Keeper of the Books (Keeper of the Books, Book 1)

by Jason D. Morrow

  Nate often wondered if people who could live in such a way were either crazy or extremely grounded. And given the fact that his desire was to travel all the way to Montana to set up a ranch with endless acreage caused him to question his own sanity once or twice. Crazy or not, being out there alone on a ranch was far better than rotting away in a jail cell.

  Nate hoped that wasn’t his current predicament. He pulled out his Colt six-shooter and checked to make sure it was still loaded. He snapped the cylinder back into place and kept his gun in his hand. He stood from the bed cautiously and only then did he notice another jail cell across from him. Nate paused when he saw someone in there watching him. For some reason he felt scared. Frozen to the ground. He held his gun in front of him, his finger resting on the side of the trigger.

  The person in the other cell stayed in the shadows and Nate couldn’t quite see the person’s face. To him, the figure was more like a shadow than anything when it moved just slightly. Then there was a voice.

  “Where did you come from?” the voice asked just above a whisper.

  Nate’s jaw tensed. He didn’t want a guard or the sheriff to come in after him, so he kept his voice low. “I’m not exactly sure what’s happening,” he answered truthfully.

  “Why are you here?” the voice asked.

  Again, Nate didn’t know the answer, but this time he didn’t say anything. Instead, he moved closer to the bars to get a better look at his surroundings. He found that he was in one of many different jail cells along a cold and dark hallway. To his left was the end of the hallway with three cells on either side. To his right were about five more on either side, all of them leading to a set of stairs at the end and a large wooden door that closed them off from the outside world. Nate could see the outline of daylight under the crack of the door and wondered where it led.

  To his right, he could hear someone coughing, and to his left a man was singing quietly to himself. It seemed that most of these cells were occupied.

  He looked back at the cell across from him. “I don’t know where I am,” he whispered.

  “In jail,” the voice came back.

  Nate wasn’t sure, but it seemed that the voice that answered him back was from a woman. Now, Nate had seen his fair share of jails in his time. Mostly it was when he had been disruptive in public, causing bar fights or firing his weapon in the air to stir up a ruckus while he was intoxicated. Whenever Nate was jailed in these instances, he was usually in some know-nothing town where no one had ever heard of him, or if they had they didn’t know what he looked like, thus they never bothered to try and collect his bounty. Nate was choosy about the towns he stayed in and the saloons he liked to frequent. He sometimes smiled when he wondered what some of those sheriffs or deputies might have thought if they had ever discovered that he was none other than Nathaniel Cole, bounty: $5,000.

  Of all the times he’d been inside a jail cell, he never recollected there being a woman to keep him company, whether it be in the same cell or in an adjacent one. It was possible that Nate was talking to a younger boy, but that was almost as unlikely. This voice was too deep for a boy, but too feminine for a man.

  “Why don’t you step into the light where I can see you?” Nate whispered.

  “You realize you have a weapon, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Nate said. “Two of them.”

  “And you’re in a jail,” the voice said.

  “Yep.”

  The person let out a deep breath and stepped forward. When the light shined on her face, Nate felt his back stiffen. He wasn’t sure what to think. She was like no other creature he had ever seen. This was neither man nor a woman. But she wasn’t an animal either. Nate couldn’t help himself. “What in the world are you?”

  “You really don’t know where you are, do you?” she said.

  Nate looked her up and down. She was in sackcloth, dirty and stained all over. She wore shoes, but barely. They each had holes in them, some of her toes exposed and bare. Her skin was a pale gray color, almost white. Her features were sharp and slender. Nate regarded himself as a tall man, but she was taller than he was by a couple of inches at least.

  Her jet black hair was pulled back into a ponytail which allowed her ears to show. These ears were long and came to a point behind her head as though two feathers had been fastened to the side of it.

  Her eyes were the most striking of all her unfamiliar features. They were bright and purple, and they seemed to glow in the darkness like a cat’s might. This creature was altogether frightening and beautiful at the same time. It was a feeling Nate couldn’t seem to get his mind around.

  “I’m sorry,” Nate said. “I just don’t know what’s happening.”

  “My name is Marum,” she said. “I suppose you’ve never seen a gray elf before?”

  “A what?”

  “A gray elf.”

  “Can’t say that I have,” Nate said.

  “Most of your kind don’t like us,” she said.

  Nate let the statement stand. He didn’t have an opinion on gray elves one way or another. He was starting to think that perhaps that last bit of whiskey he had must have been bad. He was either in some sort of terrible drunken nightmare or Tyler Montgomery hadn’t been lying about that book of his.

  He desperately hoped he was drunk out of his mind.

  “I’m sensing that my brother didn’t send you in here to free me,” she said. “Otherwise you would know who I am.”

  “Your brother ain’t Tyler Montgomery, is he?”

  Marum shook her head. “I don’t know that name.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Nate answered.

  “Do you remember how you got in here?” she asked him.

  Nate thought for a minute and wondered if it was such a good idea to start talking about Montgomery’s book. As far as Nate was concerned, he was still running from Levi Thompson. Now, he didn’t have a single clue where Levi might be, but he could have been in any one of the jail cells that Nate couldn’t quite see. Nate’s job was to get out of there and put as much distance between him and the bounty hunter as he could.

  Nate shook his head. “I’m a bit confused on a lot of things, Miss.”

  “Miss?” Marum said with a wry smile. “It’s been a long time since someone has called me Miss.”

  “Well, if that’s what you prefer,” Nate said, glancing toward the exit, wondering how hard it might be to sneak out.

  “It’s not,” she answered. “You can just call me by my name.”

  “Listen, lady, I don’t plan to be calling you anything for long. I need to get out of here.”

  “So do the rest of us,” she said. “You’re camped out on death row.”

  Nate could feel his face drain of color. “Come again?”

  “Everyone on this row is waiting to be executed,” she said. “And I’m up next.”

  “Up next as in this week?”

  She shook her head.

  “Today?”

  “In a few minutes,” she answered.

  “You don’t seem too bothered by it,” Nate said.

  “That’s because you showed up,” she said. “The Author has heard me. You are here to rescue me whether you like it or not.”

  “I ain’t here to rescue anybody but myself,” he said. “And I’m still trying to figure that out.”

  Marum glanced down and nodded. “Check the door,” she said.

  Nate looked down. “What?”

  “Push on the door.”

  Nate reached a hand out and pushed lightly on the cell door in front of him. It opened without so much as a squeak. He could feel his jaw hanging open. He would have never suspected that it would be unlocked. Why would he be in an unlocked jail cell, fully armed, and with no memory of how he got there?

  “You see? I told you. The Author has heard me. You’re here to get me out.”

  “I still don’t know about that,” Nate said, stepping out into the hallway. “It’s not like I have a key.”r />
  Almost in answer to his statement, the door at the end burst open and the sunlight flooded into the darkened hallway like the dawning of a new day. For some reason, Nate wasn’t sure why, he jumped back into his cell and pulled the door close to him. He could see three men descending the stairs. The first one wore a badge on his vest, his hands resting closely to his revolvers at his waist. He was clean shaven and seemed well put together. The two other men behind him carried rifles, both of them scruffy with dirt on their faces and hands. They made their way slowly down the hallway.

  Marum kept her raspy voice low as she looked at Nate intently. “They are here to take me,” she said. “I’m about to be hanged for crimes I didn’t commit. You have the chance to help me. Do you want my blood on your hands?”

  Nate didn’t really see it that way. Having just woken up in a strange cell, he felt he bore no responsibility for this gray elf named Marum. If she was here to die, she probably deserved it as much as Nate did. But there was something that stirred in his mind when she mentioned being innocent.

  The book.

  Nate remembered what he had been reading when Montgomery’s book had drawn him in. He had read about this gray elf. He had been reading it from her perspective. She had been crying. She was about to be killed.

  Nate was no saint, but he also didn’t like the pit in his stomach when he thought about staying in the shadows and doing nothing until they took Marum away.

  The sheriff and his two men stood in front of Marum’s jail cell. The sheriff’s voice was rough and deep. “Marum, it’s time. Now don’t you try nothing, you hear? My boys will shoot you down like a dog if you do.”

  Nate had a gun. He had two guns. If what Montgomery had said was true, and this book was a way to get to another place, then that meant all this was real. And if Nate was in another place, he would need a guide. Anything to help him put some distance between him and Levi Thompson.

  Marum’s eyes never left Nate as the sheriff opened her cell door. The two big men had their backs to Nate and had paid him no mind. They probably assumed that no one was in the cell behind them.

  Nate held firm to his gun and swallowed. At this moment he would have given anything for a drink. He knew he would only get one shot at this. He took a silent step back, readied himself and brought up his leg. Using as much force as he could muster, Nate kicked his cell door and it swung hard into the backs of the two grunts. Both of them staggered forward, involuntarily knocking the sheriff and Marum to the ground.

  Nate ignored the cheers and claps from all the inmates in their cells down the hall. He focused his attention on the guards who were scrambling to their feet, unaware of what had just happened. Nate struck the first one in the head with the heel of his boot and the man fell to the floor as he grabbed for his head. Nate brought the butt of his pistol down on top of the other man’s head, knocking him out cold. Marum held up her end by grabbing the sheriff by the hair and slamming his head against the metal bars.

  “Let’s get out of here!” Marum yelled.

  Nate and Marum both ran down the hall. The other inmates shouted after them. Their cheering had turned into pleas for help. All of them wanted to escape their death sentences as well.

  As Nate neared the exit, he heard one man above all the rest. “Wait! Wait!”

  Nate turned to look at the man.

  “Let us all out,” the man shouted, “and we will be a distraction. The more of us that scramble out of here, the better chances you have of getting away!”

  Nate thought about this for a second and looked at Marum. She was considering the man’s words too. Nate wasn’t quite sure what the ramifications would be of letting loose a dozen or so people who were sentenced to death for crimes they probably did commit, but the man had a point. If deputies and guards were chasing after a bunch of them rather than just two of them, they stood a better chance.

  At the same time, Nate and Marum both ran after the sheriff who was still on the ground unconscious. Nate got there first and snatched his keys from his belt. Nate then ran up to the man who had given him the idea and unlocked his cell.

  “I don’t know who you are or what you did,” Nate said, “but it seems like fate has smiled on you today.”

  “You won’t regret this,” the man said.

  “I don’t plan on it,” Nate answered. He then went to the next cell and opened it, then the next, then the next. In just under a minute, the entire row of inmates was out in the hallway, free and itching to get back out into the world.

  All of them poured out, free as they could be. If Nate were an honest man, he might have felt bad for releasing murderers and thieves from capture. But Nate wasn’t an honest man. He was a murderer and thief. And he needed to avoid being captured.

  No one outside of death row understood what was happening until it was too late. There was a crowd apparently waiting to see the sheriff and his two goons walking out with Marum. Instead, they were treated to a bunch of rough-looking criminals, eyes as wild as coyotes, scattering in every direction.

  Nate held his gun ready, though he wasn’t sure he’d want to bring all the attention upon himself should the need arise for him to use it.

  Immediately recognizing the prisoners, the crowd started to disperse in a manic upheaval that threatened the lives of the slow and less reactive witnesses. Out of the corner of his eye, Nate could see a group of men with guns headed their way, but a quick sprint into the oncoming stampede of frightened spectators was enough to hide him for the time being. He felt Marum brush up against his side as they ran. He wasn’t sure someone of the gray elf’s complexion and stature would be able to remain inconspicuous for very long, but with the other prisoners providing a convenient distraction, he hoped they could get far enough away to formulate a plan.

  Inevitably, there was a would-be hero among the onlookers. One man tried to grab Marum as she and Nate ran, but when Nate turned and aimed his revolver between the man’s eyes, he hesitated and then ran in the opposite direction like a frightened child.

  Now Marum was ahead of Nate, which was good, he thought. He didn’t know where he was and would more than likely get the two of them lost and captured if he led much farther. Marum cut behind a building and then another. Then another. Nate found it difficult to keep up with the gray elf, but he always kept her in view. Finally, Marum stopped behind a busy saloon and peeked around a corner. By the time Nate reached her, he was out of breath and bent over at the knees. When he looked up, Marum was calmly breathing through her nose as if she had just stood from a seat instead of sprinting away in a panic.

  “The soldiers are out in full force,” she said. “We’ve got to get out of Tel Haven.”

  This was the first time Nate had gotten a chance to take in the view of his surroundings. Ignoring the gunshots in the distance and the screams of women and children in a panic, Nate stared at the scene before him.

  This was no small town they were in, rather a sprawling city with buildings spread out in every direction. Carts and buggies were filled to the brim with harvested crops, barrels of ale and whiskey, and people of all ages. It was a bustling spectacle that Nate hadn’t seen since he’d visited back East. The streets were lined with vendors and trolleys, offering an endless supply of food and drink, as well as farming equipment and trinkets. There was no doubt that they had stumbled upon the market district of…what had Marum called this place? Tel Haven?

  “I’m all for getting out of here as soon as we can,” Nate said, “But I have to find my brother.”

  Marum turned to look at Nate, her purple eyes barely slits as her teeth clenched together. There was just enough malice in her stare to cause Nate to take a short step backward. “Do you want to survive this day?”

  “That would be best,” Nate replied.

  “Then we don’t have time to look for your brother. We’ve got to get out of the city first.”

  “And just how do you plan to do that?”

  Marum turned her head back toward
the road and looked on as a large group of soldiers came riding through the dusty street in a hurry. “Quickly and quietly,” she said. She reached an arm behind her and shoved Nate against the wall. “Get back!”

  Nate grimaced when he hit the wall, but any thought of discomfort fled from his mind when he saw the men on horseback coming closer. There were about six of them, but the one at the front of the group was clearly in charge. At first, Nate was nervous that he and Marum were too close to the street, but he knew making any sudden movement might alert the soldiers to their presence. He felt himself holding his breath as he pressed his back against the wall. Marum did the same.

  The man on the lead horse spun around and started barking orders at his men. Nate took notice of their uniforms. They weren’t unfamiliar to him at all save for the color perhaps—a dark red tint, faded and dull. Each of the soldiers wore button down long-sleeve coats which were all tightened at the bottom with a thick belt to carry cartridges for their rifles. The stripes on their shoulders indicated their ranks, the man on the lead horse boasting more markings than the rest. Their trousers were straight-legged with a long black band along the outside seam that traveled from the hip all the way to the cuffs. And all the soldiers wore a cap with a short visor above their brows with a metal emblem at the top that Nate couldn’t quite make out.

  Nate’s eyes then traveled to their weapons. Each man carried a rifle and a revolver. From what he could tell, the rifles weren’t much different than the ones the soldiers carried back home—a converted musket design with a trapdoor at the top which could fire one cartridge at a time. In the right hands, the rifles were extremely accurate and deadly. Running at this moment wasn’t quite an option.

  The man on the lead horse had a determined look in his eyes. His hair was short like all the other men, and he grew a thick mustache that nearly covered his entire mouth when it was closed. The man was tall and wider from shoulder-to-shoulder than any of the others. And he was the only one to wear a saber at his hip. This was a man of importance. This was a man on a mission. This was a man who wanted Nate and Marum dead.