Legend of the Sorcerer

by Donna Kauffman

  “Deliveryman? You mean someone actually brought it out to the island?” Kuhn’s temper exploded. “Why in the hell didn’t you give us this information before?”

  Cai’s own temper seethed. “Because I didn’t think it was important at the time.” And because you’re an incompetent asshole. “The man worked for a company called Union Parcel. Got a pen? Here’s the serial number that was on the boat.” Cai looked at the palm of his hand, the only thing he’d had to scribble the number on earlier this morning. He read it off, rapid-fire, not really caring if Kuhn got it or not. “If you find anything out, call me. I’ll talk to my grandfather about setting up a meeting.” He hung up while Kuhn was still shouting orders in his ear.

  “He really is an ass,” Jordy said.

  Cai blew out a frustrated breath. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

  “What did he want?”

  “He wants to talk to Alfred. I think he thinks we have a more direct role in this than that of innocent bystanders.”

  “But that’s ridiculous!”

  “Yeah, well, that’s Kuhn for you. He doesn’t have anything else to go on, so when he found out the symbol on the flesh was from the Dark Ages, he immediately linked it to Alfred.” He grabbed her hand once again. “Come on, I don’t want us to be here when he or his men arrive. I gave him the deliveryman and boat info to buy us some time, but he’ll be hot to talk to us for sure now.”

  “You didn’t tell him about Isolde.”

  He stopped and turned back to her. “I’m not going to, not until we find Alfred and find out what’s going on. Kuhn couldn’t find the truth if it was engraved on an invitation and handed to him. Let him chase down our spy. I want that bastard out of the way, anyway. I don’t want him following us to Miami. And who knows, maybe we’ll finally get lucky and he’ll tell Kuhn himself who his boss lady is. My main concern right now is Alfred.”

  “Do I have time to run upstairs and change clothes?”

  He kissed her hard on the mouth. “Just hurry.”

  “We’ll find him, Cai. It will turn out okay.”

  “I hope to hell you’re right.”

  She smiled, though there was honest fear in her eyes. “Aren’t I always?”

  He tried to smile too, but all he managed was another fast kiss. “Hurry, meet me on the docks.”

  He was halfway down the path when she shouted from her bedroom window. “Cai! It’s a note, from Dilys.”

  She held up her hand. “And the key.”

  THIRTY

  Jordy’s fingers trembled as she read the note again.

  Jordalyn.

  I was wrong to assign you a task that was mine to fulfill. I tried to convince himself to stay behind with those who love him, but he has his own obligations in this matter and his will would not be thwarted. Master Malacai will worry, but ask that he understand why we must make this pilgrimage. It is his grandfather’s rightful deed and he does it out of honor and love and for his family. The Dark Pearl must be protected. We will send word when all has been resolved. We will not fail, for all will then be lost.

  She looked up when Cai entered the room. “Read this.”

  She watched his face as he read it. Anger, betrayal, fear, confusion.

  “You said she gave you a key?” he asked.

  She nodded and showed him an elegant silver antique key. “It was in a velvet pouch next to the note.”

  “Why should I have expected anything less?” He sighed, then frowned.

  “What?”

  “It just occurred to me that they could have chartered something private to fly them over. It would be just like Alfred.”

  “Do they have private planes for overseas flights?”

  “If they did, Alfred would find one.”

  “Then they could already be gone.” She cupped his cheek when she saw he’d already come to that conclusion.

  “Then we follow them,” he said. “You get to go to Wales after all.”

  Her eyes widened at that, although she already figured that might be where this was headed. “We don’t know where they went.”

  “Then we find whatever this key unlocks and take it with us. There has to be a clue somewhere in his notes.” Jordy was surprised he’d mentioned the notes. He hadn’t believed in them before. But much had changed with Alfred’s sudden disappearance. “What about where Alfred lived in Wales? You must know—”

  “No, I don’t. Not specifically. North Wales is all I know. Somewhere in Anglesey, I think.”

  It should have surprised her that Cai couldn’t tell her where his grandfather was from but knowing Alfred and everything else he’d kept from Cai, it wasn’t so odd. “Well, it’s a start.”

  He searched Alfred’s room but found nothing that the key would fit. “Let’s check Dilys’ room.”

  Jordy followed him to the door, then stopped short. “If they’re not in Miami and we have to go on to Wales … I don’t have my passport.” Her heart sank.

  “Damn.” He turned to her. “Maybe you should go back to Warburg, let me go on over there if I have to.” His tone was sincere, but his eyes were filled with regret.

  “Cai—”

  He moved closer and pulled her into his arms. “Margaron knows about you. You might not be safe. I have no idea what’s going on over there or where this all might lead.” He stroked her hair, then her lips. “It might be for the best.”

  She shook her head. “Dilys said I had to have courage, that I couldn’t let you down, that I was part of this, too. I believe that, I feel that. In ways I can’t even explain. I don’t want to run home to Warburg and hide.” She held his gaze. “I want to be with you, I want to help you.”

  “Truthfully, I don’t want you out of my sight. But with no passport …”

  She swore under her breath and was surprised when he smiled. “I can’t imagine what you find so funny at a time like this.”

  “You.” He held her tightly. “Me. We’re both too stubborn for our own good.” He looked down into her eyes. “Promise me you won’t leave my side the entire time.”

  Her heart sped up, but hope died quickly. “How?”

  “I’ve got an idea. You search Dilys’ room. I’ve got some phone calls to make.” He kissed her hard and deep and left her standing there, dazed and reeling.

  Jordy slid into her leather seat on the Concorde and carefully stowed her canvas bag under the seat in front of her. “Be a good fish, Fred,” she whispered, careful that his ventilated Tupperware bowl was securely tucked in. Another great thing about having fish for pets, they were easy to smuggle. A little Ziploc baggie of water in a coat pocket, through the security check, then a quick transfer back to his covered bowl, and voila! Cai had had a fit halfway to Richmond yesterday when he’d finally realized what was in the bag. He wasn’t much happier about it now.

  “Do you realize what kind of international laws you’re probably breaking?” he whispered in her ear.

  “Like I said yesterday, I’m not leaving him behind. Besides, he loves to fly. He did really well when Suzanne and I took him to Mexico. I couldn’t leave him with anyone. The one time I had someone watch him, they almost flushed him because they thought he was dead.”

  “He doesn’t swim upside down anymore,” Cai grumbled, but he let it go.

  Jordy hated the tension she saw in his face. She was really worried about him. Despite the complicated plans he’d made to retrieve her passport, she knew he’d hoped that they’d intercept Alfred and Dilys in the airport in Miami. They’d tried everything to find out if they’d booked a flight, but it would take the FBI to get information on the passenger manifests.

  The flight to Richmond had been tense. She had barely made it to her bank in Warburg in time. It had felt so strange being back home again, but Cai had been so upset and they were in such a hurry, she’d hardly had time to figure out how she felt about it. It certainly wasn’t the homecoming she’d planned.

  She was worried about Alfred, too. How was he holding
up through all this? Thank God he had Dilys with him. It was the only thing that eased either of their minds.

  She thought about the binders tucked in the bag beneath Fred. She’d found them in an old trunk in Dilys’ closet. Stuffed full of Alfred’s notes, they were thick and somewhat heavy. She’d been able to bring only a handful.

  Jordy buckled her belt, her shoulder rubbing against Cai’s. His face was turned to the window. Strain drew his features into tight lines. Neither of them had slept well the night before, too worried to do much more than hold on to each other in the dark. She slid her hand to his thigh and wove her fingers through his. Without looking at her, his fingers tightened almost painfully on hers.

  As the plane lifted from the runway, her eyes blurred and she tried not to wonder how this was all going to end.

  With the jump in time, it was dark when they landed at Heathrow. They’d slept fitfully on the flight and both were ragged around the edges.

  “Come on, we have one more flight to catch.”

  She transferred Fred back to his water-filled plastic baggie and they trudged through Customs. An hour later, they were on a private plane to Manchester.

  It was the early hours of the morning when Cai finally checked them into a modest hotel. Even though, U.S. time, it was evening, she felt every bit as tired as if she’d stayed up half the night.

  “Any news?” she asked, once they were settled in their room. She put Fred on the nightstand.

  Cai hung up the phone. “No messages from Alfred or Dilys. Several calls from Kuhn.” They both grimaced. “Naturally, he left no word on the boat or deliveryman.”

  “Figures. What about Eric? Did he call in?”

  Cai had contacted his researcher before they took off from New York and asked him to check into Isolde’s address in Wales.

  Cai nodded. “Isolde has homes in London and Paris, but she also has family property in north Wales that apparently dates back quite a ways. I asked Eric to look into Alfred’s past here, too.”

  “He didn’t think that was odd? You asking about your own grandfather?”

  “I ask him to look up all sorts of weird stuff. His head is always in a book, he doesn’t ask why, he just loves the hunt. That’s why I use him.” Cai paused, then nodded to the canvas sack on the foot of the bed. “Did you find anything useful in his books?”

  Jordy was surprised. Even though it had been his idea to bring them along, Cai hadn’t once asked her what was in the books. She knew he was still having a hard time believing anything Alfred had said. She wasn’t sure how much she believed herself. “A few place names, but I have no idea how they might relate to Isolde, if at all. We’ll need a map to locate them.” She sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to ask what else the books entailed, but he didn’t. “We have to talk about this at some point, Cai. The information he’s recorded goes way beyond some fantasy he’s created in his head. The notes are very detailed.”

  Cai’s face, lined with exhaustion and worry, tightened further. “Does it say where he hid the damn Pearl?”

  She shouldn’t have brought it up. “No, it doesn’t. He’s written this as if that knowledge is already known. He does relay the history. The place names he mentions are the ones I copied down. It might be a start.”

  He nodded wearily. “Fine.”

  She stood and moved into his arms. She kissed him and kept on kissing him until the tension ebbed and he was returning her kisses with equal ardor. “Come to bed, Malacai,” she whispered against his mouth. “We’ll find a more productive outlet for all this frustration. And then we’ll sleep.”

  She didn’t get any argument from him.

  THIRTY-ONE

  Fred’s bowl wedged perfectly between the seat of the little Ford they rented the following morning. It felt weird sitting in the left seat with no steering wheel in front of her. The landscape west of Chester was captivating. So this was the land Alfred had been raised in. Even in the dead of winter, it was stunning. She wondered how he could have stayed away from this for so long. Chilly blue skies, a constant wind, snow dotting the peaks of the Clwydian Range, and fields so bright the color defied description. Stone farmhouses and sheep dotted the fields, their black faces making her wish she were sharing this with Alfred.

  It was late afternoon when they closed in on their destination. “Get off here and cut across to Ty’n-y-Groes. It’s only a couple of miles to Llanbedr-y-Cennin. However the hell you say that.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Cai pulled up in front of the small bed-and-breakfast he’d made arrangements with back in Manchester.

  “Just bring the one bag in for now. And stow that damn fish.” Cai hefted his gym bag and climbed the stone steps to the porch of the small farmhouse.

  Jordy made a face at his back, but did as asked. She knew his stress was at max load. However, as soon as they closed the door on their room, she turned to him. “I know you’re worried, Cai. I am, too, but you could be a bit nicer to me. I am just trying to help.”

  He waited a long moment, then finally said, “I know. I’m sorry.”

  “Now,” Jordy began, “you said Isolde’s family land is close to here. We can check it out before dinner.” She bent a little and went to him. “We’re here, Cai, we’re doing something to help.”

  “But it’s just … something doesn’t feel right.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He swore under his breath and leaned back in the doorway. “I expected the place to be somewhere more, I don’t know, populated. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”

  “You said the property has been in her family a long time. So it’s not that surprising that it doesn’t fit in with her jet set glamour reputation, is it? Maybe this fits perfectly. I mean, an isolated place like this would be perfect to hide … you know …” She shuddered, unable to put it into words. When he didn’t respond, she said, “It’s more than just the location, isn’t it?” She saw it in his eyes.

  “Ever since we drove through Ty’n-y-Groes, I’ve had this, I don’t know, this …”

  “Say it.”

  “This weird feeling. I can’t explain it, Jordy.”

  She took his arm and pulled him to the door to the hallway. “Come on.”

  “Where?”

  “We’re going right now. We’re going to check the place out, see what we’re dealing with. We can ask our hostess, Mrs. Evans, if she’s heard of two older Americans staying nearby.”

  “Alfred is Welsh. And Dilys is … well, I haven’t a clue, but at least part Welsh anyway.”

  “Okay, okay, but any visitors at this time of year have to be a bit unusual. It won’t hurt to ask.”

  Cai nodded, and they went downstairs.

  Mrs. Evans was very nice, but not very helpful. She was attending some local women’s club meeting that night in Conwy and said she’d ask around. Jordy didn’t want to admit that she wasn’t much more hopeful than Cai.

  They were at the door when Mrs. Evans said, “You say you’re heading to the old Morgan property?”

  Something in her tone had them both nodding warily.

  “Was rumored to be a llys on that site in ancient times, but they never dug there as it’s still owned by the family.”

  “Llys?”

  “An ancient palace of sorts. A noble house.” She shrugged. “They’re just starting to dig for them, made a great discovery in Rhosyr. Great sand blow buried most of them well back as I understand it. The Morgan place survived better, being up in the mountains and all. A shame they won’t let them excavate it.”

  “How long ago was it buried?” Jordy asked.

  “Oh my, well, we’re talking back in the late thirteenth century or thereabouts at least. I’m not good on dates.”

  She tried not to show her disappointment. “Is there a house there now?” Jordy asked. “A family residence?”

  “No, no. Just the ruins as I understand it. Never been up there myself.”

  Cai swore under his breath, as Jordy thanked
her for her help.

  “I don’t know what connection you have to the Morgans,” Mrs. Evans went on, “but I suppose you know the current holder is none other than Isolde Morgan herself. Not that she’s come around these parts.”

  “Yes, we heard that.”

  She smiled. “Lovely, then. Perhaps you know of its curse as well?”

  “Curse?” they said simultaneously.

  “Yes.” She laughed. “We Welsh can be a superstitious lot. The story has been passed down for years, supposedly started way back in the Dark Ages. It is said that anyone other than a Morgan descendant who has tried to make a home on that land has either gone mad or disappeared.” In the uncomfortable silence that immediately followed, Mrs. Evans waved her hand and chattered on. “Of course, no one has lived there for hundreds of years.”

  “Of course,” Jordy said weakly. Mrs. Evans continued to smile brightly, only now it was beginning to creep Jordy out. Suddenly magic pearls and ancient curses weren’t sounding quite so unreal.

  Using the map Mrs. Evans had kindly drawn for them, Cai turned on the dirt track that wound up into the mountains and slowed to a crawl. Heavy rains and snow runoff had left the narrow lane deeply rutted. With the coming dusk, it felt more than a little ominous. He thought about Mrs. Evans’ tale, told in her irritatingly chirpy little voice. Cursed. Just what he needed. Along with a magic Pearl and a grandfather claiming to be a … a sorcerer or … something.

  “I don’t know what to look for,” Jordy said.

  “I have a feeling we’ll know it when we see it.”

  They bumped up another hillock, then went around a sharp turn. Cai brought the car to a jarring stop.

  “Damn,” Jordy whispered.

  “Yeah.” Cai said. “Damn.”

  Mrs. Evans hadn’t been kidding about there being a ruin. All that was left were the outlines of a few walls and the remains of a stone fence that rambled all across the hills.

  Cai jammed the car in reverse. “This was a waste of time.”

  “Wait. Why don’t we get out and look around. There’s enough daylight left.”