The Flute Keeper's Promise (The Flute Keeper Saga) (41 page)

Embarrassed, but still angry, I
looked down at my feet. Lord Finbarr let out a weary sigh.

Somebody tapped me on the shoulder.
“Can I have a word with you?”

It was Jules Larue. He was wearing
a stern expression. I cringed. He drew me aside into a coat room.

“Do you remember what I told you
that night at the house?” Mr. Larue asked in a steely tone.

“Something about making sure I do things
for the right reason?” I said meekly.

“Right,” Mr. Larue said. His voice
grew softer. “I know you want to help, but it’s better if you stay here.”

“But—”

“I know you don’t like being protected,”
he said. “Obviously you can take care of yourself. That’s not what this is
about. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve just become one of our biggest
weapons.”

“Then put me to use!” I said.

Mr. Larue shook his head. “Not this
time. The duke thinks you’re dead. The longer we can keep it that way, the
better. If this trip to Helm Bogvogny is a success, it will mean victory for
our side but it will not be the blow that fells the duke. Besides, you just
want to go for revenge.”

“Isn’t that why the others are
going?” I asked.

“No,” Mr. Larue said. “Even though
it sickens me to know what they did to my brother, I wouldn’t go if they
weren’t working on a super weapon of their own. The others feel the same way.
We’re going to stop them before it’s too late.”

I saw the sense in it, but I was
also surprised. “You mean
you’re
going?”

“Yes,” Mr. Larue said. “Me and five
other men including Bazzlejet and Garland Finbarr. The only reason I’m letting
Bazzlejet come is because he has experience with alchemy. The other men were
trainees under my brother. They’re the best fighters we’ve got. I would be
worried that we’re taking some protection away from this place but…” he smiled
down at me. “You won’t let anything happen to Woodman’s Hall. I can leave
knowing Cecily and the girls are safe with you here.”

The big heap of resentment I had
been feeling suddenly became a weight of responsibility. Mr. Larue’s smile was
so kind and his eyes were so trusting that I had no choice but to gulp and
smile back.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll stay here.
I’ll help Lord Finbarr run the place. Just…just try really hard to bring the
others back, okay? If something happens to you, I can’t make any promises about
what I’ll do next.”

The team left after nightfall. The
three Master Casters, Garland Finbarr, Bazzlejet and Mr. Larue said their
good-byes in the grand entrance room. They carried light packs full of only the
most essential tools and clothes. Mrs. Larue had enchanted twenty loaves of
bread and fifty rice cakes to be the size of marbles inside of a specially
knitted sack. The instant the food was removed from the sack it would expand to
normal size.

Anouk handled the departure the
worst of anybody. Though she tried to put on a brave face she crumpled every
time she looked at Garland. The poor boy looked more stricken than I had ever
seen him. It wasn’t fair. Anouk and Garland had only had one short month
together and now they were parting again, maybe forever.

No, I wouldn’t let myself think
that way. I tried to take strength from Alice and Harriet. The little girls
kissed their father’s cheek and told him to beat up all the bad guys.
Misty-eyed, he promised them that he would. Beth kept a stony silence in the
corner.

When the time came for Mr. Larue
and the others to walk out the door, Beth ran up to her father and threw her
arms around his neck.

“Please Daddy! Don’t let them hurt
you like they did Uncle Frayne! You’ve got to come back!”

Mr. Larue patted her gently on the
back. “It’ll be okay, Lizzy Beth.”

She sniffled and then hugged Bazzlejet,
who was looking left out in the midst of all the teary goodbyes.  His mother had
hugged him until he was blue in the face, but he kept watching Garland and
Anouk jealously.

“You take care of Dad!” Beth said.

“You mind Mom,” Bazzlejet said.

Valory, Lord Finbarr and I hung
back as all the well-wishers followed the team across the drawbridge. Lord
Finbarr was quiet. Anything he’d said to his son remained private. Valory just shuffled
her feet and looked awkward.

“We’d best be getting to bed,” Lord
Finbarr said. “There will be plenty of chores in the morning if you girls are
up to it. I hear you’re a great hunter, Valory. We could use some fresh game.”

“Yes, Sir,” Valory said. “I can
hunt better at night, though. If you don’t mind, I’d like to fly around out in
the forest a bit.”

Lord Finbarr rubbed his chin
thoughtfully. “Yes, I think that would be okay. I’ll let the night watchmen
know. Just be sure and stay close. Stay under cover, too. Don’t go too far out
in the open.”

“Will do,” Valory said happily. She
stretched her wings in anticipation.

I longed to go with her. I didn’t
think it would be possible to sleep.

Anouk and Beth came back from the
drawbridge. Anouk looked woeful and Beth had resumed her usual sour face. Even
so, I found her a little less obnoxious now.

“They could use some comforting
words,” Lord Finbarr whispered to me.

I followed Beth up to the girls’
sleeping quarters. Anouk had her own room. She declined my invitation to talk,
saying she was exhausted. I knew that she was probably going to be up all night
crying, but I wouldn’t force her to talk. It would all come out in good time.

Beth turned out to be a hard case.
Despite my best efforts she wouldn’t talk about her dad or her brother or
practically anything else. Instead she clammed up and pulled her sheets over
her head.

Mrs. Larue brought Alice and
Harriet upstairs to put them to bed. I slipped off into a comfortable sleep as she
sang them a lullaby. It was the kind of bone-weary slumber that left no room
for dreams. It was exactly what I needed, but it was cut short by a frantic Slaugh.

“Wake up! Wake up!” Valory
whispered. She tugged my arm.

Still half-asleep, I rolled over
and scowled at her. “What? What is it? Stop doing that.”

Valory’s dark hair formed curtains
around her face as she stood over me. Her eyes gleamed like a cat’s in the
gloom. “Wake up! Come see! You have to come see!” She waved her arms in a wild
gesture. Her wings kept fluttering half-open.

“Quiet down!” I whispered. “You’ll
wake the girls!”

Valory looked like she was about to
burst. “Will you just come! I have to show you!”

“What is it?” I asked.

“
Water!
” Valory whispered.
She opened her arms wide. “Big water…like a mountain…oh!” she stomped her feet
in agitation. “Won’t you just come look?”

Perplexed, I put on my boots and
followed Valory out to a terrace. To my surprise, she grabbed me by the arms
and lifted me. She flapped her wings hard.

“What on earth?” I exclaimed.

Red-faced, Valory huffed and
puffed. “Just-a-little-higher!”

We rose to the highest branches of
the trees. Valory dropped me on a branch as wide as a park bench and then
collapsed beside me.

All I could see was an unending
expanse of treetops. “Well?”

Valory pointed behind me. “There!”

I turned. I hadn’t realized how
close Woodman’s Hall was to the coast. There were seaside cliffs barely a mile
distant. The rocks below them looked wet, but there was no water. Then I caught
the gleam of the sea far back from the cliffs. It got closer as I watched.

The receding ocean had formed into
a giant wall of water. Now it was rushing back to the shore. The water piled
higher and higher every second.

It’s been out like that for a while
Valory said. “I thought I smelled fish, so I flew to the shore to look for some
but that’s when I noticed the water was way out from where it should be. It’s
coming back real fast, though.”

Even as I watched the swell coming
closer I couldn’t grasp the enormity of it. “A tsunami,” I said in disbelief.
“What could have caused it?”

“Beats me,” Valory said. “But we’ve
got a problem.”

I turned to her and gasped. “You
think it can reach Woodman’s Hall?”

“I’d rather not find out!” Valory
said, flapping her wings out of anxiety.

The wave drew closer. I could hear
it now. The distant rumble filled up the night. I thought grimly about how Mr.
Larue had entrusted me to protect his family. That trust was about to be put to
the test. 

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

Within minutes, Woodman’s Hall was
a flurry with people running and flying and generally just panicking. Lord
Finbarr tried to maintain order. Without knowing how high the water would reach
the first thing we had to do was get everyone to higher ground. Valory helped
the strongest adults lift children up to the treetops further inland.

All the while the roar of the
approaching sea grew louder. Birds that lived on the seaside cliffs flew inland
in flocks. Their white bodies darted among the tree branches, creating more
confusion.

Mrs. Larue went from room to room,
making sure all the children were accounted for. Acting on a wild hunch, I rounded
up all the Enchanters who were staying at the hall.

“We have to protect this place,” I
said as I ran across a narrow walkway. An addled seabird narrowly missed flying
into me.

Lord Finbarr was behind me. “Yes,”
he agreed. “Our survival will count for little if the hideout is washed away.
What are you thinking?”

“You know how Garland raised that
mound of earth to protect the king at Mag Mell?”

“Hmmm. I see what you’re getting
at, but we’d need a much bigger mound for this place. Still, it’s worth a try.”

I ran headlong into Anouk. “Hey,
you’re an Enchanter, right?”

She nodded.

“Good. Meet us down at the ground
level,” I said. “Grab any other Enchanters on the way. Any Master Casters,
too.”

Anouk didn’t question me. She hurried
on to do exactly as I asked. Lord Finbarr and I arrived at the hall’s main
entrance to find Mrs. Larue waiting.

All the children are safe,” she
said.

I knew she would rather go to the
treetops to be with her girls, but we needed her.

“When Anouk gets here take her and
the others to the west side of the building where it faces the sea,” I said.
“Do whatever you have to do to raise an earth dam. Make it as high as you can.
Then get to safety.”

“Where are you going?” Mrs. Larue
asked.

I was already on my way up the next
flight of stairs so I didn’t answer. Blood pounded in my ears. Ordering people
around came easier than I thought it would be. I didn’t like the idea of asking
so many of them to stay down from the treetops, but Lord Finbarr was right.
Without Woodman’s Hall, we’d have nothing.

I climbed round and round a tree
trunk until I reached the hall’s highest level on its west side. It gave me a
good vantage point. Lord Finbarr, Anouk and the others were hard at work below.
The night lit up with green flashes as they forced the earth around the hall to
rise. A dam took shape around the outer perimeter of the building.

The roar of the tidal wave was
deafening. A gritty mist filled the air. It came with the smells of salty ocean
froth that sent the tree-dwelling creatures like squerbils and bough gliders
into a frenzy. They scurried along the branches, chattering in fright.

The earth wall grew higher, but
there was little soil on the forest floor for the Enchanters to work with. What
the dam gained in height it lost in strength. I spied many weak spots that were
likely to crumble.

“Over there!” I shouted, pointing
to a wide crack in the wall. Anouk hurried to repair it. A young female Master
Caster helped by freezing over the weak spot with a layer of ice.

The floor rattled as Valory landed
beside me. “The air stinks of ocean stuff,” she said. “Whatever did this had to
be big, ya know?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be up in
the treetops?” I asked.

“I figured I’d hang low and offer
you my wings if you need them.”

 “Thanks, Val, but it’s safer if
you go with the others. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Valory crossed her arms. “And I
don’t want YOU to get hurt, so that’s that…hey, what’s
that
?”

She pointed at a speck on the crest
of the wave. It was so distant that it could have been anything from a piece of
driftwood to a house.

The ground shook as the tidal wave crashed
into the cliffs. The timbers of Woodman’s Hall rattled and the wall that the
Enchanters had been working feverishly to build cracked and split in several
places. I shouted and pointed out the weak spots from above, but my cries were
inaudible over the roar of the wave. The ground shook harder and the wall
crumbled even more.

The cliffs broke some of the wave’s
momentum, but the water kept coming. It bore down on us in a mountain of
turbulent brown foam. Debris tumbled along with the raging water. Whole trees
fell, adding to its arsenal. It was an unstoppable force. Our wall would never
be able to hold it back.

The Enchanters were still down
below, giving it their all. They fused giant trees together for fortification
and still it wasn’t enough.

“Get to higher ground!” I shouted.

They couldn’t hear me. Anouk, Mrs.
Larue and Lord Finbarr, along with many others, were still working tirelessly
on the dam while the wave grew closer, devouring everything in its path.

“Fly me down there!” I shouted to
Valory.

Valory swept me up and dropped me
clumsily on top of the wall. Mrs. Larue looked up at me.

“GO!” I yelled. I pointed to the treetops.
Mrs. Larue grabbed the others working nearby. They summoned their wings and
flew over my head to branches high above.