by Logan Jacobs
“She could be in trouble,” I added, “and not of her own making.”
“She’s a good kid.” Straya nodded her head sagely. “She never complained when we traveled to Northwood Valley to found the town.”
“How long ago was that?” Eva asked in an encouraging tone. There was a light in her smoky-gray eyes I hadn’t seen before, except when she was talking about adventure, and I realized she was having the time of her life.
“Two years and counting,” Straya answered with obvious pride, and her shoulders straightened a little. “I am one of the five founding families here in Northwood.”
“That’s quite an accomplishment,” I told her. “My wife was one of the first families in Bastianville, back when it was still called Addington.”
“Elrin inspired us to form our own town, too,” Straya said as her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Why the change in name?”
“To honor Sebastian,” Mahini informed her as she inclined her head to indicate me. “The Great One of legend is here before you.”
“O-Oh, my, my apologies, I-I had no idea,” Straya began to stammer out nervously, and she dropped into a quick curtsey. “Thank you for all your help here in Northwood, Great One.
“It’s okay, really,” I assured her. “Just call me Bash.”
“What do you bash?” The woman blinked at me in confusion.
“It’s a nickname,” I laughed. “You know what, never mind. Thank you for all the information, you’ve been very helpful.”
“My pleasure.” The innkeeper bowed her head and backed away. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Great One.”
“Should we go see the mayor and his son next?” I asked the two ladies at my side.
“Absolutely,” Eva replied immediately. “He seems to be at the bottom of this mystery.”
“I agree.” Mahini nodded. “The missing piece is the mayor’s son. He will know more than anyone else, I can feel it in my bones.”
I scanned the street until I found the nicest looking house, and I jerked my chin toward it. The building had a huge, wraparound porch, and it was painted blue with white trim. It also appeared to be only a few years old, if the condition of the paint was any indication. The second story had a candle burning in the window, so I knew someone was still awake inside even though it was getting late.
“Think that’s where he lives?” I asked as I shot a glance at the rising moon. It was bright, and the light of the celestial orb lit up the streets so the torches along the road weren’t necessary to find our way.
“Possibly,” Eva said, and she bit her bottom lip indecisively. “It’s very small. Are you sure it is fit for the leader of this town?”
“It’s not a castle,” I teased with a wink. “But it’s the biggest one in town.”
We hadn’t made it very far toward the big house when Elissa and Bella’s mother came out of the inn to my right.
“Any news on my daughter?” the mother asked in an urgent tone. “Do you have any leads?”
“We are working on it,” I explained gently. “Your name is Darla, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Darla frowned. “How did you-- Never mind, please, you must find her.”
“We are headed to the mayor’s house next,” I informed her in a calming manner. “Would you like to join us?”
“Oh, yes, please, Great One,” Darla gushed as excitement lit up her face. “Bella is always playing with his son, Joshua.”
“That is what we have learned, as well,” Eva said, and she took Darla’s hand in hers. “Come, walk with me.”
Darla and Eva led the way to the mayor’s house while Mahini, Elissa, and I followed closely behind. The distraught mother took us straight to the big house, and I congratulated myself on my correct assumption.
We climbed the steps to the wraparound porch, and then I knocked firmly on the door. A part of me felt bad for disturbing the mayor after dark, but it had to be done. We needed answers, and soon.
I itched to find Bella, and then I would reset and ride into town with the knowledge of her location in my repertoire. I would look like a total badass, and the thought urged me to knock again, but louder this time.
“Alright, alright, I’m coming!” an angry-sounding voice echoed from inside the house. Then a red-faced older man ripped open the door and glowered at us. “What is all this fuss about? I was just getting into bed!”
He was indeed wearing a long pajama tunic and a sleep cap, and he looked like something straight out of a nursery rhyme. He was a gray-haired, older man, probably in his sixties, but the look of rage on his face almost made me laugh.
“One of your people has gone missing,” I informed him in a gruff tone that conveyed just how displeased I was with his greeting. “Strangers have volunteered to look for her while you’re off to bed, but I suppose the leader of the town can’t be bothered when one of his citizens is in danger.”
“W-W-What!” The mayor took a step back into his house, and fear lit up his eyes. “Who are you? Why have you disturbed me?”
“Watch how you speak to the Great One,” Eva said in a warning tone.
“Yes, give him the respect he deserves,” Mahini added as she narrowed her ice-blue eyes.
“Or face our wrath,” Elissa finished, and I wondered if the three of them had practiced their synchronicity before this moment.
“Bella is missing, Mayor Aldemar!” Darla exclaimed as she crossed the distance to the man, and she took his hands in hers. “Please, tell me you’ve seen her today. I need some good news.”
“Why, she was here this morning, wasn’t she, Joshua?” The mayor turned to look at someone inside the house, and I could only assume it was his son.
“Is that Joshua?” Eva asked as she and Mahini shared a knowing look.
“We need to talk to him,” Mahini added.
“Who is Joshua?” Elissa questioned with a frown. “Did I miss everything?”
“Joshua is my son,” the Mayor of Northwood Valley explained to the tiny goddess. He gestured for the boy to come forward, and then Joshua stood by his father’s side with a sheepish expression on his face.
The boy had big hazel eyes, his sandy-blond hair was tangled and dirty, and he appeared to be about seven years old. He looked like he was about to get into trouble, and I knew something was weighing on his conscience.
“Hello,” the boy muttered as he averted his gaze.
“Joshua, we need to ask you some questions.” I squatted down so I was face to face with the kid, and I gave him a stern look. “I need you to be honest with me, and tell me everything you know about where Bella is.”
“I don’t know nothing,” Joshua argued with an emphatic shake of his head.
“But you do know something,” Elissa quipped.
“It’s written all over his face,” Mahini announced.
“I see it, too,” Eva added as she fixed Joshua with a hard gaze. “Guilt.”
“Do I need to rough him up?” Elissa asked as she crossed her arms and tried to look threatening. It was amusing to see the tough expression on the tiny goddess’ freckled face, and I resisted the urge to laugh.
“I’m sure there’s no need for violence,” the mayor said in a rushed voice. “Please, sir, he’s just a boy.”
“I-I-I didn’t mean to!” Joshua stammered out at the same time. “It was just a joke. I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen to her!”
I held up my hand to stop anyone from talking, and I nodded to Joshua. “Go on. We’re listening.”
Joshua stared down at his feet, and he shuffled his toes a little while we waited in silence. Finally, he lifted his eyes to mine and sighed.
“I dared her to go,” he confessed with a look of shame upon his face. “She didn’t want to, but I told her she would be a chicken if she didn’t. Bella hates being called a chicken.”
“She… wants… to be brave… for her mother,” Darla choked out with a ragged sob.
“She can be pretty dumb sometimes,” Josh
ua pointed out with a frown. “But I didn’t think she’d be dumb enough to take the dare. I figured I’d won the game for good, but she wouldn’t have that.”
“Where did you dare her to go?” I asked in a hard voice. “Be honest, Joshua. Bella’s life is at stake here.”
Joshua stared into my eyes for a long silent moment, and we all waited with held breath.
“To… To the mine,” he said at last, and I let out my breath in a large exhale.
“You dared her to go into the collapsed mine?” Mayor Aldemar demanded, and boy was he pissed. His eyebrows rose into his stocking cap, and his face was beet red. Then he smacked Joshua on the back of the head and pointed inside the house. “Go to bed. This instant.”
“Yes, sir,” Joshua sighed, and he cast an apologetic look at Darla. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any harm.”
“It’s okay, Joshua,” Darla replied with a comforting smile through her tears. “I only hope she is okay.”
“Where are the mines?” I asked the mayor in an urgent tone.
“To the southwest of town,” he replied with a frown of concern. “You can’t possibly be considering going there yourself at this time of night!”
His words made me remember the mine entrance Jorgen had spotted during our search, and I wondered briefly how close we’d been to Bella without finding her. The hunter hadn’t seen any clues, but that could have been due to the darkness since I knew he was a skilled tracker. It was hard to see anything by torchlight, after all.
“Time doesn’t matter to me,” I informed him with a shrug. “I’ll just need some torches.”
“And some helpful ladies,” Eva interjected with a grin.
“Yes, all three of us,” Mahini agreed.
“Oh, a mini adventure!” Elissa squealed with delight. “We’ll be back with Bella before you can blink.”
Little did my wife and the other ladies know, I was going to reset to the moment before anyone knew the little girl was missing. I just had to find her first, and then I would look like a total god when I galloped into town with the knowledge of her location secured.
I just had to actually find her first.
We said goodnight to the mayor, but then I turned to Darla and gave her a compassionate smile.
“You should go home and wait for us there,” I told her in my most soothing voice. “No use dragging you out into the dark. She could still come home on her own while we’re out searching for her.”
“You spent so much time getting more information, it is almost the middle of the night,” Darla huffed with frustration, and she crossed her arms and stepped down from the mayor’s porch. “I suppose that’s where I’m of the most use, though, just sitting and waiting.”
“It won’t be long now,” I assured her as she walked away, but then I turned to the three ladies by my side. “Let’s do this.”
The four of us returned to our horses, and we followed the mayor’s directions to the mine entrance. The tunnel was indeed closed off with a pile of rocks, and I wondered if there was another way in.
We searched the woods by the entrance by torchlight for a while before we turned our attention to the tunnel opening.
“There has to be another way inside,” Eva mused. “Maybe a side entrance?”
“We could always try to move those rocks out of the way,” Elissa suggested as she tapped her index finger against her chin.
“That could cause a secondary cave-in,” Mahini pointed out with a shake of her head.
“She’s right,” I said with a sigh. “If we try to move those rocks, the tunnel could collapse in on our heads. We could get trapped inside, and then we wouldn’t be able to help anybody.”
“There’s a small gap near the top of the rocks,” Eva pointed out as she analyzed the entrance, and she turned to give us a bright smile. “I could squeeze through, I’m small enough.”
“If you can, then I can, too,” my wife said as she planted her hands on her hips. “I’m the smallest one here, after all.”
“We could try to move just enough of the rocks to allow us all to crawl through,” Mahini suggested as she cast an amused glance at my wife.
“Alright,” I allowed, and then the four of us got to work.
Once we’d widened the hole enough, Evangeline and Elissa crawled through the sliver of an opening between the rocks, and Mahini and I stayed on the entrance side of the obstacle. Then the four of us carefully removed one rock at a time from around the small gap until it was big enough for my broad shoulders to fit through. It took some finesse to wiggle through the crevice to the other side, but I managed it with only some minor abrasions on my knees and elbows.
By the time I’d made it through to the other side, Mahini was already following after me. A moment later, the four of us were reunited again, and Elissa wrapped Mahini up in a quick hug.
Then we grabbed our torches and explored the mine.
The walls glinted with hints of silver and other metals, and various tools were left scattered across the tunnel floor. It looked like the miners had attempted to reopen the cave-in but had caused even more rocks to fall, so they’d given up on the endeavor.
“Bella?” I called out in a loud voice, and the word rang out through the tunnel and bounced off the walls.
No response came, but I hadn’t given up hope. All trails led us here, so she was bound to be in here somewhere.
“Bella, let us know you’re in here, sweetheart!” Evangeline’s voice was sweet as honey, and the echo was pleasant to the ears. Still, no response came, so we continued onward.
We walked for an hour or so, but it was hard to tell the passage of time within the depths of the mine. Then we came across another cave-in, and the walls of the tunnel seemed even more unstable than near the entrance.
“Bella, are you in there?” Mahini called out through the rock.
“H-H-Hello?” a small voice replied, and we all whooped with joy.
“Bella, is that you?” I asked in a hopeful tone, but who else could it be?
“Yes, it’s me,” the squeaky voice said. “C-C-Can you help me get out of here? I’m stuck.”
“Of course!” Eva said eagerly. “That’s why we’re here, honey.”
Except now we were going to leave. I felt a little bad about leaving the little girl stuck in the mine, but I reminded myself that I would save time by resetting to my savepoint.
Chime.
“Jorgen, we must hurry,” I said to the hunter as we galloped down the road. “There’s a little girl trapped inside a mine up ahead, and she needs our help!”
The sun was still beginning its descent to the western horizon, so we still had some daylight left. With any luck, and the God of Time on the case, we’d have Bella in her mother’s arms before her bedtime.
I’d lead Darla straight to her daughter, and then I could enjoy the rest of the night with Eva and my two ladies.
The God of Time was also the god of finding missing children, it seemed.
Chapter Seven
We pulled to a stop right in front of Darla a moment before she would have screamed, but our sudden appearance made her open mouth snap shut in surprise.
“Darla, I know where Bella is,” I said without preamble. I slid off Goliath’s back as soon as he came to a halt, and I took Darla’s hands in mine.
“W-W-What?” Darla blinked at me in confusion. “How do you know that? Where did you take her?”
The mother’s look of confusion blossomed into rage, and she ripped her hands away from me. Her face was flushed red, and her eyes were so wide the whites were showing.
“Darla, calm down,” I urged. “I didn’t take her anywhere, I just know where she is.”
“What’s going on out here?” Eva asked as she came out of the inn. She was wearing the tight, painted-on leather armor I’d seen her wear in the audience chamber, and one hand hovered near a throwing star. I didn’t know if she was skilled with the small blades, but she looked dangerous as she approached me and D
arla.
“We were riding down the road when suddenly Bash said a little girl was missing,” Jorgen informed her in an awed tone.
“You took my daughter, didn’t you?” Darla accused as she leveled her pointer finger at my face, but I knew she was just distraught and not thinking clearly, so I didn’t hold it against her.
My women, on the other hand, weren’t as forgiving.
“How dare you accuse the God of Time?” Mahini’s voice was sharp, and the desert goddess cut through the crowd with Elissa following in her wake.
“Bash would never kidnap a little girl,” my wife argued hotly, and she shot Darla a glare. “He is just trying to help you.”
“W-W-Who are you?” Darla asked as she took a step away from me.
“I am Sebastian, the God of Time,” I answered in a godly voice with my chin lifted and my shoulders straight.
A crowd had formed around us by this point, and everyone listened intently to the interaction. I spotted several now familiar faces among the gathered people, and then my eyes fell upon Joshua. He stood beside his dad, and his eyes were wide as saucers as he took in the scene before him.
Eva, Mahini, and Elissa stood at my side like avenging angels, and the expressions on their faces dared anyone to counter my statement. Their loyalty made my chest swell with pride, and I fixed Joshua with a stern look.
“Come forward, boy, and confess your crimes,” I instructed in a harsh voice, and the kid jumped before hiding behind his father.
“What is he talking about, son?” the mayor asked the boy behind him.
“I don’t know nothing!” Joshua argued, but his guilt was heavy in his voice.
“Where is my daughter?” Darla demanded as she grabbed my arm firmly.
I held up my hand to the three women who had reached for their weapons, and I gave Darla a comforting smile.
“I will take you to her,” I assured the distraught mother, “but I will need my men to help me remove the obstacle imprisoning her.”
“I didn’t mean for anything bad to happen,” Joshua suddenly interjected, and everyone turned to give the little boy a questioning look.