow wooded path, eager to break free of the suffocating grip of the swamp. Adelaide sat between Lewis and Katherine, enjoying with childlike innocence the play of cool air upon her face and the scent of fragrant pine boughs standing guard at intervals on either side of the trail. The branches of other trees, now bony and bare on winter’s eve, created an archway of sorts above them as they traveled with quiet urgency. Soon the swamp lay behind them and they exited the woods, arriving back onto River Road still awash in night shadows and blanketed with a mass of thick clouds sailing sluggishly above.

  In time they crossed the wooden bridge where Dooley had first encountered Dell Hawks, and then continued westward past the Spirit Caves at a steady pace until they were about a mile from the eastern border of Kanesbury. Adelaide soon pointed out a right turn up the road and Lewis reined in the horse to a gentle trot.

  “There’s Willow Road,” she said. “Just a few minutes north and we’ll reach Emmett’s farmhouse. No doubt he and his family will be fast asleep, but I suppose waking them can’t be helped under the circumstances.” Adelaide’s face was creased with worry as she glanced over her shoulder at Maynard who was still in a deep slumber. “We have to help him,” she whispered, fearful that she might never talk with her old friend and neighbor again. “We have to save him no matter the cost.”

  As they pulled into the farmstead, a large brown dog popped out from behind the doors of a barn and dashed toward the strangers like a swiftly moving shadow. Its loud bar
ks pierced the inky night. Moments later, a light appeared inside an upper window of the small house adjacent to the barn. A large oak tree towered above it on the left side. Soon the front door opened and a tall man stepped out into the gloom holding an oil lamp enclosed with a glass globe, the soft yellow light casting away the darkness around him.

  “Horace! Quiet!” His deep voice immediately silenced the dog who raced over to the man and walked protectively at his side as he approached the cart. He held the oil lamp in one hand and raised a stick of firewood in his other. “Who’s there?” he asked, standing a safe distance from the cart and holding up the lamp though unable to distinguish the faces of the visitors.

  “Emmett, it’s me, Adelaide Cooper from Kanesbury,” she said, recognizing the man’s voice.

  “Adelaide?” Emmett immediately tossed aside the piece of wood and hurried to the cart, trying to recall the last time he had seen the woman who had visited his home on a few occasions. “What brings you here at this ghostly hour?”

  “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I’m with three friends of mine,” she said, her voice nearly at a whisper. “And we desperately need your help.”

  Emmett saw only two people sitting next to her and caressed his whiskered face. “Where’s the third one?” he asked, his brow wrinkled with curiosity.

  Adelaide sighed. “That, I’m afraid, will take some explaining. May we come in?”

  Half an hour later, Katherine, Lewis and Adelaide were seated around a table in front of a large fireplace in a sparsely furnished kitchen with Emmett Trout and his wife, Lorna, who had since waken up and put on a kettle of tea. Lewis and Emmett had earlier carried in Maynard’s sleeping body and laid him on a spare feather mattress in an adjoining room. As hot tea was poured into clay mugs and passed around, Katherine began recounting a condensed version of the harrowing events of that night and of the previous weeks in Kanesbury. Emmett and his wife listened in stunned fascination, knowing some of the local history regarding Caldurian and the Enâri creatures, yet finding the exploits of Zachary Farnsworth and Dooley Kramer equally intriguing.