A Perilous Power (Arucadi Series Book 5)

by E. Rose Sabin

  “We’ll need two more chairs. I suppose I could fetch them myself, but that’s what servants are for, eh?” He went to another table and fussed with a horn-shaped apparatus mounted on a square box. He turned a handle on its side and cocked his head as though listening.

  A shrouded figure approached, though Trevor didn’t see where it came from.

  “I require two chairs for my additional guests,” the man said to it.

  It bowed its head and glided silently from the room, returned a moment later carrying two heavy chairs as though they were feathers. It set them down near the others and faced its master, who remained by the device he’d used to summon it.

  “That will be all,” he said.

  The figure bowed and vanished. The doctor turned to his guests. “Please make yourselves comfortable,” he invited. “Allow me to introduce myself to the lady and gentleman who just arrived. I am Dr. Berne Tenney. Come, come, take your seats, please. We have much to talk about.”

  Trevor was quick to follow Dr. Tenney’s suggestion.

  Carl dropped sullenly into another chair. Seeing his discomfiture made Trevor want to laugh.

  Les pulled a chair close to Miryam’s and sat holding her hand and regarding his host with a look filled with suspicion. That look puzzled Trevor. Dr. Tenney had rescued them.

  Dr. Tenney leaned back, crossed his knees, and extracted a pouch of tobacco from his waistcoat pocket. As he occupied himself with filling and tamping his pipe, he said conversationally, “It seems we have mysteries to unravel. Kind of you to brighten an old man’s life with challenges.”

  No one responded. Dr. Tenney examined the bowl of his pipe, appeared satisfied with the result of his labor, and snapped his fingers. A flame flickered at his fingertips. He kindled the tobacco and waved the flame out of existence. He placed the pipe stem into his mouth, drew deeply on the pipe, blew out a cloud of smoke, and chuckled.

  “Quiet bunch you are. Not going to offer any help, eh? All right, seems I’ll have to sort things out for myself.”

  His wrinkled forehead didn’t fool Trevor; the doctor had already grasped the whole situation, he was sure. He should speak up, accuse Carl of imprisoning and impersonating him. It could be that Dr. Tenney was waiting, giving him that chance. Trevor cleared his throat. But when he tried to talk, no sound came out.

  He glared at Carl, but Carl’s gaze was fastened on Dr. Tenney.

  Dr. Tenney removed the pipe from his mouth and pointed its stem at Carl. “You’re a clever lad and a daring one, that’s clear. You almost had Hamlyn fooled, you know, and he’s not easily deceived. You might have gained entrance to the Community if it hadn’t been for the second letter, the one to me. My guess is that Matthew Blake wanted to be certain that his nephew, Trevor, did not accept entrance into the Community without his friend Lesley Simonton. I’d reckon that Blake feared an unfavorable reaction to admitting someone with only a hidden, undeveloped talent. And maybe he couldn’t depend on his nephew to stick by that friend and refuse to be admitted without him. That right?”

  “No!” Trevor found his voice and the word exploded from him. “No, I wouldn’t have done that.”

  A broad smile spread across Dr. Tenney’s face. “So, you are Trevor Blake.” The smile vanished. A sharp gaze scrutinized Trevor; he felt he was being looked into as well as looked over. His face burned, though he couldn’t explain the flush.

  “I wonder why you let this fellow borrow your identity,” Dr. Tenney mused, as though he expected to have to puzzle out the matter himself.

  “He forced me to,” Trevor said. “He stole the letters and held me prisoner. He threatened to kill me if Les and I didn’t cooperate.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” Carl interrupted. His blue eyes were wide, his gaze earnest. “I was afraid my meager talents would never be enough to get me into the Community, so I persuaded Trevor to let me borrow the letters in return for lodging and board. I’d get Les in as well as myself, and then help Trevor get in as well. His gifts are great enough that he could be admitted on his own merits.”

  Carl did not flinch at Dr. Tenney’s hard stare. He exuded sincerity and innocence.

  “I see,” said Dr. Tenney. “But you fail to explain the presence of this young lady.” The pipe stem pointed to Miryam, who cringed and did not meet the doctor’s gaze.

  “She’s my sister,” Carl said, retaining his innocent demeanor. “We’re linked by a strong psychic bond. Maybe that’s why your magic brought her here.”

  Trevor’s gaze fastened on Dr. Tenney’s face, watching every twitch, every nuance of expression, trying to judge the doctor’s reaction. He wouldn’t believe Carl; Trevor was sure of that. But the doctor’s mild response to the accusation against Carl was disturbing.

  Trevor knew better than to hope that Miryam would speak up and add her grievances to his. The girl was an utter coward, totally dominated by her brother. Even with Les patting her hand, encouraging her, she huddled in her chair like a whipped puppy.

  “I find that bond extremely interesting,” Dr. Tenney was saying to Carl. “Useful, I should imagine.” He watched his pipe smoke spiral toward the ceiling.

  “It gives us a closeness most brothers and sisters would envy,” Carl’s voice oozed affection.

  Trevor couldn’t understand Les’s continued silence. Carl must be preventing him from speaking as he had prevented Trevor. As for Miryam, she slumped against Les’s shoulder, her eyes closed.

  “Your sister, for whom you show such tender regard, seems to be near fainting,” Dr. Tenney observed. “Her transport here may have been too much for her. Perhaps we should take her to a room where she can lie down.”

  Les jumped up and lifted Miryam in his arms. “I’ll carry her,” he said. “Tell me where to take her.”

  “No, no, my boy,” Dr. Tenney said. “Her brother will carry her. You stay here.”

  Carl sprang to his feet and reached for Miryam, who seemed to be in a swoon. Les at first refused to relinquish his hold on her, then released her with a suddenness that would have sent her crashing to the floor if Carl had not caught her. It was clear to Trevor, and surely Dr. Tenney could also see, that Les’s attempt to resist had been countered with power. The doctor offered no objection.

  “Wait here,” he told Les and Trevor. Puffing on his pipe, he led Carl from the room, the gangly Miryam limp in her brother’s arms.

  As soon as they passed through the door, Les grabbed Trevor’s arm. “Hurry!” he whispered. “This is our chance. We’ll go find Veronica and get her to rescue Miryam.”

  “Are you crazy?” Trevor stared at his friend. “We’ve been rescued. Dr. Tenney’s going to expose Carl.”

  “That man’s worse than Carl. Remember what Veronica said.” Les tugged at Trevor. “Hurry! Before it’s too late.”

  Trevor shoved him away. “Veronica! Always Veronica. Did she find your gift?”

  “If she did, she didn’t tell me what it was.”

  “So why do you trust her? I think she lied about the Community. I’m going to take my chances with Dr. Tenney.”

  “Trev, don’t be a fool. We need to get out of here.”

  “You sound like Veronica. I’m not going anywhere. Run if you want to. I’m staying to see the fun when the doctor gives Carl his comeuppance.”

  Les glanced toward the door. “Don’t trust him,” he pleaded. “Come with me.”

  “Afraid to go by yourself?” Trevor taunted.

  Les shot his friend a hurt look and bounded from the room. Trevor hadn’t believed he would really go.

  If Les involved that busybody Veronica, he could mess up everything. Veronica didn’t like the Community; she could ruin their chance for admittance. He got to his feet to go after Les, but at that moment Carl and Dr. Tenney returned.

  Dr. Tenney looked around. “Where’s your friend?” His surprise seemed unfeigned.

  “He was afraid,” Trevor said, and in his embarrassment he embellished that truthful statement. “He thought you
’d blame him for helping Carl try to trick you. I told him to wait, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  “Well, well. That’s a pity.” Rapid bursts of smoke spurted from the doctor’s pipe. “Don’t concern yourself, though. He won’t get far.” He took the pipe from his mouth and winked. “Let’s sit down, shall we, and await his return.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  TURNINGS

  Les reached the top of the stairs but did not descend. He could not abandon Miryam. Carl and Dr. Tenney had taken her into an upstairs room, but he did not know which one. He risked discovery by lingering. The light was dim here in the hall, but he tried the door nearest the stairway, found it unlocked, and opened it. It gave access to a storage closet. He crowded in and pulled the door almost closed, leaving only a crack through which to see out.

  He had concealed himself just in time; he heard a door open nearby. Peering through the narrow opening, he held his breath, not daring to move.

  Dr. Tenney and Carl came out of a room a short distance down the hall. Sure he’d be caught when the doctor paused and sniffed, Les stifled a sigh of relief when the doctor moved on toward the room where Trevor waited. Carl shuffled along behind, as though walking in his sleep.

  The room they’d left had to be where they’d put Miryam. Les edged quietly to that door and eased it open. He slipped inside the dark room, groped his way forward, bumped into a bed. “Miryam?” he whispered.

  No answer. He bent, touched the bed, found the still form lying on it. It had to be Miryam, but he couldn’t rouse her; this was no mere faint.

  He shook her gently. “Miryam, wake up.”

  His plea didn’t wake her. He lifted her and held her in his arms. He could carry her a short distance, but the way back to town was long, and he had no transportation.

  Reluctantly he lowered her onto the bed. “Miryam,” he whispered, though she wouldn’t hear him, “I have to leave you and get to Veronica. She’ll help me rescue you. I’ll hurry, I promise.” He brushed her hair back from her forehead and kissed her.

  He found his way to the door and stepped into the hall, muscles tensed, ready to fight his way free.

  The hall was empty. He headed toward the stairs, not believing his luck. Hands on the wall, feeling his way in the darkness, he descended the creaky staircase. It was impossible to move silently. Anyone looking for him would know exactly where he was. His toe caught on the upraised edge of a loose board, and he stumbled and slammed against the wall to keep from falling. He might as well have yelled out, “Here I am!” But he heard no sound of pursuit.

  He reached the bottom of the stairs and peered into blackness. The front door, he remembered, was straight ahead at the end of the hall, which had been empty of obstacles. He walked forward.

  The walk took too long. He quickened his pace. His foot smashed into something and he pitched forward, hands outstretched to catch himself. His hand slid over a rough board and slivers of wood dug painfully into his palm. He’d stumbled against the stairs and caught his hand on the same upraised board that had nearly tripped him as he’d descended.

  He’d passed through no doorways, had never taken his hand off the wall. Yet somehow he’d wound up back at the bottom of the steps.

  This time he’d try the opposite wall. He groped his way to it and set off again, moving slowly this time, making certain he came to no corners or turns. He proceeded straight ahead; he could have sworn he did. Yet again he stumbled into a barrier that his exploring fingers determined to be the stairway.

  “Looks like I have to go back up,” he muttered to himself. “I’m trapped.”

  The house itself couldn’t have changed; that was impossible. And he couldn’t possibly have gotten lost. Dr. Tenney had used his power to confuse him, turn him around. That explained why there’d been no pursuit!

  He could stay down here and try again, but he’d only waste time and wear himself out. Better to go up and confront Dr. Tenney. Not, he thought bitterly, that he could do much. He had nothing with which to counter the doctor’s clearly great power.

  He trudged up the stairs. When he reached the door to the room where he’d left Miryam, he entered to check on her.

  A frightened gasp told him she was awake. “Shhh,” he cautioned. “It’s me, Les.”

  He reached the bed and found her hand in the darkness. “Are you all right? What did he do to you?”

  He sat on the edge of the bed, and she sat up and leaned against him. “It was Carl,” she whispered. “Dr. Tenney put Carl into some kind of trance. And Carl shared it with me as he does everything.”

  “Carl has to be stopped. So does Tenney. We have to get away. But Tenney’s done something to me so I can’t reach the front door.” In a whisper he described his fruitless attempts to find the way out.

  “Tenney’s an Adept,” Miryam said. “I’m not sure we can escape. Carl knows you’re with me—the link between us lets him know everything I do. Except …” Her voice trailed off and she straightened.

  “Except?” he prompted.

  “Wait.” Her fingers dug into his arm. “We might have a chance. If I can …”

  Again she left the sentence unfinished, but rose to her feet and pulled him up beside her. He felt her tension, sensed a series of small movements, but in the darkness he could not see what she was doing.

  Abruptly she touched his arm, slid her hand to his wrist, and clamped her fingers tightly around it. “Follow me,” she breathed.

  She moved forward, pulling him after her. The door to the room burst open and light flooded in. Dr. Tenney rushed toward them, face suffused with anger.

  Miryam moved calmly onward. The doctor, the room, the light all vanished. Les thought at first that Dr. Tenney must have done something to them, but Miryam’s steady forward motion reassured him.

  She stopped so suddenly that he bumped into her. She released her hold on his wrist.

  “What is it?” he asked, reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Where are we?”

  “Shhh!” She stood stiff, unmoving.

  Seconds lengthened into minutes while they stood like a pair of statues. The darkness and silence were so complete that only his grip on her shoulder told him he had not lost her.

  Suddenly he lost even his sense of touch; his own body did not signal its existence. He was nowhere, nothing.

  He was not—and then he was. His feet stood on solid ground. He smelled Miryam’s clean sweet scent, felt her shoulder beneath his hand, heard her voice.

  “Tenney almost had me,” she was saying. “He’s so strong. I don’t think he can find us here, but I can’t be sure. It’s the one place I can go to get away from Carl, and if Carl can’t track me here, it’s possible he can’t either.”

  They were no longer in utter darkness; a dim light allowed him to see her and to see that they stood among trees. A cool wind ruffled his hair and clothing. Clicks and chirps of night insects surrounded them.

  He glanced up; patches of sky grew and shrank between waving branches. His efforts to connect the star patterns failed; these were not the constellations he’d grown familiar with as a boy on the farm. They were not in the world he knew, the world of Amesley and Port-of-Lords and the vast stretches between.

  “We’ve crossed to another plane,” Miryam said, answering his unasked question. “It’s the only power I have that Carl has never been able to share. I don’t know why. He can call me back from it, though. Not easily. It takes him an hour or more, so we have a little time. Unless Dr. Tenney boosts his power.”

  “How does it work? Can you get to another place from here?” In his confusion he wasn’t making himself clear. “Could you get to the place where you first found me? We’d be safe there, I know.”

  “Mmmm. I’m not sure. I can try. It would be easier to find the way to my apartment, but that’s where my brother will expect me to go.”

  “If we can get to Veronica’s house, we’ll have help. She’s an Adept, but she’s not evil like Dr. Tenney.”
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  Miryam pressed her fingers over his mouth and said quickly, “Better not mention his name here again. Don’t mention any name. They may be able to find us that way.”

  He nodded, and she lowered her hand. “Come on,” she said, and led him along a scarcely visible path.

  At a wide place in the path Miryam stopped. “This is where I found your friend,” she said. “From here I may be able to find the place you want to go. It will take some time and require all my concentration. Keep guard. Wild animals prowl these woods—Trevor was attacked. It’s usually safe enough by day, but at night, well, that’s another matter.”

  “I’ll watch,” he said, wondering what he’d do if a beast charged them. Without a weapon, he had no way of defending himself or Miryam.

  She stood in the center of the clearing, her eyes closed, her lips parted, arms raised to about waist level and stretched out to either side, her cupped hands palms upward. Whatever it was she was doing produced no outward sign; nothing at all happened.

  She hadn’t told him not to move, so he prowled around the clearing, looking and listening for any sign of the beasts she’d warned against. Something rustled through a nearby bush, but he caught no glimpse of anything threatening.

  Miryam sighed. “It’s no use. I’m blocked.”

  He turned toward her “Tenney?”

  Her hands dropped to her sides. “Maybe. I can’t tell. This Veronica—it might help if I knew more about her. Describe her.”

  Les told her how Veronica had come to their rescue when he and Trevor had been jailed and Trevor had nearly killed him with his sending. He described her frumpy appearance and how, without changing clothes, she’d acquired a strong air of authority as they reached her home.

  While he spoke, Miryam gazed into his eyes. He could not tear away his own gaze; he felt drawn through those brown irises into the mind behind them.