Farnsworth remained seated as his anxiety intensified, the color draining from his face. All he had worked for was about to be taken away by Adelaide’s sudden appearance. After all the time, money and effort he had put into tracking Katherine’s whereabouts and contacts of late, he couldn’t comprehend how he had slipped up, allowing Adelaide to fearlessly saunter up the aisle right under his nose. Where had she been hiding?
The question seared itself into his mind as he wondered what the citizens of Kanesbury would do to him once Adelaide revealed the reason for her disappearance. His spirit deflated even further as another horrible notion took hold. If Katherine had managed to bring Adelaide to this public trial, then could he be inside the building as well?
Farnsworth eyed a few faces in the crowd, desperately seeking out Maynard Kurtz. Like a hawk, he zeroed in on a tired, dusty farmer with his coat collar pulled up to his neck a few benches back, and then on a tall man standing in the shadowy corner to his left behind cluttered rows of people. Off against the right wall sat an individual in a rumpled coat and a ragged, brown cloth hat shadowing his eyes while his outstretched legs kept warm near the blazing fireplace. Farnsworth’s effort to seek out Maynard was in vain, yet he knew the man must be somewhere in the vicinity. He could feel his unsettling presence. It was only a matter of time, he realized, until they buried him with their words. Should he flee now before they had the chance? His palms sweated as the lustrous western light slowly faded behind the windows. He knew he had to act fast.
While Adelaide recounted the night she had first heard voices across the road from her house, Farnsworth again eyed his paid operative on the side. With an imperceptible nod, he signaled the man to casually leave and alert his eight colleagues outside to prepare for the worst, promising himself that he would ride out of the village a free man, putting as much distance between himself and Kanesbury as possible. It would be up to the villagers whether or not blood would be shed in the process if they tried to thwart his escape.
“On the following evening two nights before the Harvest Festival, I heard those voices again in the darkness,” she said, explaining that she also noted a flicker of light among the shadows across the road. “Grabbing an oil lamp, I walked to Maynard’s property to explore. The windows of his house and Nicholas’ cottage were black, so I assumed both were asleep. I saw another flicker of light near the back shed, and despite the unnerving situation, I pushed ahead to investigate.” Adelaide’s eyes grew wide as she relived the fear of that dreadful night. “Even more shocking was what I discovered inside Nicholas’s shed. Or rather I should say who I discovered.”
“Who?” whispered a young girl as if enthralled in the words of a campfire tale, eliciting a few smiles and momentarily breaking the tension.
“When I opened the shed door, I saw two men inside. One held a sack of flour and was setting it down,” she continued. “Both were mortified to see me, and I knew on the spot that I was interrupting something criminal. I asked them what they were doing and said I was going to wake Nicholas, but the other man had pulled out a knife.” Adelaide fanned herself as the unpleasant memories stormed back. “I was terrified and ran speechless from the shed, their footsteps directly behind me as I raced across the field back to the road, hoping to reach the safety of my house.”
“Who were the two men?” Nicholas asked in soothing tones.
“One of them, the one with the flour sack, was none other than Dooley Kramer,” she replied. A chorus of stunned whispers flooded the chamber. Many concluded on the spot that Dooley had successfully framed Nicholas to get his job at the gristmill. “And regarding the identity of the other man–”
Farnsworth gripped the edge of his chair, ready to jump to his feet once his name was uttered and disgraced before his fellow citizens. He hoped his men outside were ready to clear a path for escape upon his signal and prevent anyone from pursuing him until he fled to the countryside. Holding his breath, he waited for Adelaide to finish.
“Well, for the moment, Nicholas, I’d like to keep that individual’s name private as there is much more of my story to tell that concerns him,” she said to the disappointment of many. “But that isn’t the only reason,” she quickly added, garnering everyone’s rapt attention once more and sending their emotions on another upward spiral. “To keep this trial proceeding smoothly, I don’t want to reveal the name just yet because…”
“Because why?” Nicholas inquired upon her nervous pause.
Adelaide took a deep breath, laying a hand over her chest. “Because that individual is sitting in this chamber,” she told him, sending rumblings of shock, suspicion and fear throughout the hall.
Everyone looked about, wondering who might have committed such an atrocious deed. Many were angered, demanding to know who it was so they could apprehend the culprit, while others considered fleeing with their families, wondering if it was safe to remain in the presence of such a criminal. But curiosity ultimately got the best of them. Everyone remained glued in their seats to hear out the story to its bitter end.
Farnsworth, in a slow exhale, realized that Adelaide had offered him a short reprieve. He wondered if she was toying with him or perhaps wanted to fashion an unspoken deal of some sort on orders from Katherine Durant. In either case, he decided to seize the opportunity and take charge, wanting to deflect any suspicions that might be directed his way. He stood up to calm the crowd.
“Please, everyone, let us hold our comments and allow this kind lady to finish speaking,” he said with a veneer of warmth and concern, though still ready to run if it came to that. “This is a trial, after all, and it should be conducted with the utmost restraint.” When the gathering finally settled down, he nodded pleasantly to Adelaide, indicating for her to continue.
“Thank you, Mr. Farnsworth,” she replied. “As I was saying, I fled Maynard’s property, but I wasn’t fast enough. I was apprehended by the two men before I could get inside and lock the door. And as the one had me at knifepoint, I dared not scream, fearing for my life.
“You were held captive in your house?” Nicholas asked.
“Yes, for a few hours. Before dawn I was taken to the man’s house and locked in the cellar. I was held prisoner for several days, promised that I wouldn’t be hurt if I cooperated.” She recounted her time of fear and isolation in the dank and dreary room. “I couldn’t figure out why these awful things were happening to me and Nicholas, but a partial answer was revealed a few nights later. I was bound and gagged by my captor. He explained that an important meeting was about to take place in his house and he couldn’t risk me being discovered. If I knew what was good for me, he said, I would agree to his terms. Fearing the worst, I relented, promising to be quiet while he conducted business.”
Adelaide explained that she had fallen asleep, and then hours later a loud voice in the room above abruptly woke her. “I can’t be sure if someone was angry or merely expressing himself forcefully, but it sent a chill through me. Realizing that my host was attending to the business he had spoken of, I listened carefully as bits of conversation filtered through the floorboards. I couldn’t hear any specifics as many words were muffled, but I heard enough to learn who was meeting with my kidnapper.”
“Who?” Constable Brindle asked, leaning forward in his chair with owl-like eyes. He glanced at Nicholas, his face flush with embarrassment. “Oh, sorry. Just getting a little carried away by the testimony. This is your witness.”
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Nicholas replied, taking it as a good sign that Clay was enthralled with Adelaide’s account. He looked kindly upon the woman, impressed with the ease and grace with which she was handling herself under such difficult circumstances. “Please tell us the name of that mysterious visitor, Adelaide.”
“It was the wizard Caldurian,” she calmly stated.
“Caldurian!” a man in back whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. “One of our own was making deals with that horrible wizard?”
“Yes,” Adelaide
replied. “I can’t tell you precisely what they had discussed, but I heard mention of a key and some talk of the Enâri creatures that terrorized our village. Also, the name Nicholas Raven came up from time to time, and I can’t imagine that that boded well for the young man.”
“Nor can I,” Nicholas joked, momentarily lightening the mood. “Did any additional meetings occur between the wizard and this unnamed individual?”
“I cannot say, because several days later I was taken to a new location. It was to be my home for the next several weeks until my rescue on the last day of autumn.”
“You were held prisoner elsewhere?” Nicholas curiously asked. “Where?”
“I was locked in a crude house built on a small island deep in the swamplands east of Kanesbury,” she explained. “It was well hidden from view of passersby, and I can only guess what criminal activity was conducted there before it became my temporary home. But luckily, Katherine Durant cleverly discovered my location. With the help of Lewis Ames, they freed me from that desolate prison. Well, not just me,” she cryptically added. “Somebody else was held on that island, too, though in another location. Unfortunately, I didn’t know who nor was able to get to him as I was securely locked inside my house.”
“But you know the name of this person now?” Nicholas asked, noting out of the corners of his eyes how the jurors leaned forward to hear the latest twist in the tale.
“I do,” she said. “But I think now would be a good time for Katherine to speak again. She can explain how she rescued me while shedding more light on the nature of the dealings between Caldurian and my captors.”
Everyone looked at Katherine as she stood up. “Adelaide is correct. Just before Lewis and I freed her from the island, we learned about the mysterious goings-on in Kanesbury and elsewhere from Dooley Kramer. He confessed to a string of wrongdoings with his accomplice who had helped kidnapped Adelaide.”
Nicholas scratched his head, appearing confused. “Why would Dooley Kramer tell you about all the crimes he had committed? That doesn’t make sense.”
“It will when you learn that Dooley revealed this information only after Lewis and I saved his life from a hired killer.” Katherine waited for another spontaneous display of surprise from the crowd to dissipate before continuing. “You see, the individual Dooley had been working with had secretly turned against him and was about to have Dooley murdered along with the other two people on the island. Lewis and I were there to stop it and learned a good deal afterward.”
As Katherine spoke, Farnsworth took a slow, deep breath, letting his shoulders slump as he exhaled, realizing that she and her friends had no intention of making any sort of deal with him. They were simply laying out to the residents of Kanesbury the sordid details of how they had been used, robbed and deceived. It was only a matter of time before the name Zachary Farnsworth would be uttered as a participant in those crimes, and then all would be over. He glanced around the room, knowing that the false trust he had secured from his fellow villagers would forever be replaced with loathing and disrespect once the truth was revealed. He had little time left to make his getaway, desperately looking to see if the man he sent outside to alert his other hired help had returned. Where was he? Farnsworth knew he would have to act fast once the signal to proceed was given. Should I run for it right now? He considered the possibility, but knew he would be stopped in his tracks without assistance from outside. He tugged at his collar as Nicholas posed his next question, feeling the heat rising in the room.
“So tell us, Katherine, about how you discovered Adelaide on the island. How did you and Lewis arrive there unseen and just in time to save Dooley’s life?”
“It wasn’t easy,” she replied. “And though Adelaide and the other prisoner were both rescued, not everyone survived the grueling ordeal that night.”
A weighty silence overwhelmed the room. Everyone who sat shoulder to shoulder, or stood crowded in the front entryway or outdoors near the open windows listened with undivided attention. The dimming rays of the sinking sun streaked the western windows as Katherine recounted the nine turbulent days when Caldurian and his soldiers had taken over Kanesbury. Some were at first taken aback when she mentioned befriending an Islander named Paraquin, but she assured them that the young man regretted his actions and wanted to escape his situation.
“I distrusted him in the beginning, too,” she admitted, “but when he knocked on my door one evening with information, I slowly warmed up to the fact that not everyone I assumed was an enemy really was an enemy. Sadly, the opposite proved true as well, namely, that some people I supposed were on our side were really not.”
She explained how Paraquin had told her about Dooley and his unnamed associate’s late night travels outside the guarded borders of Kanesbury, confirming that they were in league with Caldurian. “After Paraquin overheard Adelaide’s name being discussed between Dooley and this other individual, I spied on them, learning that they left the village late at night every six days. It wasn’t until about two weeks after Caldurian had disappeared that I managed to accompany Dooley in secret to the swamp to get to the bottom of this mystery.”
All were impressed how Katherine had concocted a ruse to draw away Dooley’s associate from one of those late-night journeys so she and Lewis could hide in back of the wagon and follow him. She didn’t mention that Amanda Stewart had unwittingly assisted her in the endeavor. She painted in chilling detail how the hired assassin had nearly killed Dooley before he met his own demise by falling upon his knife.
“Afterward, Dooley confessed his involvement in Adelaide’s abduction and a multitude of other crimes,” she said. “He also revealed the name of the second person who had been kidnapped and placed on the island.”
“Who?” Nicholas asked, his voice just above a whisper in the deathly silence.
“Maynard Kurtz,” she said to everyone’s utter bewilderment. “He had been held captive on the island for most of last autumn, though he has since been hiding out with Adelaide just a few miles from here.”
“Maynard?” a woman asked, ignoring trial protocol because Katherine’s statement sounded so absurd. “How could that possibly be? Maynard was in Kanesbury most of that time!” Rumblings of suspicion spread through the room. “I’ve spoken to him myself during the time period you’ve suggested.”
“Yes, how could that be, Miss Durant?” Farnsworth asked with skepticism. He stood and stepped forward, sensing a chance to shed doubt upon her testimony. Even if Katherine dared to produce Maynard at this trial, he didn’t see how she could prove that he had been kidnapped while everyone in the village saw Arileez walking around as Maynard’s double. Surely they would think she was delusional. “Maynard Kurtz was alive and well in Kanesbury for most of last autumn as all of us here are aware, particularly me. He appointed me to the village council after Ned Adams resigned. And he didn’t depart for Morrenwood until the thirteenth day of Old Autumn, nearly at the end of the season when I took his place as acting mayor. So with all due respect, why would you present such a fanciful story? I don’t understand.”
Katherine, guessing that Farnsworth believed she knew nothing about Arileez and finally had her cornered, looked at him with a trace of concern as he sprouted a thin but vindictive smirk. She returned a relaxed and confident smile, causing him to flinch when he caught a steely gleam in her eyes.
“I admit that my story may sound fanciful to anyone who interacted with Maynard last autumn,” she continued. “But my claim will make sense when those people realize they were not associating with the real Maynard Kurtz. As Dooley explained to me, the Maynard Kurtz so many of us know and love had been replaced by an impostor, a powerful wizard named Arileez who could transform into anyone or anything he desired.” Dead silence greeted her words, followed by whispers of disbelief and nervous laughter. But Katherine took the expected response in stride and smiled pleasantly. “Now I don’t blame you for thinking I may have embellished my testimony with a bit of silliness.”
/> “A bit?” someone commented with a snicker.
“I reacted the same way when Dooley said he had witnessed that strange wizard change shape before his very eyes. You see, Dooley and his associate were hired by Caldurian to remove Nicholas from his residence on Maynard’s farm. The wizard needed to freely meet with the impostor Maynard to implement his plan without being observed.”
“And what plan would that be?” someone else asked.
“To take over our beloved village,” she replied, “an event you all witnessed firsthand. But even that wasn’t Caldurian’s main objective, but only a means to an end. What the shameful wizard truly wanted, and sadly achieved, was to destroy the life of Otto Nibbs for the humiliation my uncle brought upon him twenty years ago. It was an act of revenge,” Katherine said, wiping away a tear, “and for a time, it tore our village apart.”
Nobody spoke for a few moments as they digested her words. Though the existence of a wizard powerful enough to transform his appearance was difficult for most to accept, nearly everyone quietly admitted that the ill fortunes that had befallen Otto Nibbs were easily traced back to Caldurian now that the confusing haze of those chaotic nine days had dissipated. Nicholas broke the silence.
“Katherine, do you have any proof of your claim?” he asked. “Though I sense your words are sincere, I believe most would take your story to heart if you offered something a bit more substantial.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” she replied, “which is why a few words from Maynard Kurtz himself might help to convince them.”
“But Maynard got lost on his way to Morrenwood!” someone called out. “If Constable Brindle’s men couldn’t find him during all this time, how could you?”
Katherine couldn’t help but grin as did many others in the assembly who began to believe her statement. “The real Maynard Kurtz never went to Morrenwood,” she explained. “It was the wizard Arileez, in Maynard’s form, who had left our village, departing two days after Caldurian and his troops had disappeared. But if you don’t believe me, then perhaps Maynard can ease your doubts.”
Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy) Page 193
