Quest for the Secret Keeper (12 page)

The earl chuckled. “We’ll see about your stomach in Paris, Master Lawson. In the meantime, attempt to get some rest. We’ll be in the capital soon.”

Tired as he was, Ian didn’t feel he could sleep. He was far too restless and worried about finding Océanne and Madame Lafitte. Still, he reasoned that the sundial would make their search go much faster, as all they had to do was ask the dial to point the way, then follow the shadow until it led them straight to the mother and daughter.

Once they had discovered Madame and Océanne, they could use the dial to help them locate the general, then scurry back across the channel to England.

Ian should have felt at ease once he’d determined to use the sundial; however, he knew that Laodamia’s quests were never easy, and something was likely to come along and disrupt even the most well-thought-out plan.

This troubled him greatly, because try as he might, he could not find the flaw. Surely the sundial would work for them when he asked it to find the Lafittes, wouldn’t it?

Ian took out the dial and decided to test it. “Where is Theo’s set of jacks?”

The tarnished face of the sundial changed immediately to burnished bronze and a shadow appeared, pointing across the aisle to Theo’s satchel, which was tucked into the overhead bin. Ian smiled. The dial was working perfectly. There was no need to worry.

With another sigh he leaned back against the gently rocking cushion of the train seat and settled in for a good long nap.

T
hey arrived in Paris midevening, and the earl was quite motivated to find them a place to take their supper, as Carl’s stomach gurgled loudly from the moment they stepped off the train.

They found a quaint little eatery near the River Seine and enjoyed the rich food and the hum of the city about them.

Their meal would have been perfect, in fact, if not for the constant snatches of conversation they overheard about the approach of the German army while the British quickly abandoned the French shores.

Many a Parisian felt betrayed by their allies, and after a bit, Ian found his appetite had all but left him. When the earl asked if he was all right, he leaned in and whispered, “How can we leave them to fend for themselves, my lord?”

The earl sat back in his chair and surveyed the surrounding tables as more of the talk reached their ears. The earl’s shoulders drooped a bit; then he too leaned in and
answered Ian. “It is certainly not without tremendous regret, Ian, that we must leave our friends in their hour of greatest need, but the German forces are far mightier than anyone imagined. We must retreat for now to ensure that we do not also fall to the Nazis.”

Ian looked down at his plate, his morale dropping to a new low. “I feel terrible for them,” he said. “They’re about to be overrun by the enemy, and there’s nothing we can do to help them.”

“Not now, perhaps,” the earl agreed. “But England shall never back down, lad. We shall fight to the end, of that I’m sure.”

Ian was not consoled by the earl’s words. He said nothing more, just pushed his food about his plate moodily and didn’t participate in the dinner conversation. After a bit, he noticed that Theo too had fallen silent, and when at last he looked up, he saw that she was holding tightly to her crystal, her eyes holding that faraway cast.

“Theo?” he asked.

Between Theo’s fingers Ian caught sight of a bright pink glow, which was turning quickly to red. “Something is terribly wrong,” she whispered.

All eyes were immediately on her. “What is it?” the earl asked.

Theo shook her head, her eyes still unfocused. “We’re in danger, my lord,” she said. “We must leave at once and find somewhere to hide.”

Without questioning her further, the earl motioned for the waiter to bring him the bill, and after he laid down a
few francs, they were off again. “Our hotel is just across the river,” he said, walking quickly and with purpose across a cobblestone bridge.

Ian carried his satchel and Theo’s, as he wanted her free to focus on what danger was approaching them. But she said nothing as they walked; she merely pressed them with her quick steps to move faster to the hotel.

Once they had entered the building, Ian expected her fearful look to ebb, but she continued to hold her crystal nervously and start at any nearby noise. “Theo,” Ian said, setting their satchels down while the earl approached the front desk to secure their rooms. “What is it?”

There were tears in Theo’s eyes, and Ian knew that whatever it was had Theo scared half to death. “I’m not sure, Ian,” she whispered. “But something is out there and I feel as if it’s hunting us.”

Goose pimples lined Ian’s arms and he looked to the door, expecting at any moment for a hellhound to burst through and attack them. He couldn’t imagine the beasts would enter the middle of Paris, but he knew that frightened look on Theo’s face all too well, and almost always the hellhounds were to blame for it.

Ian turned to Carl and said, “Wait with her here.”

“Where’re you going?” Carl asked, but Ian didn’t answer him. Instead, he turned and hurried to the door of the hotel.

Peering out the glass window, he surveyed the crowd for any signs of panic or cries of help. He knew the beasts would cause a disturbance if they were close, and he hoped
he’d have enough time to get Theo to safety if he could simply determine from which direction they were likely to come.

The crowd outside, however, remained fairly calm, and the only anxiety he read on their faces likely had to do with the impending German invasion. Cautiously, Ian pushed through the door and walked out onto the street. A gust of wind brought a sudden and dramatic chill to him. He wiped his face and felt something odd on it. Looking at his fingers, he realized there was frost on them.

Another chill took hold of him, but this one ran straight up his spine. Quick as a flash, he darted back into the hotel and ran directly to Carl and Theo. The earl was just leaving the clerk at the desk, and Ian wasted no time explaining; he merely took hold of their bags and hurried over to the earl. “The sorceresses!” he hissed, fear taking hold of his insides.

The earl did not ask him to explain; instead, he reached out for Theo’s hand and motioned for Carl and Ian to follow him. They all but ran to the lift and darted inside just as the doors were closing. “Second floor,” the earl said to the lift attendant.

They rode the short way in silence, and with a
bing
, the doors opened, and they dashed out. “We shall hide in our rooms,” the earl told them, eyeing a key and the sign posted on a nearby wall indicating which rooms were where. “This way!” he said, hurrying down the corridor.

Ian glanced at Theo’s pendant as it bounced against her throat while she trotted next to the earl. The crystal had
gone from bright red to radiant pink, and he hoped that meant the sorceresses were moving away from them.

When they got to their appointed rooms, the earl opened a door and ushered them inside. “In here for now,” he said.

Ian saw that he was entering a suite, in harmonious tones of green and pink. He dropped the satchels and took charge of Theo, leading her to a nearby settee and sitting her down. “Is it better?” he asked, noticing that the crystal about her neck was still bright.

Her eyes focused on him. “A bit,” she said, “but I can feel them, Ian, and I fear they’re quite close.”

Behind him, Ian heard the sound of a window being opened. He also heard Carl whisper, “Gaw, blimey!”

Ian turned his head to see that his friend was at the window, peering down at the streets below. Carl then took several steps back from the window, his expression terrified.

The window faced another building, lending them a terrible view, but from what must have been an alley down below, they clearly heard voices echoing up the brick and mortar to them.

“I tell you, mistresses,” said the first voice, “I can sense that a magical instrument of great power is right now being employed!”

“Describe it, witch!” said a second voice, which Ian would recognize anywhere.

“Caphiera,” he said so softly he doubted anyone else had heard it.

There was a pause, and then the first voice—a
woman’s—said, “It is small and made of metal, but its size and composition belie its magical powers.”

“What need have we of magical instruments!” howled another voice, and Ian shivered. Atroposa was with her sister on the streets below. “We’ve this green door to find, which will reveal the Secret Keeper!”

“I sense that this magical instrument will be put to use against you, mistresses,” said the first voice. “That is why I mention it now and, unfortunately, distract you from our purpose.”

Ian sucked in a breath at the same time Carl did. They looked at each other in astonishment before Ian flew into action. Tugging at his clothing with trembling fingers, he pulled out the sundial, its surface still shining brightly and a shadow pointing across the room.

In the next instant Carl was by his side, whispering, “Turn it off, Ian! Turn it off!”

But Ian was so shaken by the appearance of the sorceresses just outside their hotel that all rational thought had left him. For the life of him he couldn’t think how to make the shadow disappear.

“Ian!” the earl said into his ear as he too stepped close to him. “Get it to stop pointing!”

Ian stared blankly first at Carl, then at the earl. His mind was frozen, and the more he tried to think of a way to make the sundial stop pointing, the more he couldn’t think at all.

“What did you ask it to find?” Carl whispered, bouncing from foot to foot as he shook his hands anxiously. “Oh, no, Ian! You didn’t ask it to find Océanne, did you?”

“It is them!” shrieked another voice, hollow and haunting. “The Oracles are nearby, Sister! They must be using one of Laodamia’s trinkets!”

“Ian!” Theo said, her voice soft but urgent. “Answer the question!
What
did you ask the sundial to find?”

Ian blinked and his mind cleared. Without saying a word, he bolted forward to the pile of satchels near the door and pulled up Theo’s.

From outside he heard Caphiera say, “Lead us to this magical instrument, witch, and we shall fill your pockets with gold!”

Ian tore at the latches of Theo’s satchel, his fingers trembling so hard it was difficult to get them to cooperate. “Your jacks!” he whispered when she came over to him.

“Where are they?”

Theo’s fingers weren’t shaking nearly as much as Ian’s, and she tugged the satchel away from him and rummaged around inside until she pulled up a small sack that jingled in her hands.

Immediately the sundial’s burnished surface became dull and lifeless. Ian stared at it, his chest heaving from the quick breaths coming into and out of his lungs. Outside, there was a slight shriek and the first voice they’d heard cursed loudly.

“What is it, witch?” Caphiera asked.

“It’s gone!” she said. “The magical vibrations have ended!”

“They’ve stopped using the trinket?” moaned Atroposa.

“Yes,” said the witch, and she cursed again. “I cannot sense where it is now.”

For a long moment nothing stirred and no one spoke. Ian had no idea what was happening out in the alleyway, but he suspected the sorceresses were assessing the buildings they were standing between, and perhaps wondering if the young Oracles they were after might be inside.

The earl, who’d been standing next to Carl, left his side and approached the window slowly and cautiously. Keeping well out of sight, he eyed the alley, and Ian knew that he spied the sisters, because he could see the earl’s jaw clench and his lips press together.

“We will search the buildings,” said Caphiera, and Ian closed his eyes and thought,
Oh, no!

“We’ll start with this one,” she added, and then only her heavily steeled footfalls could be heard slowly fading away.

Ian opened his eyes then and stared about at his companions. “Quickly,” the earl said, already hurrying to the door, his own satchel in his hand. “They have gone to the building next door first. We must put as much distance between us and them as we can!”

At the door, the earl paused and turned to Ian. “Whatever you do, Ian,” he warned, “do
not
ask that sundial to find anything more until we are safely out of Paris. Do you understand?”

Ian gulped. “Yes, my lord,” he said, realizing that his plan to find Océanne had quickly thwarted.

With that, they were once again on the move.

*   *   *

That night they stayed in a small inn on the outskirts of Paris. Ian was so exhausted by the time he was finally able to lay his head on his pillow that he hardly cared if the sorceresses were still searching for them. He fell asleep almost as soon as he’d closed his eyes, and did not wake until near dawn, when he sat bolt upright after having a terrible dream. Awake, he found the earl sitting in a chair next to the window, peering out into the night.

“My lord?” Ian said, wondering if the earl had been there all night.

Without taking his eyes from the window, the earl said, “It’s all right, lad. Go back to sleep.”

Ian didn’t argue, but going back to sleep seemed impossible. He lay there alone with his thoughts while Carl snored loudly next to him and Theo tossed and turned on the opposite bed. He still felt terrible for nearly getting them killed by being so careless with the sundial, and he wondered who the other woman with the sorceresses had been.

They’d called her witch, but he wondered if in fact she was a witch. One thing was for certain, however: they couldn’t use the sundial to help locate Océanne and her mother, which left them at a clear disadvantage. How were they ever to find them?

At last, rays of sunlight began to peek into the room and Ian sat up again. One look at the earl’s drawn features and he knew the poor man had most certainly been awake and kept watch the whole night.

“If you’d like to sleep a bit, my lord, I’d be happy to take over the watch for you.”

The earl turned to him. “Thank you, Ian,” he said. “But we will not be here long enough for me to rest.”

The earl then got up from his chair and stretched tiredly. Carl stirred next to Ian, and he nudged him with his elbow. “Carl,” he said. “Wake up.”