by KD Blakely
“I thought I had accepted this situation, but I was wrong. I cannot bear to be locked out of my home, unable to help.”
I said, “You and Brady keep figuring out what all the clues mean. You are helping!”
“Thank you. I will decipher these new pages you brought me. Now that I know Ghalynn left these clues, it may help me. You have found much more than I ever expected, and I appreciate it greatly.”
She spoke slowly, her voice leaden, as if each word was an appalling weight. “I now think being in Chimera is far more dangerous for you than I ever believed possible. I will understand if you wish to stop. In fact, I feel I should tell you to end this quest. Like cats deserting a sinking ship. Like you reached the bend of the road. Like this is the claw that broke the camel’s back.
While none of her sayings were right, we understood what she was trying to say. A babble of voices broke out around me. I could understand random snippets, “…to know what it means!” “…too dangerous.” “…other things alive in there?” “…check out the lake.”
I thought of howling, snuffling creatures. Of Olivia almost crushed by falling rocks. Of Faith slipping when she climbed to the upper cave. Of huge ugly trolls. Of turning my friends into statues. Those were all good reasons to stop.
Then I thought of never entering Chimera again. Of never knowing whether this mystery would end. Of letting down Ronny, who no longer seemed strange to me. Who, I realized, had become a friend. I looked at her, and saw the sadness and worry on her face.
I heaved a sigh and stood up. I knew what I had to do, or I’d never be satisfied.
“I plan to keep looking.”
My statement brought the arguing to a halt. I felt all of their eyes on me, and there was a very long moment of silence. I was grateful but not really surprised when Olivia and Faith both stood up. We were The Three after all.
“I’ll go,” Olivia said and smiled at me.
“Fine,” Faith said shortly, sounding grouchy but resigned.
I was a lot more pleased than I expected when Brady and Doug both stood up.
“I can’t let the girls have all the fun,” Doug said with a grin. Like he thought being a girl was a bad thing! I wanted to smack that grin off his face.
Brady cleared his throat and said, “I’m fascinated with the translations I’ve made so far. In fact, I finished some of the information from the cave wall. Doug will be glad to hear it mentions going to the lake.
Another babble of voices broke out, but stopped when Brady held up his hand. “I’ll quote it for you. It’s kind of a poem, I guess.”
The quest shall lead from cave to lake,
Search well for what lies hidden there.
Know only pure intent may take,
But guard well all that you lay bare.
All shall be lost with one mistake.
“So, we’re going to the lake in January,” I said. “I guess we’ll find out where we have to go after that once we find Ghalynn’s clues and anything else he hid there.”
I wasn’t just talking about going to the lake and they all knew it. I was asking them to stick it out until we’d found every clue Ghalynn had left.
No one spoke.
A little desperately, I said, “Promise you won’t quit until we solve this. Not until we figure out what happened.” I held out my hand. It was trembling — I was so afraid they’d tell me no. At least my voice trembled less than my hand when I asked, “All for one…?”
Now the silence was miserably uncomfortable. I felt faint and realized I was holding my breath as I watched them stand there and stare at my hand. Faith was looking at it like it was a poisonous snake.
My heart felt like it was sinking down to my toes. They weren’t going to help me.
Then they were all reaching out, laying their hands on mine. I heard their voices speaking over each other, “I swear it.” “Till the end.” “—got your back!” “…one for all!”
I looked up and saw my brother Chris enter the room. He wrapped his arm around Ronny and gave her a tender smile. For once, it didn’t make me feel twitchy. Then they reached out and laid their hands on top of ours. Chris smiled at me as he and Ronny repeated the promise, “All for one and one for all.”
I thought about how this year had started. I’d been afraid everything was changing too much. That I was losing my brother and my two best friends. But now, instead of just three hands joined together, there were seven.
Note to self — Sometimes change isn’t so bad. But I will never admit that to Mom!
Chris reached over and rumpled my hair. “Thanks for your help, Kitty-Kat.”
Ugh!!!!
I gritted my teeth and growled, “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Kitty-Kat!” Of course he just grinned, unrepentant. He even had the nerve to wink at me.
Now that was something that definitely needed to change!
The story continues with Secrets in the Deep
Look for it in late 2013
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K D Blakely started her first novel when she was seven years old. It was never finished, but that was the beginning of a lifelong dream to be a writer. Over the years, she started a number of books, but this is the first one she has actually finished. For that, she gives a lot of credit to her friends in the Stonehenge Writer’s Group! Check them out at www.stonehengewriters.wordpress.com
K D Blakely lives in Northern California with her two cats. One is named OhNo — for very good reasons. Somehow, K D Blakely and her other cat, Girly Girl, have managed to survive numerous OhNo caused
cat-tastrophies…
She hopes you will visit her at www.kat-tales.net,
or follow her blog at http://kattalesdotnet.wordpress.com
TSYE
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
