Legend of the Book Keeper (9 page)

A Calm in the Storm

T
he steady chugging of the train’s wheels soothed the two young travelers. With a moment of peace, they began to notice the aches in their legs and the exhaustion that had set in. Just yesterday the biggest crisis in their lives was which book to purchase; now they found themselves trainbound to “The City of Lights,” with supernatural forces an unknown distance behind them.
Not your average weekend
. As Cody lifted his stiff legs up onto the seat, a paper in his pocket crunched. Reaching in, he pulled out Wesley’s note. Cody knew that the time to figure out the note was quickly evaporating. Sitting up he unfolded the paper:

Fifty-three, less four, until the rite does write, Iron décor, future war, hides passage out of sight, Deep contrite, prevents invite, now precious yore, Must leave Tonight.

Jade joined Cody on his bench. “I’ve been thinking about it, too. I keep hoping that as we get closer, something will reveal itself and it
will suddenly make sense.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the pocket watch, the small red hand still pointed west. “At least we have this to guide our way. Just give it time, Cody, it will come to us.” Her green eyes drooped, struggling to stay open. “It will come to us.” Muttering these last words she leaned her head down, nestling it onto Cody’s shoulder. He tensed up; his spine stiffening as firm as a plank. Looking down, Cody gazed at the peaceful face of his best friend; her steady rhythmic breathing indicated that she was already possessed by a deep sleep. Cody’s muscles loosened.

He had never been very popular at school and third grade had been the worst. He was always slow to learn, and several of the class bullies made sure he was daily reminded of this flaw. When Jade transferred to his school the next year, she had saved him from a sea of depression and helped him find his place. Looking at the sleeping friend lying on his shoulder, Cody realized that Jade was still saving him. He smiled; it felt nice to let her lean on
him
for a change. Shutting his own eyes, Cody rested his head against the window.

The world blurred into focus. Reaching up, Cody rubbed his eyes. The sound of the train’s mundane chugging reoriented him to his current situation. He immediately noticed that Jade was gone. Panic stuck. Jumping up, now fully alert, he dashed to open the train’s compartment door—and crashed right into Jade.

“Ouch!” she cried, “I’m carrying hot coffee!”

Cody blushed with embarrassment.
What’s wrong with me?
He sat down silently, feeling silly for having acted so rashly. Jade handed him his coffee before taking a sip of her own, apparently feeling no awkwardness from the situation. Cody desperately wanted to bring up the sleeping incident from last night, but couldn’t think of
a casual way to do so. Instead he remained dumbly silent.

Jade set down her coffee. “You were really out of it, bud.” The way the sun shone through the window Cody guessed it was mid-afternoon.

“You sleep okay?” he probed.

“Oh, yes, wonderfully. It was much-needed after all this craziness.” Cody felt a surge of disappointment in her response; she seemed completely oblivious to the entire head-on-shoulder occurrence. For several minutes neither was anxious to restart the conversation. Both sat quietly sipping their coffee as the sun’s beams flashed through the window. It was Jade who eventually broke the vacuum of silence, “Should we have another crack at that letter?” Ready for a change in conversation, Cody pulled out the note. “Read it out loud, maybe that will help change it up— unless, of course, riddles happen to speak to you as easily as books appear to . . .” she added with a playful smile. “I know what I saw,” Cody replied stubbornly as he unfolded the note but was in no mood to argue.

Complying with her suggestion, he began to read the words. Halfway through, he was interrupted by the sound of their door jostling open. Raising his eyes from the paper Cody saw a tall man in a long, black jacket standing in the doorway. A fedora rested over his face.

“Pardon me,” he uttered with a thick British accent. “Do you two have a moment?” Cody’s eyes meet Jade’s. The look on her face told him everything. They didn’t have a choice.

Sir Dunstan

W
ithout waiting for Cody’s reply, the tall man took a seat on Jade’s bench. She quickly got up and took a seat beside Cody, who in turn nervously inched closer to her. The two friends fixated their eyes on their unexpected visitor, who appeared in no rush to introduce himself or explain the situation. The scent of musky cologne vanquished all doubts; this was the very man who had invaded their alley shortcut on the day of Wesley’s murder. It was not a coincidence welcomed by the two young fugitives.

Patting down the leather bench cushion, the man made himself comfortable. He removed the fedora that previously hid his face. He was a middle-aged man, although the hard wrinkles sharply carved into his forehead seemed to suggest that he had experienced more life than many men much his elder. His hair was dirty blond with subtle hints of white breaking through, and neatly combed to the side. Beneath his thick eyebrows was a pair of bright blue eyes. He reached to the wall and hung up his hat with a casualness that indicated he found no awkwardness in joining the younger two travelers.

Finally, having made himself completely comfortable, he turned to Cody and Jade, “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said with quiet calmness. “My name is Dunstan.” He paused, apparently feeling that a first name would suffice, and a purpose for the intrusion was a minuscule and unimportant detail. He turned to the window. “Nice weather we’re having, don’t you think? Especially for this time of year.” He spoke with the tone of boredom awkwardly blanketed with an ill-fitting disguise of pleasantry.

“Um . . . yes . . . Sir. Very nice weather. Can’t complain,” replied Jade uneasily. The man looked at the piece of paper in Cody’s hand. “I couldn’t help but overhear you reading as I came in. Sounded like po
etry. D. H. Lawrence, perhaps? Good poet, nice and British,” he said in the same disinterested tone. Cody shot a side-glance over to Jade. “Um . . . actually no . . . it’s a . . . map . . . of sorts,” he responded nervously, internally kicking himself for revealing too much information. For the first time something spiked the strange man’s interest.

“A map you say? In words . . . like a riddle? Interesting .

. . very interesting. So you guys are on a quest? A treasure hunt, perhaps?” The man’s tongue came out, resting on his upper lip as he leaned forward. Cody could feel Jade’s hand lightly shaking against his leg as she answered. “It’s nothing though. Just two kids with wild imaginations. You know how that can be.”

At this the man let out a surprisingly jolly laugh. “Oh, don’t you kids worry about me. If there’s one thing we Brits know a thing or two about, it’s treasure hunts! I had in my mind once to head off on a search for the Holy Grail! Can you imagine that! Instead I was forced into a much more meaningful job. But just between you and me, every now and again, I still get that hankering for some Grail hunting. It’s in the blood! Your secret is safe with ol’ Dunstan. I promise I won’t mention it again.” With this he heartily slapped his leg and let out another jolly laugh.

“So, what was that meaningful job that put an end to your quest?” asked Cody as he quickly stuffed Wesley’s letter back into his pocket. Dunstan smiled, revealing his uneven yellow-stained teeth. “I’d tell you . . . but then I’d have to kill you . . .” He paused, his stern eyes burrowing their way into Cody’s soul. Cody realized both he and Jade were holding their breath. Suddenly the man’s mouth morphed into a sly grin and he, again, begin to laugh. Cody and Jade joined in half-heartedly.

“So where did you youngins say you were from again?”

“We didn’t. But we are from Havenwood, Utah. You ever visit there?”

The man looked to the ceiling thinking for a moment. “Havenwood . . . Havenwood . . . can’t say that I have,” he replied at last, the words dripping slowly from his mouth. “But I did know a chap who lived there. What was his name? Wesley, Wesley Simon. Yes, I think that was it. Good man. Nice and British! You ever know the man?” Cody jerked at the mention of the name.
Surely this man can’t know. Can he?

“Um, can’t say I know a Wesley Simon. Sorry.”

The man didn’t seem to be bothered by the reply; he raised his thick blond eyebrow. “Well, when you get home you should look him up. Believe he owns some sort of old bookstore. You two rascals would probably enjoy that, could get some more of that poetry!” With this he gave an exaggerated wink and let out another chuckle. “Elderly man though, should probably visit him soon, never know how long a man like that will live,” he added sternly. He gazed stilly at the children.

A voice sounded over the loudspeaker:
Ladies and gentlemen. We have come to the end of our trip. Welcome to Las Vegas. Please return to your seats. We will be arriving at the station shortly.

Dunstan stood slowly and reached for his hat, having rediscovered his good humor. “Las Vegas! Never been to a city like it. And, I’d bet you thirty pounds that you’ll never find a city as wonderful!” Jade smiled, having been put to ease at the man’s high spirits. “But don’t they call it Sin City? Doesn’t sound like such a wonderful place to me.”

Dunstan grinned. “True, true. But you see, the key is changing your perspective. Nothing is ever how it first appears. Once you step back and look at what is
not
obvious, then that’s the very thing that will become what
is
obvious, and you will never see it the same again!”

Looking at the blank stares, he gave a mysterious grin. “Consider it another riddle for you treasure hunters! Well, I better get to my seat. I hope we meet again, and then you can tell me all about the treasure you discovered! God bless the Queen!” With this odd salutation he opened the door and stepped out; pausing, he turned back one more time. “Oh, and you chaps should probably inves
t in a new pocket watch if you are going to be doing much treasure hunting. The one you have there seems to be broken,” he pointed to the ruby pocket watch that they had left sitting beside Jade on the seat. “At least in England they are supposed to move clockwise! Not counterclockwise. Anyways. Luck be with ya!” He closed the door behind him and disappeared.

The moment he was out of sight the two friends glanced at the pocket watch. The man had spoken the truth. The clock’s hands were spinning ploddingly around the perimeter of the device. With a soft clicking noise the clock hands once again returned to a stationary rest. The short hand was now pointing upward at eleven-forty. They had a new direction.

Followed

T
he train station was an anthill of people; Jade grabbed hold of Cody’s arm to avoid separation. She had become familiar with the routine of busy transportation having visited her father in England on several occasions. However, for Cody, the venture represented the first time he been farther than fifty miles from Havenwood. As he glanced out over the sea of noisy, rushed people, he secretly hoped it would also be the
last
time he was so far from home.

Pushing their way through the mob of people, they finally found space outside the station. Cody scanned the horizon. The sight was breathtaking. Flashing lights flickered a dazzling tapestry of every possible color as they danced madly to and fro while large fountains spat majestic pillars of water thirty feet high. He heard the faint crackling of fireworks although he could not see from where.

Jade squeezed his arm. “Okay, you and I need to get a room.”

Cody choked, gagging over his own gobs of spit. “Excuse me?” he asked blushing bright red.

Jade didn’t notice. “A room. You know, four walls and a door? We need to go find a cheap one where we can talk things over and maybe get
some more rest. There’s no point buying a new ticket north until we have a plan. We need to take another look at that riddle. That creature is fast, but the train should have bought us some time.”