The Map Maker's Sister

by Matthew Krengel

  “You,” the Adherent muttered. “I killed you once already.”

  “I don’t die that easy,” Jacob muttered as he faced the Adherent. The man was drawing a weapon from behind his belt. Jacob launched himself forward, swinging the hunk of banister hard. It struck the gun as it was rising and knocked it from the Adherent’s hand. Jacob then crouched and used his shoulder and upward momentum to strike the man again. That sent him flying backwards into Jane’s room and into the darkness.

  Chapter 8

  The Frying Pan

  Jane heard the crash from the upstairs and hurried towards the door. She heard Jacob yelling something. There was a land line phone on the wall in the kitchen. Jane lunged across the open space and grabbed at it. She punched in 911, and only then realized there was no dial tone.

  At the top of the steps Jacob was grappling with a robed figure. Suddenly he broke free and leaped to his feet. As the Adherent—and Jane knew that’s what it was—rose, Jacob swung wildly with a section of banister and struck the man hard across the back. The blow sent him tumbling down the stairs until he finally came to a halt at Jane’s feet.

  “You’re mine,” the Adherent started to say, but his eyes went wide.

  When the Adherent fell down the stairs, Jane had grabbed a cast iron frying pan off the stove. Just as he shouted at her, the pan connected with the side of his head, and his eyes rolled back.

  “That’s the second time you got to knock one of them out,” Jacob complained as he hurried down the steps and grabbed the Adherent by the front of his robe. “We need something to tie him up. He might know if they took my mom.”

  Jane ran to the garage and grabbed a roll of duct tape from her grandpa’s work bench, and then hurried back into the house. She handed the roll of tape to Jacob, and then rushed to her grandmother, who was standing weakly in the door looking terrified.

  “How did that man get into the house?” Grandma Kay demanded.

  “I don’t know, Grandma, but I’m going to call the police and Grandpa,” Jane replied. She helped her grandmother back to her bed and then ran upstairs to retrieve her phone from where she had hidden them. Her first phone call was to her grandpa. He sounded hugely relieved when he answered.

  “Are you two all right?” Grandpa Able asked. “Stan about lost it when we returned and found you missing and his officers stunned. There was blood on the floor, and he had everyone he could contact looking for the two men. It turned out that the DEA hadn’t send anyone over and the local office claimed they knew nothing about any of it.”

  “Just come home, Grandpa,” Jane begged when she could finally get a word in to the conversation.

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Grandpa Able replied.

  When Jane returned to the main floor of the house, she found that Jacob had leaned the thin Adherent up against the thick support post at the bottom of the steps and taped him to it. The half used roll of tape was on the floor. They waited for Grandpa Able to return and the other man to awaken.

  “You hit him pretty hard,” Jacob chuckled. He had taped the Adherent’s hands together and then taped his arms to his sides. Then he’d wrapped about twenty layers of tape around the man’s entire body and around the sturdy support pole. Even when the Adherent woke, he’d be immobile.

  “Grandpa will be here soon,” Jane said. She walked back into the kitchen to set the frying pan in the sink. She turned around and glanced out the living room window, and her blood ran cold. A police cruiser parked in the shadows down the street under a tree. The inside was dark.

  When she pointed it out to Jacob, he said, “I wonder who it is?”

  “Might be one of those officers Stan was suspicious of,” Jane said.

  “Or one of the guys setting me up,” Jacob growled. A few minutes later, Grandpa Able’s car rounded the corner and pulled up to the garage. A groan from behind them signaled the Adherent beginning the return to consciousness. With unfriendly eyes outside, Jacob pulled the cord on the blinds as they turned away from the window.

  “What’s this?” Grandpa Able exclaimed when he entered the side door and saw the ruins of the banister on the floor. His eyes widened as he saw the man taped to the pole, “Stan will be very happy to lay his hands on you,” he said to the bound man.

  “Grandpa, there’s a police car down the street,” Jane said. “Any idea who sent it?”

  “Stan said he was sending a couple of officers to watch the house. He was livid when we returned to the interview room,” Grandpa said.

  “I think you should call him and let him deal with this guy,” Jane said.

  The Adherent was now fully awake and struggling against his bonds but the tape would not give. Thankfully Jacob had checked the man’s coat before restraining him and the small round anchor pinned to his jacket was now tucked safely into his own pocket. “Might want to tell him to bring a restraint jacket though. I think he’s insane.”

  “Is Grandma all right?” Grandpa Able asked quietly as he looked towards the bedroom door.

  “She’s concerned, but okay,” Jane replied.

  “What’s going on here, girl?” Grandpa Able asked quietly.

  “We need to find Jacob’s mom,” Jane replied. “Grandpa, this has to do with Jackie.”

  His eyes went even wider for a moment but then a look of steel entered them. Grandpa Able walked over to where the Adherent was struggling and grabbed the corner of the tape covering his mouth. His hand was strong and firm as he tore it loose and then grabbed the man by the throat and held him still.

  “Where’s my granddaughter?” Grandpa Able said in a quiet voice. His hand formed a vice around the Adherent’s throat, and the man’s face began to turn purple as he struggled for air. Slowly he released his grip and waited as the man regained his breath. “Now understand me, I want to know about my granddaughter.”

  “Cain has her, old man,” the Adherent snarled as he tried to pull his head away.

  “She’s alive?” Grandpa Able muttered in disbelief. “Who’s Cain?”

  “You will never know,” the Adherent spat back.

  “Where’s she, Jane?” Grandpa Able said over his shoulder. “I have a feeling you know more than you’ve said. Your grandma and I thought something odd was going on around here. Do you know where she is?”

  “I don’t think you’ll believe me, Grandpa,” Jane said slowly. “But I think there’s a chance of getting her back. First we need to make sure you, Grandma, and Jacob’s mom are safe.”

  Grandpa Able turned towards Jacob, but before he could say anything, the Adherent laughed maniacally.

  “You’re too late to save her, boy,” the Adherent burst out. “We sent her across the Divide, and you know what that means. She’s stuck there.”

  Jacob shouted something unintelligible and lunged towards the man, but Jane and Grandpa Able caught him and held him back. When he was able to control his emotions again, Jacob grabbed the tape and stopped the flow of taunts coming from the Adherent.

  “We know where she is, Jacob,” Jane said to him, and she glared at the robed man. “We can get her back.”

  “Is this place … this Divide … close,” Grandpa Able asked as he picked up his cell phone and dialed Stan’s number.

  “Sort of,” Jane admitted.

  “Do you think you can help Jackie and Mrs. Tanner?” Grandpa Able said.

  “I think so,” Jane admitted hesitantly not sure what her grandpa was going to do. She watched him as he turned and opened a cabinet in the kitchen and retrieved a locked gun case. Slowly he loaded the army issued .45mm and chambered a round, “This gun and I have seen many things in the jungles I was never able to explain. I do know that each time I was in danger, this gun and I managed to come through. You two go find my Jackie, and Jacob’s mom. I’ll keep this one here and make sure no one comes near Kay or me.” He dragged a kitchen chair around so it was against the wall but still allowed him an open view of the living room door and the front door.

  “What
about mom?” Jane asked.

  “I’ll see that Stan sends someone to watch over her,” Grandpa Able promised.

  Nearly three hours had passed now since they had returned, and Jane wondered if Tasker and his group had achieved their goal. “Grandpa, Jacob and I are going to disappear in a few minutes. We need two or three days to try to save Jackie and Jacob’s mom. Can you keep people from starting a search for us for that long?”

  He nodded. “Go save her.”

  Jane pulled her map from inside her jacket and unrolled it, “Jacob, I moved my anchor to here. I need you to get me an anchor back to Madeline Island.”

  “All right,” Jacob answered. He glared at the Adherent one last time then stepped into the Divide. The last thing he heard was a muffle gasp as Grandpa Able watched him vanish.

  “It’s all right, Grandpa. He’s fine,” Jane said as she turned back to her grandpa.

  “I saw that happen one other time,” Grandpa Able said suddenly. “I was scouting someplace where Americans were not supposed to be, in Laos near the border of North Vietnam. Deep in the jungle I happened to come across an ancient ruined city that the locals called the Cradle of the Vanishing Ones. They refuse to enter the place after dark and most times wouldn’t even go near it during the day. I scoffed at them and started into the ruins looking for signs of Viet Cong scouts. There was a massive temple shrouded in the jungles overgrown with vines, I thought it was a hill the first time I saw it.”

  Jane looked down at her map and noticed that Jacob had figured out how to place an anchor. It was there at Madeline Island waiting for her. Still she waited while her grandpa continued.

  “I went into the ruins thinking it would be a good place to camp for the night. I woke up in the middle of the night when the moon was at its highest point and the light shone through the ceiling onto the floor of the temple. There was a set of stairs there that hadn’t been there before. I went down to investigate, and at the bottom of the stairs I found a room filled with treasures—strange and ancient things beyond your wildest dreams scattered across the floor. I took one thing out of the room to prove I’d been there. It was a small carving of a dragon made out of gold with two tiny emeralds for eyes. As I was leaving to mark the spot on my map, I heard someone coming, so I hid. A short man with a beard appeared carrying a whole armload of treasure. He added it to the piles. Then he walked over to a stand and set down a golden book on a stone pedestal. Then he vanished just like Jacob did. Just vanished into thin air. Soon after I returned, we pulled out of Vietnam, and I never had the chance to to go back. As far as I know the treasure is still there.”

  “I wonder if Tasker knows anything about this,” Jane muttered. “I’ll be back soon, Grandpa, hopefully with Jackie.” She hugged him once and then stepped back and entered the Divide to where Jacob was waiting. They would jump to Madeline Island and then use smaller jumps to find the fleet.

  Grandpa Able looked around the room and shook his head as silence descended, except for the continued struggles of the Adherent. “Tasker. That’s what the little man in the jungle had said before he vanished,” Grandpa Able muttered. “I remember now. He said, ‘I can’t let Tasker or Cain find this.’ That’s exactly what he said to himself.”

  He reached for his phone but then changed his mind. Might as well give them a head start before I start this, he thought. He double checked Jacob’s taping job and then went into the bedroom and to take a nap so he would be well rested when he finally called Stan and turned the taped man over to him.

  Chapter 9

  Taking an Ironship

  Tasker gathered them around and began speaking quickly, pointing to various spots on the map and making each of them repeat what he had told them to do until it was ingrained. “We don’t have any more time. This is our one chance.”

  Jane and the others nodded.

  “It’s time!” Echoed a shout from outside the door.

  “All right, it’s time to begin,” Tasker said. He nodded to Jane, “Remember, an easy touch with your pen and then, if you continue moving the lines lightly, the fog will last longer.”

  “I can do it,” Jane muttered. She knew her job, but it wasn’t what the others would be doing. For a moment, she glared as Jacob, Eriunia, and Flying Cloud left the cabin. Bella glanced over at her before flitting out the door as well. Jane sat down and bent over her map. Slowly the Divide came into view, and she swooped in close until she spotted the swirls along the shore where the ships were located. Ironships were especially resistant to any sort of tampering, but that did not keep her from carefully drawing her pen across the area. Slowly, outside, a thick bank of fog developed and swept in around the small fleet.

  Tasker looked down at her map approvingly.

  “It’s ready,” Jane announced a moment later. “I’ll keep it in place as long as I can.” She nodded to Tasker, “I have this. Go!”

  Tasker ducked out the door and ran to where the keen-eyed goblins were squinting into the rolling waves of fog billowing across the lake and the nearby island. “Keep us on course. I don’t want the defenders on the Ironships hearing us until we draw alongside their hulls. Jacob, if you would, please.”

  Jacob gave him a thumbs up signal. Then he disappeared into the Divide. It took him only a moment to enter the blackness and find the map he wanted. Jane’s familiar map stood out among the others. Hers was the only one he could safely use, and he had no wish to be trapped somewhere outside or inside the Divide, so he examined hers until he found what he was looking for. Seconds later the cold iron deck of the nearest ship appeared around him and a surprised sentry stared at him. The man’s mouth opened for a moment, but Jacob hit him with his best shoulder tackle. The man gave a startled yelp as he tumbled over the railing and hit the water below with a splash.

  Jacob crouched next to the railing and looked around. Another shadow moved in his direction, and he vanished into the Divide. A moment later, he appeared behind the second Adherent. Without any warning or outcry, the second man vanished over the side into the lake water below. Satisfied that he had disrupted the watches enough on this particular Ironship, Jacob vanished into the Divide and located the second in the line of warships. This time he examined the ship for a moment before locating the first of the Adherents keeping watch. The ship was similar to the William Irvin moored in Duluth but had a smaller scale than the 1930s ore carrier.

  The front of the ship was raised slightly, and a thick, cold iron cannon had been mounted to the prow. Along the sides of the ship, the railings were shielded so those onboard would be protected during an attack. Two more cannons were mounted on either side, and they were similar in construction to the muskets seized from the Adherent guards. Jacob had seen pictures of muskets and had even seen a Civil War re-enactment once. He could not understand how the oddly shaped cannons managed to fire anything without exploding. Suddenly he heard an exclamation of surprise from behind him, and he whirled to see a shocked face staring out at him from within a black hood. The watcher was his age but thinner, and he fumbled with his musket as Jacob pulled his shield up in front of his body and charged.

  With a muffled thump, Jacob felt a heavy blow strike his shield. He stumbled in his headlong charge, nearly falling to the wood deck planks. Strangely, the ship around him remained silent. When he was able to untangle his feet and look up, he saw the Adherent sprawled out on the deck in front of him. Jacob realized the shield had reflected the ball of energy and flattened the Adherent with his own round.

  Jacob laughed under his breath as he dragged the unconscious figure into a dark corner. On a whim, he pulled the Adherent’s black cloak off him and slipped into it. After retrieving the musket, he pulled back the hammer and rearmed the mechanism the way Tasker had shown him, and then started along the deck watching for his next target.

  “Heral, is that you?”

  Jacob paused as the wavering voice called out to him from the opposite side of the deck.

  “This fog isn’t natural, I tell y
ou,” the voice continued. “Something’s going on. I just wish the commander would spring his trap already and be done with this rebel scum.”

  Jacob froze. Is it true? Was Tasker walking into a trap on the ships? He had to find out quickly, so he looked about the ship frantically seeking a way into the dark depths below. An open hatch nearby—Jacob scurried to it as the other watcher’s footsteps faded along the ship’s deck. He squinted into the darkness but could see nothing, so he started down the steps until a voice stopped him.

  “Heral, get back up on deck. If the commander saw you trying to sneak down there, he’d have you strung up for good!”

  Jacob hurried back up the ladder and stopped on the deck. This hatch on the ship was made of wood, but it was bound with cold iron, and Jacob grabbed the thick hatch and swung it shut. There was a sudden shout of surprise from below, and he fumbled with his musket before sliding the latch shut and locking it tight. Then he vanished into the darkness towards the first ship and the waiting ambush that would spell doom for Tasker and his raiders.

  * * * * *

  Another week passed by and Jackie smiled happily when she heard the key turn in the lock and she turned to see Carvin slip inside the cell and quickly close the door. He turned to look at her and there was a horrible purple-and-black bruise showing around his left eye.

  “What happened?” Jackie gasped. She rushed over to him and dipped the edge of a piece of cloth in what remained of her drinking water. Carefully, she dabbed the cool cloth against his face and wiped the bits of blood away.