Kevin nodded. “Anything happen while I was gone?”
“Doreen came by.” Chris told Kevin about his conversation with her. “She needs to search her house and see if she can find a copy of that contract. And if she can, I think we should check out those boats. If Jared has all four, he should return at least two of them. They weren’t his to take.” After a pause, Chris added, “Actually, I think he should return all four.”
“I know how you feel, but she did break the contract. He didn’t. Of course the whole thing’s moot unless she can find a copy of that contract. Without it, he can claim anything he wants to. So I guess that’s the first step. When does she want to go?”
“As soon as possible.”
Kevin sighed. “I really don’t feel like tackling this today.”
“Why don’t I go with her? I can help her search, and if we find something, we’ll see where things stand then.”
“You sure you want to do this? She’s not the easiest woman to get along with.”
“She’s not so bad. I’ve known worse.”
“Okay.” Kevin removed the key to Terah from his chain. “But take Rigel with you.”
“Why?”
“For one thing, he seems to get along with her, and for another, if you’re searching for a contract you won’t be paying attention to what’s around you. He will.”
Chapter 6
Parson's Branch
When Doreen walked into the reception area shortly before two, Chris was seated at his desk and Rigel was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder. She joined them and asked, “When can we go?”
“As soon as I can figure out where we’re going,” Chris answered without looking up. He was trying to find Parson’s Branch on his map.
“Here.” Doreen pointed to a small river on the map near the mouth of the body of water Chris knew as the Chesapeake Bay. “Our settlement’s about a mile from the mouth of Parson’s Branch.”
Chris took out the key and concentrated on a point on the southern bank of the river. Rigel caught Doreen’s eye and nodded towards Chris’s arm as he put his hand on Chris’s shoulder.
When they got there, there were no houses in sight. Chris gave Doreen a couple of minutes to recover and then asked, “Which way now?”
Doreen nodded upstream. “It’s on the other side of those trees.”
Ten minutes later they walked into the clearing where the settlement had been. The houses were still standing, but they were all empty. Chris raised his eyebrows and looked at Doreen.
“That one,” she said as she pointed to a house on the other side of the clearing near a small dock. “That’s our house.”
Chris looked around. “That’s the only dock?”
Doreen nodded. “We only kept a couple of skiffs here. The main boats, the fishing boats, were docked about three miles from here. That’s where our crews and their families lived. We could have moved up there, but this is where my father grew up and where his brother lived, so we stayed here.”
Doreen led the way to her house, and once they were inside, she headed towards the bedrooms. Rigel stayed in the living room while Chris searched the kitchen area.
The first cabinet Chris opened was empty. There were no plates, mugs, pots, or pans, and all of the other cabinets were just as bare. Firewood was stacked beside the stove, but there wasn’t a sign of so much as a kettle.
“I think someone’s already been here,” Chris called out.
“What makes you think that?” Doreen asked.
“The kitchen cabinets have been stripped clean.”
Doreen laughed. “There wasn’t anything in them to start with.”
“How did you eat?” Rigel asked.
“Thomas’s wife fed us,” Doreen answered. “Thomas was my father’s brother. My mother died when I was born, so his wife took us in. I stayed with them while I was a baby, but as soon as I could get around, we moved here. She kept feeding us though, which was a good thing as neither of us could boil water without burning up the pot. She also made our clothes. Washed them, too.”
Doreen walked out of her father’s room. “I thought the contract would be in one of the drawers in my father’s dresser, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t in his closet either. And you said the kitchen cabinets were empty? Did you look in all of them? He might have stuck it in there. He signed Jared’s copy at the kitchen table.”
Chris shook his head. “There wasn’t anything in any of them. Can you think of anywhere else he might have left it?”
Doreen shook her head.
“Have you checked your room?” Rigel asked.
“Not yet.”
“He might have stuck it in there since it was mainly for you.”
“Would it be all right if I pack some of my clothes while I’m looking? I’m sure Jana’s tired of altering her stuff to fit me.”
“Go ahead,” Chris said from the doorway. “We’re not in a hurry. We’ll take a good look around the living room while you’re doing that.”
While Doreen was busy in her room, Chris and Rigel moved furniture around, checked for false bottoms or hidden drawers, looked for pockets in the cushions, and checked the walls, fireplace, and floor for loose rocks or boards. They didn’t find anything that could be used to hide a thimble, much less a contract.
“Would your father have given it to his brother for safe keeping?” Rigel asked.
Doreen stepped out of her room and shook her head. “Thomas died a couple of years ago. He took one of the boats out when he shouldn’t have.”
“What do you mean?” Chris asked.
“My father told him a bad storm was coming, but Thomas didn’t believe him. The storm blew in around lunchtime and lasted for two days.”
“What happened to him?” Chris asked.
Doreen shrugged. “We searched for days, but we couldn’t find one sign of Thomas, his crew, or the boat. The storm took them.”
“That’s scary,” Chris said.
“Is there anywhere else we can look?” Rigel asked, changing the subject.
Doreen thought for a moment, then frowned as she picked up her bag of clothes. “I doubt it would be there, but there’s a shed near the dock where we kept our tools and gear, and there’s a big cabinet in there that my father used to put things in sometimes. I guess we should check it before we give up.”
Chris waved towards the door. “Lead the way.”
The shed was between the house and the dock. Doreen untied the rope that kept the door shut, took the cover off a glowstone on the workbench, and started going through tool boxes and drawers as she worked her way towards the cabinet against the back wall. When she opened the cabinet door, a sheaf of papers tied with string was on the top shelf. Doreen took them out, untied the string, and started reading.
“Here it is,” she said quietly as she read. “This is the contract.” She read on for a minute and then looked at Chris. “Father did give Jared two boats, transferable on the date of our union, but he put some stipulations on the transfer.” She set the paper down on the workbench, smoothed it out and pointed to a paragraph half-way down the page.
Chris leaned over her shoulder and read. The paragraph stated that the boats were to remain Doreen’s property and control of their use was to remain with her. Her father further stipulated that any monies or goods derived from the use of the boats was to be used in accordance with her wishes. The next paragraph stated that unless amended at a later date by Doreen or her father, any remaining boats were to become her property upon his death.
When Chris was done, he motioned for Rigel to take a look.
After he finished reading the contract, Rigel let out a low whistle. “That contract’s not anything like Jared said.”
Doreen tied the papers back up. “Did you notice there’s not one word about children anywhere in there?” Then she handed the contract to Chris. “Do you think we can get my boats back now?”
Chris took a deep breath. “According to this, you should g
et all four boats back, but you’ll probably be in for a fight. It might be more expedient to let him keep two of them if he’ll give up the other two without a fight.”
Doreen thought for a moment. “I hate to let him have any of them.”
“Well, with this contract, you could press for all four, but I can almost guarantee you he’ll want to take it before the district minister and then on to the court in Milhaven.”
“And while all of this is going on, he’ll still have my boats?”
Chris nodded. “It’s going to take quite a while, and it’ll cost him to go to Milhaven to present his case.”
“If he gets angry enough, I wouldn’t put it past him to scuttle the boats and be done with it,” Rigel said. “He struck me as that kind of man.”
“If he can’t have them, no one will?” Chris asked.
Rigel nodded.
Doreen let out a long sigh. “I don’t want to live at the coast now that Father’s gone, but if I stay in Milhaven I’m going to have to start from scratch. Right now everything I own is in that bag.” She tilted her head towards the bag of clothes she’d set on the floor of the workshop. “Oh, and I guess these tools are mine now. Can we take these back?”
Chris looked around the little shed. “Not this trip, but I’ll get Marcus to come back with me. We’ll bring a couple of barrels and load them up.”
“Marcus?” Doreen asked.
“Myron’s associate,” Rigel explained. “He’s a sorcerer. Between the three of us, we can get this stuff packed up and back to Milhaven in a couple of trips. No problem.”
Doreen nodded. “Thank you. These I want to keep. I’ll need them.”
“Do you know how to use them?” Rigel asked hesitantly.
Doreen laughed. “I may not be able to make a decent cup of tea, but I can use every tool in this shed and then some. Who do you think helped my father build those boats? And this shed?” Doreen waved her arm around the room. “I’m not helpless, just useless as a woman.”
Rigel looked her up and down. “I wouldn’t say that.”
Doreen blushed. “Useless for woman’s work.”
Chris cleared his throat. “So what do you want to do about the boats?”
“I want them all, but I guess I’ll settle for two. I’ll need to sell them, and I don’t want to have to wait a year to do it. Jana wants her house back, and I don’t blame her.”
“All right. Why don’t we go see Jared?”
Doreen shook her head. “He’s not going to listen to a word I say. As far as he’s concerned, he has the boats and that’s that. My only choice was whether or not to marry him, and he made it clear the other night that if I said no then, we had nothing left to discuss.”
“He did say that,” Rigel agreed.
“Okay. Why don’t Rigel and I go see him then? Myron would like to stay out of this if at all possible, but I’m his assistant. That’ll get me in the door if nothing else.”
Doreen shrugged. “If you think it’ll work, I’m all for it. And I don’t have any problem not being there. If I never see that man again it’ll be fine with me.”
~ ~ ~ ~
When they got back to the castle, Rigel asked, “Why don’t I see if I can find Marcus? It might not hurt to have him with us when we go see Jared.”
“Think we might need reinforcements?” Chris asked.
“Maybe, but mainly because he knows his way around a boat. Didn’t I hear him say he used to be a fisherman?”
Chris nodded. “But I think he fished rivers, not open water.”
Rigel shrugged. “That’s still more experience with boats than I’ve had. What about you?”
“You’ve got a point. I’ve never been on one,” Chris admitted. “Go see if he’s around.” Then he turned to Doreen. “I want to let Myron look at the contract before we go. Would you mind waiting out here?”
“Sure,” Doreen said. “Think I could find some tea somewhere?”
Chris nodded towards Cameryn. “She’ll take care of it. Back in a minute.”
Chris knocked on Kevin’s door and then went in. After he shut it, he handed Kevin the contract. “She owns the boats, and I think if it went to court she’d get all four, at least she would on Earth. Should we show this to Laryn? Or Tyree?”
Kevin glanced over the contract. “I’d like to get their input before we insist he hand the boats over. Chances are we’ll be in for a fight, a legal fight.”
“That’s what I told her, and she’s agreed to let him keep two of them if she can get the other two back now, without any hassle.”
“Sounds more than fair to me. And feel free to tell him I’ve got her father’s copy of the contract and we’ll stand behind her if this thing goes to court.” Then he asked, “What’s she planning to do with the boats?”
“Sell them and use the money to start over here.”
“Doing what? I got the impression work’s not very high on her list.”
“I think she purposely gave us the wrong impression because she’s embarrassed about her lack of skills in, as she put it, women’s work. She knows how to use tools, even helped her father build the boats, but she never learned how to cook or take care of a house.”
Kevin nodded. “Back to my question. If she’s planning to live here, how’s she going to support herself? She can’t stay with Jana forever.”
“She knows that, but she needs to sell the boats before she can do anything else.”
“You don’t have any idea what she’s got in mind, do you?”
Chris shook his head. “But I do know there’s more to that woman than I saw the other day.”
Kevin thought for a moment. “Let’s get Cryslyn to handle the sale. She’ll get Doreen a good deal, and we’ll find out what Doreen’s thinking by what she wants Cryslyn to get out of the barter.”
Chris nodded. “Anything else before I head to Bushwell? Oh, and I’m taking Rigel and Marcus with me.”
Kevin laughed. “Back up?”
Chris nodded again. “I may be your assistant, but Rigel and Marcus both look dangerous. Maybe Jared will be a little more cooperative with those two along.”
~ ~ ~ ~
After dropping Doreen off in Cryslyn’s office, Chris, Rigel, and Marcus left for Bushwell. Since Rigel knew where they were going, he used the key to take them straight to Jared’s front porch. The timing couldn’t have been any better as Jared was walking up the steps as they emerged from the energy field not five feet in front of him.
“Good evening,” Chris said as he held out his hand. “I’m Chris, Master Sorcerer Myron’s assistant. It’s nice to meet you.”
Jared took Chris’s hand hesitantly and frowned. “Are you here about Doreen?”
“On her behalf,” Chris said.
“I’m sorry if she’s changed her mind, but I told her the other night if she refused me then, we had nothing left to discuss. I’m in the process of making arrangements to marry someone else now.”
“She hasn’t changed her mind, and we all wish you the best with your future wife. I’m here on a totally different matter,” Chris said in an authoritative manner. “We’re here about her boats.”
Jared’s eye’s narrowed. “She forfeited those boats when she backed out of the contract.”
“Well, I’ve read the contract, and so has Myron. At no point did her father give you ownership of any of his boats. He gave them to both of you upon your marriage. As the marriage didn’t happen, the ownership never changed hands. And even if it had, he gave controlling rights to his daughter, not to you, and only two of his four boats were involved in the deal. I understand you have all four.”
Jared squared his shoulders. “The boats were abandoned property. He was dead. She was gone. There was no one around to claim ownership, so I took them. After all, if that slaver raid had never occurred, they would have been mine anyway.”
Chris shook his head. “Not the way the contract reads.”
“So what are you proposing?” Jared glance
d behind Chris to Rigel and Marcus. “To take them by force?”
Chris laughed. “Why would we do that when the courts will side with her? Chairman Tremayne can review the contract if you’d like, but he can’t rule on it until it reaches his court, probably sometime next fall. You’re free to come to Milhaven and argue your point. I’m sure he’d be willing to listen.”
“Milhaven? Are you going to come get me with that key of yours?”
Chris shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, but that would set an unfortunate precedent. We can’t go around collecting any and every person who has a case before the court. No, you’d have to get there on your own.”
“But I’d have to be gone for weeks to get there and back. That’s too much trouble. No, she needs to forget the boats. If they were that important to her, she could have married me. She refused, so she forfeits the boats.”
“We’ll leave that to the courts to decide. In the meantime, we’ll post some guards on all four boats to see that they remain in good shape while this works its way through the system. Now, if you’d be so kind as to show us where they are?”
Jared shook his head. “This is ridiculous. You’re going to waste your guards’ time to come down here and watch over four old boats that aren’t worth that much to start with. They’re little more than rowboats!”
“Well if they’re not much use, at least you won’t be inconvenienced by not having access to them until this gets sorted out. Where do you have them docked?”
Marcus cleared his throat. “I’ve had a good look around, Chris. There’s a harbor a few blocks north of here but I don’t see any other docks around.”
Chris raised his eyebrows at Jared and tilted his head towards the road.
Jared sighed, turned, and led the way.
Soon they were at a large harbor with twenty or more boats tied up to different docks. Jared pointed to some small boats meant for no more than three or four people. “Those down there are the ones that Doreen’s father had.”
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