The Map Maker's Quest

by Matthew J. Krengel

  To what you desire.”

  Jane did and realized almost immediately why he had stopped. “The locomotive we are searching for can’t be in here.”

  “I see what you saying,” Jackie replied. “With the lights and the windows this room is almost never in darkness.”

  “And these cars are not hidden from sight,” Jane agreed. “There has to be some other place that holds an engine, maybe further into the building.”

  They walked back to the museum side of the room and opened one of the doors. There were a half a dozen doors leading off the main area and two of them were big enough to move engines. One was locked and so Jacob pulled open the door on the other and looked inside. Scattered around the room were storage shelves and supplies but he could not see any other way out of the room so he closed the door.

  “I don’t think it’s in there,” Jacob said.

  “These two down here are just bathrooms,” Jackie reported from thirty feet away.

  “What about this one that won’t open,” Jane shoved on the door again and rattled but refused to open. The door had a pair of tracks set in the floor and leading under it, the tracks were dirty and rusted. “I wonder when the last time these tracks were used.”

  “Here let me try,” Jacob pulled his sword out and waited for her to move. He slashed down where the locking bar was held in place by a massive padlock and the iron lock had fallen away. Together they lifted the bar out of the holders and set it off to the side.

  “Help me pull this open,” Jacob said. He tried to pull the door open with one hand and it refused to move. There was a no admittance sign and a danger sign on the door but he steadfastly refused to look at them and focused on opening the barrier.

  Jane and Jackie both grabbed the door and pulled on it with all their might and finally the big slab of metal and rivets creaked open. Inside the set of tracks that led down at a slight grade into the ground and seemed to turn off to the left.

  “What in the world?” Jacob said. “This part isn’t on any of the tours. I wonder what they are hiding down here?”

  “It looks like an old mine shaft,” Jackie said. The walls were rough and bits of trash and debris were scattered around. “Let’s go find a few flashlights and see where it leads.”

  They were all excited now, and Jacob led them back up to where a small door marked security was located just off the main part of the museum. The door was ajar. Inside they found five flashlights mounted to the wall, fully charged. They took all five and before leaving raided the refrigerator and used the bathroom. Someone had ordered pizza the day before and half of it remained so they took the box with them and ate as they walked back to the old tunnel.

  “Ick, I hate pineapple on a pizza,” Jane muttered. She flicked the piece off and then finished eating the slice. She had been so distracted that she had forgotten just how hungry she was. They all ate two slices and then then tossed the box next to a nearby trash can. They each took a flashlight and started down the tracks. After about fifty feet, the tunnel narrowed. “There is hardly any room down here, I can’t see how they got a locomotive engine through here.”

  “I don’t know how Uncle Ernie managed to hang the metal rod over the bottomless pit either but he did,” Jackie replied. She moved her flashlight around the tunnel and looked at the timbers that supported the walls and roof. They were in horrible shape. Many of them were rotted and crumbling to the point there was little strength left in them. The tracks continued to run deeper into the ground and finally turned west until she was sure they must have turned completely around.

  After about ten minutes of walking they reached a room slightly bigger than the tunnel. The tracks ended in that area. Sitting on the iron rails was an ancient locomotive that looked like it was more mining car than railroad engine. It was half the size of the ones up top and had probably only been used to move ore from deeper in the mine to the station up top.

  “Did you know any of this was here?” Jane asked Jacob.

  “No,” Jacob replied. He shook his head in amazement and looked around with his flashlight. The first thing that drew his eye was a battered wooden door at the far side of the room. Curious, he walked to the door and pushed it open. The top half of the wood collapsed when he touched it and fell to the ground with a puff of dust. Beyond the door was a long tunnel that stretched out beyond the ability of his flashlight to illuminate. This truly was an old mine and he wondered just how long it had been here. Parts of the tunnel that he could see looked natural and he remembered his teachers talking about the underwater caves that dotted the shore line of Lake Superior. “I wonder how many places like this have been forgotten about.”

  “I don’t know but we need to search for the light,” Jane replied. She walked back to the where the locomotive sat waiting on the tracks and joined Jackie who was letting her flashlight play across it.

  “I don’t see a light anywhere on the old thing,” Jackie said. She ran her light up and down the metal engine looking for anything that resembled a light. Nothing drew her attention. The engine had a place for someone to stand and operate the levers and gears and another spot where another person could stand and shovel coal into the burner. There was a big round barrel type structure where the burners and steam engine were located, and Jackie slowly walked around to the front of it. The engine was about twelve feet long, and, she guessed, about seven or eight feet tall. It was around five feet wide and despite its long confinement in the abandoned mine, it was in fine condition. Someone must have coated the metal with oil or grease because the metal was slippery when she touched it.

  “Do you see anything up there?” Jane asked. Jackie was standing where the controls were located and she rested her hand on one of the levers.

  Jacob was standing next to her, and he set his shield down and picked up the shovel, which had survived the ravages of time. “There is even coal in here yet.” Jacob popped open the door of the boiler and looked inside, it was empty so he grabbed a shovel full of coal and was about to toss it inside when he glimpsed something that caught his eye.

  “I think I found it,” Jacob said excitedly. He leaned down and shoved his arms, head, and shoulders into the boiler. In the light cast by his flashlight he could see an old-style lamp that looked like it had at one time been mounted to the front of a steam engine. It was square and a circle of metal focused the light from the lamp out one side.

  “Let me see,” Jane whooped. She leaned over and tried to catch a glimpse of what Jacob was pulling out.

  “Hold on,” Jacob muttered. He finally managed to get his right hand around the lamp and pull it back towards him. With a good bit of wiggling and grunting, he wormed his body back and out until he finally emerged covered in soot but smiling widely.

  The lamp they pulled out was brass and had a thick wick in the middle of the housing. At the bottom of the lamp was a container that sloshed when Jacob moved it. When he removed the cap, he could smell the oil inside. Three sides of the lamp were covered with metal on the outside, and they were polished shiny on the inside to reflect the maximum amount of light possible out the cone on the front.

  “Look at this,” Jane said. She held out the staff before her and pointed to the holder at the top. “It’s not for the glass shard, it’s for the lantern. The shard goes in here I bet.” She pulled out the shard and slipped it inside the shroud and it snapped securely into place.

  “So we have a way to light our path to the book, but where do we use it?” Jacob asked. He examined the lamp and found the words almost immediately.

  “Iron and stone,

  High in the air,

  It rises and falls.

  Climb to the top,

  Shard, lamp, and staff,

  Light the lamp,

  Follow the light.”

  “Enger Tower,” Jacob said immediately. “Stone high in the
air.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jane replied. “The tower doesn’t rise or fall. There is something that does in this town though.”

  “Ohh,” Jacob laughed. He realized almost immediately what she was talking about. “The lift bridge.”

  “Yes,” Jane replied. “And Uncle Ernie’s job would have given him access to it any time he wanted.”

  “But Cain’s ships are spread out all around it,” Jackie protested. “How do we get there?”

  “I don’t know,” Jane replied. “Maybe after dark.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Enger Tower

  Cain leaned over his map table and smiled. He had seen the map maker and the runner show up on his map for just a moment, and then vanish, and he knew they were in the lower part of the city near the waterfront.

  “Pull all of our troops back to the shore,” Cain ordered. “The map maker is close by. I want the entire waterfront searched.” His men were ransacking the city and would not be happy at the orders but they would follow them.

  The soldiers saluted and ran out the door.

  The search had been futile so far and Cain knew his men would have a hard time finding anything in a city this size. There simply were too many hiding places and he didn’t know the area well enough. He would have to find this girl Jane and use her mother to force her to do his bidding.

  Soon his forces at Palisade Head would be marching south to rejoin them, and he would have enough soldiers to conduct a proper sweep of the buildings. Until then, they would establish a perimeter and search the waterfront.

  The absence of Tasker still troubled him, but apparently his father had either given up and fled, was so far away he could not feel him, or had found a way to shield himself from view. That was a problem he would hurdle later. What excited him more at the moment was the amount of technology his men were bringing onto the ship and storing in the holds. When they returned to their side of the Divide it would be with enough materials and things to study which would ensure that no one would ever be able to challenge him.

  * * * * *

  Jane, Jackie, and Jacob huddled together inside a Ford Explorer with deeply tinted windows that was abandoned on the road leading to the lift bridge. They were waiting for dark, but now they could see hundreds of Adherents emerging from the city. Some were setting up camp in Canal Park nearby and hundreds more were carrying things into waiting ships. Still more were sweeping through the buildings and vehicles around the park.

  “They are going to make it here before dark,” Jacob muttered. “We should move all the way to the bridge.”

  “Maybe we can hide there until morning,” Jane agreed. “Even if we light the lantern I don’t think we could see where it’s pointing at night.”

  Carefully they climbed out of the Explorer and crossed to the southern side of the city street. Buildings would shield them from eyes for a time and so they started east towards the lift bridge, which was about half a mile from where they had been hiding. When they arrived, Jacob and Jane searched for the ladder leading to the top of the closest steel supports. The bridge itself had been raised to prevent crossing and Jane could see a few people standing on the Wisconsin side in the last bit of sunlight. Some flashing lights from police cars dotted the shore, and she could see a few green army vehicles parked, and the tiny figures of soldiers watching the scene unfolding in Duluth.

  A building stood near the bridge, and they huddled in the shadow of the brick walls looking at the iron bridge. Once they ran out to the bridge, they would be exposed and anyone watching would be able to see them.

  “There is a ladder on the right side,” Jacob pointed. “It’s probably padlocked shut so I should go first and cut the lock off.”

  Jane felt Bella move on her shoulder and she heard the fairy whisper a warning.

  “I think we should wait until morning,” Jane said. “There are too many soldiers moving around the area.” As if in response, they heard several voices from around the edge of the building and they hurried over to an old door. “Quick, inside.”

  Jackie and Jacob dove through the door, and Jane pulled it shut behind her as the Adherents rounded the corner. Outside their hiding place she heard the group of men talking.

  “Start with the buildings closest to the water and work your way inland.”

  There were a few voices she could not make out asked a couple of questions and then the other man continued.

  “Cain wants this whole area checked room by room. You’re looking for two young girls and a boy. Cain wants them alive so no killing.”

  Jane motioned the others back and they carefully retreated deeper into the structure in search of a hiding place. Somehow Cain knew they were in this part of the city and fear coursed through Jane, he even knew they were close by and had his men searching for them.

  “Downstairs,” Bella whispered in Jane’s ear. “We need to be in the dim light and closer to the ground where I can help shield you.”

  “Let’s go down into the basement,” Jane said quietly. The sound of footsteps drew closer now, and they hurriedly checked doors until Jacob found the one leading downstairs.

  “Hurry,” Jackie said. She pulled her flashlight out and made her way down the wooden steps into the basement and was immediately assaulted by the damp smell of mold.

  Jacob pulled the door shut just moments before they heard the door to the outside opening, and then he followed them down into the gloom. When they reached the bottom stairs, they found a wide space cluttered with boxes and crates stacked against every wall and filling the center of the room. Hiding places abounded, but their time was limited. They all hurried to the furthest corner of the room.

  A massive boiler provided heat for the building, and they worked their way into the darkness behind it, and lay down on the ground. They had just stopped moving, when Jane felt a fuzzy feeling float down over her, and she felt Bella sit down on her stomach.

  “Don’t move,” Bella said. The small fairy could make others seem to vanish but only if they were perfectly still and she needed the others to understand.

  “What—” Jacob started but he was cut off by a voice moving down into the basement.

  A moment later three Adherents in black robes entered the room and held their torches high. They all carried muskets, and one of them carried one of the new-style weapons. Jacob was lying in front of the others with his shield held flat on his chest and he watched from under the metal pipes as the men started kicking over boxes and crates. One of them walked to the back corner and held his torch high as he slowly let his eyes wander across the floor around the boiler.

  “Think Cain would like one of these big metal things?” One of the other men asked as he approached.

  “Yah, he would, but I am not moving it that far.”

  The first man stared long and hard at the spot where Jacob was hiding one last time but finally he shook his head and walked away.

  “Let’s go, this place is empty.”

  The three men walked back to where the stairs led back up to the main floor and without another word they vanished up the steps. Jacob reached up and rubbed his face in relief, he could not understand what Bella was doing here, but he was happy the fairy was with them.

  “What’s Bella doing here?” Jackie asked.

  “She wanted to help, so I brought her with me,” Jane replied. “I know I probably should have asked Tasker or someone, but there was no time.”

  Bella let the net of invisibility fade away from them and she smiled at Jacob, “Aren’t you glad to see me?” She tried to look hurt but it only brought affectionate smiles to all of the humans’ faces.

  “I am,” Jacob replied. “I really am.” Without her they would have been found and taken captive. Now they still had a fighting chance. “This side of the Divide would be much better if more peo
ple acted like you do, Bella.”

  The fairy smiled at him and her tiny face blushed as her good wing curled around to hide her embarrassment.

  They dug through the boxes and finally found several that held old coats and hats. Jacob dumped the crates out and they spread the cardboard and coats out to make three beds. The building fell silent around them as night came and it seemed the troubles from the day faded away and once again the world was at peace.

  The next morning Jacob awoke with a start and groaned. It took him a moment to figure out exactly where he was. When he started to move he found his back and shoulders were stiff and sore, and he groaned as he rose slowly to his feet. Jane muttered in her sleep but kept slumbering so he slipped his shoes on and crept upstairs. The sun was already lighting the horizon and the dim light helped him as he searched through the old building. He searched around the building until he found a bathroom that had a handicap shower in it and a shelf filled with towels. He took a quick shower using the liquid hand soap on the wall and then searched until he found a cupboard that had several boxes of oatmeal in it. There were plastic bowls in the shelf also, and Jacob made three bowls of oatmeal and then returned to the basement.

  “Look at this,” Jane said with a laugh. “Breakfast in bed.” She smiled at Jacob and accepted the bowl. Normally she would have turned her nose up at the smell of oatmeal, but this morning it tasted better than anything she had ever eaten. It was amazing what a little hunger did for the appetite.

  “Thank you,” Jackie said. She accepted her bowl and spoon and leaned against the nearby boxes.

  “The sun’s going to be completely up soon,” Jacob said. “We need to move.”

  “Did you find a shower too?” Jane asked suddenly. She was looking at Jacob and realized his hair was still damp.

  “Yes, it’s on the second floor,” Jacob replied. “I had to use soft soap from the wall dispenser though.”

  Jackie and Jane laughed at him. Blushing, Jacob handed an empty bowl to Bella and then poured a small amount of his oatmeal into it. “I hope you like strawberry and cream.”