“Not to Esmond.” Charles laughed.
Sophie giggled. “I’m hungry, but not for that.” She pointed to the bag.
Charles ruffled her curly hair. “You’d better go in and wash up. Nana will be waiting for you.”
“All right.”
Charles watched as she ran up the steps. She turned and waved. She disappeared into the house as the screen door closed loudly behind her. Charles joined Carson at the door, and they entered the office. Once inside, Charles fed Esmond. He set the bag down and went to wash his hands in the garage bathroom. When he returned, Carson had already washed his hands. Lunch was out and ready for them. They sat on the chairs, using TV trays to hold their lunch items. Airabelle was perched on the back of Carson’s chair. They talked about Carson’s adventures in his journal while they ate.
Carson said, “Most Sojourners have several journals they have created. I imagine you will too.”
“I hope I have a library full of adventures.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“I can’t wait to get started.”
“It won’t be long, be patient. We have research to do before we can begin. The riddle is almost finished in the book. Now, we just have the finishing touches to research.”
“Who writes the riddles?”
“The Secretary of the Secret Collectors’ Society.”
“Who is that?”
“He is a very knowledgeable and powerful man.”
“Do most Sojourners know him?”
“I’m sure some have met him,” Carson answered.
“Have you?”
Carson drew a long breath before answering. “Yes. I know him.”
“How do you know him?”
“It is a very long story, Charles. Maybe we had better save that for another time.” It wasn’t like Carson not to answer a question immediately.
Charles turned his attention to Airabelle. Airabelle was in a good mood since her friend had returned. She and Esmond were catching up on where he had been since he left the office.
Charles looked back at Paw Paw who was deep in thought. Carson stood up and began cleaning up from lunch. Charles hurried to finish what he had left on his plate, and then got up to join him.
“You didn’t have to finish your lunch so quickly.”
“I was finished,” Charles said with a shrug. “I’ll take this to Nana.”
Carson smiled and handed the basket to him. Charles left the office and walked to the front porch. When he entered the house the ladies looked up from their sewing. They glanced at the doorway as he passed by. Cynthia giggled. Charles stopped, came back and looked in the room. “Hi.”
Cynthia looked down at the block she was piecing together. She was trying not to laugh. Margaret looked at Bev. Bev looked up at Charles.
“Caroline called for you while you were in the office.”
Charles smiled all the way to the kitchen. He set the basket on the table, picked up the phone and dialed her number. On the second ring, Joyce answered.
“Hello.”
“Hello. Mrs. Saunders may I speak to Caroline?”
“Yes, of course, and Charles, it’s Joyce.”
It wasn’t long before Caroline answered the phone. “Charles.”
“Yes. I called you earlier.”
“I know. Dad told me when we got back from the store. Did you want something?”
“No, not really. I just wanted to talk.” He laughed. It sounded kind of silly to be saying that to a girl. She wasn’t just any girl though. Something about her was special.
Caroline said, “Tomorrow is the picnic. Mom and I are making a couple of dishes to bring.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m going to try all of them.”
Caroline laughed and said, “Okay. I hope you’ll be hungry.”
“I will.” They talked for several minutes longer. Then Charles hung up the phone. He walked out of the kitchen and into the family room. The ladies were cleaning up the quilting materials and putting them away.
Bev said smiling, “Time to start getting ready for tomorrow’s picnic.”
Sophie was dancing around Cynthia, who was trying to get around her to put things away. “Honestly Sophia, I could put things away a lot faster if you would move out of the way.”
Charles turned, walked out the back door and headed toward the office. Carson looked up as he came through the door. “How are things at the house?”
“They are putting the quilts away and starting to get ready to bake for tomorrow.”
“Well, one thing is certain, the house will smell good tonight with all that baking going on.” Charles went over and placed Carson’s journal back on the shelf.
“Are you ready to look over the research?” Carson asked.
“Yes!” He moved quickly over to Carson’s side.
The notes and paperwork were strewn over the desk. Airabelle sat perched on the lectern. Carson flipped through a couple of pages until he came to the place he had been searching for. He began reading examples of various riddles to Charles. “Now you will notice that the riddles are not all in the same style. Each Secretary of the Secret Collectors’ Society has a different style of writing for the riddles. Here are a few more examples.” He read several to Charles. “Some use symbolism, some are straight forward, some are complex in their writing and some favor using obscure facts.”
Carson turned back to a previous page. He read it again to Charles and said, “The answer seems very simple and straightforward, but in fact once researched the answer is not as easy as it would appear. Nothing ever is easy with this current Secretary of the Secret Collectors’ Society. He favors obscure facts.” He sighed, and then picked up the list of the coin’s owners. “Here is our documentation of dates and those who were in possession of the coin.”
Carson took his Sojourner crystal out of his desk drawer and walked over to the framed antique map on the wall. He held the crystal in his hand to cast a reflection of light over the top of the map. It surged in different colors and suddenly began changing. As Carson continued to point the crystal at the map, facts and pictures came out from the map in different colors as holograms. Charles walked over to the map to get a closer look.
Carson walked back to his desk, grabbed his notes and brought them to where Charles was standing. “Here is the timeline for the research so far.” He began to read from the notes to Charles. “I believe the answer is somewhere in between these dates,” Carson said, pointing to the paper in his hand. “I’d like you to read over the notes I’ve made. Then we can discuss how we are going to go about solving the riddle.” Carson went back to the desk, with Charles following him. He gathered more of the scattered notes into a pile and handed them to Charles.
Charles took the notes and walked to his chair. He looked over to find Esmond on the other chair looking at him. Airabelle was on the arm of the chair talking to Esmond. Charles sat down. He began sorting and reading through the notes.
Carson was at his desk researching, taking notes about the clothes of the day and the newsworthy events of the time period, along with prices for living expenses, etc. Charles watched him walk over to the map on the wall and look at it intently.
The cuckoo clock chimed as the children figurines danced along the path and then disappeared behind the closed door.
Charles lowered the notes and caught a glimpse of the Passageway statue just in time to see the coin turn from silver to a bright purple. When the Passageway changed colors, an official looking object that resembled a large envelope came flying through the Passageway and landed on the floor. Carson was not paying attention. He continued to work. Charles stood up from the chair and walked over to where the object lay on the floor. He stood over it staring at the strange symbol markings all over it. He observed it was addressed to Sir Carson Jones, property of Passageway Occupant #10087-7463. It was sealed with an ornate purple wax seal on the same side. Charles bent down and peered at it closer. It was actually a bundle of envelope
s tied together with a deep purple ribbon.
“It’s the Passageway mail,” Airabelle said.
Carson said without turning around, “It must be important since it came from the Prime Minister himself. It is unusual for Dimitrios to go out of his way to hand deliver the Prime Minister’s messages.”
Airabelle said, “Must be official business.”
“Charles, please bring it to me,” Carson said as he finished writing. Charles bent down, picked up the envelopes and took them to Carson. “Who is Dimitrios?”
“He is the Prime Minister’s personal assistant.”
“I didn’t know you can get mail through a Passageway.”
“That’s how the Hub News and mail is delivered,” Airabelle informed him.
“Different things come through the Passageway from time to time. What is more unusual, the Hub News reported Dimitrios was away on business in Europe. Yet here he is hand delivering a message.” Carson turned in his chair as he took the bundle from Charles’ hand. He untied the ribbon and sorted through the envelopes.
“The envelopes look strange to me,” Charles said.
“Well, this one is from the Prime Minister himself. You can tell by the purple wax seal and the octagon looking envelope. On the reverse side it looks like this.” Carson turned it over.
Charles could see a watermark of an ornate coin along with lines in columns. “Why does it have lines on it?”
“Those are for the carriers to sign each of their names to ensure the package arrives unopened. They check it before signing it.” Carson pointed to the only signature. “Dimitrios is the only signature on here.”
Carson turned it back over, took his letter opener from the desk and opened the large envelope. He pulled the contents from the envelope. “You are right Airabelle, says right here, official business of the Sojourners’ Council.” After glancing at the letter, Carson realized he needed to speak with Nana about what he just read. Then he placed the stack of mail in the desk drawer. Carson turned to Charles and said, “Back to work Charlie. I need you to finish reading the research notes.”
“Okay,” Charles said reluctantly, because he was curious about the mail. Why did Paw Paw abruptly place the mail in the desk drawer, without talking about the contents of the letter? He went back to the chair. Carson turned back to his desk to continue working.
Charles began daydreaming, trying to imagine his life as a Sojourner. Charles’ curiosity was growing. Paw Paw thought it was strange Dimitrios hand delivered the Prime Minister’s mail. Who was this assistant to the Prime Minister? He stared at the notes and forced himself to begin reading. It took him a while, but he eventually completed the task. He walked the notes over to Carson, who was reading from one of his history books, taking notes.
He stopped writing and looked up at Charles. “What do you think?” Carson asked him.
“I think you got it right.”
“I’ve been making notes on what we will need.” Charles leaned over his shoulder and began reading the notes on the page. “That concludes the daily business Charles.”
Carson went over to the maps and closed them with his Sojourner crystal. He came back to the desk, gathered the books and returned them to the bookshelves. Their glasses were returned to Carson’s desk drawer. He took the key from his pocket and secured the books in their vault. Then, he returned the key to the desk, and locked it up. Airabelle flew a couple of laps around the office before returning to her cage. Charles scooped up Esmond and placed him in his aquarium. Once everything was secured in its place, they left the office and headed toward the farmhouse.
When they reached the back porch they could smell the aroma of the cooking coming from the kitchen for tomorrow’s picnic. They could hear the ladies talking. They walked into the kitchen through the back door. Bev fixed them a glass of strawberry lemonade.
“Shall we go to the back porch?” Carson asked.
Charles said, “Right behind you.”
Carson kissed Bev on the cheek as they left the kitchen. They walked out onto the porch, sat down on the chairs and began playing a game of chess.
CHAPTER 15
Caroline was reading the list of ingredients for the recipe, as Joyce was gathering and setting them on the counter. Joyce said, “This is going to be so much fun cooking for the picnic tomorrow.”
Caroline smiled and said, “I’d like to hear some of those stories about Catherine while we’re cooking Mom.”
“Catherine Caperson’s stories have always been fun to retell.”
Then Joyce asked, with her head cocked to the side, “Not to change the subject but are you excited to see Charles?”
Caroline said blushing, “Yes.”
Joyce said, pretending to be enamored with him, “He is so handsome with those big chocolate-brown eyes and dreamy smile.” She sighed.
Caroline frowned. “Mom!”
Joyce pretended to come back to reality by fluttering her eyelashes when Kevin appeared. Kevin came into the kitchen and poured a glass of milk.
He played along. “So who’s the dessert you’re dreaming about? I know it’s not me, I don’t have chocolate-brown eyes.”
“Dad!” Caroline exclaimed. Joyce laughed. Caroline took the bowl from her mom. She began stirring the ingredients she had poured into the bowl.
Joyce flirted with Kevin, “You’re the icing on the cake, Honey.” Joyce gave him a kiss on the cheek as he grabbed a couple of chocolate chip cookies that were setting on the kitchen table. “Girls only, allowed in here sailor.”
Caroline’s dad was an officer in the Navy when he was younger. He was tall, tan, with an athletic build, bright blue eyes and a blonde crew cut. He was a creature of routine and never missed his early morning run. He always asked Joyce to go with him. Sometimes she went, but most of the time she would say she had other things she was busy working on. Caroline had recently taken up running with him, just so they could spend more time together. She didn’t enjoy getting up early, but discovered she got more accomplished during the day by getting in the habit of dragging herself out of her warm bed. She was Daddy’s girl from the minute she was born. The two of them had a special father-daughter bond. It was a joke in the family that he’d go for a long run just to receive cookies from Joyce as a reward.
Joyce turned, pulled the first casserole from the oven and set it on potholders. She smiled at Caroline. “Perfection.”
Kevin said from the family room, “Mmmm. The food smells delicious ladies! I can’t wait for the picnic tomorrow. You are making me hungry already.”
“Thanks Kev.” She winked at Caroline.
“Now earlier you asked about Catherine…”
CHAPTER 16
The next morning, true to her word, they were all up and ready to go shopping. They ate breakfast at a charming diner in town. Dolores had never seen Sterling eat so much. Then they hit every single shop around town. The two friends had a great time spending Dolores’ allowance buying decorations for the house. Ruthie had a great eye for interior decorating. She could make anything look great. After they bought furniture at a second hand store, they headed for the hardware store to purchase paint and supplies. Ruthie had the color scheme for each room in the house all planned out. Dolores couldn’t quite picture it, but anything would be better than what was already there. She agreed to the plan.
They arrived home in time for dinner. After their meal the two ladies turned up the radio and got busy painting. After several songs there was a loud knock on the door. Dolores turned down the radio and went to the door. When she opened it she saw five of her neighbors standing on her front porch looking at her, then behind her at the stairs.
Dolores apologized for the loud music and said, “We’ll turn it down…” She looked back, and saw Ruthie coming down the stairs.
Ruthie motioned to them. “Come on in.” They made their way around Dolores as Ruthie directed them where she wanted them to start painting.
Dolores was shocked. She asked her
next-door neighbor, “You came to work?”
Pamela said, “Uh huh. Ruthie suggested it last night and everyone agreed to pitch in.”
The party was on. They turned up the music and danced around as they painted. Dolores set munchies and drinks out on the kitchen counter. Everyone pitched in and worked hard to get the rooms finished.
CHAPTER 17
Carson just won the chess game. “It takes years of practice. You are getting better Charles.”
Charles sat back and took a sip of the lemonade. Sophie came running from the house with her cape flying behind her. She ran down the steps and onto the lawn. Charles and Carson looked at each other and smiled.
“She is running off some energy,” Carson said. Charles agreed as he stood up and chased after her. They played tag as Carson sat and watched being amused by them. He got up and called to them, “How about a nature walk in the woods you two?”
“Sure!” Sophie yelled.
“Better tell Nana we are going.”
Sophie ran to inform Bev and the screen door slammed behind her. It didn’t take long before she came running back through the door. “Ready!” she yelled. She ran to meet Carson and Charles in the yard. Bev had taken her cape off. She had her arms outstretched as if she were an airplane. “Vroooooom!” Sophie said, as she ran past them and headed for the path.
Carson and Charles followed behind. “Don’t get too far ahead Sophia,” Carson said. She stopped and bent over to inspect a bug that was on the dirt and rock path.
When they caught up to her, she lost interest in the bug and pointed to Charles’ shoulders. “I can see more from up there.” Charles picked her up and put her on his shoulders. They talked as they walked pointing out birds and squirrels as they saw them.
The path led to a large pond on the property. A fishing boat was left on the bank. It was covered with a tarp. It was very peaceful standing there looking out over the water. Charles and Carson picked up stones and started skipping them. It became a contest to see who could skip a stone the farthest. Sophie was trying to do the same. Hers didn’t go very far, so she resigned herself to just tossing the stones in the water to see the ripples. When they lost interest they headed back toward the path.
The Xidoran Prophecy Page 18
