The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (19 page)

“She gets like that sometimes, and when she does, there’s no stopping her.” Corey sighed and shook his head. “I know. I’ve tried.”

Joan nodded and said she was used to little girls and their babble. “After all, I was a little girl once myself.”

Corey gave her a strange look, but didn’t say anything else.

Actually, it was all Joan could do not to cheer. The dark cloud that had been hanging over Caitlyn ever since she’d arrived in Milhaven seemed to be gone. Joan had assumed it was from the loss of her parents, and she was sure that was part of it, but now she wondered if some of it was from insecurity, from not knowing what would happen to them. There were still a lot of tears to be shed, but hopefully the worry was over, and all because of a couple of chores that said you’re needed, you’re part of this household.

Shortly after Serra took the children outside to play, Kevin knocked on the doorway to the Governor’s Office and asked Joan if she had a minute.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I wanted to know if the kids are doing okay.”

Joan nodded. “For now. I’m not sure it’s really hit them that their father’s dead and they may never see their mother again, but that’s a hard thing for a child to grasp.”

Kevin nodded. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Short of finding their mother, I don’t think so.”

“We’re looking, Joan. That’s all we can do.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to imply anything with that, but it’s the only thing I know of that would help at this point.” Then she said, “If you’ve got a moment, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Sure. Here? Or in my office?”

“Let’s go to your office. I want Chris in on this, and Karl, and maybe Laryn.”

Kevin nodded. “Sounds serious.”

“It is. I’ll get Karl. See if you can find Laryn, and maybe Steve.”

Kevin nodded and headed back to his office.

By the time Joan and Karl arrived, everyone else had been rounded up. After they were all seated, Joan said, “I’m concerned about what happens with orphans on Terah. What’s the protocol? Who finds homes for them?”

Laryn cleared her throat. “I guess that question’s for me. I don’t think there’s any set procedure. If there is, I don’t know what it is.”

Joan frowned. “So what happens to them?”

“Well, if there’s any family, even distant relatives, they usually take them in. If one family can’t take them all, they’re scattered among their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, whoever has a spare bed and can take them. And, to be honest, whoever needs some extra hands figures into it, too.”

“What do you mean?” Chris asked.

“Suppose one of the uncles has a farm but no children. He could use the help, so he takes in the orphans. Or suppose one of the grandparents needs help around the house. Or maybe someone has a store and needs help with it. If anyone in the family needs help, they get first option. But even if no one needs them, if there’s any family around, they usually take the children.”

“What if there’s no known family?” Joan asked.

Laryn shrugged. “More than likely the closest chapel takes care of them until a home can be found. And if it’s not with family, it will probably be with someone who needs the help.”

“Which explains Alma’s attitude,” Joan said with a sigh. Then she told the others what she’d observed when she picked up the children and about her conversation with Caitlyn the night before.

Kevin nodded. “That’s what Theresa told me when she asked me to bring the children back here. Maybe Alma was trying to teach them how to do a lot of chores so they’d be more attractive to adoptive parents.”

Joan nodded. “I guess I can understand that idea, but it seems a lot like child slavery to me.”

“In a way,” Laryn said. “But it does give the child a home.”

“Not necessarily a good one though,” Chris said.

“So what can we do about it?” Joan asked. “What can we, as the heads of the government in Camden, do to assure that any orphan here goes to a good home.”

Laryn shook her head. “Finding a good home is not as easy as it sounds. Pallor aged fifty years trying to find a foster home for Myron.”

Kevin frowned. “Huh?”

“Yeah, I’d like to hear that story, too,” Chris said. “Judging by the stuff Kevin’s told me about his childhood, maybe Pallor should have looked a little harder.”

“Don’t judge him until you try to do his job,” Laryn said. Then she turned towards Kevin. “I hadn’t planned to tell you all of this, but maybe I should. When your mother saw that she was going to die after your birth, Badec asked several of us to find a home for you on Earth, watch over you while you were there, and bring you back on your twenty-fifth birthday.”

“Let me guess,” Chris said. “One of those people was Kalen.”

Laryn nodded.

“And another was Xantha,” Kevin said quietly.

Again, Laryn nodded.

“Duane?” Karl asked.

“Along with Pallor and myself,” Laryn said. “But the crux of the matter fell on Pallor. I’m not sure what all was involved. He said something about a lawyer and contracts, but the final decision had to rest with him, and it wasn’t an easy one. He had to find someone who would make sure you were well taken care of and educated, but who wouldn’t form a close personal bond with you.”

“Why not?” Chris asked.

“Because I had to come back,” Kevin said.

Laryn nodded. “Pallor had all kinds of information about the couples the person he hired found, everything about their history, their jobs, how much money they had, their hobbies and interests, everything. He narrowed it down to six couples and then he went to their homes to interview them. And that’s when the truth came out. Two of the couples wanted a child to ensure an inheritance. One couple wanted a son to work on the farm while he was growing up, take over once he was an adult, and look after them when they got older. Another couple was split. The husband wanted a child, but the wife didn’t. I don’t know if he was hoping a child would save the marriage or drive his wife away, but either way, not a good situation. One of the couples wanted a child as a gift for their housekeeper. She’d basically raised the wife and missed having a child around. And that leaves us with the last couple. They wanted a child to ensure a promotion. Again, not a good reason, but not the worst. The man’s company was family-oriented, so they would have to pretend to be devoted parents, even if their hearts weren’t in it. But everyone he talked to had an ulterior motive.”

Laryn looked around at everyone in the room. “The only reason I’m telling you this is Pallor had unlimited resources, a whole world to choose from, and he still couldn’t find a couple we could all feel good about. It’s easy to sit back and tell someone else to find a good home for a child, but it’s a lot harder than it looks, which is probably why Alma was trying to make taking in those children an attractive proposition. If several couples want them, you get to choose, and maybe come up with a good home. I know her methods sound harsh, but I think she was doing what she thought was in the best interests of the children.”

Joan sighed. “I think I judged her too harshly. All I saw was this little girl who should be playing with dolls scrubbing a table. I was furious. And I wasn’t any happier when I found Corey mucking out a stall in the shed. I felt like she was preparing them to be auctioned off.”

“In a way, she was,” Laryn said. “I agree it’s not a good solution, but I don’t have any suggestions for anything any better.”

“Neither do I,” Joan said. “But I’m not done with this yet.”

“Just don’t insult the sisters, okay?” Kevin asked. “We need them, and we need them to like us. I do not want to make an enemy out of Brena.”

Chapter 16

An Afternoon with Shadron

A few minutes before 11:00 Saturday morning, Laryn and Steve walked into Kevin’s office. He put down the message he’d been reading and said, “Good morning.”

“Are you ready to go?” Laryn asked. The blank look on Kevin’s face told her all she needed to know. “Chris!”

An “Oops!” was followed by the sound of Chris’s chair sliding back from his desk. A couple of seconds later, he stuck his head in and said, “Kevin, Laryn asked me to tell you she wants to leave around 11:00 to give everyone a chance to get acquainted before lunch. She’ll meet you in your office.”

Laryn rolled her eyes and looked at Kevin. “Are you going to take Shadron down to Zander to look at that bridge?”

“If he wants to go,” Kevin said as he put the papers on his desk away. “Steve, are you going with us?”

“I’d like to,” Steve answered, hesitating. “But let’s see how things go. Your uncle might prefer for just the two of you to go.”

Laryn shook her head. “He’s not like that.”

“Let’s wait and see. This is his first chance to work with his nephew.” Steve glanced towards Kevin. “You’ll be able to tell. If it’s really okay with him, I’d like to go. I’ve missed seeing you work with magic. It would be fun watching the two of you fix a bridge, but, like I said, I don’t want to intrude.”

Laryn stepped between them and held her hand out for the key. A few seconds later, they were on a road next to a fenced-in pasture with rolling hills spreading out around them. After Steve recovered from the energy field, Laryn led them down the main road to a smaller road that led up a hill to the right. From the top of the hill, Shadron’s place spread out below them.

The house was built on the hillside. From the front, it appeared to be one story with a wide porch, but two distinct levels were visible from the back, each with its own full-length deck. There was a wooden table similar to the picnic tables on Earth, a large fireplace, and a rope hammock strung up between two oak trees on the south side of the house. On the north side there were several outbuildings. Three of them were stables. A fourth, about half the size of the stables, was full of farming equipment. The last building, set off by itself farther to the north, was a bunkhouse. Fenced-in pastures surrounded the entire area. Kevin counted twenty horses and half a dozen cows nearby, but he had no idea how many more were roaming around near the trees or over the next hilltop.

As they approached the house, two dogs who had been snoozing on the front porch stood up and stretched. After watching the visitors for a minute or so, they barked a warning to their humans that strangers were approaching.

A couple of minutes later, the front door opened and a middle-aged woman walked out onto the porch, wiping her hands on her apron as she stepped to the side to let the door swing shut behind her.

At the same time, a large man stepped out of the nearest stable. Although he was big enough to make two of Kevin, there wasn’t much excess weight on him. Muscles rippled under his tunic with every move he made. He wore dark leggings and a dark green tunic with a sorcerer’s pendant resting near the center of his chest. His face, his bearing, everything about him was reminiscent of the man Kevin had seen only as a spirit. All he needed was the red sash to look the part of the Master Sorcerer of Terah. And once again, Kevin wondered why he wasn’t.

When Laryn asked Kevin if he’d met Kayla before, he tore his eyes away from his uncle and focused on the woman who had joined them. “Yes, we met last spring. How are you? And how are Lysa and Brandt?”

The grin that lit up Kayla’s face made Kevin glad he’d taken a few moments earlier in the week to review his notes on his relatives. He hadn’t been able to match a face to any of the names on the page, but he did know who was married to whom and how many children they had, as well as the names and ages of the children.

“We’re fine, thank you,” Kayla answered. “The children wanted to be here today to have a chance to get to know you, but to be honest, I felt like this was Laryn’s day.”

Kevin nodded. He wasn’t sure whether to agree or not, but Laryn spoke up and saved him. “I would have liked for them to meet Steve before the wedding, but you’re right. Their fascination with all the stories they’ve heard about their cousin would have wiped Steve, me, and the wedding right out of their heads. Another time would be better.”

“Now, if you’ll come with me, we’ll get ready for lunch. I’m sure Shadron’s starving by now,” Kayla said as she watched her husband approach. “That man eats as much as his horses.”

After handshakes and congratulations, they all walked into the house. The men veered off into the living room as Laryn followed Kayla to the kitchen to help her get the food on the table.

Once the women were out of earshot, Shadron turned to Steve and said, “I’m glad Laryn’s found a good man who cares about her. I was afraid she’d put off her own happiness to coach our young Master Sorcerer here.”

“Fortunately for me, they have no plans to leave,” Kevin said. “I need both of them. They’re my most trusted advisers.”

Shadron frowned. “When you say they’re not leaving, you don’t mean that literally, do you?”

Kevin slowly nodded. “I hope I do.” Then he looked at Steve. “Are the two of you planning to go anywhere?”

Steve shook his head. “Not as far as I know.”

“But you are moving out of the castle, right?” Shadron insisted.

Again, Steve shook his head. “Not that I know of. At least we haven’t made any plans to.”

Shadron leaned back in his chair and studied Steve for a moment. “Want your own house? For just the two of you? Where you won’t be quite so easy to find twenty-four hours a day?” When Steve didn’t answer, Shadron said, “Why don’t you and Laryn talk about it. Then get back to me.”

Steve nodded as Kayla called them into the kitchen to eat.

When Laryn saw the serious look on Steve’s face, she glared at her brother. “All right. What have you done now?”

“What? Me? Nothing,” Shadron said. “All I did was ask if the two of you wanted your own place.”

“That never crossed my mind,” Laryn said as she sat down at the table and motioned for Steve to sit next to her. After everyone was settled, she nodded. “Yes, I think I do. I want it close to the castle, somewhere they can reach me night or day, but yes, I would like for us to have our own place.” Then she looked at Shadron and smiled. “Nice idea. Will you see to it that I get it?”