by Dale Furse
After they left, Dar-Seldra spoke pointedly to Cay-Meka. ‘I will stay with Tanat. Dar-tern is outside with Kandar and he will take the three of you to my house.’
Nell swallowed and looked at Sam. He gave her a half shrug. She nodded and opened the door.
‘Thank you, little Nell,’ Tanat said weakly.
‘Anytime.’ Nell grinned at him and stepped through the doorway.
‘Nell,’ her father said. He picked her up, hugged her and laughed. He twirled her around in a full circle.
She breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he was glad to see her.
He put her down and placed his hands on her shoulders as if he'd just remembered he was angry with her. ‘You will never, never do anything like that again. I thought I'd lost you.’
The words he said to Carl on Earth flitted across Nell's mind. 'I wish Nell had died …' Confusion enveloped her as love flowed from her father to her. She wondered if she could trust the feelings she experienced.
‘Sorry,’ Nell said.
He shook his head and made an exasperated sound. Fronting Sam and Cay-Meka, he demanded, ‘Why didn't either of you stop her?’
Sam inspected his shoes instead of answering.
‘I tried to,’ Cay-Meka said. ‘But she would not listen to me and then it was too late. Those Wintars captured us.’
Sam raised his eyes to Dar-tern. ‘Nell saved us all, David, I mean, Dar-tern,’ he said.
Nell's father moved his eyes to Kandar's as if to say help me. Kandar chuckled. Her father's expression said ‘thanks-a-lot’.
‘You three will not be allowed out of my sight.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Right now I think it's time you all ate something a bit more substantial than fruit.’
Nell was full of questions as they followed him and Kandar out of the building and along a noisy trading corridor. The traders were different from the other corridor they had traversed. More subdued. There was still music, but it was quieter and she didn’t see any cafés anywhere. At least she could think there.
How was she to get the proof if she wasn't allowed out of his sight? Nobody would believe her until she found the book. The power of her strength and abilities was growing. She didn't need any help, nor could she be stopped either.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE CORRIDOR BECAME INCREASINGLY NOISY AS THEY PARADED along. Many beings jostled them and Nell panicked at first when she saw a balloon-nosed, ogre-like man take a Corl woman's baby out of her arms. He was easily twice as large as the woman. The yellowish-brown skin that covered his head was as lumpy as the pastry on a rhubarb pie. Her eyes widened in amazement when he tickled the baby under the chin with his knobbly pinkie finger and hooted softly like an owl to the giggling package.
Nell’s father talked to Kandar in what Nell presumed was the Corl language. ‘Does Dar-Seldra live in this city?’ she asked her father.
‘Yes, it's not far,’ Nell's father said offhandedly.
That annoyed Nell. He treated her like a two-year-old child. Perhaps if she told him of her ever-increasing abilities, he might have more time for her. Remembering what Tanat had said, she decided not to. He was her father but he would only worry about her. Nell listened to the rhythm of their voices. After a minute the gibberish began to form into words in her mind.
Kandar said, ‘Perhaps you should lock the child out of harm’s way.’
Alarmed, Nell couldn’t stop her mouth from falling open. Kandar was the same as all the rest.
‘I can't keep my daughter under lock and key, Kandar. Not even for you.’
Comforted by her father's words, Nell closed her mouth and smiled. If she kept gaining strength, they wouldn’t be able to lock her up anyway.
‘Obviously,’ Kandar continued. ‘There are people who want her rendered as powerless as Shahs.’
‘Hmm,’ her father said. He and Kandar fell silent.
Shahs. She was the one Tanat told Nell about: the one who went crazy and killed people. Her whole body bristled and, once again, a slight electrical charge passed through her. Ugh. She wasn’t going to go crazy and she definitely wasn’t going to start killing people.
A rat-fairy glided to the ground in front of Kandar and Nell's father. Nell recognised its eyes. Orenda. She was the rat-fairy who stopped and stared at Nell when they first arrived on Corl.
Orenda spoke to her father and Kandar in a different language. She had the slender body of a five-year-old child, but that body was completely blanketed in short white fur and not one piece of clothing. Her face was definitely rat-like, with its pink nose, whiskers and little pointy ears. Each hand and foot had five furless pink digits. Orenda’s startling blue eyes seemed to look straight through Nell.
When she couldn’t make out what Orenda said, she wished her hearing would improve. Giving up, she drifted to where Sam and Cay-Meka waited.
Cay-Meka groaned, ‘We’ll never get home. I'm hung—’
Sam interrupted. ‘I thought Tanat would be laid up for longer,’ he said quickly, staring over the girls’ heads.
Nell and Cay-Meka turned. ‘He should still be in bed,’ Nell said. ‘But he looks fine.’ Tanat kept looking this way and that, as if he was worried that someone was following him. ‘Where's Dar-Seldra?’ asked Nell.
‘Mother works at the restoration,’ Cay-Meka said. ‘She's probably still there. It’s strange though, because this is a Phib corridor and Wintars don't usually visit here.’
Sam pulled the girls to the side of the walkway. ‘Do you think he can be trusted? I mean, did you notice he was more than a little curious about what abilities you had, Nell? And he looks like he's in a hurry.’
‘I don't trust any Wintar,’ Cay-Meka said, and looked stubbornly at Nell.
Nell frowned. If they were to be friends, Cay-Meka had better acquire some tact. Her father was in deep conversation with the rat-fairy and Kandar, so Nell sidled forward and pretended to be interested in some necklaces but kept her eye on Tanat's back. He would soon be out of sight. Her mind struggled between curiosity and not wanting to disobey her father again. Something in her gut pressed her to find out where Tanat was going.
‘Cay-Meka,’ Dar-tern said. ‘Take Nell and Sam straight home. Do not stop or talk to anyone. We will be along shortly.’
Cay-Meka nodded. ‘Yes, Uncle.’
Nell grabbed their hands. ‘Let's follow Tanat,’ she whispered, and was more than a little surprised when Cay-Meka made no argument.
Keeping a safe distance between them and their quarry, Nell followed Tanat until he stood in front of a building on the right. An elevator opened its doors. She let their hands go and hurried forward so she could hear what floor he wanted.
When the others caught up, Nell asked Cay-Meka, ‘Does Nadar live on the tenth floor?’ She couldn't say why, but the thought that Tanat was going to see Nadar had firmly planted itself in her mind.
‘Yes,’ Cay-Meka answered slowly. ‘But so do a lot of other Corls. Kandar does too, so he might be going there.’
Nell pleaded to the sky for a second. Please let it be Kandar. ‘Quickly,’ she said. ‘We need to catch up to him.’
Cay-Meka led them into a second elevator.
‘Do they have stairs here?’ Nell asked Cay-Meka.
‘There are ramps from floor to floor.’
‘We should go to the ninth floor and walk up, in case Tanat is still in the hallway.’
‘Good thinking, Sherlock,’ Sam said.
The doors opened on the ninth floor and they stepped out into a wide hallway with a ceiling high enough for a giant to walk without stooping. Sam and Nell followed Cay-Meka past a few large double doors with strange writing on polished metal plaques, to the end of the hallway and through a heavy door. They walked up a ramp and Sam quietly opened the door and peeked out.
‘It’s empty,’ he said, and held the door open for Nell and Cay-Meka to pass.
‘I haven’t been to Kandar’s house before, let alone Nadar’s,’ Cay-Meka said, and appeared to struggl
e to read the door plaque on their right. ‘It's in Corl.’ She straightened. ‘I know a little bit but I can't remember this symbol.’ She pointed to the last symbol on the plaque.
Nell stopped and read aloud: ‘The House of Mantor.’
‘Huh? How do you know that?’ Sam asked.
Cay-Meka inspected the inscription once more. This time she traced the outline of the last symbol with her finger. ‘She read it and she is right.’
Sam hit his forehead. ‘Why aren't I surprised?’
‘This one is Nadar's house,’ Cay-Meka said as she headed to the doors on the left and pointed to the doors opposite. ‘And that is Kandar's. It says “Kandar of the house of Mantor”.’
Sam asked, ‘How do we know for sure which door he went into?’
Cay-Meka pointed to a hall bisecting the one they were in. ‘We can hide around there and wait until he comes out,’ Cay-Meka said.
She hurried halfway down the hallway and disappeared around a corner. Nell and Sam followed. Although the new hallway was as wide and high as the other, there were no doors. Her head spun to her left and right. It seemed as if there was no end to the hall in either direction.
Cay-Meka explained, ‘This hallway joins all the buildings along the corridor strip.’
Sam was also taking in the length of it as he said, ‘Must be a long strip.’
‘Shh.’ Nell pressed her back on the wall where she could see Kandar's doors. Although she couldn't see the entrance opposite, she knew the sound of heavy doors opening and muffled voices had come from Nadar's house. Four musical notes floated their way.
She pressed her back harder against the wall and stole a quick peek around the corner. Tanat was with Nadar and they were heading towards the elevators. Nell's heart skipped a beat and she hoped with all her might that her gasp wasn't audible. Tanat stopped and turned on his heel. She drew back and stopped breathing altogether.
Her companions were looking at her expectantly. She put her finger to her mouth and held up her hand, holding them there as if in a trance. The elevator doors closed with a whoosh. Again, she chanced a quick glimpse. The hallway was empty. Lowering her hand, Nell took a deep breath.
‘What?’ Sam asked.
‘Tanat was with Nadar and they looked nice and chummy to me.’
‘I knew it,’ Cay-Meka said. ‘Are they gone?’
‘Yeah, the coast is clear.’ Nell shook her head and wondered if Tanat had seen her. No. He would have investigated if he'd thought anything was wrong.
Nell moved to Nadar's door. ‘How are we going to get in? The doors are locked.’
‘You can't just walk into somebody's house, it's prohibited.’ Cay-Meka stood with her hands on her hips. ‘Anyway, the door is coded. You can't decode it.’
Giving a light shrug, Nell said, ‘I thought you might know how.’
‘How am I supposed to know? I've never broken into anyone's house before.’
‘Stop whingeing, Meka. I got it covered,’ Sam said.
Smiling at his reference to Cay-Meka, Nell moved out of Sam's way and bowed him towards the door. ‘Be my guest.’
‘Why are we breaking into Nadar's house?’ Cay-Meka asked.
‘He is reading the book in my visions. I know he's got it and I know he was behind Dar-Seldra's kidnap, and he had those Wintars capture us.’
Cay-Meka made a face as if to say Nell was mad. ‘Nadar is on the Corl Council and he is Kandar's brother. He would never be involved in such things.’
‘He's Kandar's brother?’ Nell lost all confidence in her convictions. Oh, great. What if Kandar can’t be trusted either? He won’t like them breaking into his brother’s house, whatever Nell’s reason.
Sam said, ‘What does it matter who’s brother he is?’ he said. ‘Nadar is obviously behind the kidnappings and he has the book. Are we going in or what?’
She hesitated, set her jaw, and nodded.
‘You are mad,’ Cay-Meka said breathlessly.
Sam threw her a pained look before he turned his attention to the code box.
‘How do you know the code?’ Cay-Meka was threatening to return to her previous whiny personality.
‘When they left, I noted the locking code Nadar used was only four musical notes so I figured the unlocking code was the same ones backward. Pretty simple.’ Talking more to himself than to the others, he said, ‘Third, tonic, fifth, seventh, so to unlock it would be,’ he pressed the buttons as he sang, ‘eight, six, two, and last but not least, four. Ah ha.’ Sam's grin was smug. ‘Try it,’ he said to Nell.
Cay-Meka looked stunned.
Nell shrugged. ‘He has perfect pitch.’ She pulled the handle down. There was a clicking sound and the door swung open. Signalling with her hand for her companions to follow, she slipped inside noting the plaque on Nadar’s door had lost its shine.
Cay-Meka huffed to Sam before she swept past him to Nell.
The small entrance foyer, unlike the door plaque, glistened. It was clean and sterile and cold.
Stepping into the next room, Nell shuddered; it was the room in her visions. She crossed over and gazed at two large paintings on the wall above the sideboard.
One was of Nadar – Nell would recognise him anywhere – and the other was a female Corl. She wore a high-necked lavender gown. His wife? No. The woman was a lot older than Nadar. Her skin was grey, but had a light quality to it. Perhaps she was his mother. If she was, she would also have been Kandar's. Yes. Her eyes twinkled too.
Sam ambled into the room on the left.
Cay-Meka had her hands on her hips and was staring at Nell. ‘We will be caught and punished.’
Gazing at the ceiling, pleading for patience, Nell fixed her cousin with a hard look. ‘Just start searching, will you?’
She mumbled something about confinement but began sifting through some drawers housed in the table behind the sofa. ‘So, what's this imaginary book of yours look like?’ she asked.
‘It's real.’ Nell spoke slowly as if Cay-Meka didn't fully comprehend her language. ‘It's brown with the words Book of Wexkia embossed on the front.’ She grinned and tilted her head. ‘I'm sure you'll know it when you see it.’
Sam laughed from the doorway.
Cay-Meka narrowed her eyes at both of them. ‘Very funny,’ she said, and began to open drawers forcefully.
Nell looked around the room. In her vision, Nadar had deposited the book in a small urn on the sideboard, but there was no urn there.
The music of the entrance door code sang. Cay-Meka pulled too hard on one drawer. It slipped from her hand, crashed to the floor and spilled its contents.
Nell’s heart skipped a beat. She wheeled around and faced the entrance. The distance between her and the closest door that led to the next room was greater than the distance from the front doors to where she stood. Cay-Meka, frozen, stared at the drawer's strewn contents. Sam stepped into the room, and Nell raised her hand to stop him. He nodded and retreated behind the wall.
Boots clinked noisily on the tile floor as Nadar stormed into the room. He made a short raspy sound as if he was already angry. However, spying the intruders, he stopped and smiled.
Nell's blood ran cold at that smile.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
NADAR THREW BOTH SIDES OF HIS BROWN CAPE back over his shoulders and moved two slow steps towards Nell.
‘So you have decided to make my mission easy for me, child?’ Nadar said. He laughed; rows of short jagged teeth filled his mouth.
Vinegar wafted out of his mouth with every breath. Nell couldn’t help cringing from the stench. Out of the corner of her eye, Cay-Meka coughed and backed away a step.
Nadar shuffled around the first sofa in front of him and raised his wrist to his mouth. ‘Prepare for the child,’ he said into a thick gold bracelet. ‘She will be there shortly.’
Fear raced through Nell. Did he mean to take her or did he call for the authorities? She couldn’t … wouldn’t, let them put her away. She walked slowly around the back of the
sofa until she faced the doorway of the room where Sam hid. Nadar continued around the opposite sofa. Cay-Meka shrank back, as if trying to blend with the wall beside the sideboard so he wouldn't notice her. Nell had assumed he intended to proceed in her direction. Instead, he stopped alongside Cay-Meka and pulled her in front of him.
She grimaced and Nell shouted, ‘Leave her alone.’
‘Did you think I would risk confronting you?’ he rasped. ‘You are dangerous and you must be contained before your mind implodes.’ He held out a brown-gloved hand to Nell. ‘Come with me and I will keep you safe.’
Blood rushed to Nell's temples and rage boiled in her stomach like she’d never experienced before. He lied. She didn’t know what he wanted to do with her, but whatever it was, it wasn’t going to keep her safe. She clenched her fists and with every tense muscle, tried to contain the fury. Breathing deeply, she managed to calm her anger to a simmer. The extent of emotion caught Nell by surprise. Where did it come from? It crossed her mind that the Corl was right. If she couldn't keep her fury in check, she might be as dangerous as he said she was.
‘This is not a discussion. You will come with me.’
Nell glanced at the entrance and wondered if she should make a run for it.
‘That would be a mistake, child. If you do not come with me, this Phib will die.’
‘You won't hurt her,’ Nell said. ‘I'm not stupid. You’re a member of the Corl Council.’
‘That is true, but accidents happen,’ he chortled. ‘After all, you are in my house uninvited, and you might have surprised me so much, I fell on the girl with a knife.’ He moved his hand above Cay-Meka’s head and waved a knife at Nell before circling his arm and pointing the tip of the blade at her cousin’s heart.
Cay-Meka whimpered but Nell couldn't believe he would hurt her. ‘You can call the authorities and charge us, or whatever you lot do, but I will not go anywhere with you.’
He shot Nell a mean, reedy smile and positioned the knife behind Cay-Meka’s back.
A storm exploded in Nell's mind. She was convinced Nadar meant to use it and without thinking, she cleared the distance between them in a single jump.