Fountain of Secrets (The Relic Seekers)

by Clenney, Anita

  “Who’s Raphael?” Brandi asked.

  “You think Nathan’s strange. Raphael’s a hell of a lot scarier,” Jake said. “How did you find us?”

  “I knew they moved the guests from Little Saint Michael’s to the Abbey House. I was in the hall when Fergus left your room.”

  “You can sleep on the sofa,” Kendall said.

  “Where will Nathan sleep?” Jake asked.

  “You think you’re sleeping in the bed?” Nathan asked.

  “It’s my room,” Jake said. “And Kendall’s.”

  “And where’s she supposed to sleep?” Nathan asked, his eyes narrowed.

  “In the bed, where she’s been sleeping.”

  “Like hell.”

  “What’s your idea?” Jake asked. “All four of us pile up in the bed?”

  “We can worry about sleeping arrangements later,” Kendall said. “Right now, we need to search the area for the chalice. Todd might have dropped it.”

  “We can’t go until the cops leave,” Jake said.

  “That could be hours,” Kendall said.

  “We don’t want them to catch us in the area,” Jake said. “We’ll try again in a few hours. They should be gone by then.”

  “I hope they didn’t find it,” Kendall said.

  “We’d better get a couple hours’ sleep,” Jake said. “This might be our only chance.” He glanced at the bed.

  “Brandi and I will take the bed,” Kendall said. “You two can share the sofa or go sleep with Fergus.”

  “Fergus and Marco are already sharing a bed,” Jake said. “And I’m not leaving you alone, not with her.” He glanced at Nathan. “Not with anyone.”

  “I’m not leaving either,” Nathan said.

  “I don’t suppose I could borrow your shower… and some clean clothes?” Brandi asked Kendall.

  They were about the same size, and Kendall didn’t want her parading around in front of Nathan and Jake with only a bathrobe. “Sure.”

  While Brandi showered, Kendall, Nathan, and Jake discussed the priest hole. They agreed not to mention it to Brandi. They didn’t know if they could trust her yet. The plan was to split up when the cops left the area. Nathan and Brandi were more familiar with the murder scene, so they would look for the chalice. Kendall and Jake knew where the priest hole was, so they would see where it led.

  By the time Brandi exited the bathroom, dressed in Kendall’s yoga pants and T-shirt, Nathan and Jake had made up a bed on the floor, having decided that the sofa wasn’t long enough for either of them. Brandi got into bed—as far from the men as possible—and lay down. Kendall climbed in while Jake and Nathan were still sorting out pillows.

  “You got anything to sleep in?” Nathan asked.

  “I don’t usually sleep in anything,” Jake said.

  “I’m not sleeping next to you if you’re naked.”

  “I’m wearing my underwear,” Jake said. “Why are you asking? You have your own clothes.”

  “I didn’t bring anything to sleep in. I don’t wear pajamas.”

  “You’re sleeping in underwear tonight.”

  Both men stripped to their underwear after the lights were out. But they could still be seen by the light from the alarm clock. Kendall looked over at Brandi and saw her watching.

  “You’re one lucky girl,” Brandi whispered. “I think.”

  “You don’t have to live with them. Sometimes I’d trade them both for a good piece of fudge.”

  Jake and Nathan each lay as far to the edge of the blanket as they could, but the soft jabs continued.

  “See what I mean,” Kendall said. “They do this all the time.” Kendall didn’t expect to get any sleep. She wasn’t completely comfortable next to Brandi, but she felt somewhat better knowing Jake and Nathan were a few feet away. Brandi was right about Nathan and Jake being handy in a fight. She’d put them up against almost anything. She drifted off, thinking about the chalice and the priest hole and woke in the middle of the night to an empty bed. Her first thought was that Jake was missing. Then she remembered Jake and Nathan were on the floor. Brandi was the one missing. Kendall got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom. A hand grabbed her ankle.

  “Where you going?” Jake asked, leaning on one arm.

  “I’m looking for Brandi.”

  Jake let go of her ankle and stood. “Is she in the bathroom?”

  “I was going to check.” They walked to the bathroom, but the door wasn’t closed. Kendall opened it wider and flipped on the light. Brandi wasn’t there.

  “What’s going on?” Nathan asked.

  Kendall turned and blinked. She had gotten sort of used to seeing Jake in his underwear. Not Nathan. “Brandi’s gone.”

  Jake turned on the lights in the room and walked to the bed. He touched the side where Brandi had slept. “It’s cold. She’s been gone for a while. Dammit. She’s gone to find the chalice.”

  “I told you I didn’t trust her,” Nathan said.

  “Could you both put on some clothes?” She needed to focus.

  They picked up their clothes from the sofa and started getting dressed.

  “We know where she’s going,” Kendall said, grabbing her things and heading to the bathroom.

  “Between your sixth sense and Nathan’s sense of smell, maybe we’ll get lucky,” Jake said.

  Before they could leave, someone tapped on the door. “Maybe that’s her,” Kendall said.

  “No, it’s Fergus.” Nathan opened the door and Fergus stepped inside. He looked disheveled. “Marco is gone. He was sleeping, and I woke up to go to the”—he glanced at Kendall—“restroom, and I saw he wasn’t in his bed. He’s probably wandering around the ruins. He kept talking about how long it had been since he’s been here.”

  “Brandi’s missing too,” Nathan said.

  “You don’t think she would have…” Kendall stopped.

  “Kidnapped him?” Jake finished.

  “He’s got all the knowledge she needs in his head,” Kendall said.

  “We have to find them,” Nathan said. “We can’t let Brandi find the chalice first. Fergus, you stay here just in case he’s wandered off and comes back.”

  Jake stuck his gun under his shirt. He handed Kendall a knife. “You don’t need a weapon,” he said to Nathan.

  Kendall, Nathan, and Jake hurried toward the door leading to the abbey grounds. Halle, Rhonda, and Art’s mother were also there. Art’s mother was in tears.

  “What’s happened?” Kendall asked.

  “Her little boy is missing,” Halle said, looking at Nathan.

  “Again?” Jake muttered.

  Art’s mother wiped her eyes. “He disappeared from his bed. I’m afraid something bad has happened after those two murders.”

  Kendall looked at Nathan and Jake. Another person missing wasn’t a good sign. If it was just Brandi and Marco, she would believe Brandi had taken the old man. “I’m sure he just went to explore.”

  “But he’s scared of the dark. And after finding that dead body, he was terrified. What if the murderer came back to silence him? Oh, my poor baby.”

  “Don’t panic,” Kendall said. “I’m sure he’s nearby. Little boys are braver than you might think.” Adam was.

  “He was really excited tonight. He kept talking about a hidden tunnel and treasure. Art’s imagination has been even worse here. He was named after King Arthur, you know.”

  “Why don’t you ladies let us look for him,” Jake said. “We’re experienced at this.”

  “You’ve helped the police find people?” Halle asked.

  “Kendall is excellent at finding things,” Jake said. “She’ll be able to focus better with fewer people there.”

  “She is amazing,” Halle said to Art’s mother. “She contacted King Arthur, and we all saw a vision of Merlin. If anyone can find your son, she can.”

  Kendall was touched at Halle’s faith in her, but she felt like a jerk knowing she’d deceived the group. “I promise I’ll do my best t
o find him.”

  “What are you and Jake doing here?” Rhonda asked, her gaze drifting to Nathan.

  “We were going for a walk,” Jake said. “She felt drawn to the ruins tonight.”

  “Maybe it’s because of Art,” Halle suggested.

  “Have we met?” Rhonda asked Nathan. “You look familiar.”

  “I don’t believe so,” Nathan said, already wearing his do-not-disturb face, but it didn’t seem to have an effect on Rhonda.

  “This is…” Kendall glanced at Nathan, unsure who he wanted to be.

  “Kendall’s brother Nick,” Jake said, without giving Nathan a chance to speak.

  Nathan frowned at Jake, but he looked relieved.

  “We need to get moving so we can look for the boy,” Jake said.

  “Please hurry and find my baby,” Art’s mother urged.

  “We will. You go back to the room and wait. He might be exploring and come back,” Jake said.

  It took a minute longer to convince Rhonda to stay at the house with the other women. Kendall hurried toward the ruins. Jake and Nathan stayed on each side of her.

  “We should spread out,” Kendall said.

  Jake and Nathan both refused. “It’s too dangerous,” Jake said. “Move quietly. We don’t want Brandi to know we’re coming.”

  The ruins were quiet, and there was an odd feeling that Kendall couldn’t put a finger on. “Let’s check the murder scene first.”

  But they weren’t there. Neither was the chalice. “We need to check the tunnel,” Jake said.

  “Do you feel that vibration?” Kendall asked.

  “No,” Jake said. Nathan shook his head.

  “It’s like the ground is vibrating. I have a really bad feeling.”

  Jake turned to look at the Tor. “The last time you said the ground was vibrating, we saw the lights—”

  “What the devil is that?” Nathan asked.

  The balls of light were circling above the Tor.

  “The devil might be right,” Jake said. “I think that’s the Reaper trying to come through.”

  “We have to hurry,” Kendall said.

  They ran to the Lady Chapel and found the stone covering the priest hole. “Kendall, hold the flashlight. Nathan, you stand watch.”

  Nathan didn’t listen. He leaned closer to the stone. “Do you hear that?”

  “I don’t hear anything,” Jake said.

  Kendall didn’t hear anything either. “What do you hear?”

  “A voice. I think someone is calling for help.”

  “Hurry,” Kendall said.

  Kendall pushed the round stone and the wall moved back, revealing the steps. A face appeared at the bottom. “Help!”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  ART?” KENDALL LEANED into the hole.

  “No you don’t.” Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her back. He shone the light at the bottom where Art was scrambling up the steps. When he reached the top, Jake took his arm and helped him out. His face was white, freckles lost in a smear of dirt. “They took them. The bad men took them.”

  “Who?” Jake asked.

  Art was panting. “Merlin and Guinevere.”

  “Who?” Kendall asked.

  “I found them. I found Merlin and Guinevere.” He wiped his face, leaving a big streak of dirt. “Well, they found me, but I saw them first.”

  “Where?”

  “Over there.” Art pointed to the abbot’s kitchen. “I saw them sneaking into the abbot’s kitchen. That’s where she hid it.”

  “Who hid what?” Nathan asked.

  “Guinevere hid the chalice. I saw her hide it earlier, before I found the dead man. I didn’t know she was Guinevere until I saw her with Merlin. I thought she was just a redheaded lady.”

  “What happened to the chalice?” Nathan asked.

  “I went to get it, but the bad men took it. They were going to kill Guinevere and Merlin if I didn’t give it to them. Mom’s never going to believe this.”

  “Excuse us a minute, Art.” Jake pulled Kendall and Nathan aside. “What do we do about him? He’ll tell everyone.”

  “What are you suggesting? That we… silence him?”

  “We can’t let him ruin this,” Nathan said.

  “We could take him with us,” Kendall said.

  “He’ll slow us down,” Jake said.

  “I don’t like how you’re looking at him,” Kendall said to Jake. “You are not going to hurt him.”

  “I never said I would hurt him,” Jake said. “But we have to keep him quiet. Nathan, can you do your Hulk thing and scare him into keeping his mouth shut?”

  “I don’t know that I can do it on demand,” Nathan said.

  “I’ll hit you,” Jake offered.

  “For God’s sake, you’re not going to turn Nathan loose on a little boy. I don’t care how irritating he is. Stay here, both of you.”

  Kendall walked back to Art and knelt down in front of him. “You did a wise thing to give up the chalice, but we need to get it back and save Merlin and Guinevere. Can you keep a secret, Art? An important secret?”

  He nodded.

  “No one knows Merlin and Guinevere are here. And they can’t find out. The secret must be protected. You’ll be guarding King Arthur’s kingdom, just like a knight.”

  “Are they knights?” Art asked, looking at Nathan and Jake.

  “Sort of.”

  “Which one is King Arthur?”

  “Uh… it’s a secret.”

  “Is the other one Lancelot?”

  “Uh… a secret, remember?”

  “Maybe you’re Guinevere, and not her.”

  “You have to keep the secret. You can’t tell anyone what you found or what you’ve seen. Promise?”

  Art nodded and put up his fingers in the scouts honor sign. “Can I just tell my friend Garrett?”

  “No.”

  “Frankie?”

  “Who’s Frankie?”

  “My pet snake.”

  “You can tell Frankie. No one else. Now run back to the house. We’ll watch to make sure you get inside. Go straight to your mom and tell her you’re sorry for scaring her. Tell her you wanted to see the ruins at night. Go.”

  Art started running.

  “And knights never stick out their tongues at other knights,” Jake called softly after him.

  Art stopped and turned around. He thumped his fist against his chest and grinned. Kendall watched him until he was safely inside. Then she moved down the steps and joined Nathan and Jake, who had started checking the steps.

  “The kid was excited. He should’ve been scared,” Jake said.

  “That was bloody brilliant,” Nathan said. “You’ll make a good mother.”

  Jake’s jaw clenched. “I don’t suppose we could get you to go back and stay with Fergus,” he said to Kendall.

  “No.”

  “If the Reaper is in there,” Nathan said, “I don’t want you here.”

  “You’re wasting your breath,” Jake said. “She won’t leave.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but I have to see this through. I have my reasons.”

  “Because you think the Reaper is your father?” Nathan said to Kendall.

  “Come on. We have to go,” Jake said. “If the Reaper gets the chalice to the Fountain of Youth, it won’t matter whose father he is. Watch out for booby traps.”

  The tunnel was in good shape for being so old. The stones that made up the walls and floor were hand cut. In other circumstances, Kendall would have loved to examine it. But now the place felt eerie, maybe because she was almost certain the Reaper was waiting for them on the other side. And she was dreadfully afraid that he was her father, no matter what Nathan said.

  “This place could be filled with hiding places,” Nathan said, directing his light at the walls. A few yards later, they came to a split in the tunnel. They stopped and looked at both passages.

  “This gives me a bad feeling,” Jake said. “Door number one or door number tw
o? One of them is bound to be a trap.”

  “Kendall, you sense anything?” Nathan asked.

  Kendall put her hand on the wall between the two tunnels. She closed her eyes and felt the air change. It was charged with electricity. Statues? Her eyes flew open, and she heard a wild yell, followed by a horse’s snort. “Someone’s coming.”

  “I don’t hear anything,” Jake said.

  Nathan shook his head. “Nothing.”

  “You can’t hear the yelling and the horse. The hooves are pounding—oh my God!”

  A large black horse appeared out of the darkness of the tunnel. A knight dressed in black sat astride the horse, his sword raised. His eyes were glowing.

  “What is it?” Jake asked.

  “A black knight.” He was probably another ghost, but Kendall grabbed both men by the arm and yanked them out of the way. Horse and rider turned toward them, coming fast. The black knight drew back his sword and swung. Kendall felt the rush of air and she screamed. The screaming continued even after she’d closed her mouth. She opened her eyes and saw she was lying on snow-covered ground.

  “Nathan! Jake!” She tried to jump up, but her feet wouldn’t move. She turned her head and saw both men lying near her, struggling to sit up.

  “What the bloody hell?” Nathan looked at the ground. “Where’d the tunnel go?”

  They turned and looked behind them. It was a battlefield, like the one where she’d seen King Arthur. Behind them a fort sat high on a hill—a hill fort, like Camelot had once been. There were men on horseback and some on foot, fighting as snow blanketed the ground, mixing with blood. “I think we’re stuck in one of Kendall’s visions,” Jake said. “Look at that.”

  “You can see it too?” Kendall asked.

  “Yeah,” Nathan said.

  “I think it’s Camelot,” Kendall said.

  “Damn, it’s him,” Jake said. “There on the hill.”

  It was Arthur. The Arthur she’d seen in her vision. “It is him.”

  “Bloody hell,” Nathan said, but he was looking farther down the battlefield. “If this is a vision, how come that knight is looking at us?”

  “What?”

  A knight tossed a decapitated head on the ground and urged his horse toward them.

  “It’s the black knight I saw in the tunnel,” she said. And he didn’t look any friendlier here than he had there.