Caroline said, “Charles?” He looked over at her and smiled.
“I was just wondering what Paw Paw was doing in the office,” Charles replied.
“Do you need to go back to work?”
“Are you kidding? No, I can work later.”
He grabbed her hand. She looked at him and smiled.
Charles said, “So, what did you do all day while I worked?”
“We worked on the quilt.”
“I’d like to see it.”
She smiled and said, “All right, let’s go.” They stood and went inside. The block she was sewing was setting on the buffet. She picked it up and showed it to him. They looked it over together.
Charles said, “It looks to me like you are doing a great job.” She smiled and showed him the pattern for the next block.
Margaret came over and told her, “We are going to work some more after dessert if you want to keep sewing.” Caroline looked at Charles.
“Caroline, you can work if you want.” She looked down at the block in her hands. Charles continued, “Why don’t we join them in the kitchen for dessert. Then we can both go back to work.” She nodded.
They went into the kitchen and ate chocolate cake and ice cream with Bev and Margaret. When they finished dessert Charles said to Caroline, “Come to the office before you leave.” She said she would.
Charles walked to the office. He was almost there when he heard a croaking sound. He looked down to see Esmond in the flower garden. He stopped and picked him up. Charles looked him over. Esmond croaked and squirmed. Charles heard in a deep and broken voice, “Put me down, you’re holding me too tight.” Charles’ eyes widened and he looked into Esmond’s eyes.
Esmond said, “What are you looking at Charles? Why are you looking at me that way?”
Charles gently put Esmond in the palm of his hand and whispered, “Esmond, I can hear you.”
Esmond croaked, “Well, of course you can hear me!”
Charles shook his head and said, “Esmond, I can understand you.”
When Esmond thought about the fact that they were having a conversation he croaked, “Oh my goodness you are right, we are having a conversation! Well, it is about time.”
Charles said, “Amazing!” Charles knocked on the door and took Esmond inside. Airabelle perked up as soon as she saw him and flew over to greet him. She said, “Esmond! I’ve missed you.” He croaked that he had missed her too. Airasten came to see him as well.
Carson turned from his work and greeted Esmond. He said, “Esmond we are glad to see you old friend. Make yourself comfortable.” Esmond croaked a reply.
Charles announced that he could understand Esmond, and that they had been talking outside.
Carson’s eyes grew wide and he said, “That is amazing Charles. What was it like talking to a frog?”
Charles laughed and said, “It was kind of strange. It wasn’t at all like talking to Airabelle.” Charles changed the subject and asked why Carson had come back to the office.
Carson pointed to the mail and said, “I wanted to go through this. There was more here than I thought.”
Charles looked at the stacks sorted neatly into rows. “Anything interesting?”
Carson picked up the stacks one by one and started to go through them with Charles. When they finished Carson said, “I have two more envelopes to open.” He picked up the letter opener and opened them. He pulled the letters from the envelopes and looked them over before placing them in the correct stack. Carson looked up at Charles and said, “Now that the opening and reading is all finished, the fun part begins. I have to file them.”
That didn’t sound like much fun to Charles, so he went to sit down and put his glasses on. He began reading from his manual. He read while Carson filed. The manuals were very detailed. Charles was learning a lot from just the few chapters he had read. He knew Airabelle was multi-tasking because every so often she would interject a comment while he was reading. Charles continued to read for an hour.
Esmond was ready to go back to his pond. Everyone told him goodbye. Charles opened the door and watched him as he disappeared.
Airabelle said, “He’ll be back.”
Charles closed the door and looked over at Carson, who had already gone back to work. Charles walked over and stood beside him. Carson asked, “Would you like to work on the second journal?” Charles nodded.
Carson handed Charles what he needed to get started. Then Carson put on his glasses and picked up Catherine’s second journal before sitting down. Charles was waiting for him to begin reading. Once Carson placed the crystal on the journal, he began to read. Charles wrote down what was read.
The second Caperson journal began as the typical Catherine drama. Charles was beginning to like this eccentric lady. From the stories she was weaving, she somehow mesmerized and drew her audience in. Her stories were very charming and witty. Charles liked to think of them as episodes. In this episode Catherine was contemplating her collection. It seemed in several of the recent auctions she had competition on coins that were vital for her to complete the unidentified collections. This competitor of hers had somehow won a few of the coins that she had been counting on. She actually met and confronted him later on, in the adventure. She mentioned that he had trailed her for days while she was solving a riddle. She concluded he was following her so in the event she failed he would learn from her mistakes and solve the riddle in order to keep the coin for himself.
After her discovery, Catherine planned her disguises and mapped out her routes carefully in order to avoid being followed again. It was intriguing to see how another Sojourner went about their preparations. Sharing information about techniques passed down from generation to generation is not something Sojourners do because of their secretive and competitive nature. So learning about these techniques was a treasure in itself. Charles was beginning to see why the Council members had asked him the questions they did at the meeting.
This journal shed light on the fact that families all prepared for Sojourning differently. Sojourners also use their crystals differently and they each have different tools. As Carson was reading her journal he asked Charles to make several notes about specific tools she had acquired. Charles could tell Carson was interested in what these gadgets could do. He figured tomorrow morning as they made their way to the Hub Library Carson would stop at the kiosk to inquire about them. They were halfway through the journal when they decided to stop. Carson wanted to stay in the office to catch up on his work, but Charles decided to see Caroline before she left.
Charles walked to the house. As he walked he noticed the lightning bugs were beginning to come out and sparkle in the air. He quickly made his way up the porch steps and into the house. The ladies weren’t quilting; instead they were visiting in the family room. Charles went over and sat on the floor beside Caroline’s chair. They were discussing family vacations. He joined in the conversation. Caroline named all the states she had visited.
Margaret said, “Al and I used to travel, but we don’t anymore. I’d like to take a couple of weeks and spend time with my family in Colorado.”
“Colorado is lovely. I love to ski. The mountains are amazing,” commented Bev. Everyone shared a favorite vacation memory. Then, Margaret looked at her watch and said, “Caroline, it is time we go home. It is getting late.”
Bev asked, “Margaret will you be coming over tomorrow?” Margaret said they would.
Charles walked them to the car. He hugged Caroline. “I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon. Paw Paw and I are going to be running errands in the morning.” She nodded and told him to have a good evening.
Once they left, Bev and Charles went inside. Charles said, “Nana, I am going to go see what Paw Paw is working on in the office. Would you like to come with me?” She said she would so they went to the office together. As they were walking Charles mentioned they were going to be going to the Hub’s Historical Library in the morning. Bev said she would like to go with them, but Margaret was
going to be visiting with Caroline so she couldn’t go.
Charles said, “Next time we will plan ahead so you can go with us.”
“I definitely will go next time because that library is amazing.”
They entered the office and Carson swiveled around in his desk chair. Charles and Bev sat down. Carson also mentioned to Bev that they were planning on going to the library in the morning.
“Charles mentioned that to me, but Margaret and Caroline are coming tomorrow. I’d like to go next time. I think you and Charles will enjoy the library. I’ve been there before. I was awestruck just walking in the front door.”
Carson said, “It is an exclusive library. I’ve heard the books found in that library are treasures.”
“It may take us all day to find the information we need,” said Charles.
“Well, I am sure we will go back often. I know I’ll find books there I can use for research. The unfortunate thing about the Hub Library is that you can’t remove the books from the building.”
Airabelle said, “I’ve been in the library before too.” They turned and looked at her.
Bev asked, “You have?”
“Vivion had a pass. She took me to all the secret places in the Hub.”
Charles perked up. “She didn’t write about this in her journals did she?”
“Well, they can’t write about their job details for security measures. They are sworn to secrecy.”
“Then why can you tell me about her job?”
“She was sworn to secrecy, I wasn’t. They didn’t know at the time I could talk.” Everyone laughed.
Charles asked, “Did she do Nathaniel’s job?”
Airabelle nodded and said, “Yes, that was her job.” Their mouths dropped open. Bev asked, “What was it like in the Treasury Department?”
Airabelle cleared her throat before saying, “It was secretive at its best, and dangerous at its worst. Vivion never knew who she could trust.”
Carson leaned back in his chair. He was interested in this information Airabelle had thrown at them. “Airabelle do you know your way around the library?” She nodded as he continued, “Did you have access to the off limit places in the Hub?”
“Some of the buildings I was allowed to enter with her.”
Carson nodded and asked her, “Were you allowed in the confiscation room?” Charles looked at him and then at Airabelle.
She laughed and said, “I know where you are going with this, and the answer is yes.”
Charles looked over at Nana and asked, “What is the confiscation room?”
“Well, it is actually a building but the Council refers to it as a room. It is a building where the Prime Minister and the Sojourners’ Council store contraband, and Sojourner tools that are unusual or are used to create havoc in the Hub.”
Charles could see Carson was mentally making note of this discovery. Carson loved his gadgets and was always searching for something else that would be useful on their adventures. Charles turned to Airabelle and asked her if she would like to go with them in the morning. Airabelle said she wanted to go. Airasten chimed in and asked if he could go as well. Charles looked at Carson, who nodded and told him he could come with them.
It was beginning to get late so they decided to put things away and secure the office. They walked to the house together. Since it was late they all decided to turn in for the evening.
**********
Charles tossed and turned all night. He couldn’t get comfortable. The morning came very soon. He woke up, grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom to begin his routine. Once he finished he went to the library and sat down with Carson, who was reading the morning newspaper. When Charles sat down Carson handed him the front page. Charles looked it over. The headlines of the local paper read, “Boy Still Missing after Fifteen Years”. Charles read the article and looked at Carson, who was staring at the wall. The article was about Carson’s student who had vanished. Charles could see that Carson still missed him and wondered what had happened to him.
Carson looked over at Charles and said, “To this very day I think about that boy’s disappearance. I suppose I’ll never get over something like that.”
Charles folded the paper and set it on the table. He wished he knew what to say, but he didn’t know of any words that would make it any easier on Carson. Charles leaned his head on the back of the chair. He sighed and then said, “It makes you wonder what could have happened.”
“I wish I knew.” Carson opened his newspaper again and looked through it for something that interested him.
Charles went to the kitchen and helped Bev set out the juice for breakfast. A little later Carson joined them and they sat down to eat. Carson and Bev talked about how the day would go. Carson said he thought they would eat lunch at a Hub restaurant, but would be back for dinner. When breakfast was finished Charles helped Bev clean up.
CHAPTER 41
Charles and Carson went to the office. They dressed in the clothes library. Charles helped Carson gather their things from the vault. Charles grabbed his bag and checked his calendar to see if Cassia had added any more meetings. The only item posted was his meeting with Dimitrios, which was scheduled for the next day. Charles took out his travel pass to the Hub Library that was on a chain. He put it around his neck. After they double-checked to make sure they had everything, they put on their glasses. They waited for the Passageway to completely open. Once it did Charles and Airabelle stepped through first, then Carson and Airasten.
They walked into the busy Hub. It was busier than Charles had ever seen it. He never grew tired of seeing the Sojourners masquerading. It was always the futuristic styles that startled him. How anyone could wear (or not wear in some cases) some of the costumes being paraded in the Hub was beyond him. They fired up the flying disks by spinning them and then stepped on. Carson’s disk gave him trouble at first, but he soon got the hang of it. They spent a few minutes relearning how to control their disks. It was a good thing they had them because it was shoulder to shoulder in the market courtyard.
Carson made his way to the gadget kiosk. The owner stepped out in front of them to do a presentation as they neared his booth. Carson stopped abruptly to hear what he had to say. Charles didn’t get the hint and had to circle back around. The kiosk owner’s name was Nicky. He was a quirky kind of fellow. He wore a jacket that had small pockets all over it. In each of the pockets he had some kind of useful tool to sell. Carson stepped from his disk and walked to Nicky to look at his wares. While he was demonstrating for Carson, Charles hovered around the kiosk and examined the many gadgets that were placed on the black velvet tiers. One interesting invention was suspended in midair. It was made of clocks and gears, which spun around quickly in all directions without rhyme or reason. Another gadget that caught his eye was a silver tarnished cube that was about the size of Charles’ palm. It balanced on its corner. Charles watched as it outlined patterns along the surface area and then separated itself into the different patterns. As it separated flashes of spiraling sparks shot silently from it until it finished and folded in upon itself to become a solid cube. Charles wondered what these were used for and who owned them before they ended up here. They were obviously previously owned Sojourners’ tools.
Charles stepped from his disk and walked around the kiosk. He continued to observe the strange objects. He peeked around the kiosk to see what Carson and Nicky were doing. Charles recognized the paper Nicky was holding as the journal page he had written from Carson’s dictation. It was the Caperson list of gadgets. Carson shook Nicky’s hand and came alongside Charles.
They continued to walk around the booth looking at other gadgets. Carson pointed out a couple of interesting ones. Then they looked at the display of crystals in the center of the kiosk. They were in an etched glass enclosed case. The bottom of the case was flickering flashes of colors into crystals of various shapes and sizes. One crystal set being shown was a combination of three crystals of different sizes bound together wit
h a leather strap. Carson pointed to it and looked at Charles.
Airabelle said silently to Charles, “He is showing you that because it is rare for Sojourners’ crystals to be able to be strapped together. If they can be bound together the resulting set is very powerful. Each crystal takes on a particular function. That set would be very expensive.” Charles wondered who might have previously owned it.
The light flecks that swirled around the kiosk intrigued Charles. It was as if they were chasing each other. He held out his hand and one landed on the tip of his pointer finger. Airabelle said, “Those are used like flashlights to light your way if you are Sojourning at night. If you didn’t know what they were you would think they were lightning bugs.” After walking around for several more minutes Carson looked at Charles and they decided to leave the kiosk.
They stepped on their disks and headed in the direction of the Hub Library. Charles adjusted his spectacles on his nose. The flying disks made their journey much faster. He was getting used to maneuvering it.
Airabelle said, “It isn’t much farther. The library entrance is just around the corner.”
She was right; it was just around the corner. The whole block contained the library. It was a stone building with carved architectural elements. The golden window sashes enclosed stained glass panes. “The Hub Historical Library” was carved in the stone above the entry doors. The doors were of solid gold that silently slid open to reveal an all-glass enclosed area that housed its security. The security officers greeted patrons as they walked in. One guard asked to see Charles’ badge. He took it off and handed it to the officer. The guard looked the badge over carefully and scanned it before he handed it back. He then came around to open the glass doors.
A librarian checked Charles’ credentials before she came from around the corner to meet them. She too was on a flying disk. Her disk had a basket in front of it to carry books for her. She was slender and petite. Her beautiful hair was silver gray. She had a pretty but serious face. She wore her Sojourners’ spectacles and a beaded eyeglass chain that hung from her glasses. Her brown eyes were studious as she carefully looked over the newcomers to her library. She introduced herself as Fiona, the head librarian. She welcomed them to the Hub Library and explained the rules. Fiona gave them a tour of the building.
The Xidoran Prophecy Page 48
