Lake in the Clouds

by Edward Willett

  Which he did. He’d taken note of the number on Major’s jet as it had taken off from Prince Albert. He could track the flight, find out exactly where they were going: make his own arrangements, and hopefully get wherever they were going not too far behind them. And then…what?

  Find them, if I can. Follow them, I guess. Try to get a message to Ariane.

  But if Aunt Phyllis remained in thrall to Merlin it wouldn’t change anything. To get Major to break the spell, she’d still have to do what Major wanted, and hand over the third shard of Excalibur as soon as they found it.

  It’s a two-hour bus ride to Saskatoon, he thought. Maybe Aunt Phyllis will snap out of it.

  And if she doesn’t?

  He shoved the thought away and concentrated on the last of his pizza. It looked delicious – but to Wally, it now tasted like sawdust. He’d been ecstatic after successfully rescuing Aunt Phyllis, but now he was beginning to realize it might only be the beginning of his struggle to redeem himself – and help Ariane complete the quest they had both been given.

  I still don’t know if we can trust the Lady, Wally thought, but I’m damn sure we can’t trust Rex Major.

  Too bad it had taken his complete betrayal of his best friend for him to find that out.

  Pizza eaten, they crossed the parking lot again and went into the bus depot, where Wally purchased two one-way tickets to Saskatoon.

  They’d need a place to stay in Saskatoon, and he preferred to have it lined up before they left Prince Albert rather than leave it to chance. The Prince Albert bus depot didn’t offer terminals for public use, unlike Pearson International Airport. He snorted. Go figure. He’d have to book a hotel over the phone. He’d need a credit card for that, and he didn’t have one. But Aunt Phyllis…

  He went over to where she sat quietly, staring off at nothing. “Aunt Phyllis,” he said.

  “Where is Mr. Major?” she said, sounding peevish. “I’m getting quite tired and would like him to show us to our rooms.”

  “We’re meeting him in Saskatoon, Aunt Phyllis, remember?” Wally said.

  She frowned. “Saskatoon?” She shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s right. Can you take me home, please? Maybe Mr. Major is waiting for us there.”

  Wally felt a rising tide of frustration. “He’s meeting us in Saskatoon, Aunt Phyllis,” he said, an edge to his voice that he felt bad about but couldn’t control. “We’re taking the bus.”

  “The bus?” Aunt Phyllis shook her head, and to Wally’s horror, stood up. She brushed the front of her skirt. “No, Wally, I’m sorry, but I’m not going with you on the bus. I’m taking a taxi back to Rex Major’s lovely home. You’ve clearly made a mistake. Rex Major would –”

  “Aunt Phyllis, stop it!” Wally said, frustration boiling over into full-blown anger and annoyance. “Snap out of it!”

  The phrase came out like a command, a crackling snap of sound that turned heads in their direction.

  And then Aunt Phyllis, with a soft moan, sank down into her chair and slumped to one side, unconscious.

  Chapter Nine

  The Vision

  Ariane spent the flight to Vancouver very deliberately not talking to Rex Major. He didn’t seem to care. He retired to the office space aft of the main cabin as soon as they were airborne and didn’t emerge for the rest of the flight.

  Exploring, Ariane found cheese and crackers and pop and bottled water and wine and a few more exotic liqueurs in tiny airline bottles in the galley, though there didn’t seem to be any actual meals. She made herself a snack plate and grabbed a bottle of water. She’d tasted wine and hadn’t liked it and didn’t think this was a good day to start drinking whisky, even if Major was unlikely to object to the fact she was underage…although for a minute she was tempted. She’d heard getting drunk made you forget things, and forgetting what was happening to her sounded tempting.

  But she drank her water instead, and ate her cheddar and rice crackers, and hoped Aunt Phyllis was all right, and tried to think of a plan for stealing the shard Major had given her, using her magic to get back to Prince Albert, and…

  …somehow getting past the armed guards at Aunt Phyllis’s door when there was no water anywhere near, except for whatever little she could draw from the storage tanks on the Winnebago itself, which hardly seemed likely to be sufficient.

  As promised, the flight was an hour and a half, and by the end of it, she was no closer to finding a solution than when they had started.

  When the pilot announced they’d started their final descent into Vancouver, Rex Major emerged from his office. “I’ve booked hotel rooms in Vancouver. But if you’re thinking of making a run for it, just remember…”

  “…you have Aunt Phyllis. I’m not likely to forget,” Ariane said sourly.

  “Good,” Major said.

  His cell phone chirped. He glanced at it and frowned. “I’ll deal with it when we’re down,” he said, as if to himself, and reached for the seat belts built into the bench seating along the walls. “Buckle up,” he said. “It could be a bumpy descent.”

  She remembered that he hated flying and gave him an unsympathetic smile. “Doesn’t bother me,” she said sweetly. It was a very minor bit of payback, but it made her feel better.

  She fastened her own belt and stared past Major at the windows behind him. They’d stayed ahead of the sunset and had been flying through bright blue skies, but now there was nothing to be seen outside but thick grey cloud – cloud that didn’t clear until they were so close to the ground it took Ariane by surprise when it appeared. Three minutes later they touched down in a driving rain, and rolled across the shining wet pavement to a hangar bearing the Excalibur Computer Systems logo. The pilot taxied into its cavernous interior, then shut down the engines.

  “Here we are,” Major said. But his eyes had gone back to the cell phone. “Stay put,” he said. “I need to follow up on this.” He got up and went into his office, and closed the door.

  Ariane stared at the closed door. Then she glanced at the door into the cockpit as it opened. The pilot gave her a noncommittal look, and went down the stairs.

  All alone, Ariane thought. Well, then…

  She crept to the office door and pressed her head against it.

  It was more soundproof than she would have liked, but she could catch a few intelligible phrases. In fact, they leaped out at her. “Wally…somewhere downtown…hiding from police…find him…all right. Keep me posted.”

  She hurried back to her seat and tried to look as if she’d been there all the time. The door opened. Major jerked his head toward the front of the cabin. “Let’s go,” he said shortly. “A car is waiting.”

  She followed him, but all she was thinking about was what she had just heard. Wally hiding in downtown Toronto…from the police? What could have happened? If he’s in Toronto, that couldn’t have been him I saw in Prince Albert…

  Why do you even care? another part of her whispered. He betrayed you.

  That’s right, she told herself. I don’t care what happens to him anymore. He can drop dead for all I care.

  But as she followed Major down the jet’s stairs onto the floor of the hangar, then across the concrete to the exit, another thought lodged itself in her brain and refused to go away.

  I hope he’s all right.

  •••

  Rex Major fumed as he led Ariane out of the hangar to the big black limousine waiting outside. Insolent brat, he thought. I told him to stay put. Who does he think he is?

  He’s immune to Command, for one thing, he reminded himself. And that’s because he may well be heir to Arthur’s power.

  His black mood lifted a little. In fact, he was certain Wally was heir to Arthur’s power now. He’d read Iftekhar’s report on what had happened…what he remembered of it. Apparently the boy had shown astonishing martial ability, using the poker like a sword to overcome a man twice his size, twice his age, and with years of training.

  As more and more of Excalibur is
uncovered, Major thought, its power is making itself felt everywhere. It’s a conduit for magic from Faerie. Every piece of it draws more power through the doorway from home. He rubbed the ruby stud in his earlobe. Even I’m feeling it. The Commands I gave Phyllis…before the first two shards were discovered, I could never have taken control of her mind so thoroughly.

  It was one reason he was confident he could expedite the replacement of Ariane’s passport. A Command in the right ear, and the fact he wasn’t her legal guardian, the fact he had no proof of her citizenship with him, and assorted other difficulties would simply vanish into thin air.

  On the Passport Canada website, prominently labelled “Fraud alert!”, was the statement that “No third-party person or group can speed up the processing of your passport application.” Want to bet? Major thought.

  The boy had panicked. Understandable. He had no idea what power he was heir to. And apparently he’d messed up Iftekhar’s head pretty good. Scalp wounds bled a lot. He’d probably thought he’d murdered the man instead of just stunning him.

  He’s probably lucky he didn’t, Major thought. If the sword really is feeding power to him, the kind of power Arthur had…

  I’ll have to handle him more gently going forward. Don’t want him accidentally killing a guard. I can cover up a lot, but that would be difficult.

  First things first. Reassure Wally and get him to go back to the condo. He opened the door of the limousine and slid onto the smooth white leather of its back seat. Ariane slid in beside him and silently fastened her seatbelt. He clicked his own into place. “Let’s go,” he said to the driver. The car rolled away from the hangar.

  It was a short trip. Merlin had booked at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport, a luxury hotel located directly above the international terminal. Five minutes after they left the Excalibur Computer Systems hangar they were pulling up to the entrance. Five minutes after that, Ariane was safely ensconced in a luxurious room on the hotel’s fourteenth floor, with a spectacular view of the North Shore mountains and the airport’s landing runways. Major showed her how to use the touch-screen system that adjusted the in-room environmental controls, and for a moment she seemed to forget he was her enemy, as she exclaimed with delight. He rather enjoyed her enjoyment of the room. He sometimes forgot, living the lifestyle he did, that not everyone else did.

  Then he opened the adjoining door to his room, and re-established their proper relationship. “Don’t think you can sneak away without me being aware of it,” he warned her.

  “You going to come in and watch me shower?” she snapped. “Is that how you get your kicks? Even if you did I could vanish before you could do anything about it.”

  Major shoved down a surge of anger. More insolence. She and Wally deserve each other. Too bad I stole him away from her. “I don’t need to,” he said evenly. “The minute you leave, I call the people watching Aunt Phyllis.” He pointed her to her room. “But this door stays open.”

  Ariane folded her arms. “I don’t have anything with me. I need toothpaste and a toothbrush and other things, too. Girl things.”

  Major groaned. “Call room service. They can send up whatever you need.” He pointed at the other room again. “Now get in there and leave me alone.”

  “I didn’t ask to be abducted,” Ariane said, but left him alone, vanishing out of sight around the corner.

  Unlike Ariane, Major had an overnight bag with him and, of course, his computer. He opened it and connected to the WiFi network. He checked his inbox, watching the email pouring in as the computer found the Excalibur Computer Systems server. Lots to work through. It would take him a while.

  He went to the minibar, pulled out a small whisky bottle, emptied its contents into a glass, and set to work.

  •••

  Ariane took a shower. The hotel provided big fuzzy bathrobes, and she made certain hers was well-belted before she left the bathroom and passed in front of the open door to Major’s room. But he was out of sight, presumably at the desk.

  It was too early to go to bed, but she didn’t want to put her clothes back on now that the rest of her was clean. As she’d discovered long since, ordering the water off of them did nothing to take away the gunk the water had deposited, and since her recent activity had all been in shallow Saskatchewan lakes, there’d been lots of gunk to deposit.

  Then again…this was a hotel. A fancy one. She looked at the guest services brochure. Sure enough, they offered laundry service. And the other things she needed. Plus, she was hungry.

  She made a call. She stuffed her clothes into a plastic bag she found in the closet. Then she turned on the TV and channel-surfed while she waited.

  About ten minutes later there was a knock at the door. “Room service,” said a voice.

  “Who is it?” Major called at once. He appeared in the doorway. She pulled the bathrobe even tighter.

  “Room service,” she repeated. “You said…”

  Major frowned and went to the door. “Yes?” he snapped as he opened it.

  “Um…room service?” said the young man on the other side. He had a trolley. “Some toiletries and, uh,” he checked a piece of paper in his hand, “a Caesar salad, fish and chips, and warm apple pie? Plus a Diet Coke?”

  Major looked at Ariane.

  “You said,” she repeated, “‘Call room service, and they can bring up anything you need.’”

  He sighed. “Yes, I did. Well, it will hardly break me.” He stepped aside. “Bring it in.”

  The young man came in. He looked at Ariane, looked at Major, didn’t quite raise an eyebrow, and held out the chit to be signed. Major signed it and handed it back. “Now get out,” he said.

  “Not yet,” Ariane said. She got up from the bed and handed the young man the plastic bag with her clothes in it. “They told me you normally provide laundry services only if you have the clothes in by 9 a.m. but I thought if maybe I asked really nicely…I really need them by morning.” She gave him a bright smile.

  “I’ll see to it,” he said, smiling back. He turned and rolled the trolley back into the hallway.

  “Thank you!” Ariane called as he turned to close the door. He gave her a wink and then the door snicked shut.

  “You flirted with him,” Major said. “To get him to help you.”

  “We can’t all just order people to do what we want them to do,” Ariane said. “I’ve got to work with what I’ve got.”

  Major grunted. “Enjoy your meal,” he said, and went into the other room.

  By the time she’d eaten, Ariane was exhausted. She’d used her power a lot the previous day, then had a short and sleepless night. Throw in the shock of Aunt Phyllis’s abduction, the car ride and the plane flight, and she had nothing left. She turned off the light and got into bed, only slipping off the bathrobe once the covers were up to her chin, and making sure she could reach it in an emergency.

  Major’s light stayed on, and she could hear the tap-tap-tap of his keyboard. But not for long, because almost at once she fell asleep.

  She dreamed.

  When she had first begun to feel the Lady’s power working through her, she had often dreamed of lakes and swords, echoes of the ancient world of Excalibur’s youth. But those dreams had vanished with the Lady’s departure.

  Then there had been the frightening dreams, haunted by the demon Merlin had summoned to try to keep her from sleeping, to wear her down so she could not find the second shard before he did. She had banished that demon with the power of the first shard.

  Since then, she had had only ordinary dreams…until now.

  She recognized at once that this was one of those other kinds of dreams, a vivid image painted in her mind by magic. Once again there was a lake…but this was no shallow Saskatchewan pond, or even the deeper and colder northern lake where her aunt’s cabin was. This was a lake she had never seen before, a striking blue colour, surrounded by thinly forested slopes rising to snow-capped mountain peaks to which clung wisps of cloud. There was a small
, rocky island close to one shore. In her dream she crossed the water, though not by boat: she seemed to have no body in the dream, just as she had no body when she traversed the world in the clouds. Then she was on the island. She slipped, somehow, through a small opening between two rocks. Inside was a pool, deep and still. And in the bottom of the pool…

  The song of the sword pierced her mind, hard and cold and wild and filled with longing, the longing to be reunited with the other shards already freed from their ancient hiding places.

  The third shard. The one she was looking for. The one they were flying to Australia to find. It was in that pool, on that island, in that lake.

  The dream…the vision…began to fade. But she had the power to choose to focus on any part of the world of the vision. She used that power to streak back across the water. There was a small gravel parking lot, and a sign, green with yellow letters:

  Lake Putahi. Elevation 720 m.

  The song of the sword crescendoed. She found herself screaming back. “I’m coming! I’m coming! I’m…”

  She snapped awake, gasping, heart pounding.

  “What have you seen?” said a voice by her bed, and she jerked her head to the right and clutched at the covers. Major stood there in his own white bathrobe. “You’ve had a vision, haven’t you?” he said intently. “Of the third shard.”

  She nodded.

  “Tell me.”

  “It…it’s in a pool,” she said, pulse still racing. “On an island. In a lake. Surrounded by mountains. Tall ones, with snow.”

  “Rugged mountains? As rugged as the Rockies?”

  “Maybe even more rugged,” she said. “And I saw a name. On a sign, in the parking lot. ‘Lake Putahi.’”

  “Maori,” Major said at once. “And that means the shard isn’t in Australia at all. Most likely it’s in New Zealand. Get up. We’ll see what Google makes of it.”

  “I’m not getting up until you leave the room,” Ariane said.