by R G Peterson
Grace turned to Nick, “When did your grandfather have his heart attack?”
Nick closed his eyes and thought, “Ah, let me think. There was snow on the ground, so it must have been late February, maybe March?”
“It was March 13th,” AJ said. They turned to stare at him. “What?”
“How do you remember that?”
“Well it was in between the end of our broomball season, but before the start of baseball.”
“But the 13th?”
AJ shrugged his shoulders, “I remember thinking when we broke into Warrington’s study that it was a good thing it was Saturday the 13th instead of Friday the 13th. Not that I’m superstitious or anything.”
They all laughed.
Grace said, “So we’d already figured out the prophecy. Well, a good deal of it anyway. But we hadn’t discovered the passageways to the archives yet.” She threw up her hands in surrender. “So some things were ‘revealed’ to us already, but not everything. And I can’t think of anything we lost. So I really don’t think that could be it. I think it means the riddle starts at a different time then that. Oh shoot, I’m rambling.”
Nick smiled and took hold of her hand. “So let’s figure out the date.” She smiled at him before laying her head on his shoulder.
AJ said, “So what’s happened lately that’s important?” He had a sudden revelation. “Hey, maybe it means the State Championships coming up. That’s important. And one team will gain the championship and one will lose it. And when it happens it’ll be revealed to everyone.” He looked expectantly at the others, only to realize no one had bought into his theory.
“Darlin’, it’s a kind o’ prophecy about somethin’ a wee bit more important than a hockey game, don’ yeh think?”
“Then a hockey game?” AJ answered, but when he saw the disbelief in Maddy’s face he added, “Yeah, I guess.”
“But in one way he’s right,” Anthony offered. “What’s happened lately that’s important?”
They all looked at Nick at the same time.
“What?” he said. Everyone gave him a come-on look. “Oh,” he said when he realized what everyone else had already figured out. “Yeah, I guess that would count as important.”
“So when did you notice that you lost your powers?” Anthony asked.
“Soon after Terry and I were supposed to get the last element, December 7th. Maybe a day or even a week or so later.” He shrugged as if to add he didn’t remember the exact date.
Grace reopened the website that added days. “Well from December 7th, 120 days would be…April 6th, 2016. That’s fifty-five days from now.”
Chapter 32
“Trust me. I’d tell you if I did”
When they were on their way home, and by themselves, Grace asked Nick, “So what did you want me to wait to hear?”
“Oh, yeah,” Nick said. “I think the part of the riddle about mastering the other’s mind is about me again. Unless of course Terry can do it, too.”
“Huh?”
“Sorry. That didn’t make much sense.”
“More like, no sense.”
Nick smiled at her, “Okay, remember when those guys attacked me at my place?”
Grace nodded.
“Well, I remember hearing Aaron Anderson say, or maybe it was Jeremy.”
Grace tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a does-it-really-matter look.
“Yeah, I guess not. Anyway, I heard one of them say, ‘Man, I thought he was gonna kill us.’ And the other one say, ‘He’s got his powers back? What the hell?’ I also remember one of them telling me that Thanatos’ mole was Thomas Wade, but again, I didn’t so much see them say it as hear them say it.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, I also remember being in AJ’s basement and he was talking about the game I missed and I heard Terry say, ‘Man you are so full of it.’ But no one reacted, so I thought I imagined it. But seconds later when Terry said something about how Murphy being in goal scared him, I heard AJ say, ‘You can say that again.’ But remember when I told him to cut Murphy some slack, he looked at me and denied saying anything.”
He paused and watched Grace think back to the conversation, “Yeah, sort of. But what’s your point?”
“Well, I was watching Terry tonight, you know, because the last time he kind of bolted.”
Grace nodded, once more.
“As we were talking about the word ‘master’ I swear I heard him say, ‘This is getting us nowhere fast. I can’t believe they don’t know that ‘master’ must have been intentionally used because of all of its different meanings.’ ”
“He didn’t say that? Did he? I don’t recall hearing him.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. What’s more, his lips never moved. So I’m pretty sure he didn’t say it out loud.”
Grace stopped mid-stride and put her hands over her open mouth. “You mean?” Nick heard her say through her hands.
He nodded. “I can read minds, or thoughts. But not always. Like, I can’t hear what you’re thinking right now. In fact I don’t ever remember hearing anything from you or any of the girls. It just seems to be the guys and only at certain times.”
Grace hadn’t moved and continued to stare at him with her mouth open. Nick could see her rapidly go back over things she might have thought while around Nick.
He tried to calm her by saying, “Trust me. I’d tell you if I did.”
She gave him a sideways glance to see if she could tell whether he was being completely honest. He smiled at her and crossed his heart and held up his hand as if he was under oath in a courtroom.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
Nick nodded.
Grace gave a little shake of her head. “That’s scary,” she confided to him.
“But I have no idea why I can sometimes and not others. Do you think that’s what the riddle is about? Or do you think Terry’s right and it has multiple meanings?”
She hadn’t moved, so Nick gave her a gentle tug on her arm to propel her forward. It also seemed to unlock her brain. She offered, “Well, it definitely would explain, ‘One will master other’s mind.’ But what makes you so sure Terry knows what he’s talking about?”
“Remember he said that Gabriella used to test him all the time with riddles? It was like she knew he would need it at some point in the future. Right? And look how fast he made something out of what we thought was an anagram. And without having to write it down even. And he seemed to know that the word ‘master’ was used because it has so many different meanings. Look at how many we came up with in just a few seconds. Why couldn’t it mean more than one thing?”
Grace’s face lit up, “Is there anything in Val’s dairy about something like this?”
Nick shook his head, “Nope, and I’ve read and reread it thousands of times. Nothing.”
Grace looked crestfallen. Then she had a flash of insight. “Didn’t you say that the manuscript Warrington used to read and reread thousands of times was actually your mom’s?”
Nick’s eyes lit up, but then the light faded. “Yeah, but there’s nothing in there either. Besides, it’s all in Mayan, not the first civilization writing.”
Grace stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to catch on. Reading her body language he said, “What?”
“You guys never took pictures of the whole thing. You were missing a page or two because Warrington interrupted before AJ could get it all?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think Terry still has it? And that we can get a look at the last few pages to see if there is anything there?”
Nick was now the one who stopped in mid-stride. He gave her a startled look. “You think, maybe?”
Grace nodded enthusiastically. “And remember, Gabriella said your mom had the only complete copy of the Voynich manuscript and that she kind of suggested we search for it. Don’t you think that might be a place to start?”
Nick started to walk. He grabbed Grace’s hand
and the two marched with a renewed purpose the rest of the way home.
Chapter 33
“But what’s got your undies all up in a bundle, baby bro?”
Nick willed the hours to fly by in school the next morning so he could get to lunch and talk with Terry. He rushed from his third hour class and headed to their table in the cafeteria. His leg pumped up and down rocking the bench as he waited for Terry to show. The others all joined him, but when AJ asked what he was so nervous about, he just gave his head a quick shake.
When Terry strolled up, and before he could even sit down, Nick asked, “Do you have the manuscript your father read all the time? The one that was actually our mom’s?”
Terry scanned the faces at the table and said, “And good-day to you, too. What the…?”
“Ah, sorry but it’s kind of important. At least Grace and I think it is…or could be. Darn. Do you have it or not?”
“Not.”
A stupefied Nick shouted, “What? Where is it?”
“Relax, bro. It’s around somewhere. I think Red has it or put it someplace. I hated that thing so much I told him to either get rid of it or I’d burn it. The next day it was gone.” He shrugged to accentuate his point.
“Red?” Nick asked rhetorically.
“Yeah, Red,” Terry answered wanting nothing to do with it.
The other five teens were locked onto the twins as if they were playing a tennis match. At that moment everyone’s attention was focused on Nick, waiting for him to return the volley.
Nick’s eyes swam in his head as he searched for the direction he felt they should go. “Okay,” he eventually said, “I need you to find out if he has it or what he did with it. And it needs to be like yesterday.” Everyone glared at his rudeness and when he noticed added meekly, “Please? Thank you.”
Terry chuckled, “Yeah, no problem. I’ll talk to him tonight. But what’s got your undies all up in a bundle, baby bro?”
Everyone laughed at Terry’s referencing Nick as his younger sibling, having heard it for the first time. Nick’s was more forced than real.
“Um, when AJ and I broke into your house to look at it, your father, (Nick shuddered when he said ‘father’) caught us before we were finished. Grace and I thought maybe there was more to the manuscript. Something that might help us solve the riddle or riddles. Our mom kind of had this way of, you know, hiding things in plain sight because no one else could read it.”
“Yeah, well, whenever I looked at it everything there was written in that Mayan stuff. And I know I can’t read it, but a lot of people can. So it’s not really hidden then, is it?”
Nick raised his shoulders a millimeter and answered, “As AJ likes to say, you never can know.”
Terry raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “And like I said, I’ll talk to him tonight. If he’s got it I’ll bring it to school tomorrow.”
Nick looked slightly crestfallen in not having access to it sooner.
Terry caught Nick’s reaction and said, “Bro, that’s a lot safer than you showing up at the mansion where Thanatos has eyes and ears all over the place. Don’t you think?”
Nick’s chin dropped and he nodded his head in agreement.
The next day, Nick was the first to the cafeteria again. Once more he bounced up and down in anticipation of what they might find. Three minutes later Terry strolled into the cafeteria with his backpack slung over his shoulder looking unconcerned. He sat down, swung the backpack around so it was on the table in front of him, unzipped it and extracted the leather bound folder Nick last saw on Warrington’s mammoth desk. He started to reach across the table for it, but Terry pulled it back.
“What?” Nick asked a bit uncertain.
“Before I give this to you, you gotta promise me something.”
“Sure. What?”
“I never want to see this thing again. Just having it in my backpack all day made me think about how it was more important to my father than I was. I…hate…this...effing…thing.”
With that he shoved it across the table. Nick gave him a look of deepest sympathy and nodded. Anthony and Miriam, sitting on either side of Terry, placed their hands on his shoulders. He shrugged them off.
He looked at Nick and said, “One more thing. Put it away until you’re by yourself. I don’t want to see it ever again. Especially now.”
“Ah, sure. No worries.” He pulled out his backpack and thrust it inside. “There,” he said as he placed everything back on the floor beneath the table.
Terry glanced at the others. He shook his head and said, “You know what? I’m not hungry. I’ll see you guys around.” He stood up and left. Anthony started to follow but Terry held up his hand for him to stay where he was. “Thanks, but I really want to be by myself. Okay?”
Anthony stopped in mid-rise and stayed there. He nodded and slowly lowered himself back to the bench as he watched Terry walk away as if he was the most carefree person on the planet, knowing full well he was torn up inside.
When Terry had gone Nick grabbed his backpack and placed it on the table. He pulled out the binder and flipped to the last few pages. He scanned them and when he knew he had already seen it before, flipped the page. He did this three more times before he froze. The others half-stood to see what he was staring at and noticed the last page was written in First Civilization script.
They waited a minute before AJ couldn’t help himself. “Come on, buddy. Share.”
Nick hesitated before looking at his friends one by one, settling last on Grace. “It says, ‘Knowledge lies at the heart of it all. The seeker will find it secreted away with other like kind. My hope is that it be found before it is too late. I know this is the last thing I’ll ever write. Protect my boys. Keep them away from Warrington, Thanatos and…’ And that’s where it ends, as if she was interrupted.”
“Do you think that’s when Slate broke in?” AJ asked.
“Yeah, maybe. I can’t see why she wouldn’t have finished it if something hadn’t happened to stop her.”
Nick was deflated. His mind raced through all of the possibilities of what her last words alluded to. Secreted away. Other like kind. Found before it is too late. He was beginning to feel the riddles and questions would never end. He thought of Terry but was disinclined to tell him what he found in the manuscript.
Maddy broke into his thoughts, “So who’s the one who knew her best that last year?” When AJ started to answer she waved at him to stop. “Red. Didn’ he say they lived with him and that he tried ta help out when he could? Don’ you think, he might know somethin’?”
Grace brightened, “Yeah, that makes sense. He’s always been one to keep us moving along. Told us about your mom’s diary. And now that we’re talking about it, he was the one who told us to read the manuscript. Maybe he thought there was something there? Maybe it was this? With Andy dead and her not talking to your grandparents, she probably talked to him about stuff.”
Nick sat up straighter. “You’re right. We need to talk to Red. But where?”
“There’s always the ice arena. Even though he doesn’t work there anymore, he comes by a lot,” AJ offered and everyone was quick to agree.
Chapter 34
“Guardians? Who the heck is that?”
The teens were unable to get a hold of Red over the next few days. When they asked Terry where he was, Terry shrugged his shoulders and said, “I haven’t seen him, but Gabriella said he was on some mission for the Guardians.”
The others looked at him uncomprehending.
“Guardians?” AJ asked. “Who the heck is that?”
“I’m not sure, but Gabriella made it sound like it was our parents and grandparents. It seems that’s what they call themselves.” He gave another shrug.
“Can you ask her where he is or when he’ll be back?” Grace asked.
“I did. She won’t say. What’s the big deal anyway? Red can handle himself.”
It bothered Nick that, although Terry had become aware of Red being his
grandfather, he didn’t address him in that manner. Likewise, he never called Henry anything, even his given name, while he at least called Grandma Gayle, GG.
“Uh, the big deal is we think he may be able to tell us if and where our mom may have left another clue for us to solve the riddle.”
It dawned on Terry; “You found something in the manuscript, didn’t you?”
“Kind of. There was a mysterious message written on the last page.”
When Nick stopped Terry prodded him, “And?”
“And?”
“What was the mysterious message?”
“Oh, yeah, that. Let me see.”
Grace opened her notepad tablet and scrolled through it. Everyone turned to her. “Um, no. Um, no. Oh, here we go. ‘Knowledge lies at the heart of it all. The seeker will find it secreted away with other like kind. My hope is that it be found before it is too late. I know this is the last thing I’ll ever write. Protect my boys. Keep them away from Warrington, Thanatos and...’
Terry blanched. “And?”
“That’s where it stops. We think she was probably interrupted by Slate. It appears to be the last thing she ever wrote.”
Terry looked forlorn, on the verge of tears. He looked away. When he finally looked back he asked, “She actually said that? Protect my…” but he was unable to continue.
“Yeah. It seems her last thoughts and actions were to protect you two,” Grace said. “From what GG and Grandpa Henry have told us, it was all she talked about when she was in the hospital after Slate hit her with his car.”
Terry swung around and stared at Grace, hate seething from his eyes. “That bastard. I wish I’d been the one who killed him.”
“But I didn’t…” Nick started to say only to be cut off when Terry turned his searing gaze on him.
“Don’t ever apologize for doing that. You hear me? Never!”
Nick flinched and said uncertainly, “Ah, sure.”