Witch's Bell Book One (47 page)

“
I felt it – I saw the door too.
Mark my words. It was a secret room.”

Ebony just sighed. Considering all of
the surprises Harry had given her today, she didn't have the effort
to fight this. If Harry could fold himself into an old leather
traveling case, then he was probably right about this secret room
of Nate's.

The question was what was in
it?

Ebony walked out onto the roof,
hefting the case along with her.
“Harry,” she mumbled quickly, how do we
get off the roof? Got any magic up your sleeve?”

“
Yes. But I wouldn't waste it on
rubbish like this. Magic is like silver cutlery, Ebony, you only
bring it out to either impress or stab important guests. So I
suggest you get us off this roof the same way you got up
here.”

Ebony took the moment to really
roll her eyes, putting a lot of effort into the movement even
though no one could see her. Then she began the tremendous toil of
quietly, carefully, and ever so delicately wending her way back to
the Turkish Takeout
– only this time with the added bonus of having to lug a
case with a magical bookstore cooped inside. Oh, and she still
didn't have shoes on. Though, she realized with a smile, she could
just pick up her shoes from before, meaning she didn't have to go
barefoot into the belly of the beast.

Sometimes life worked in very odd
ways. Either it had a sense of humor, or it just liked to mess
people around.

By the time Ebony had made it back
onto Mohammad's roof, wrestled her shoes back on, and trundled back
down the fire-escape, her face was hot, her hands sweaty, and she
really needed a drink.

Rather than go back through
Mohammad's
–
as she didn't want to risk any errant cops going in there for a
coffee in between trying to break into her store – she left the key
to his fire-escape on his mat, and headed around the side of the
building. There was a fence that was intended to stop people from
gaining access to the back of the building without permission, but
there was also a surprisingly tall dumpster next to it. With a
couple of hefts and grunts, Ebony clambered on top of it with
Harry, and then proceeded to try and pull herself over the fence.
She eventually gave up trying to keep her skirt straight and
decent, and just took to the fence like a commando might take to an
obstacle course – with a face like a twisted picture and a grunt
worthy of a cave man.

She dropped down less than lithely on
the other side of the wall, teetering forward in her heels, but
managing not to fall into the drain or smack face-first into the
pavement.

“
Very nice,” she heard Harry
whisper quietly from her side. “Now, follow what I say, and follow
it exactly. There are people after you, Ebony, I can feel them. So
let me find you a path forward.”

Ebony just nodded. That sounded
perfect. Putting the responsibility onto someone else sounded like
absolute heaven right now. If all she had to do was hobble along in
her heels with a traveling case by her side, while someone else
took the driver's wheel, so to speak
– then she was happy to oblige.

After walking down an
assortment of alleys, side-streets, and even over a few more
fences
–
Ebony found herself on the outskirts of town. Really, she felt like
she'd been walking for a whole week, maybe a year, considering how
much her feet hurt.

If she'd once hobbled along with the
case, she now practically dragged it, and herself. Long ago she'd
taken off her heels, ditching them for the discomfort of bare-feet.
She simply couldn't take the blisters and chaffing any
more.

It seemed Nate lived right at the foot
of the mountains, on the side of Vale that swept up to the forests
beyond. His house was in a very leafy suburb, which backed up onto
what looked like a forest reserve. There were giant oaks, elms, and
spruces all about the place.

Yes, that was how far Ebony had
walked
– all
the way from the middle of the city to the mountains.

She couldn't guess what the time was.
But Harry assured her that it was only late afternoon, and that
Nate would still be out for hours.

Ebony had no idea how Harry could know
this, but she went with it. She didn't really have any other
option.

Still cursing the fact that
Harry had not allowed Ebony to take a taxi, or even a bus
– because he didn't
like the smell of other people, he'd assured her – Ebony carefully
walked up to Nate's house.

It was quite nice really. It had two
levels and a very wide timber veranda that skirted the whole place
like a halo. In fact, the whole place was very woody, like a
stylish Canadian-lodge. It looked homely, warm, and oh-so-inviting.
It also swept up into the forest behind it. With big old birches
and elms standing sentinel by its sides, and a nice garden seeming
to blend seamlessly with the forest, like complimentary colors
blending on a canvas.

Very pleasing to the eye really,
somewhat like the owner itself.

It also looked like it was locked to
the teeth, and had an alarm system for extra roar.

“
Hmm, Harry, how do we get
in?”

“
A rock through the window
should do the trick,” the case guffawed with laughter. “That should
show the upstart. Or you could try keying the code into the alarm
system. The dunce of a Detective had my book in his arms when he
was opening the door.”

“
Yes, but surely we need a key
to get in the front door—”

“
Ha, don't worry about that. I
have a way with locks. I'll just blast it off.”

Ebony shook her head
desperately, ensuring she was well under the cover of a low
willow
– not
wanting Nate's neighbors to spy the sketchy looking, shoeless woman
with the large brown traveling-case hanging around the Good
Detective's house. “We can't blow the door up.”

“
Oh it will be a small blast,
just a little one. Directed at the lock, like a Claymore
really.”

“
Harry,” she said through
gritted teeth, “this better work, or—”

“
Oh it will,” Harry said with
satisfaction. “Just get me to the door, and I'll do the rest. Then
we'll disarm the alarm and go cyclonic in the Good Detective's
House,” the bag let out a throaty chuckle that rambled on entirely
too long.

Ebony stood under the
protection of the tree for several more seconds before finally
sneaking out and heading for the front door. She looked so
cautiously this way and that, if anyone had seen her, they would
have had no doubt she was a shoeless thief
– no doubt at all.

But she couldn't help it.
Breaking-and-entering with a magical bookstore in a travel
bag
– it was
new to her, and she wasn't quite sure how you went about pulling it
off.

Ebony held her breath as she
walked up the steps, ignoring the mat before the door that
said
“welcome” in the same fantastic yellow that the police used
on their flak-jackets. She couldn't help but think it was very
ironic in her case.

As she held up the bag to the
lock, hoping that no peppy mother was out walking their
equally-peppy dog
– Ebony took a moment to wonder how Nate would react to
this. Coming home to find a slightly bedraggled, barefoot Ebony
holding up an old, big traveling case to his door. It would be
comical, and terrible. His face would run the gamut of emotions
until it set in anger and then .... Oh, he'd probably just shoot
her.

“
Hurry up, Harry,” she
whispered, dancing from foot to foot. “Someone's going to see
us!”

“
Nonsense. And if they do,
they'll just think you're a dancing telegram considering this silly
jig you're doing. Now hold still, almost got it,” there was a very
sharp but not so loud pop, then a fizzle of smoke erupted from the
lock. “Got it! Now let's disarm that alarm before it calls more
police. Because,” he laughed, “we're still carrying around stolen
items from Praytors.”

Ebony shook, she'd almost
forgotten that one. But she didn't have time to feel sorry for
herself; she whipped open the door, went inside, and quickly spied
the alarm panel on the wall.
“What's the code, Harry?!”

In several seconds, Ebony had
finally keyed it in, her heartbeat dropping noticeably as she
realized they were safe in the house for now.
“Gosh darn, that was
thrilling,” she deliberately used Harry's turn-of-phrase, hoping
he'd realize just how “thrilling” things really were.

“
Hmm,” the case rumbled
appreciatively, “reminds me of the time I fought a hoard of dragons
in the mountains of Afghanistan.”

Ebony shook her head
again.
“Harry,” she took a breath, “I'm not saying breaking into
Nate's house isn't wild, dangerous, and exciting, but is it really
akin to fighting dragons?”

“
Oh everything is like fighting
dragons, girl. It's one of life's great comparative
experiences.”

“
Right,” Ebony's voice drawled,
then she gave a sudden hiccup of laughter. She'd just talked like
Nate in Nate's own house.

“
Oh, stop saying that, it's
annoying. Now let's go and break into that little trotter's secret
room.”

“
Yeah,” Ebony found herself
looking around, her stomach giving a strange tremble as she
realized she was getting her first real look at how Nate actually
lived. There was a sideboard by the door with a bowl on it,
probably for his keys. And a coat rack on the other side of the
door, with a heavy winter jacket, a rain coat, and a thick beanie
hung up on the hooks. There was also a pair of clean gumboots
sitting just next to the rack. It probably got very wet here, Ebony
reasoned as she found herself staring at the boots and trying to
imagine Nate sloshing around in the mud. They were right under the
mountains, after all.

“
Hey come on, girl. Let's not
dawdle. We are running out of time. And I'd like to get some
blasting done before the day is out.”

Ebony turned from the boots and
started to walk carefully down the hall. Several rooms branched off
at her sides, and a wooden staircase twisted off at one point,
leading up to what looked like a very spacious loft
above.

She suddenly found herself wondering
very acutely which room was his bedroom.

She walked over to a door, and grabbed
at the handle, curiosity getting the better of her.

“
No,” Harry snapped immediately,
“that's not the secret room. Now hurry up! I'll lead the
way!”

Ebony sighed and continued down the
corridor. It opened out into a lovely, large kitchen. All along one
wall were big windows and a French sliding-door that led out to the
deck beyond. The windows and door all offered a spectacular view of
the garden leading up to the forest and mountains above. Really, it
was the kind of view you could wake up to every morning and never
grow tired of. Ebony fancied that it would be different with every
passing day and every passing season. Some days the clouds would
sweep down from above, like frosting dripping off a cake. On other
days the sun would probably stream through the trees, lighting up
the soft greens of the young foliage like light through
cellophane.

Ebony gave a little sigh, it was
longing in a way she wasn't quite familiar with.

“
And just what is with that
sigh, girl? You sound like you are swooning! At a time like this?
Now get a grip. The room is just ahead.”

Ebony blinked, twisting her head from
the view and surveying the rest of the kitchen. It was big,
beautiful, and warm from the sun that was streaming through the
windows. Just being here was making her forget that she'd actually
just broken in, and that the world was mostly out to get her with
pitch forks, guns, and wizards.

Then she saw the door. It was
off to the side, past a little area with a couch and rug that
probably served as Nate's lounge room. Knowing the Detective, he
probably didn't believe in TV. He probably thought that the only
way to spend your time when you weren't working was to find other
ways to work
– whether it be studying, or going outside to dig a manly
ditch.

The room stood out, not because
it had a big sign that read
“KEEP OUT” in large, neon letters. No, it was
because it had a faint glow emanating from all around the door
frame.

Ebony couldn't directly use her magic
at the moment; it was still locked away behind those blasted
bracelets. But she found now that she didn't need to.

She knew that whatever was behind that
door was three things: secret, magical, and likely
incredible.

As she walked up to it, her heart
began to tremble with a very nervous thud. It dawned on her, as she
reached a hand out for the handle, that she was just about to find
out what Nate had been hiding all along.

Chapter 21

Ebony finally, carefully, and ever so
delicately, opened the door. The glow from around the door frame
extinguished at once, and she found herself facing a dark
room.