A Quill Ladder (46 page)

“
You forgot about Sandy,
”
Abbey said.

Caleb gave a sheepish grin.
“
I did, didn
’
t I?
”

“
Something about her doesn
’
t seem quite right. She
’
s too
…
I don
’
t know. Eager.
”

“
She could just be really happy to be out of Nowhere.
”

Abbey snorted.
“
Hmm. Maybe.
”

They were both silent for a minute. They didn
’
t seem to be getting anywhere. Finally Abbey spoke.

“
Maybe we should just get on up to bed, Cale. We have no idea what we
’
re going to have to do in the morning.
”

Caleb raked his hands through his hair.
“
Yeah, okay.
”

They began shoving papers back into boxes and boxes back onto shelves. But they set aside the lockbox, the cards, and the piece of paper written in the strange language; these they would stash in Abbey
’
s closet.

Once they
’
d put the last of the boxes back on the shelves, they propped the door and the frame up where it belonged and tried to wedge it back into place. Caleb went looking for a hammer, and Abbey leaned heavily against the frame. She was totally exhausted, and it seemed like they had learned nothing for their efforts. Farley let out a low growl from the top of the stairs, and then broke out into wild barks, skittering back and forth from the deck door to the front door.

Caleb emerged from the workshop at a run. After giving the door and frame a good shove so it would stay, he and Abbey cautiously made their way up the stairs, clutching their phones. Farley had replaced his barks with low growls as he stared out the living room window. Nobody appeared to be in the yard, or the house. Abbey and Caleb looked at each other.

Caleb withdrew a knife from the knife block, and, wordlessly, they resumed their back-to-back watch position in the living room, while Farley maintained his station by the window.

Abbey must have fallen asleep slumped against Caleb, because when the key slid in the lock, the light of morning had already crested the eastern mountains and bathed the valley in crisp winter light.

She and Caleb both sprang to their feet at the sound, and Farley barked, but not wildly this time.

The door swung open to reveal Mark, his satchel tucked under his arm and a large box labeled
“
Sketchmaster
”
in his hands.

Abbey shook herself more fully awake and flew across the room at Mark.

“
Where were you?
”

“
I went to the dot, and found a tunnel, and my sister. Then the dogs came and took my maps, but I escaped, and I found another tunnel, and went to my other house and fell asleep.
”

“
We need to go to the stones,
”
Abbey said.
“
Mom and Dad are both missing.
”
She almost added
and Selena might have your mother
, but decided against it. Yesterday she might have been excited about the discovery of the tunnels, but today there seemed like too many other things to worry about.

Caleb appeared behind her, faint purple circles beneath his eyes.
“
Hold the phone, Ab. We should eat first, and think about what we might need. We should also get a bit more information from Mark about what happened.
”

Caleb cooked eggs and toast while Mark walked Farley around the yard and Abbey made sandwiches and gathered water bottles, compasses, and a hunting knife and packed them in a backpack.

They sat and ate quickly. Mark updated them on the previous day, and they told him about the appearance of Selena, and the disappearance of their father. Like Abbey, Caleb was circumspect regarding their visit to the hospital and the possibility that Mrs. Forrester had been kidnapped by Selena.

Mark showed her his new sketch map that showed the dots, plus sign, and watermark, and explained about the location of the tunnels, and the consistency in the length of the tunnel segments. Abbey was intrigued, but they all agreed that the first order of business was to go to the stones, and hopefully to find their mother. Abbey wondered if Mark had Sandy
’
s phone number, if they should ask for Sandy
’
s help
—
but some aspects of Sandy
’
s behavior with Mark in the tunnels seemed a little off.

They trudged up the hill shortly after eight o
’
clock with Caleb in the lead. They had decided, against everyone
’
s better judgment, to bring Farley along, and the Chesapeake Bay Retriever trotted gamely up the trail with Abbey, thinking he was going for a walk. Caleb stopped abruptly, and Abbey almost walked into him.

“
Do you hear that?
”

“
What?
”

“
It
’
s like a backhoe or something. Like heavy machinery, near the stones.
”

Caleb started running, and Abbey followed along as best she could up the steep path, alternately dragging, and being dragged by, Farley. Mark, clearly not understanding the urgency, followed behind. As soon as they crested the rise where they could see the stones, Abbey saw a large yellow backhoe at work by the Madrona, unearthing the stones, dirt, and briar patch, and tossing them into a dumpster to the right of the tree.

The stones.
Their mother was still in the future. Was she now trapped? Abbey tried to control the sick feeling that had overtaken her stomach.

Sylvain stood in front of the backhoe, observing its progress.

Abbey reached Caleb, who stood beside Sylvain, breathless and with a stitch in her side. Farley, not realizing the run was over, continued barreling toward the backhoe and nearly jerked Abbey off her feet.

“
What are you doing?
”
Abbey said, giving Farley
’
s leash a good yank. She vaguely registered that Caleb said precisely the same thing at the same time.

Sylvain gave them both a broad smile, which was entirely unexpected given the circumstances and the harshness of Abbey
’
s tone in addressing him, and clapped his hands together.
“
I know this looks bad, but I
’
m the one who bought the land, so this is all perfectly by the books. I
’
m trying to fix things so that some members of our brethren can no longer use the stones for their own purposes to try to find parallel worlds and split this world apart. I know it
’
s painful to watch, and I know you
’
ll miss them, but trust me, this is safer for you, and it
’
s better for everyone. You
’
ll thank me one day, and I know your parents will be in complete support.
”

“
Our mother is on the other side of the stones right now, getting medical treatment. How is she going to get home?
”
Abbey said, slowly and deliberately, trying not to cry.

The backhoe collected the last of the stones and deposited them in the dumpster.

Sylvain widened his eyes.
“
Oh. Oh dear. That
’
s rather inconvenient. I guess I should have checked. I heard the doorbell last night, but assumed I had slept through the return doorbell this morning. People rarely stay over that long. Anyway, stop looking at me with those white little scared faces. She
’
ll be fine. There
’
s more than one set of stones. I
’
ll just go to the future, presuming she
’
s in the causeway future, and tell her she needs to come home the other way. It
’
s no big deal. She
’
s used the other set before. Of course, if she
’
s in one of the other futures, I may need some help getting there.
”

“
More than one set of stones,
”
Caleb repeated.

“
Where
’
s the other set of stones?
”
Abbey said.

“
I
’
d rather not say.
”

Farley started barking at the backhoe, which beeped as it backed away from the stones.

Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at Sylvain.
“
You
’
ve just trapped our mother in the future, and you
’
d
rather not say
? Tell us where the other set of stones is. Right now!
”

Sylvain gave almost a nervous chuckle.
“
Don
’
t get your knickers in a knot, young man. I have a set at my house. Only accessible by me, of course.
”
He flashed his bandaged hand in the air.
“
That
’
s why they tried to take my finger. It
’
s a fingerprint entry lock. That Selena is crazy as a loon. I
’
ve had to stick to public spaces and haven
’
t been able to stay in my own home alone ever since. But I think they
’
ve given up looking for me. We can go there now, and you can come with me to the future and find your mother.
”

“
What are you going to tell him?
”
Caleb gestured at the backhoe driver, as if the man might now proceed to start ripping up the entire hill.

“
Oh, he
’
s done. I
’
m just going to get him to dispose of the dumpster.
”

“
I can
’
t believe you did this. You have no right,
”
Abbey said hotly.

“
My dear, I have the deed to the property. I have every right. Trust me. This is what needs to be done
—
what someone should have done years ago.
”

“
But you use the stones all the time,
”
Abbey said.

“
For moderate and reasonable purposes. Not to obliterate the future.
”

“
Let
’
s go. We need to get to Mom,
”
Caleb said.
“
We can talk about this on the way.
”

“
Fine,
”
Sylvain said.
“
I just need to have my man secure the stones.
”

“
Where are you taking them?
”
Abbey said.

“
That
’
s none of your business.
”

Abbey opened her mouth to reply, but she felt Caleb
’
s hand on her arm.
“
Ab, let
’
s get Mom and find Dad. We can figure this out later.
”

*****

After Abbey and Caleb had a conversation about stranger danger, and Sylvain pointed out that he was not exactly a stranger and that at least he was an adult and there seemed to be a shortage of them at the moment, they all got in his Jag and wove through the sleepy Saturday morning streets of Coventry, then headed through the orchards that Mark had visited the previous day. (Mark had considered pointing out that he was in fact an adult as well, but decided it would be an unwanted contribution to the conversation.)