Keeper: Chapter 9

Advice for the day: Never "borrow" a flash drive without asking. v.

Chapter 9

After a few minutes of reading Jamie had more questions than answers. He was however composing quite a book list. Albe’s synopsis was quite helpful but somewhat shy on details as he had relied on the provided book list to flesh out some of the details.



“He knew he might be killed over this but didn’t think anyone could or would break in and steal his books,” Jamie said to himself leaning back in the chair. From what he could tell the issue Albe was investigating dealt with two factions who had crossed on what was either a cultural issue or a religious one. Jamie couldn’t tell and he was pretty sure Albe hadn’t figured it out either. Jamie looked over at his notebook.



The page was now divided in half. One side listed the books Albe had mentioned. He wasn’t surprised to find there were five titles on the list. Jamie glanced at the shelves. The books were grouped by topic rather than alphabetically which is what slowed down his inventory checking the day before. Perhaps the books around the missing ones would prove helpful.



On the second side of the page Jamie had started a list of the terms he was unfamiliar with. Most of them had been footnoted with references to the missing books. They were also words that appeared frequently in the pack of letters he had found the day before. Jamie glanced at the clock on the wall. It was barely six o’clock. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out his breath in a long steady stream as a plan began to form in his head.



“House?” He asked.



“Yes keeper?” came the ready reply.



“Do you know how Albe ordered his books?”



“Yes Keeper. He made a list, often from catalogs and had me send the list to the book sellers.”



“Could you send a list to them from me, only with yesterday’s date on it?”



“Yes Keeper.” Jamie nodded.



“When do you normally send out the mail?”



“First thing in the morning.”



“Good. What do I need to do?”



“The dated and signed list should be placed on the front hall table next to the calling card holder after it is sealed. That is the normal place for sending out messages.” Jamie nodded. He pulled out a nicer piece of paper than his notepad held and copied the list of missing books down. He used his best handwriting and dated it for the 6th of October. The seal was still in the secretary downstairs and Jamie took the list downstairs, waving it a little as he walked so that the ink would dry. Hopefully it was early enough in the morning that it would seem reasonable that the list was compiled the day before. Then it would have gone out with the normal morning mail regardless of his physical state.



“Not a perfect plan,” he said to himself. “It assumes that others actually know the routine of the House but it will have to do.” Jamie retrieved the key from under the chair and unlocked the secretary. With a little trial and error, and a few burnt fingers, Jamie managed to melt the wax into a reasonable circle and press the seal into it. He looked at the impression. The edge of the J was not as crisp as he would have liked but the impression showed up well in the green wax. Jamie tilted the sealed list a little and caught the glint of metal as the gold threaded through the dark green wax caught the light. The color very much suited Albe. Jamie placed the list on the table, carefully avoiding touching both the calling cards and the holder. Before he returned to the study, he detoured to the kitchen.



“You hungry already?” Del asked with a grin.



“No still full,” Jamie assured him. “I just wanted to get the list of people who left calling cards first.”



“Of course,” Del said. He indicated the list still on the table and then looked at Jamie. A wary smile appeared on his face. “You have a plan?”



“I have the start of a plan,” Jamie confessed.



“Good,” Del told him. “You just let me know what I need to do to help.” From the look Del gave him Jamie had a feeling Del was hoping for the part of the plan involving pain to whoever had tried to kill him. He left and headed back up to the study.



“And I thought brownies were nice. Kind of gives you a new perspective on that whole Girl Scout thing.” He told himself as he moved. When Jamie returned to the library he picked up his list of unfamiliar words and turned to the book shelf. He sighed. “There is nothing like old fashioned research,” he said, reaching for the first likely book. “I really hope it has an index.”



As Jamie perused the shelves he pulled books that looked like they might deal with the list and stacked them by his feet. When he had about eight he retreated back to the desk with his stack. He settled himself in the chair and flipped his notebook to a clean page. Several hours later he was interrupted by Del. The man set a plate with a sandwich on the edge of Jamie’s desk. Jamie looked up at him, blinking owlishly.



“I called twice but you didn’t hear me,” Del explained. “Any luck?”



“Some,” Jamie said. He realized he was hungry and picked up half of the sandwich. “Thanks,” he said.



“Not a problem.” Del turned to go.



“I don’t suppose you know who the Gederan and the Federan are do you?” He asked. Del shrugged.



“I’ve heard of the names before but not much else. Those aren’t the type of folk that mix with my kind.”



“What do you mean mix?” Jamie asked. Del favored him with a sardonic smile.



“As with any society there are high caste and low caste,” Del began. Jamie started to interrupt but Del waved him to silence.



“It isn’t always called a caste system,” he continued. “Sometimes the divide is economic or educational but people, fey or otherwise divide themselves into groups. Like following like. And the groups figure out a system of ways to deal, or not deal, with each other. That is the way of things no matter what you call it.” This time when Del paused Jamie nodded and took another bite of the sandwich.



“Now,” Del said, satisfied his explanation would be taken. “I am one of the workers you might say. We come in several varieties of course but are still in the same general group. The Gederan and the Federan, well they belong to the high court. They aren’t what you would call workers. So I can’t really say I know much about them.”



“I see,” Jamie said. He wondered if Del was allowed to say much about the way things operated. He seemed to use general terms rather than specific. “Well there goes my hope of a short cut.” Del laughed. The laughter sounded a bit relieved.



“I’ll give you a yell for dinner then,” he said as he headed out of the door. Jamie thought about what he had learned while he ate his lunch. “The Federan and the Gederan both want the Lustan for the Lune Merdos.” That was the gist of Albe’s summation. So far Jamie had figured out that the Federan and Gederan were both groups in the high caste of one of the kingdoms of the fey. It sounded like they normally got along but for this one thing they were willing to kill each other. The Lustan was some sort of place. Jamie had found a picture of it in one of the books and glanced over. To his eyes it looked something like Angkor Wat. “Except the carvings look a little more Egyptian.” Jamie had yet to find out what the Lune Merdos was but figured that it was some sort of event. Either way he did know that the Federan and the Gederan refused to share the Lustan for it and Albe had been trying to determine who had the rights to use the temple for that night. Jamie finished the sandwich and put the plate on the edge of his desk. He started to pull one of the books closer but stopped himself. He pulled his laptop closer and returned to Albe’s stored files.



“Nothing on Lune Merdos,” he said after a few minutes. On a whim he decided to Google it.



“Do you mean Luna Muertos?” The search engine asked him, assuming he had misspelled his query. Jamie shook his head. Figuring he wasn’t going to get any better results he clicked yes. After a few more clicks he found out that Luna Muertos was an old term for a lunar eclipse.



“Sounds reasonable,” he said. “I wonder when the next one is.” Jamie typed in a second search. November 2nd was the answer. “The Day of the Dead. I wonder what the odds of that are.” Jamie recalled seeing the November date added to one of Albe’s notes but it didn’t connect with anything. He leaned back in the chair.



“If this Lune Merdos is going down on the Day of the Dead then I have only about three weeks to figure this mess out.” From what he had picked up from his reading if a decision was not made prior to the event then a blood bath would take place as each group tried to take over the site.



“So no pressure,” he said. “Great.”



“Keeper,” House interrupted his thoughts.



“Yes,” Jamie said.



“There is someone here.”



“Here?” Jamie shot to his feet. “Where?”



“Outside. He is peering in one of the windows. I think he might have been there a while but he just now brushed against my glass with his breath.”



“Good,” Jamie said. “Lets see what our visitor is up to.”

late posting

My flash drive is currently MIA so I will be conducting the great seach for it this evening.  A new post will be in the morning. Sorry if that throws anyone off schedule. And if anyone happens to see a runaway flash drive, remind it that life on the streets can get pretty ugly and send it home. val

Keeper: Chapter 8

Sorry for the late posting, got pulled into a meeting before I could post this morning.  v

Chapter 8

Jamie stared at the boulder and splintered bed and swallowed hard. He looked up at the ceiling expecting to see broken and town roof supports. Instead there was a large black scorch mark. The white paint of the ceiling was blistered and cracked.



“Odd,” Jamie said. He started to step forward but felt a burning on his chest before he could cross the room’s threshold. He looked down in surprise to find the keeper’s medallion glowing blue and nearly hot enough to burn him. He stepped away from the door and the metal cooled, its blue light dimming. Del was staring at the medallion.



“My guess is there is another nasty surprise waiting just incase the rock missed.” Del told him. He had a grim, angry look on his face. He looked through the open door at the wreckage. “We’ll be needing to call to get someone to clear that before we can clear up.” Jamie nodded. Now that his heart had stopped racing and was returning to normal he was starting to feel a bit numb. No one had ever really wanted to kill him before. He shivered and realized he was wearing only his boxers and that the hallway was quite chilly. Del noticed the shivers as well.



“I think we’re all out of sleep tonight. I’ll go start breakfast and we’ll see about getting something warm in you.” Del turned and walked back down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen. Jamie closed Albe’s bedroom door and retreated back to his room. He closed his door, wanting a little something more between him and the other room. Del was right, there was no going back to sleep now. He looked over at the clock. 4:28 am the glowing red clock read.



“Well I’ve gotten up earlier,” Jamie said to himself as he pulled on jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. He put on heavy socks but not shoes. Somehow moving silently sounded like a good plan for a while. Once dressed, he sat back down on the bed and stared at the wall for a moment.



“House?” He asked. “Are you awake?”



“Yes, keeper.” The house replied. It didn’t sound a bit sleepy. In fact it sounded agitated.



“Do you know anything about the giant rock in Albe’s bed?”



“No Keeper. I swear I let no one in.” The house sounded distressed.



“I’m not accusing you of anything, House.” He reassured it. “I’m just trying to figure out what is going on. Can you tell me the last time Albe slept here?”



“Five nights ago.” House told him.



“Five?” Jamie repeated. He counted back in his head. “That would be October 2nd then since this is technically the morning of the 7th?”



“That is correct Keeper.”



“They told me he was gone on the 4th, I came with the Family on the 5th,” Jamie mused aloud. The timeline fit. Can you tell me what happened between Albe waking on the morning of the third and right now?”



“Of course keeper. The previous keeper rose, ate and left. You and your family then came,” house paused. “Would you like a recounting of the visit?”



“No,” Jamie said. “I think we can all live without that. Pick up again after we left.”



“Very well. After you left several people dropped calling cards off. They were slipped under the door and I made sure they were placed in the holder.”



“Did you see who they were?”



“No but their names would presumably be on the cards,” House told him in a slightly huffy tone of voice.



“If they dropped off their own cards,” Jamie replied in his own huffy tone. The numbness was starting to fade and he was starting to get angry. Someone had tried to kill him.



“True,” House conceded.



“You can’t really see anyone outside of your confines can you?”



“Only the keeper,” House admitted. Jamie nodded. Something to think about later.



“After the cards were dropped off?”



“Nothing until you came.”



“Has there been anyone other than me or Del here since I arrived?”



“No Keeper.” Jamie nodded slowly.



“Has Del been upstairs? Or worked any magic that you could tell?”



“Del Has been upstairs twice since his arrival. Once to let you know that dinner was ready and once this morning after the bed collapsed. He has worked nothing but hearth magic since his arrival.”



Jamie tapped his finger on his knee in thought. He blinked as he remembered Albe’s book. He pulled the satchel out from under the bed where he had stashed it and tugged out what he had dubbed the fantastic field guide. Under brownie he found two drawings. One of the drawings looked remarkably like Millie the other was a male version that didn’t look exactly like Del but close enough to be a cousin. He was wearing the same sort of clothing Del had been wearing in the kitchen. Jamie quickly scanned the description.



“Tend to dress well when traveling is somewhat of an understatement,” he muttered as he read. “A brownie is also known as a house elf and unlike the rest of its more exotic kin, has no problem dealing with iron. They love to keep secrets and are fiercely protective of the families they have decided to assist. Once becoming a part of a household a brownie will consider it his or her sacred duty to keep the family safe while they are within the confines of the home. The brownie will use its magic to these ends. The precise magic a brownie holds has never been determined as the brownies only work magic when away from the eyes of others. Should a brownie ever turn on its chosen household and seek to harm the occupants it will loose its domestic skill. Milk will curdle; meat rot and bread refuse to rise.” Jamie thought of Del making breakfast downstairs.



“Well that would be one way to tell if Del is on my side or not.” Jamie stood up and turned towards his closed door, preparing to see if Del’s breakfast was edible or not. He stopped when he saw a small white card tucked into the corner of his bulletin board. The board was on the back of the door which is why he hadn’t seen it earlier. It was where Albe would leave secret clues to begin scavenger hunts or messages about where he was going.



“Apparently one person thought I would sleep in my own bed,” he thought. Jamie walked over to the board, his socked feet making no sound. He pulled the card from the corner of the board. It was wedged between the frame and the cork. The side facing him was blank. Jamie flipped it over. One word was written on the reverse.



“Luddite,” Jamie read aloud. He smiled knowing Albe wasn’t trying to insult him but rather giving him the missing pass word. He tucked the card in his back pocket. “We’ll see if the milk is spoiled before we go onto the computer.” Jamie opened his bedroom door.



For a moment he stared at Albe’s closed door. There was nothing odd about it, yet somehow it had taken on an almost sinister look. Jamie shook his head and stepped into the hall way. He pulled his bedroom door shut behind him. Jamie felt a little foolish doing so, he knew nothing was going to seep out of Albe’s room and lie in wait for him in his but he closed the door anyway. He quickly left the hallway and went down to the kitchen.



After the cool halls the kitchen seemed like a haven of warmth. Jamie took a deep breath, inhaling wonderful scents. He could detect no scent of rot. Del placed a plate of sunny side eggs and bacon on the table and motioned him to sit. Jamie slid behind the plate.



“The biscuits will be out in just a minute, Del told him. The little man poured a glass of orange juice, a glass of milk and a mug of coffee. He placed all three in front of Jamie. Jamie looked at the glasses and then back at Del. The brownie seemed a bit flustered. He filled the kettle with water and set it on one of the burners.



“I didn’t know if you were a tea o a coffee sort of person,” Del said. But there will be tea in just a minute.” Jamie took a sip of milk. There was nothing curdled about it. He set the glass down.



“Del, are you all right?” he asked. Del thumped a mug next to the kettle and placed a tea bag in it.



“It is me that should be asking that,” Del said in a rush. “I sign on to care for the house and nearly a blink later you’re almost crushed in your own bed. It is a disgrace.” Del turned and jerked the oven door open. He grabbed the tray of newly baked biscuits and pulled it out. Jamie winced.



“Aren’t your hand’s burnt?” he asked. Del looked at his hands. They were slightly reddened from contact with the hot metal but not burnt.



“I’m fine,” Del replied. He flexed his hands and some of the manic anger seemed to drain from him. “Although it would have been what I deserved.”



“You don’t deserve punishment,” Jamie said. Del sank into one of the chairs. “This wasn’t your fault. Someone killed Albe and I think that same someone is trying t kill me.”



“The keeper before you was killed?” Del asked. There was fire in his eyes.



“I believe so.” Jamie said. “Things are just a little too wonky for it to have been an accident. The trick is figuring out who did it and why.” Del calmed and drummed his fingers on the table as he thought. Jamie took a bit of his eggs, dipping the edge of a biscuit in the golden you as it streamed from the broken center.



“Seems like a keeper would have kept records of the projects he was working on. It might do to check the last thing he recorded.”



“That would be a good place, but his last journal is missing, as are several books from the library.” Del looked very surprised.



“How would someone smuggle books out of this house without the, um well, House knowing about it?”



“For that matter how did someone sneak a boulder into Albe’s room without house knowing it?” Jamie countered.



“Someone found a way around the house’s defenses.” Del let out a low whistle. “That takes some heavy doing. Either very big magic or very small.” Jamie frowned.



“Small?”



“There are some places where tiny things can go, slipping between the cracks so to speak, and no one would notice. Takes a lot of skill to do though.” Del told him. Jamie thought of the calling cards.



“Could it be slipped in like a disease?”

“Disease?” Del asked his putty like face creased into a heavy frown.



“Like the feds slipping small pox infested blankets to the Indians to make them sick,” Jamie said. Del’s frown deepened.



“I suppose it could be possible. Did someone send you a blanket?”



“Not a blanket, no,” Jamie said. “But there are calling cards. According to House they are the only things that came into the house between Albe’s leaving and me arriving.” He paused and looked at Del. “I don’t suppose you know how to tell if one of them had some kind of magical small pox?”



“I could take a look, but it really isn’t my thing.”



“You have to be better than me.” They left the kitchen and went to the front hall. Jamie reached for the cards but Del’s hand stopped him.



“If they are infected then you shouldn’t be touching them.”



“I touched them before, when I came in,” Jamie told him.



“Hmm,” Del said. “If you touched them then it might have activated something. If you touch them again then who ever sent the card might be able to know it and realize that his first hit missed.”



“You mean they could try again.”



“I mean they could try again,” Del confirmed.



“Can you tell anything about the cards?” Del picked up the cards and flipped through them. Jamie could see his jaw clench as he shifted the cards. Slowly he placed them back in the receiving tray. “Anything?” Jamie asked.



“Something,” Del said. “But whatever it is now coats all the cards so I can’t pick out the one that brought it in.”



“Can you get the names? We might want to pay them a visit to see what we find.”



“I can remember the names,” Del said. “I’ll write them down for you in the kitchen while you finish breakfast.” They returned to the kitchen and Jamie finished his breakfast while Del jotted the names down. When finished, Jamie leaned back in his chair and sipped his coffee.



“We are well stocked on supplies, right?” Jamie asked. Del looked up from his list.



“We are. I filled the pantry after lunch yesterday so we wouldn’t be caught unawares by visitors.” Jamie nodded.



“I think laying low for a few days might be a good idea,” he said. “It will give me time to hopefully figure a few things out and maybe someone will come looking to see if their plan was successful. After all if I was setting a trap to kill someone and I knew the trap had been sprung I would want to see if it worked.” Del nodded slowly, a dark smile creasing his lips.



“I really hope they send someone.” Jamie recalled the fiercely protective line in the guide and realized that like dressing well, it was an understatement.



“I think I will head upstairs and see if I can figure out what books are missing. There are no windows in there so it won’t look like someone is working. Maybe I’ll even find a book dealing with House and how someone could have gotten past its defenses.” Jamie went back upstairs to the study.

“House,” he said as he pulled out his laptop and seated himself behind the desk.



“Yes?” It asked.



“Can you tell if someone is near the house, er, you?”



“I can tell only once they are on my porch or touch my walls.” Came the response. Jamie nodded.



“If someone does, can you let me know?”



“Of course.” Jamie assumed this was as close to a burglar alarm as he was going to get. He booted up the computer and logged into the mozy site. To his delight the password worked perfectly. To his surprise there were several files stored there. Again Jamie wondered if Albe had a laptop stashed somewhere or if that had been stolen along with the books. He scrolled through the list until he found the file marked Aphid. He smiled and clicked the file open. The file contained several smaller files inside. There were pictures and a lot of text. Jamie scanned the files wondering where to begin. One file near the center of the list was titled read me first in capitol letters.



“That looks like an excellent place to begin,”

Keeper: Chapter 7

Short chapter because I'm on the road.  Much longer chapter tuesday v

Chapter 7

Jamie made a trip back downstairs to retrieve the inventory then returned to the study. He pushed his closed laptop to the side of the desk and flipped through the large stack of papers to the section marked study. He checked off the large scale items like the desk and chairs but skipped over the contents of the drawers to start on the listed books. While Albe, or whoever had cataloged the collection, had been thorough in listing all of the books and authors they were not in the same order on the shelves as they were on the paper. While the paper list was alphabetical by authors’ last names, the shelves had the books grouped by subject. The only way he would find out what books were missing would be by process of elimination. Jamie sighed heavily, then rolled up his sleeves and took the inventory to one of the shelves.



Several hours later, Jamie was a bit dustier than when he started and only a little closer to figuring out what books were missing. He had managed to work his way through one set of shelves.



“Only one?” he thought to himself. “Should have been more.” He looked up at the shelves. The room had what Jamie estimated as a sixteen foot ceiling and the shelves went all the way up. Some of the books were standard sized and some very thin folios wedged between stouter volumes. So each four foot shelf held a varying amount of books. His stomach rumbled before he could estimate how many books he had gone through and a chuckle came from the doorway.



“Looks like my timing was right,” Del said. “Dinner is ready if you are.”



“Let me just wash up and I’ll be down,” Jamie told him. Del headed back to the kitchen and Jamie went back to his room and its connected bathroom. He washed his hands and realized his shirt had picked up a fair amount of dust as well so he changed it before going down.



The smell from the kitchen was marvelous. The sight was even better. Jamie seated himself at the table and was handed a bowl full of thick stew. A freshly baked loaf of bread was also sliced and ready to eat.



“While there was no more ready made I did find some flour and what no in the pantry,” Del told him as he took his own seat.



“This is really good,” Jamie said. “I’m glad House was offended by me living off processed frozen foods.” Del laughed and for a little while they ate in silence. Outside in the gathering dark rain began to fall. Jamie smiled knowing he would sleep well in the rain. He looked at Del.



“You wouldn’t by any chance know where someone like Albe would have bought books do you?” he asked Del. The small man looked a little surprised by the question but thought about it. “Some of the books don’t exactly look like they would be easily available at normal book stores. “ Jamie clarified. “I know some of them are quite old but others looked fairly new.”



“Ah well I can’t say for certain where he got his books but I do know the majority of certain works are ordered by catalog. You have to be a certain someone to get on their mailing list of course.” Del told him. Jamie nodded and continued to eat. It meant that when he had finished going through the book list and found the titles he couldn’t just walk into one of the large chain bookstores and pick up a replacement copy. Considering some of the titles, he wasn’t very surprised. Somehow he didn’t think the large dissertation like book entitled “Clans of the Drashen” would be a best seller.



“If you happen to come across any book catalogs would you let me know?” Jamie asked.



“Sure,” Del told him. “After dinner Jamie was disinclined to leave the warm kitchen. As they had eaten the rain had increased and the outside temperatures had dropped noticeable. As the house cooled it seemed larger and more empty. Jamie pulled a notebook and pencil from the drawer Albe always used for odds and ends and began to make a list. He knew books were missing from the library and he needed to find out what books were missing, who might have taken them and why. He added a note to speak with House in the morning about who had been here before Albe had gone. He tapped the pencil on the note pad and then added ‘search for books on House’ to the list. Since House had been so offended by the thought of a person being allowed in while the keeper was out it might not want to admit that someone could enter without permission.



‘Now I’m worrying about a house’s feelings,’ he thought to himself. ‘Crazy day.’ Jamie added Mozy to the list of things to look into. ‘What would Albe have used for a pass word?’ he asked himself. ‘Knowing Albe it would be something completely nonsensical so it couldn’t be guessed. Of course if Albe had known I would be looking for it he might have put something I would know.’ Jamie started making a list of random words that had been jokes and sayings of Albe’s things they had shared. While the memories were fun none of the words felt quite right. After a time he started yawning and realized his early morning was catching up to him. Del had long since finished in the kitchen and disappeared to his quarters. There was bread dough left to rise overnight in a towel covered bowl on the counter, otherwise there was no indication of anyone else in the house. Jamie decided an earl bedtime would not be a bad idea.



Jamie climbed the stairs and turned into his room. As always there was a stack of wood next to the fireplace. Jamie shivered a little and decided a fire would be a good thing. He lay the logs and kindling as Albe had taught him and soon had a warm blaze in the fireplace. He placed the grate in front of the fire to prevent a spark from burning the house down and turned out the overhead light. Jamie quickly stripped and climbed into bed between the cool sheets. He shivered at the cotton against his skin but figured his body heat would soon warm them up. Jamie snuggled down into the bed and watched the shadows from the firelight dance on the ceiling. The steady sound of rain drumming on the room soon lulled him into sleep.



Jamie was awoken sometime later by a loud crash. The fire had died to ash and the room was black. Only familiarity with the room kept him from bumping into anything as he reached to the door. He turned on the light as he went and when he opened the door light spilled into the hallway. Jamie could hear foot steps approaching and a light growing brighter fast at the entrance to the stairs. Del soon appeared holding a small oil lamp.



“Are you all right?” he asked Jamie. Jamie nodded.



“I think the sound came from Albe’s room.” Del frowned for a second and then his face cleared.



“The master suite hasn’t been cleared out yet,” he confirmed. Personally Jamie didn’t think he would ever really want to take Albe’s room but let the thought slide. Jamie reached for the door knob and swung open the door to Albe’s suite. The four poster bed was broken and splintered on the floor. A giant boulder lay on top. If Jamie had been sleeping in the bed at the time of its arrival he would have been killed. He swallowed hard and stared.



“It looks like someone wants to kill the Keeper,” Del said.

Keeper: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

This room was slow going as Jamie found himself dwelling more on the stories than simply checking off items. Some of the items were ones his mother would drool over. They were of rare metals and encrusted with jewels. Others were of more simple materials but the artistic quality was still high. Jamie picked up an acorn that had been carved to resemble an old man with a cap. The ridged cap of the acorn formed the cap, while the bottom point formed the chin. According to Albe it was a perfect likeness of George Fulton, Albe’s grandfather. George had been given the gift after relocating a wasp’s nest far from a fairy enclave. Jamie smiled and placed it back on the shelf, wondering. A discrete cough sounded behind him. Jamie turned. Del grinned sheepishly at him.

“Beggin your pardon sir. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“That’s okay I was kind of lost in my own thoughts. Wondering exactly how many rooms there were to get through. Is there a problem?” The brownie had changed from his eye searingly purple suit to a pair of soft brown breeches with a black leather belt and a lighter homespun shirt made from natural cotton. There were small boots on his feet and he looked very sturdy.

“No sir, but I figured you’d have lost track of time. I’ve set a luncheon out. Just sort of a plowman’s meal if you will sir since I figured you wouldn’t be wanting to stop for too long.” Jamie nodded.

“Thanks and you can just call me Jamie.”

“If you wish,” Del said. “I’ve set lunch up in the kitchen. Unless you would prefer the dining room?” Jamie looked at Del in surprise.

“We have a dining room?” He could never recall eating a meal in the dining room. Del chuckled.

“Yes sir there is a dining room but the main table seems to be covered with maps and the like and doesn’t appear to have been actually used as much of a dining area in quite some time.” Jamie blinked.

“Oh Albe’s map room. I suppose that was once the dining room. The kitchen will be fine.” He shook his head and followed the chuckling man back to the kitchen. “Please join me if you are hungry.” Jamie said feeling a little uncomfortable with the attention. He was so accustomed to doing for himself that the arrangement seemed strange. The plowman’s luncheon as Del had called it consisted of thickly sliced buttermilk bread, slices of sharp white cheddar and sliced purple onions. The bread was toasted and the cheese sort of melted into it. The onions went on top and Jamie bit in appreciatively.

“Good,” he said.

“Nice to be appreciated,” Del said as he poured Jamie a tall glass of water and sat down with his own sandwich. “We’ll be needing more provisions soon.” he said. “There isn’t that much left in the cupboard.” Jamie nodded.

“Makes sense. No one has been here in quite some time. I can run to the store in the morning if we can last the night.” Del frowned at Jamie and he was unsure if he had caused some sort of infraction. Was Del supposed to shop according to the rules? He sighed. “Did I say something wrong? Del’s face cleared

No no, although I will be taking care of the shopping bit. It’s just that, well, did you say no one has been here in a while?”

“Yes,” Jamie said. He thought about the papers. The last one was dated two days prior but it looked like something scrawled in haste. He didn’t imaging Albe spending a great deal of time at the house in the last few weeks. “I think,” he added.

“Well these fixings were here already and I can assure you that this bread is less than a week old. It had started to go a bit stale which is why I toasted it but other wise there was nothing wrong with it.” Perhaps Albe had spent more time at home than he had thought.

“Hmm maybe Albe was here recently. I just didn’t realize he had groceries. I thought it was just in and out.”

“Albe?” the man asked. “That would be the keeper before you?”

“Yes, you knew Albe?” The brownie shook his head.

“Not to speak to in the streets just by reputation.

“Really?” Jamie was curious. He just knew Albe as Albe not as the keeper.

“Yes He was a fierce one with a strong sense of justice. You always knew that it wasn’t so much as who you were that fed into his right and wrongs but what had actually happened. He’d help the low as well as the high and not give a toss who had the most clout.” Del looked proud of that fact. “Ah he was a good keeper. Most of are hoping that since he taught you and all you’ll be coming along just like him.”

“Most?” Jamie asked.

“Well there’s always those who hope the post will be taken by some one a little more accepting of a bribe,” Del said with a wink.

“I suppose some things are universal.”

“I suppose so,” Del said taking a large bite of sandwich

“Truth is I am still trying to get a handle on exactly what a keeper is and does. There seems to be a lack of information.” Del laughed.

“I think that is the way of it. Usually is with the inherited positions like this.”

“Really? Jamie asked.

“Aye. You see all you are given is a basic job description and you are left to figure out how best to carry it out without being cluttered by traditions and other senses of things gone by after all you are meant to solve the problems that come up today not wonder how your five times great grand dad would have solved them. Jamie nodded and realized he had completely eaten his sandwich. Del popped the last bite of his lunch into his mouth.

“Well then,” he said. “I suppose I better get back to it. Thank you for the lunch. It was exactly what I needed.”

“Will you be inventorying the rest of the day and such?” Del asked.

“Um no I think I am going to take a break, unload the car and set up some of my stuff before tackling another room.” Jamie stood and took his plate and glass over to the sink. The papers crinkled in his back pocket. “I’ll probably be spending some time in the study.” Del nodded.

“So it will just be basic stuff then I shouldn’t be preparing things for more than us for dinner then?”

“No it should be a quiet week but I think we can expect visitors on Monday. Jim said people wanted to settle their affairs with Albe’s estate. I’m not exactly sure what that entails. Or what time they are planning to arrive or how long they will say or if we are supposed to feed them.” Del laughed.

“In other words we’ll be winging it a while with no set routine. It’ll be good to get the larder stocked early then, just incase any of those showing up would ant to be staying for dinner. That Jim you mentioned? Would that be Jim Evers, the lawyer fellow?”

“Yes, you know Jim?”

“Not him but the family. They handle pretty much most of the legal affairs of my sort when we’re out and about in the world. It helps when you live a bit longer than those around you to have someone steady to look out for things.”

“I imagine it would,” Jamie said.

“I heard that the one who took charge was called Jim. I expect if he’s the one sending folks over it could get a might bit interesting. I might do a bit of extra shopping to be sure.”

“Great,” Jamie replied. Del began cleaning up from lunch as Jamie’s cell phone started to ring. Strains of Marylyn Manson reached his ears and he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. Jamie rolled his eyes and hit the button for silence on his phone. He’d probably have to answer the phone later but figured he could put it off for a few more hours.

“That’d be one of those portable phones they have now a days?” Dell asked.

“Yeah. That was the tone I set for my mother.”

“Well, by the sound of the song she must be in interesting woman.” The words were said hesitantly. Jamie decided Del should be given fair warning.

“I don’t think she and my brother know how to get out here but if they do, well House isn’t too fond of them. So they probably wouldn’t be invited inside. Although they might try to come in anyway.” Del’s face darkened.

“I see. Well they will not be at finding me an easy mark if they do show their faces here. I’ll be polite and all until I can’t be polite.” Jamie smiled at the fierceness.

“Hopefully it won’t be an issue.” Del nodded and picked up the dishes. “Although with that attitude you and House should get along well.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Jamie replied. “House decided to be polite by dousing my mother with cold water from the faucet. If House had been impolite I think the hot water would have been used.” Del laughed.

“I’d heard of House but I can’t say as I actually believed it. All right then I’ll follow suit. Cold water instead of hot indeed.” He chucked to himself as began to wash the dishes. Jamie decided it was time to get back to work and left Del in the kitchen. He stepped out of the front door and walked to his car to begin the unloading process. He stared at his car for a moment as if it were a relic from another life.

“A talking house with a brownie serving as a house keeper and Jim is the lawyer of fairyland.” He opened his trunk. “And to think, it is only lunch time.” It didn’t take too long to ferry his stuff inside. He placed his things in the room he had always used when staying with Albe.

“You know you could use the master suite now since you are the keeper,” House told him sleepily as he was emptying his duffle bag into the chest of drawers. Jamie shrugged. Somehow it didn’t seem right to move into Albe’s room. Albe’s room was across the hall and had a great big picture window facing the woods and the lake beyond. Albe had loved to watch the sun come up over the lake and the birds begin their morning rituals. He shook away the sadness that threatened to creep in.

“Maybe later,” he told the house. “For now this is fine.” Once the clothes were away and the empty duffle bag was kicked beneath the bed, Jamie took his laptop to the study. It seemed as good a place to check for a wi-fi signal as any. Once he knew if he could get it out here he would think about setting up the rest of his equipment. There were various other doors along the hall that he passed on his way. Most were bed rooms that had been unused in Jamie’s lifetime. Jamie didn’t bother opening the doors, figuring he would see enough of them when he did his inventory.

There were steps at the back of the hallway and Jamie took them quickly, his laptop bag swinging at his side. The study and library were the first rooms he came to once he crested the stairs although there was another short hallway to the right. If he took it, he would eventually end up in the servant’s hall where Del would be setting up his rooms. He figured the small man would probably take one of the first floor rooms.

The house and grounds had been designed with many servants in mind, for a second Jamie paused and wondered what this house would be like filled with people and the sounds of life. It had always been just him and Albe with one house keeper. He had never heard it filled with the sounds that it was designed to hold. He wondered if House had ever been filled like that and if so did the house miss it. Jamie pushed the door to the study open and stepped inside. The study and library were connected by a set of pocket doors that Jamie had never actually seen closed. Both rooms had their walls lines with books and the biggest difference Jamie could see between the two was the fact that the library had chairs for reading while the study had a big desk that dominated the room.

Jamie paused in the door way wishing for a moment that he had brought the inventory. If he had then he would know if anything was out of place. He didn’t want to actually move anything before he knew whether it was important or not. Jamie knew that Albe spent long hours up here and more than any other rooms in the house it reflected the old man’s personality. Jamie saw that the desk in the study had been cleared and there was and empty spot. The spot didn’t look unusual more like someone had just put away the papers they had been working with before leaving.

Jamie pulled his laptop from it case, placed it on the empty spot and turned it on. He glanced around the room while he waited for it to warm up. The shelves that were built into the wall were filled from floor to ceiling with books. There was even a small ladder on metal rails to slide around the room with ease allowing even the shortest patron to get to the top shelf. Thinking of Del, Jamie was sure this was a nod to the many different types of visitors that Albe or the keepers before him could expect.

He wondered if Albe had ever invited others up here or if all of the visitors had been relegated to the cold and austere front parlor. Jamie certainly hoped not. He felt that if Albe were to entertain friends, this would certainly be the place for it. He squinted a little and he could almost see it. Albe sitting around with several white haired old gentlemen and snifters of brandy all around. Discussing politics and they way the world seemed to be changing at such a rapid pace.

Jamie smiled and unscrunched his eyes. He certainly hoped it had been like that rather than Albe holed up here by himself night after night. He thought of who he would bring up here and scrinched his eyes to see himself sitting around on a cold winter’s evening. He saw which of his friend’s he would invite and which he would leave out of the gathering. He wondered if Jim would confess to being a fairytale lawyer. Some how Erin the bank teller popped into his little gathering and she seemed perfectly at ease with the group.

“Not a bad thought in all,” he said to himself. Jamie turned to the computer and clicked to search out a connection. To his surprise he got a very strong signal. “Impressive,” he said wondering if there was a modem stashes somewhere in the house or if he had just gotten really lucky. “That is one problem solved.” He said once he realized the connection was not locked. Jamie took another look at the study and tried to figure out if the other computer equipment could be set up in the room. He would obviously paint in the studio Albe had put together for him but it would be nice to have the computer ready and waiting. As he looked around this second time he noticed that several of the shelves had dark spaces where books had been removed. He thought of the two books in the satchel and mentally fit them back on the shelves.

"Still missing about five books,” he said to himself. “Perhaps Albe had them with him or took them for some bedside reading and forgot to replace them.” Both were logical scenarios but Jamie could never remember Albe taking a book out of the library. His before bed reading was always done in one of the chairs by the fire and when he was looking things up he would bring them to the desk and take notes in one of his journals. Jamie looked over to the shelf of journals. One of the empty spaces was at the end of the row.

“His last journal.” Albe would not have taken that with him. When he was in the field he used a small rumpled notepad. The journals were all leather bound and Albe transferred his notes into the journals at the end of the day. Jamie looked around. The journal was not on the desk. One by one he opened the desk drawers. It had four large ones, two on either side, and a small tray drawer in the center for smaller objects like pens and paperclips. The journal wasn’t in any of the larger drawers. Without much hope, he pulled open the top drawer. There was no journal. There was however a spare fountain pen. Jamie picked it up. Underneath the pens he saw a scrap of paper. He put the pen down on the desk and pulled up the tiny scrap. There were four words written on the paper.

"Yahoo. Mozy. File. Aphid.” Jamie read aloud. He blinked. “Mozy?” he repeated. “Albe didn’t even use e-mail.” Jamie turned to his computer and brought up the Mozy site.

“Why would he need an off site data storage site?” Jamie mumbled to himself as he typed Albe’s name into the system. He figured if Yahoo was mentioned it was probably where Albe had an e-mail account.

“Ha,” he said aloud when it turned out to be correct. On a hunch he used Aphid as a password. This was less successful. “Aphid is probably the file name.” Jamie tried typing Keeper. Still no luck. He was afraid it would lock after three unsuccessful tries so he logged out of the site and shut the computer down. He would have to give the password a bit more thought before trying again. Jamie looked around the room again and sighed.

“I guess I know what two rooms I’m inventorying next.”

Keeper: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jamie rubbed his eyes as he rolled out of bed. He blinked hard and looked towards the window. There was no fairy staring back at him. He shook his head and smiled softly to himself.

“Must have been the dream,” he muttered standing and stretching. Jamie thought about the dream as he showered and dressed for the day.

“It felt more like a memory than anything else,” he mused. “Probably a fusion of all the trips through the woods with Albe mixed in with the crazy field guide.” He smiled again, this time it was tinged with sadness. Albe was gone. He didn’t know why the dream made him believe it more than the visit with the lawyer but it did. Jamie put the last of his things in his duffle bag and chugged the last remaining bit of orange juice from the carton. It had been the only thing left in his fridge.

“Won’t have to worry about spoilage,” he told himself. He put the empty carton in the trash and tied the top of the bag in a knot. He would have to remember to throw it away as he left. Jamie began loading the car with his belongings. It took two trips, followed by a third to remove the trash. The sky was still nearly night dark with only a tinge of pearl tracing along its edge when Jamie pulled his car out of the parking lot and onto Elm Street. His mind was still on the dream. Everything, with the exception of the fairy, felt too much like a memory for him to dismiss it.

He ordered breakfast from a fast food drive through and aimed his car towards the highway. He managed to make it to the on ramp before his phone started to ring. Marilyn Manson signaled the fact that his mother was awake. He let it ring as he took his first bite of biscuit. The phone fell to silence He took another bite and began to count to ten. He made it to eight before the phone rang again. This time the Bandito’s played. Apparently Michael was up.

“In all fairness,” he told himself. “I do get sucked into projects and forget the rest of the world.” He was less inclined to be amiable when the third rotation of calls began. He set his biscuit down in the wrapper and picked up his phone. When the call ended he turned the ringer off and set the phone back in the seat beside him.

“I wonder how long before they start trying Jasmine’s phone?” Jamie wondered as he picked his breakfast back up. He tried very hard not to spill his breakfast but still ended up with crumbs raining down the front of his shirt. When he finished eating he brushed them away, idly wondering where all the crumbs of the world went. After all this was quite often how he ate and he had been doing this the entire time he had owned the vehicle.

“Logic says there should be crumbs up to my eyeballs by now instead of a slightly dusty floor board. Of course the occasional vacuuming helps,” he said. Not that he actually vacuumed. Jamie was pretty sure when he took his car to have the oil changed and the fluids checked they did something like vacuuming because his car always smelled kind of astringent.

“Like pine mixed with lemon and bleach,” he thought. The biscuit finished, he threw the trash into the bag and took a great big gulp of his soda. The cup was almost too large to fit in his one hand comfortably and he wondered when they had gone to gallon sized drums as the standard drink measurement. He set the drink down and turned off the main highway. Jamie took the various turns and twists in the road with a practiced ease that he had not shown his family when they had come out with him. Mostly he supposed it was because their presence did not create a condition that made him comfortable. He wondered if they could even tell if they had gone east or west on the main highway in the first place.

“Obviously none of them were graduates of the Albe School of pay attention to the details or get left behind.” After the various turns and twists, he turned into the drive and stopped his car at the gate. He got out, unlocked the gate, got back in the car, pulled it through and relocked the gate behind him.

“Some how it’s a little less obnoxious a task without others waiting in the car while you do all the work,” he thought. Jamie drove up to the house and parked in the same spot he had driven to the day before. He cut the engine and stepped out of the vehicle. Somehow things looked different to his eyes than they had the day before. Jamie found his hand dropping to the medallion Albe left him. He had fallen asleep with it on and had not bothered removing it when he dressed. He looked at the house. There was a slight shimmery haze around the outside of it that had not been there before. It shimmered as if it were a heat haze. The breeze that stirred his hair was crisp and filled with autumn scents.

“I wonder if the house really is alive,” he said. Jamie took the stack of papers Albe had left him and the set of keys and walked over to the house. The stairs were solid under his feet and he wondered if he would have to publicly acknowledge the house before it would actually start speaking to him. Visions of the ship in the Hitchhiker’s Galaxy flew through his head and he wondered if a talking house was even a good idea. He paused on the steps.

“If it is alive it would be rude not to acknowledge it before entering.” He toyed with the keys for a moment and wondered if the house could only talk when he was inside it. Somehow it seemed ruder to enter the house and then acknowledge its existence.

“Kind of like ordering for your date when you didn’t know if she was allergic to shellfish or not,” he thought.

“Um house?” he began feeing a little uncomfortable and quite silly. “Sorry I don’t know exactly what you are called.”

“I’m called House actually,” he heard. The voice was a soft whisper and he had no better luck pinpointing where the voice was coming from than he has the day before. The voice was neither male nor female but a rather androgynous in between voice. Oddly enough it had a wisp of an English accent which he found strange.

“Oh,” he said. “House then. May I come in?” A low chuckle sounded.

“My, my, how polite. Must be Albe’s influence. Too bad he didn’t rub off on the others. You may of course enter. You are after all the keeper now and I am the abode of the keeper.

"I am the keeper?” Jamie asked a bit non-plussed.

“Yes, you wear the medallion.” He looked at it in the sunlight. It didn’t look any more impressive out here than it had in his apartment.

“So you know all about this keeper stuff?” He asked the house.

“I know how to guide you. A bit,” the house admitted. Jamie got the impression that the house didn’t like to admit there were things it didn’t know. “However I would appreciate it if you would come inside for this conversation since after all it tires me to speak outside of my confines. I can only really talk to you like this because you are on my door step and are in fact the keeper.”

“All right,” he responded taking the keys and unlocking the door. Jamie shrugged; at least there was a possibility that his questions would be answered. The house smelled clean and fresh, as if a troop of maids had just completed their work and hustled out of the back door to avoid being seen, but it felt emptier. He stepped inside and closed the door.

“Okay, so what can you tell me about this keeper deal? Everyone seems very light on the details.”

“Ah well, that is perhaps because it is fairly complicated.” House began. “You know that Albe was the keeper, correct?”

“In as much as I know anything,” Jamie replied setting his papers down on the front hall table his mother had admired. He looked at the brass card holder his brother had picked up. It had been empty when he left. Today there were eight cards in is shiny depths. He frowned. “Was someone in here?” he asked.

“They can’t come in when you are not here,” House said. “I would never allow that.” The house sounded vaguely offended.

“Of course not,” he said consoling it. “But these cards were not here yesterday.”

“Oh no, they weren’t,” he was told. “They were dropped off at the door. I whisked them to the card holder for your approval.” Jamie flipped through the cards the names all sounded rather alien and he placed them back in the holder. They looked more like old fashioned calling cards rather than business cards.

“I suppose we can deal with that once I have figured out exactly what is going on.”

“Well you are now the keeper. You are the one to whom the house and lands belong. We serve you. The lands are the boundary between the worlds. Some cross between and live in one or the other and others never leave. Some stay in the woods. They need to be watched. You are of course neutral and not involved in any disputes unless there is a problem that can not be resolved. Well not, resolved by anyone other than an outsider. We are pretty neutral in most cases.

“The worlds?” he asked.

“Yes there is the world of the seen and the world of the unseen,” came the answer. ‘Well unseen for most. You can see obviously, otherwise you wouldn’t be of much use as a keeper.” Jamie decided to let the talk of worlds slide for the moment.

“So I’m like a supernatural version of Switzerland?” Jamie asked the house as he flipped through the cards. “Good to know.” The image of the fairy from the bird’s nest flashed across his mind. He thought of Albe erasing the trail of prints leading to a bird that the fairy had not known to hide. Jamie shrugged and started to put the cards down when a name leapt out at him. It was the same name as the drawing in his book. The name of the tomte. Jamie raised his eyebrow knowing that couldn’t be a coincidence. He set the cards down. He felt a little shaky inside.

“So,” he asked the house. “Do you have any clue where I should start? I brought the inventory the lawyers gave me and technically I am supposed to be checking things off.” Jamie felt the house shift. It was as if it had taken a breath and was thinking.

“I think perhaps the inventory is not such a bad place to begin,” House suggested. “Although you will need to look into getting a house keeper soon.” Jamie thought of Millie the house keeper who had been here during his childhood visits.

“I don’t think I really need one,” he began. “I mean the maid service comes once a week and really I could just stock the freezer with frozen dinners and a couple boxes of cereal and be done with it.” Jamie shrugged. He could almost feel the house radiating disapproval.

“And when you have guests?” It asked. Jamie thought of Erin the bank teller and idly wondered what it would be like to have a woman here. Would the house turn away like a polite roommate or would it watch? He decided that was best not a path to continue following.

“I don’t really plan on having much company,” he told the house.

“Really?” it said. “Because I don’t see that you will have much choice. They will come to you for advice and to see where your stance is on certain topics and they will want to sit and chat with you on occasion to let you know the status of things. I’m certain you don’t know the specific dietary requirements of many of them, after all they are not exactly humans.” House sniffed loudly. “And while it isn’t really my place to say so, I don’t really think it is appropriate to leave the health of the keeper in such precarious balance with such questionable food as frozen dinners.”

“Some of them are quite good,” Jamie said. “I’m not sure if they are good for fairies though.” Jamie thought about it and wondered where one would hire a housekeeper with that sort of required skills. Somehow he couldn’t see placing that ad in the local newspaper.

“Any thoughts on where to find a proper house keeper?” Jamie asked. Perhaps there was some sort of inter-world employment agency.

“I believe there is a way I can send the message out. One who is appropriate will show up. Would you like for me to send the message?” Jamie sighed.

“Maybe you had better,” He replied. There was a tightening tingle in his belly and then a release as if a great breath had been exhaled.

“There,” House said, sounding pleased with itself. “I have sent the message. Is there anything else you require of me?”

“Not really, unless you know if Albe got internet service out here.”

“I do not quite know,” House said. “You will have to test his nets and their ability to serve on your own. If there is nothing else, talking like this and sending messages tends to tire me out. I would sleep now, unless you have need.”

“Oh no I’m sorry to tire you out, please sleep. Thank you.”

“You are welcome keeper,” House said. The sense of a presence around him faded and Jamie blinked realizing that he was now standing in the foyer of a perfectly ordinary house. He shook his head. He could test for the internet later. Right now he should get started on the inventory.

“Perhaps it’ll help me figure out a few things.” He pulled the mass of papers out and flipped to the first page. The inventory was quite detailed and there were notes for nearly every item. There was also a small box he had to check to let the lawyers know the item was safe and sound inside the house.

“This should be fun,” he thought. “In a way.” The notes actually told him a little bit about what Albe had been up to. “Actually,” he thought seeing several different handwriting styles, “It might actually tell me what several family members have been up to.” Jamie saw the first page was entitled front formal parlor. Jamie turned to the left of the main hall and walked in. This was not the room his family had been in and Jamie felt a little odd being in this parlor. Memories of his uncle Albe taking mysterious visitors in here swam up in his vision.

When he visited and the doorbell rang, the house keeper would bring the guest to the front parlor, leave them there, tell Albe and then take Jamie back to the kitchen until the visitor left and Albe joined them in the kitchen. Jamie had asked Millie about the visitors once and been told that it was Albe’s business and that it needed to be left alone. She had also warned Jamie about going into the parlor. He hadn’t been banned from the room because it held forbidden secrets, but told to keep out for a more practical reason. The room had to be kept in a state of readiness for surprise visitors and Millie didn’t think it was appropriate for them to find Jamie playing in a guest’s parlor. To assuage his curiosity, Albe had taken him into the parlor and shown him around.

“The room isn’t anything special,” Albe told him on that trip through. “Just a nice place to bring visitors. We stay out of it because we don’t want to mess it up. Besides,” Albe had told him with a confessional wink. “I’m not a big fan of this room. I always feel odd about even denting the seats cushions with my bottom.” Jamie had relaxed and never bothered with the room when he visited. He also noticed that Albe never really went in unless he had company so it didn’t worry him.

Jamie walked into the parlor feeling like an interloper. There was nothing in this room that could really be described as personal. No family photos or any of the trinkets Albe loved to collect and tell stories about. With a start Jamie realized that those stories might not have been just stories. If all of this keeper stuff was true then all of those stories might be true. That broach his mother so coveted really might have come from a great lady of the elven kingdom. He shook his head in wonder and disbelief. Somehow a talking house was easier to accept than fairy land.

Jamie checked off the chairs and tables as well as the sofa from the inventory. He quickly walked around looking at furniture and marking it off the inventory as present and accounted for. He knew this was probably going to be the easiest and most boring room to go through so he was glad he was getting it out of the way quickly. He reached the last major item of the room which was the secretary. He checked the heavy piece of furniture off his list and realized there were several smaller items still listed as being in the secretary. He tried to pull the desk top down and found it was locked. He checked the inventory again and noticed that there was a side note.

“Key under the red striped chair’s seat cushion, left,” he read. Jamie walked over to the two red striped chairs he had finished checking off the inventory. They were red and gold striped and made of dark wood. There was a matching side table with a red and gold runner and an antique lamp that turned on with a key. The set reminded him of something out of a Victorian novel and he wondered if they had originally been purchased when the house was first built. He picked up the left chair and flipped it over. He found the key taped to the wooden bottom of the chair. Jamie removed the key leaving the tape where it was and put the chair down. With the key in his hand he walked over to the secretary and was about to unlock it when there was a knock at the door.

“I believe your house keeper is here,” The house said sleepily.

“That was quick,” Jamie replied. He tucked the small key into the front pocket of his jeans and went to answer the door. As the door swung wide a small man was revealed. He stood at about five feet tall and was wearing a deep purple suit that reminded Jamie of ripe plums. Under the jacket was a plaid vest and a lilac colored shirt. Both had gold buttons. The vest was a purple and gold plaid to match the suit, Jamie noted. The pants matched the jacket and were purple with a plaid stripe down the side of each leg. The shoes looked to be purple snake skin and were polished to a high gloss. They had the most impossibly pointed toes he had ever seen curling up on the ends like high end Christmas elf shoes. All that was missing were the bells. On the small man’s head sat a large brimmed purple hat with a long trailing purple feather. Jamie blinked.

“May I help you?” He asked hesitantly. Surely this person had not arrived to some sort of supernatural house keeper ad. The man looked up at him and smiled. His face moved as if it were made of putty. The grin caused his face to be creased with impossibly deep wrinkles.

“Oh I think it is me that will be helping you, keeper sir.” The man said with a wink. “I’ve come as to be the house keeper.” Jamie blinked and let his eyes noticeably take in the suit. The man laughed a mere staccato burst of gunfire sound. “Don’t let the suit be fooling you. I like to travel well. It keeps the riff raff at bay. I know how to work and how to dress for work as well sir. I was sent with the recommendations of the High Talbot if that makes you feel any better.” The little man took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and held it out to Jamie. Jamie took the page and unfolded it. For a moment the handwriting looked like unrecognizable scribbles. Then it resolved itself into actual words. Jamie blinked.

“I recommend this person to your employ. He has all of the qualifications needed as a member of the keeper’s staff.” Jamie read. It was signed High Talbot Aldrous of the House Duval. Jamie nodded.

“I see. Who is the High Talbot?” The man looked surprised and then laughed.

“I be forgetting you are new to the post sir. He’s the one who certifies that we be okay to work in the other side of the gap, the human side if you will.”

“Oh I see, and what is your name? The little man’s eyebrow shot up and something in Jamie’s brain woke up remembering Albe’s stories. “My apologies, I am still a little fuzzy this morning. Not enough caffeine. I meant to ask what it is you would like me to call you.” The little man relaxed.

“Well I was thinking about that on the way and I have a human name for when I’m out here and all so you can call me Delta Harmony. Del for short I believe.” Jamie smiled and wondered if the man was trying to make a joke. The name sounded like it belonged to a Drag Queen.

“That is a nice name Del won’t you come in?” Jamie gestured towards the parlor. Del raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Happy to Sir.” Jamie motioned him to one of the red striped chairs and he took the other one. Jamie noticed that the chair appeared to almost lower itself a little so the smaller man would feel comfortable. Del seemed pleased to be asked into the parlor.

“Can I ask where you came up with your current name? It is quite … distinctive.” Jamie asked. Del smiled.

"I heard it some where a long time ago when I was passing through New Orleans. Seemed like something that would suit me.” Jamie decided not to pry.

“So have you always been a house keeper or is this a new thing?”

“Well,” Del said with a grin. “I’ve always tended house you could say but I can’t claim as lofty status as tending the house of a keeper. Some of the great lords, yes.” He replied and then winked at Jamie. “Now back in the day, of course there were other human homes I’ve tended, but those days are long past. I had a mind to try my hand at something and well this sort of came up before I could make up my mind to do anything else. So I’m here. If we suit I’ll stay. If not I can make my way back.” For a second Del seemed hesitant. Jamie smiled.

“I think you’ll suit. And House said that only someone qualified would show up so I’m guessing you’ll know how to deal with some of the visitors?” Dell nodded. And he seemed for a second a bit surprised by Jamie’s description of House. Jamie wondered if even in fairly land a talking house was uncommon.

"Well then if I’m accepted I’ll be getting to work. You’ll be wanting a good lunch if you’ve got the work of settling in ahead of you.” Dell stood up and the chair went back to its normal size. Jamie wondered if it was the house being accommodating or if there was something special about these chairs. Del didn’t seem to notice.

“And what do I do about pay?” he asked. Del laughed.

“That’s already settled by the High Talbot.” Del told him in a voice that brooked no argument.

“Um Okay. I think Millie’s rooms were towards the back behind the kitchen.” Del nodded.

“Makes sense then,” He replied. “I’ll settle my bags and then start on that luncheon.”

“No rush,” Jamie said. Del nodded and headed back to the kitchen. Jamie shook his head. Suddenly a mental light bulb went off in his brain with a flash.

“Damn,” he said. “I think that was a brownie.” He blinked hard and tried to reconcile the man in the purple suit to the small creatures who took care of houses in his mind. Idle he wondered if a brownie was something like a tomte. And if not then how one told the difference. Jamie blinked again and thought of Millie. She had been a little shorter than Del was if his brain was remembering correctly. She hadn’t seemed that small since she had mostly been around when he was still a child. He wondered if they were from the same area and if they knew each other. Jamie shrugged. He was definitely going to have to spend sometime in the library and with the book his uncle had left him.

There were several other volumes of fairy lore in the library if he remembered correctly and he had at one time or another read most of them. Since Albe had no television when he either went off for a bit on business or if the weather was bad, Jamie had often amused himself with the books in the library.

“That will be for later,” he thought. “Let’s at least get one room complete first.” He turned back to the secretary. Jamie tugged the key out of his pocket and unlocked the top desk part. The top folded down to present a surface suitable for writing. The desk was covered with green velvet that was worn in places. There was an ink stain on the right hand corner as if someone with an ink pen had dawdled too long when trying to come up with the next line of a letter. Jamie could see the jars of ink set into inkwells in the main portion of the desk and a fountain pen resting between them. The ink jars were half full. One had black ink and the other blue.

The fountain pen when he picked it up was the kind with a little metal lever. He knew from watching Albe that the tip of the fountain pen would be dipped in the ink and then the little metal lever would be pumped to suck ink into the chamber and then snapped into place so the ink would not run out of the tip. Jamie turned the pen over in his hands and looked at it. He remembered Albe making notes in his journal with the pen and always thought the old fashioned writing instrument was much cooler than the ball points he wrote with at school. He had always told himself he would get one of those when he was an adult and then he would be as sophisticated as Albe. Except that he had never been able to find one. Apparently they had stopped making this particular type long ago. He had a fountain pen, it was true but it took cartridges rather than being dipped in ink. Somehow that didn’t really seem the same.

The desk proper was divided into compartments for sorting mail and holding smaller items in the little drawers. Jamie put the pen down and started looking in the drawers. He found a stick of sealing wax and a stamp for marking the pooled wax in the fist one he opened. The stamp, or seal he supposed it would be called, had a worn wooden handle. He turned it up to look at the design. The center was a symbol that looked like the medallion around his neck. On either side of it were letters. One side was an A and the other side held an F.

“Albrecht Fulton,” Jamie said aloud. As he held the seal a tingling started in his palm, similar to when he had grasped the medallion. Slowly, the A reformed itself into a J. Jamie blinked and then gingerly placed the seal back in the drawer. He took a deep shaky breath and let it out slowly. Apparently, he was going to have to get used to little things like this happening. He was not quite sure how many of these little encounters he was likely to face in the next coming days but he figured most of them would be done by the time he had managed to work his way through the inventory. That would hopefully settle things.

He found the items he had noticed on the inventory and made sure to check them off. They looked kind of interesting at some points but others were just random notes. He paused when he came to something that wasn’t listed on the inventory. It was a small packet of papers. Jamie slid the set of papers out. It was wrapped in water proof oilskin and had ties around it like an old deed. He untied the stiff strings and folded it open. They were random letters and notes on them. The letters were written to Albe and all of the notes were taken in Albe's hand. Copies of the responses were not present but notations such as responded July 5 that I would assist or other such notations were listed at the bottom.

Albe’s notes were sometimes in the margins and sometimes in the backs of pages. The notes were random and intriguing. Certain words were underlined while others had question marks above them. Jamie checked the inventory again. No mention was made of this packet. He checked the date on the letters and saw the first of them were dated two months ago. Jamie slapped the packet against his thigh. Idly, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket and called Jim the lawyer up. Jim’s secretary slash sister in law answered.

“Evers and Evers Law office, how may I help you today?”

“Hi this is Jamie Fulton I have a random question for Jim if he’s got the time. If not then I could ask him later.”

“Oh I can see if he is available. Hold please.” Jamie waited to the sound of Aerosmith musack and wondered how the band felt about the basardization of their music.

“Jamie? Is there a problem? I wasn’t really expecting to hear from you again so soon.” Jim asked when he came on the line.

“No not so much a problem as a random question,” Jamie assured him.

“Oh okay I’ll do my best to find a random answer.”

“Do you know the date that the inventory was last updated?” Jamie heard an indrawn breath and he wondered if it was wise to ask these sorts of questions.

Well I’ll have to check, Jaime. Please hold on a second.” This time it was Elton John crucified in the name of pleasant hold music. Jim came back on the line before the song had gone a full verse. Jamie had hummed along. “I see by our files that we have a record of him coming in June 15th.” Jamie looked at the date of the first letter. The letter was dated two weeks after the inventory had been turned in. He frowned at the letter wondering if that packet of papers had anything to do with Albe’s disappearance. Jim coughed into the phone reminding Jamie someone was listening in.

“Um, thanks,” he said.

“Is there something wrong?” Jim asked.

“No,” Jamie replied. “I was just curious that’s all. Some of the handwriting looked a bit old and faded and I was wondering how accurate it would be once I started going through the list and If I would have to be searching rooms for items that had been placed elsewhere.” Jim laughed even while Jamie was wondering why he wasn’t telling Jim the real reason.

“Oh Albe was pretty thorough. And he had been in and out a bit but not staying much so he would not have really moved anything since the last inventory without actually letting us know. He was quite particular about those sorts of things.”

“Yeah well thanks. That helps a lot.” Jamie said, preparing to end the call.

“Oh before you go,” Jim said as Jamie was about to hang up. “Will you be going out to the house any time soon?”

“Yes,” Jamie replied.

“Good.” Jim sounded relieved. “I know there are several people who have asked to make appointments with you to settle their affairs with Albe and they were wondering when would be a good time.” Jamie thought about it.

“Could you give me until Monday?” He asked. “By then I should be able to makes some headway on the inventory and won’t feel so guilty letting up for a awhile.”

“Very good,” Jim said. “And while I have you on the phone,” Jim hesitated and Jamie thought this might be the real issue rather than the one about his uncle’s friends. “I was wondering, your brother called this morning and he wanted to know how soon I thought the estate would be settled. I basically told him that was classified information and that I really couldn’t share that with him. He sounded disappointed.”

“Yeah,” Jamie thought. “He would be.” Out loud he responded, “Thanks. I’m sorry he called. I haven’t been answering his calls. So he probably thought he could get more out of you.” He thought for a second and decided Jim deserved fair warning. “My mother might try calling as well.”

“I see,” Jim said his voice neutral. “Technically Albe had me on retainer and he asked that I stay on for at least six months after his estate passed to you. I have already been paid for that time but I just wanted you to know that In case you needed me.”

“I appreciate that,” Jamie said. He took a deep breath and decided that as a lawyer there were a few things Jim might want to know. “That means what I tell you is confidential right?”

“Of course.”

“Well I should tell you that I am planning to stay at Albe’s for a while and that I have no plans to sell the land or the property. I want you to know that.”

“Okay,” Jim said. “I have to say there will be several people relieved by that decision.”

“Yeah well here is the thing. My brother really wants to sell the land and my mother really wants to sell the house and its contents.” Jamie ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t think either of them would be able to get out here if their life depended on it. I drove the other day and they weren’t exactly paying attention to directions. So I’m not worried that they will show up with a moving van or anything but my brother, well he could possibly bring investors to the notice of, well, you. And tell you it’s on my behalf. Especially if he can’t find me. I just want to make sure there is no way they could do anything… “Jamie let the thought trail off. Jim laughed. Unlike his normal good natured laugh this one had a bit of a hard edge to it.

“In the fourth grade Michael sold my spot on the baseball team to one of the other kids. I am very aware of his skills. Let’s just say if he tries that it will be a pleasure to deal with him.” Jamie could almost see Jim smile through the phone. There was nothing like settling a child hood score to brighten a grown man’s day. Jamie let Jim go feeling much better about the situation and looked again at the papers.

They had been written after Albe had last been seen and were probably the last documents he added to the mix. Jamie flipped to the last page. It had been written two days prior to Jamie’s being informed that Albe’s estate had passed to him. Jamie folded the papers back up and tucked them into his back pocket. He tugged his t-shirt over the edge protruding out of the top of his pocket so it wouldn’t be noticeable that he was carrying the slim package. Jamie finished inventorying the desk; his mind focused more on the papers. Could the matter they mentioned be what killed Albe? His mind was awhirl with questions.

The letter asked Albe to look into something but the names and things mentioned were not things Jamie knew too much about. There might perhaps be information up in the library. Later he would have to go up into the library and see if anything was mentioned. There had to be some form of reference.

Nothing else in the desk was amiss and with a feeling of regret Jamie re-locked the desk. Then he re-taped the key to the under side of the chair where he had found it. It seemed a little excessive but if he was going to be turning the house upside down he might as well know where the key was. Jamie moved to the side parlor.

Here were the knickknacks that were missing in the other room and the inventory reflected it. There was easily four times the number of entries listed for the little room. Jamie smiled. Here he had spent a great deal of time with Albe. He looked at the odd little artifacts scattered through out the room and thought of all of the odd little stories that Albe had made up to go with them.

“Of course maybe he wasn’t making them up,” Jamie thought. Was there really a Lady Iris who had gone into hiding when an elven lord wanted to claim her for his bride against the wishes of her father? Had Albe seen her safely to her grandfather’s house where she married her true love and gave Albe a small statuette of a bird in flight as a present? The longer he stood in Albe’s house the more possible such stories seemed.

Keeper: Chapter 4

Just got back from Wyoming so it is a shorter chapter than the others. v

Chapter 4

“These are the tracks we are following today,” Albe said bending low to the ground. He pointed with a knarled hand to a small trail of imprints on the ground. “What do these look like to you?” The old man turned piercing green eyes on Jamie and Jamie realized for the first time that he and Albe had the same eyes. “Focus boy, what do you see.” Jamie turned his eyes to the ground and focused on the trail of tracks.

“It’s a bird,” he said, looking at the shape of the tracks. “A small one.” He and Albe had tracked a heron one afternoon and the bird’s tracks had been much bigger.

“And what type of bird?” Albe asked. Jamie remembered Albe had never been one for generalities. Jamie looked again and sorted through the images Albe had shown him in the books.

“A wren?” he guessed. Albe looked pleased.

“A wren,” he repeated. “Now tell me do these tracks look odd to you?” Jamie looked back at the tracks. They looked like the wren tracks in the books and charts Albe had shown him but often times when Albe said to look and see what was odd he didn’t actually mean just the thing he was looking at. Albe tended to take a more holistic view of things. Jamie sat back a little and looked around the little trail of tracks he was suppoed to be focusing on. Albe didn’t say a word just watched his great nephew fugure out the puzzle he had left him. There were other tracks in the dirt. There had been a rain recently and the number of tracks was not really surprising.

“They all seem to be going the same way,” Jamie muttered. Albe smiled.

“And,” he prompted. Jamie continued to look. The one set of tracks he was focused on were deeper than the other tracks. Jamie bent closer. They were noticable lower in the dirt. Jamie placed a hand on the ground. The dirt didn’t feel wetter in the area with deeper tracks than the area without the deeper tracks. Jamie sat back on his heels.

“Those tracks are deeper.” Albe smiled in full and Jamie had figured he had gotten what Albe was asking.

“And what does that tell you?” Jamie thought about it a second but it really wasn’t much of a puzzle.

“That the wren that made these tracks was heavier than the other wrens,” He ventured the obvious answer.

“Exactly,” Albe said triumphantly. “Now what would make a bird heavier”

“Well I suppose it could be a really fat wren,” Jamie said. He was favored with a wry smile. “Or it could be carrying eggs.” Jamie guessed. Jamie was a little unsure about the process of bird’s laying eggs but he figured they had to be formed before they came out and those eggs had to be a little heavy. Albe’s eyebrow shot up in surprise and he laughted a loud belly laugh that rocked him back on his heels.

“Yes I suppose it could be at that,” He admitted. “I have to remember to use my natural senses more often after all they are the better ones. I supposed that is a reminder to me as well that things aren’t always as they seem. Come let’s go see what we can see. And find out exactly why this bird’s feet were heavier. Perhaps we will find a fat wren after all.” Albe shook his head and laughed again more to himself this time. Jamie didn’t quite get the joke but that was okay. He didn’t feel like he was left out but more that he had surprised Albe in a good way which was something that made him smile. After all Albe had been around a long time and was very hard to surprise.

The two of them followed the bird tracks to a small stand of trees set in a clearing. There birds twittered overhead. To Jamie’s surprise they didn’t scatter like they did when he walked in the woods alone. Instead the chirping increased as they got closer. Albe smiled when they found a nest and he helped Jamie onto a protruding rock to look into the nest.

“Hold your breath when you do,” Albe cautioned. “And don’t touch anything. We don’t want to scare anyone off.” Jamie peered into the nest and to his surprise there were four eggs in the nest. Sitting next to them was a small woman with wings, barely weighing more than the eggs herself.

“A fairy,” Jamie whispered, tilting his head down, even in his surprise to make certain that his breath did not waft over the eggs as Albe had cautioned. The fairy heard his voice and sprung up, a small sword in her hand.

“Away human, away,” her high pitched voice shrilled. “These not be playthings for your amusement.” She brandished her sword in his direction and advanced slowly. “I am warning you. I well know the use of my blade. So you had best be on your way,” She threatened him and Jamie instictively backed away realizing how close his eyes were to that tiny sword. He held his hands up in suplication.

“I was just looking,” he stammered out. Albe looked into the nest.

“Well Greas,” Albe said. “I am surprised to see you still around. But you may put your sword away. My nephew meant no harm and only peered in at my insistence.” The fairy blinked her eyes at Albe

“Oh keeper, I did not realize the boy was in your care or else I would not have dealt so harshly with him.” She strutted infront of the eggs and sheethed her sword. Jamie could tell she was proud about having made him back off. Of course, he rationed if he were her size he would be pleased at backing off a predator more than 400 times his size with a toothpick and a threat. Jamie took a deep breath.

“So what is it you do here keeper?” She asked, dismissing Jamie all together. Albe smield.

“I am teaching,” Albe replied. The fairy looked startled and swung back around to look at Jamie. She studied him for a few moments and then took flight, circling him so she could view him from all angles. The wings looked like the finest of stained glass as the sun caught them and through prisims of color all around.

“She’s beautiful Uncle Albe,” Jamie said watching her move. The fairy’s cheeks turned pink with the compliment.

“Well,’ she said. “I suppose I should apologize then. I shouldn’t have dealt so harshly with you but the world itself is a harsh place for such as me.”

“And it is wise to be careful,” Albe added in a polite tone. She returend to the nest and gave the eggs a once over before turning her eyes back to Albe.

“Now I would ask what it is you do her this day Greas, if I might be so bold.”

“The fedan has brought forth young,” the fairy told Albe. This apparently meant more to Albe than it meant to Jamie. To him the conversation was mystifying.

“I did not realize her time was so soon.” Albe eyed the eggs. “I see.”

“Yes, we thought it had been taken care of but she is leading the tovax away and I am guarding the young in her stead.” The fairy puffed out her chest.

“An important task,” Albe said with respect. “Would it be possible for me to assist? I know I can not take sides, however I take exception when it comes to the preservation of the young. And I believe I have earned this concession.” The fairy looked surprised.

“And what sort of help would this be?” she asked warily.

“The tracks leading to this spot are quite evident.” He replied. “If you do not need them for wayfinding then perhaps when I and my young charge here leave we can make them less so.” The fairy looked surprised and then relieved.

“Tracks,” she said shaking her head. Albe smiled ruefully.

“For one who dwells with wings such considerations are usually not yours.” He told her. His voice was a consolation, the type Jamie got when he only got half of the puzzle right. Jamie guessed that the fairy in charge was supposed to have taken care of things like tracks. Of course what could be accomplished with one sweep of Albe’s foot would be hard labourious work for the fairy.

“If you would be so kind,” the fairy said. Albe nodded.

“Come Jamie,” he said. “It is nearing time for lunch.” Albe and Jamie turned from the nest and Albe took his hand and showed him how to erase the tracks so that it looked as though neither man nor bird had passed that way. Jamie smiled his eyes full of questions. He looked up at Albe the questions balanced on his tongue. Albe had an odd look on his face and Jamie was not sure he wanted to ask too many questions. Albe turned to him.

“You should remember both.” He told him.

“Both what?” Jamie asked.

“That both the mundane and the esoteric were right this time. Never forget that because we are designed to deal with the more esoteric that it should replace the mundane. Always keep both options open. At the end of the trail you might just find a fat wren.” Jamie blinked and Albe started to fade. He could clearly see sunlight falling through Albe and his hand felt more insubstantial. “My time has passed Jamie. You are the keeper now. Have faith in yourself and you will do fine.”

In his sleep Jamie rolled over. A breeze rustled the leaves above their heads in his dream and with a sigh that mimicked the wind, Albe was gone. Jamie blinked awake. He was facing the window and saw the same fairy who was in his dream. He called out her name, blinked and she was gone. Jamie was not sure if he was still dreaming. He blinked hard but nothing changed. He closed his eyes and slid back into sleep.

Keeper: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jamie reached his car and unlocked the driver’s side door. He slid the satchel from his shoulder and placed it on top of his stack of papers. It was a good thing he had taken a few days off to deal with his uncle’s affairs since it seemed he was taking homework to his apartment for the first time since college. He eyed the stack warily. The satchel kept the papers from flying in the breeze from the open window. After being stuck in the smoke filled van that morning he just simply couldn’t bring himself to close the window. The edges of the papers shifted as though they were crooking a finger at him and beckoning him into his Uncle’s would of secrets.

‘Come,’ they whispered. ‘Come see what really happened in Albe’s world.’ Jamie turned down a side street in a short cut over to Elm. There was a fast food restaurant that he liked. It wasn’t a chain but a locally owned dive that continued to thrive long after the McDonalds and Burger Kings had moved in. Guppies sold the best hamburgers and chocolate milkshakes a person could want. And when you ordered a hamburger with onions you got a spoonful of sautéed sweet onions piled on with melty cheese covering them. Jamie grinned. He had been trying to be more health conscious but he figured there were just times when health had to take a back seat. Besides he was limiting his grease filled delight intake to only once a month and he hadn’t imbibed this month. Sure, it was only the second day of the month but he was still within bounds.

The chocolate shake wasn’t exactly the stiff drink he had wanted earlier, but at the moment it sounded even better. Perhaps he would feel differently about that drink after he read the papers but for now this would work. Jamie went through the drive in, sure that if he stopped he would be delayed once again by conversations politeness demanded. Personally, he never understood why people who had never liked you in high school now felt obligated to stop and make conversation with you when you happened to pass them on the street. “Ah, the joys of a small town,” he said to himself.

Jamie got through the drive through without incident and the scent of the warm burger filled the car. He didn’t want the grease dripping on to the paper work so he took the fist full of napkins the clerk had dropped into the bag and placed them between the bottom of the fast food bag and the satchel. Idly he wondered if he looked like he was a messy eater or if all of the patrons received so many napkins. At his apartment he parked behind the building, not wanting to leave his car out front. When he parked out front it was disturbingly easy for his brother to drive by and simply drop in. Until he had a chance to stash the financial papers somewhere safe he didn’t really want to have family over.

Jamie parked and let himself in the side door with his quick code. With the satchel slung over his shoulder and the papers balanced in one arm while he grasped both the paper sack and his keys in the other he went up the three flights to his apartment and opened the door. As always, the smell of turpentine greeted him. He smiled and supposed that he really had no leg to stand on when he complained about his mother’s eau d’ Virginia Slims when he probably went around habitually smelling like paint thinner. Of course his family rarely visited here. There was no reason.

The apartment was fairly sparse and utilitarian and if Jamie was being kind, a bit run down. Jamie had to admit that part of that was because he didn’t need that much but the rest of the shabbiness was by design. It was a defense mechanism of sorts. If no one thought you had anything they couldn’t ask for a handout. It had come in quite handy when his brother and kids hit town looking for a place to stay. Jamie’s place was far too small for comfort and if he had to move in a hurry all of the furniture, apart from his art supplies could go back to the salvation army where he bought it in the first place. He would even kick in the new futon mattress on his bed without a twinge. Everything else could easily fit inside his car.

Michael had tried bringing the kids to his place when he first arrived in town, thinking Jamie was an easier mark than their mother. That had lasted about an hour. Jamie let them in, watched them look around and decided to take out the trash while they decided to leave. His only request has been not to touch the computer since it was work related. He didn’t think there would be a problem as even though his computer equipment was top notch enough to attract both boys, Jamie had not only locked it with passwords, but added encrypted techno codes that made his savvy nephews head’s spin. He returned however to find his work shunted off to the side and the boys trying to make the computer work.

For the first time in their lives he put his foot down and the family was on their way to bunk with Bella well before they had planned. They left in shocked silence as not only did he raise his voice but he declared they would not be allowed back in until they learned some manners. They still had not been back but the incident was never mentioned.

Jamie set the paper work down and sunk into his worn lazy boy recliner. It was brown and looking a little threadbare on the arms. Michael had asked why he couldn’t at least get a nice chair and Jamie had replied that he wouldn’t want to get paint on the nice chair. Luckily his brother thought of him as the starving artist and thought this was the best Jamie could afford. It saved Jamie a lot of grief. Jamie stared at the stack of papers and decided to eat his burger first. He at the burger slowly, savoring each delicious greasy bite. In between bites he took long draws of his chocolate shake.

‘There is just something about burgers and chocolate shakes that just goes well together,’ he thought. He used the meal to relax. He didn’t think of family, he didn’t think of death or greed. He didn’t even think of the pretty bank teller. He just focused on his burger and shake. It was momentary contentment but he took it anyway. The burger was gone well before the shake and he used one of the napkins to wipe the grease off of the side of the cup and washed his hands. Somehow it seemed wrong to leave grease stains on financial papers. The thought of it made him feel like a thief.

With clean hands he once again looked at the stack realizing he had a dilemma. He could either start with the paperwork like a good boy or he could go ahead and break out the satchel and see what was inside. He eyed the bag, temptation winning out.

“Besides,” he said to himself as he reached for the satchel. “What is in the bag might give me more insight as to what I’m looking at in the other papers.” He didn’t actually believe the argument but he pulled the bag over to himself anyway. The bag looked so much like the ones he and Albe would take sack lunches and treasure maps in that a grin split his face as he remembered the games he and Albe had played. Treasure hunt and searching for the lost city of Atlantis had occupied many a summer day.

Jamie first pulled out the letter he had read at the bank. That was the same handwriting he remembered from birthday cards and holiday cards during his child hood. And as an adult when he was going through college and then starting out on his own, random letters would show up whenever Albe felt like it. The old man had never really needed a reason to write, just the urge. He had also never taken to e-mail. Again Jamie wondered if it was Albe’s age that prevented this change or if there was no internet service out there. Jamie tapped the satchel thoughtfully. Really if there was internet at Albe’s then there was very little reason he couldn’t relocate for a little while. After all he would have to do the inventory. And it would be the safest place to keep all of the paperwork.

Out of the immediate family, he was the only one who even remotely knew how to get to Albe’s. That drastically reduced the possibility of Michael trying to sell the land without his knowledge and of his mother backing up a moving truck to the front door on her way to auction. He doubted seriously that any of them had paid attention to the few road signs there actually were along the way. For once his family’s complete narcissism made him smile in a happy way. Jamie set the letter aside. Perhaps when he went back to the house he could bring his laptop and see what kind of signals he got. Jamie reached back into the front pocket and came out with a small box. It was this box that the letter had gotten snagged on at the bank when he tried to tuck it in.

The box reminded Jamie of his father’s Purple Heart metal he had tucked away in his sock drawer and he wondered if Albe had served in one of the armed forces. The topic had never come up although if Jamie had thought about it he would have assumed the man had fought in the Second World War. Somehow Jamie couldn’t picture Albe in the military though, or at least not the regular military. Jamie had no problems seeing Albe as a spy or intelligence officer as they seemed to now be called. He always seemed to know a lot about everything and he certainly knew how to move through the woods as silent as a shadow.

The box creaked open and Jamie peered inside. Instead of the metal he was expecting he found a small folded piece of paper sitting onto of a small medallion on a chain. Jamie set the box down and picked up the paper. It was the kind of paper used to mail international letters, very thin and very light. He unfolded the paper and read the note. It was addressed to him and he wondered how long Albe had prepared for this day.

Jamie,

This is the symbol of the keeper. It also serves as the key. You will need to wear it when you go to the house for reasons that will become obvious as you proceed. It has already been keyed to you. To activate it, take the medallion in your left hand and close your fist around it. You may feel an odd sensation in your hand. Keep your hand closed until you see the flash of light. The medallion will then be activated. It will open the books for you alone. Serve well.

Jamie set the paper down and picked up the box again. The medallion rested on a red watered silk backing that glimmered in the overhead light like a beetle’s back. All in all it seemed a bit fancy for the simple medallion resting on it. The medallion was about the size of a dime and was dull silver. It reminded Jamie of a cheap trinket embossed with the visage of a saint; the kind you would get in a five and dime rather than a jewelry store. It had a lightning shaped hole in its center. To Jamie’s knowledge there were no saint’s represented by something as naturalistic as a lightning bolt. Of course he had to admit most of his knowledge of religion came more from his art history classes than from any working knowledge of church doctrine. Religion had never been one of his mother’s things.

“She would have to have possess the ability to look outside herself and actually admit that there might be a power higher than she in existence for that to happen,” Jamie muttered. The loop the chain ran through looked as though it had been soldered on as an after thought as if the person who had originally made it thought of it as a good luck piece to carry in your pocket and only later had someone decided to add a chain.

Feeling a little silly, Jamie picked up the medallion and placed it in the center of his left palm. He closed his hand, allowing the chain to dangle between his fingers. As soon as his hand closed down around the small medallion, a tingling filled his hand. Jamie almost opened his hand in surprise at the sensation but remembered Albe’s instructions just in time and kept his fist closed. The tingle felt like a small electric shock and it increased as he sat there looking at his hand. The medallion felt hot and Jamie wondered if it was going to burn him. The heat had not yet reached the point of pain so he held on. Then light flashed between his fingers and for an instant it was like his hand was being x-rayed. He could see every little bone in his hand. He could even see the lines on the bones where two of his fingers had been broken.

Jamie stood still for a moment after the flash of light and stared at his closed hand, almost afraid to open it. Dark spots danced in his vision. The heat was gone and when he slowly peeled his fingers back from the center, the medallion had not changed. There were no burn marks on his palm. The only sight that made his hand look any different were the crescent moon shaped marks where his fingernails had pressed into his own hand. Jamie shook his head and wondered if he had imagined the whole scenario or if what he had felt was real.

He had the same feeling he often had around Albe, as if his imagination had been given free reign and something had slipped out of his mind and into the real world. As a kid Jamie had always liked that sensation. As an adult he wasn’t quite sure what emotion he felt. It still had that balanced at the top of the largest hill on a roller coaster feeling but without Albe here he didn’t know if the roller coaster had passed inspection and was safe to ride. The chain was a long one and with a deep breath Jamie slipped it over his neck. It hung to about the center of his chest. He wasn’t quite sure why he put it on but it felt right. After a moment’s thought he slipped the chain under his shirt and felt the cool metal against his skin. He reached once again for the satchel.

There was nothing else in the front pocket of the satchel so he unbuckled the straps holding the top of it closed. He flipped the unbuckled top flap over and peered inside. There were two books inside and Jamie pulled them out. Both appeared very old. They were leather bound and had cracks from age but they appeared well cared for. The first was a very slim volume. On its cover were flaking gold letters.

“Rules and Regulations; A guide for the keeper,” Jamie read aloud. This was the second time he had heard the name keeper. Once from Albe’s note and he still had no clue what the term meant. Jamie opened the cover. The leather was stiff and he was worried about cracking it. From the dim recesses of his mind he remembered someone saying old leather bound books needed to be oiled every now and again to keep them fresh. He frowned at it wondering if motor oil or the kind you cooked with would be better. Perhaps he would look that up on the internet later. He smiled, research made easy.

Idly, he flipped through the book being careful when turning the pages but letting his eyes skim the text. It was written like a law book with no diagrams or pictures to break up the long lines of very small print. Jamie frowned, something told him he was going to have to read it. It looked like one of those dull books that teachers always liked to test out of. A few words caught his eyes and he read them aloud to himself as he flipped.

“The keeper must maintain balance and order. The keeper is the final arbitrator. The keeper must place personal gain to the side. Personal opinion is not relevant.” His eyes blurred with the words. The sense of what he got was that the keeper was some sort of combination police officer and lawyer. “Maybe judge would be more accurate,” he mumbled. Beyond that the book didn’t seem to be telling him much. He flipped back to the first page.

“The rules and regulations that guide the keeper are of great import.” Somehow he found himself saying the words with his best lawyerly voice. It sounded like a line from a bad play. He shrugged. It still didn’t tell him what exactly a keeper was. Jamie set the book aside and reached for the second tome that was in the satchel. This one was a lot thicker and a little larger. It was old but it looked like it had been well cared for. Jamie bet oil had been rubbed into this binding. The book opened without a creak.

Given its size Jamie expected it to contain material even dryer than the smaller book. Instead life like color drawings with descriptions met his eyes as he turned the pages. One particular image caught Jamie’s eye and he stopped. The picture was of an extraordinarily detailed old man who seemed to be barely knee high. He had a long gray beard and was dressed in what Jamie supposed would be called homespun. It reminded him of the farmer’s clothing at the living history museum he had toured as a child. There was even a small patch on one of the legs. It wasn’t an artistically designed patch made to look cute and ‘ole timey’ but as if that was where a hole had been.

In addition the cuffs of the pants had a somewhat frayed look to them and darker stains where they had perhaps come in contact with a mud puddle. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbow and there was a long scar on the left arm. It was the eyes that got Jamie though. There was intelligence reflected in them as well as humor but Jamie got the feeling that this would be a bad person to cross. The image was so real Jamie half expected the little man to step off the page. Next to the drawing were measurements showing the approximate size of him. At the top was a heading.

“Tomte/Nisse (hob),” he read. Jamie frowned. He had heard of hob goblins before but this looked nothing like what he would have expected. Somehow in the back of his mind he pictured something green and scaley. There was a paragraph of text under the heading. As he was alone he read the paragraph aloud.

“Although usually pictured as a small older man dressed like a farmer a tomte/nisse or hob can shape shift at will sometimes appearing in a much larger stature. They are skilled in illusions and believed to be able to make themselves temporarily invisible. This latter skill can only be done for short bursts of time and even then only by the most skilled of the race. They posses an immense amount of strength that bears no relation to their size. They are usually protective and caring but easy to offend. Once offended, retributions can range from a stout box on the ears to the killing of livestock or ruining of the farm's fortune. The tomte/nisse tend to be traditionalists who do not like changes in the way things were done at the farm. Whenever a change occurs they appear grumpy at first as they see how much this change will affect the daily operations. If the main balance remains the same they can be won over to warily accept new changes, especially if it can be proven to benefit them. They can not abide rudeness or the abuse of other living creatures and will sometimes react violently in their defense. The tomte/nisse is extremely territorial and will protect his chosen domain. As a gift in return the owner of the land provides a bowl of porridge on Christmas eve for the resident tomte/nisse.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Jamie said. “Although I’m not quite sure that qualifies as minimum wage so the unions might disagree.” Jamie saw a note scrawled into the margin in what looked to be Albe’s handwriting. With a smile he read it.

“Levas likes his porridge with a pat of butter on the top and a dash of salt. He has a fondness for milk.” The word top was underlined. Jamie looked back at the image of the man and then back to his scrawled note, unsure if Albe was joking or not. Somehow looking at the picture Jamie found it difficult to believe this was a joke. Near the bottom of the page, under the drawing was a name. Figuring it might name the artist, Jamie peered at it. To his surprise it read Alexander Fulton.

“Obviously a relative,” he thought with a grin. Apparently he hadn’t been the only artist in the family. He knew that there was a very detailed family tree hanging on the wall in Albe’s study. When he went back to the house he would have to see where Alexander fit in. Jamie flipped through the book some more, leaving the Tomte/nisse behind.

“Levas,” Jamie reminded himself although he wasn’t sure of the pronunciation. Other fairy tale like creatures greeted his eyes as the pages turned. Some were with names he knew but with different annotations added to them that made him shake his head. Some appeared to be proper names, others family or tribal designations. On one of the drawings of a fairy some one had scrawled what appeared to be a family tree at the bottom of the page. Some of the creatures were benign others of a more disturbing ilk. Information on dealing with the peculiarities of each were on the pages. And all of the images were so life like Jamie had a hard time picturing them not jumping off the page and spinning around his apartment.

“It’s like a field guide,” He muttered to himself. “A naturalist’s guide to the world of the unseen creatures of the imagination.” Jamie’s cell phone rang and he slid it out of his pocket. Still bemusedly flipping the pages, he answered it. Given the various games he and Albe had played when he was younger he wondered why his great uncle had never brought the book out. It would have been a fabulous encounter. Searching for fairies in the garden. Fighting ogres in the woods. He could almost see the old man leading him off on one of those adventures.

“Hello,” he said absently.

“Have you gotten the inventory yet?” His mother’s voice demanded, cutting through the pleasant thoughts like a hot knife. He was definitely going to have to look at changing those ring tones. Jamie glanced at the stack of papers.

“Not yet,” he lied. “Jim got called into another appointment.” A heavy sigh greeted his ears.

“Well you will need to get it soon and start going through the whole place. Remember every item has to be checked off before we can start taking things out. And we will need to take things out to make the house ready to sell. You’ll need to get some fresh paint on that house and make it look all right. And you will definitely need to fix that road. After all we can’t be bringing investors out there with them thinking there isn’t even a decent road.” Jamie could practically hear her lips smack over the word investors. He fought back a sigh.

“Of course. I have to go, I have some work to do.”

“You get started on that inventory the moment you get it from that lawyer.” She told him before letting him go. Jamie hit the end button and sighed dramatically for his own benefit.

“It’s a good thing the Tomte didn’t pay a visit while mom was there.” Jamie could not picture that visit going well. The description mentioned the creatures not being fond of rudeness. While his mother could be the most genteel and respectful person in the world, she reserved this attitude for people who were her social betters or equal or someone she might be able to get something from. She tended to refer to lawyers and other such people as the help and treated them with a rather dismissive air.

“Unless they were rich, single, older, male lawyers,” he reminded himself thinking of his mother’s last boyfriend. Jamie pictured the scene with the wizened little old man chasing his mother around the yard. The thought was rather amusing but from the description in the book he was pretty sure the reality of that would be much darker. Jamie stopped himself and shook his head realizing he had just thought of the reality of a fairy tale creature.

“Okay,” he told himself closing the book. “Play time is over.” He set the book aside with a bit of regret. It was the kind of book he could easily loose himself in. Part of him twitched, wanting to get his own pen and paper out. He resisted the urge and instead reached into the satchel to see if anything remained. Inside he found a small bottle of linseed oil. Printed on the label were the proper instructions for oiling a leather bound book. Jamie set the bottle down on the small table. At least that was one question solved. He wouldn’t be debating between motor oil and cooking oil later.

“Odd that only one of the books was oiled,” Jamie thought. Apparently Albe hadn’t put much stock in the rules and regulations book. The two books and the bottle of linseed oil looked strange sitting on his coffee table next to the empty fast food bag and coffee cup from the morning. It was as if they were puzzle pieces to a puzzle he wasn’t really sure had had the box for. Albe had left him the house. There was a library in the house where the two books could have been presumably left. Questions danced in Jamie’s mind.

Why did Albe want to show him these books in particular? Why lock them in the safe deposit box instead of just having the will mention them? How long had these two books been in the box? Did they have something to do with Albe’s death? And what exactly was a keeper? Jamie shook his head again and wondered that his brain was not rattling against his ears by this point. Perhaps the paperwork would tell him more. Jamie turned to the stack and began shifting through the financial bits and pieces of Albe’s world.

There was plenty of money in the accounts located in several different banks and a widely diverse stock portfolio, both with amounts that made Jamie’s head spin. He would definitely have to hide this from his brother. Jamie felt a bit like a heel for doing that though. After all he didn’t really need the money. Actually he didn’t think anyone really needed that much money. But he knew once any money was given to his mother or brother they would never stop until they had it all. And a part of him thought that if Albe had wanted them to have any of it he would have left it to them. Jamie found a copy of the will which when he scanned specifically mentioned both his mother and brother. Albe’s comments made him feel less guilty.

With a wry smile he noticed that his mother was to be left a stern talking to about the fact that the world did not exist for her pleasure and his brother was to be left a swift kick in the pants. Somehow he couldn’t exactly see Jim administering either but it was a guilt clearing thought. Enclosed in the paperwork was also a copy of the map of the property. Jamie could tell that Albe had added a bit of land a few years back as he had thought. Albe had mentioned the possibility but Jamie was never certain if he had done so or not.

There were other odd markings on the map. Little notations made by hand as if Albe had used the map more for recording purposes rather than just as a reference. None of the maps made much sense to him. So he put it aside. After all there was time to clarify the marks on the map when he had finished. Jamie rubbed his eyes, not realizing how tired the day had made him. He eyed the inventory and decided there was nothing to be gained by looking at it now. After all he would need to be at Albe’s to look at things.

The thought brought another one to his brain as if the two had been linked. He had been toying with the idea since he had finally realized that Albe was not going to come back. Jamie pulled up his phone. The first thing he did was download some ring tones. The first for his mother was ‘The beautiful people’ by Marylyn Manson. Somehow he knew that would tickle her since she had no clue what the lyrics actually were. She would assume it meant something much nicer and further from the actual truth.

Jamie smiled and downloaded ‘Banditos’ by the Refreshments for his brother,. After all, the world is full of supid people. Then Jamie thought about it. A couple of times, when he had not answered, his mother or brother in a while he had found them calling using his niece’s phone number. Not really in the mood to deal with that he downloaded Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ for his niece. Not exactly appropriate for a man to give his niece but hopefully that wouldn’t ring while other people were around.

Then Jamie put the phone down and looked around his apartment. He had just completed a massive project and shipped it off. He had another project in the works that he had begun sketching things out for but the next meeting for it wasn’t scheduled for another two weeks. He was actually ahead of schedule on it. He eyed his work gear. It would be simple to break it down and fit everything he used for work into his toyota. Once he added his clothing and all of his painting gear it would be a pretty full car load but he could make it. The furniture had mostly come second hand and would be not missed if anything actually happened to it. Jamie shrugged. He had already paid up for the month. His rent was actually on automatic draft so it didn’t really matter if he was here or not.

He figured after a few days of not answering calls he would get visits which would prevent him from working anyway. Albe’s house had a back porch that would be great to paint on. Albe had even set up a small studio for him out there when he was a kid so he had a safe place to store his art supplies. There were still paintings stashed out there that Albe had been proud to keep. If there wasn’t an internet connection or reliable cell service, Jamie could bring his laptop and cell phone to a coffee houe or bother coming back here. The time away would let him work, start sorting through the inventory, and give him time to figure out a more permanent solution to his family’s greed.

“After all Mom can’t complain since she told me to get started as soon as possible,” he said with a lopsided grin. Jamie took out his cell phone and dialed his landlord’s number.

“Harrison real estate,” A cheerful voice answered.

“Hi this is Jamie Fulton, apartment 54 in the Watson building on fourth,” He began.

“Yes Mr. Fulton how may I help you today?”

“Well I just wanted to give you a heads up that I was going out of town for a while. My apartment will be empty and I just wanted you to know that in case there were any issues. I may be gone for the better part of the month.”

“Of course Mr. Fulton, may I ask, is this just a business trp or do you think you might be leaving us? I see you have been a resident for seven years.”

Jamie nodded and then realized she couldn’t see him. He cleared his throat. “No permanent plans,” he said thinking of Albe’s caution to do nothing rash. “But I think my trips will become more frequent. You shouldn’t worry about getting in here if there is any trouble. I am taking my computer with me so if you see an empty desk you know why. These trips will be more regular but my rent will still be drafted from my bank account. I like to know I always have a place to come back to after being on the road.”

“We’ll make sure everything stays safe Mr. Fulton. Is there anyone we should notify if something is wrong during your absence?”

“Actually if you could just call my cell phone I would be much obliged.”

“Yes sir. I have your number as 234-567-8999? Is that correct?”

“Yes, that will be fine,” Jamie said.

“Thank you Mr. Fulton, I’ll put the notes in the computer. You have a safe trip.” The conversation ended with Jamie thanking her and wondering mentally how many tenants they had lost in the last few months for her to be so jumpy about him possibly moving. Jamie had very simple needs and didn’t ask for much. Truth be told if something broke he generally fixed it himself. So far in this apartment he had fixed two broken window panes, his toilet and various leaks under the sink. Sometimes the skills Albe gave him came in handy for more than keeping his mother from paying a handyman.

Jamie set his phone down, and plugged in the cord to keep it charged. As his hand left the phone there was a ring coming out of it. Jamie sighed as a tinny version of the Bandiots song filled the apartment. He sighed and left it to ring. Jamie pulled out a duffel bag from under his bed and began filling it with clean clothing. He concentrated on comfortable clothing that he would be at home in whether he was painting, sorting through the house or taking a walk in the woods. At Albe’s house that would be most of his efforts’s concentrartion. Jamie smiled as he quickly finished the clothing. There was very little left. Just the suit he wore to funerals and a few dress up for meetings things. After a second’s though he added everything but the business suit to his bag. Over all he was not burdend with worldly possessions.

Jamie tugged out another bag. It held his gym clothes and he quickly transferred them to his clothing bag, wondering when the last time he had actually gone to the gym was. In the now empty gym bag he transferred the cords from his computer as he unplugged them. In relatively little time everything was packed and ready to go. He figured that it would take two trips to the car in the morning and he would be good to go.

Jamie found himself fighting a huge grin. It was like summertime all over again. He was off on another adventure with Albe. Jamie’s smile faltered. Accept Albe wouldn’t be there. Jamie flopped on his bed and let thoughts of Albe fill him. Alone in his room he let the true sorrow of missing the old man wash through him. It was an ache but it still didn’t seem real. He drifted off to sleep thinking of Albe’s stories and the trips in the woods. Slowly Jamie’s eyes drifted closed. The dreams became an extension of his memories and his mind took him back to a walk through the woods.