Keeper: Chapter 29

Chapter 29

His mother was dressed in a chic suit of black lined with white piping. Her shoes were black with white polka dots and she struggled to look casual as the heels sunk into the soft earth. Bella was in full charming mode while Michael had the air of a ring master.



“That spells investor,” Jamie thought with a sign. “This is not going to be pleasant.” The stranger noticed him first. Somehow, Jamie was not surprised.



“Hello, I am George Jennings,” The man said, walking over and offering his hand to Jamie. Jamie shook it and smiled at the man, ignoring his family.



“Good morning Mr. Jennings. I am James Fulton. What brings you to my home today?” George quirked up an eyebrow in surprise but quickly suppressed it.



“I represent the Colfax Corporation,” George said pulling out a card and handing it to Jamie. Jamie glanced at the card. It had a shadowy outline of buildings behind the name and the tagline development for the future. The tag line ended in an oversized red exclamation mark.



“I see,” Jamie replied, handing the card back to George. “I think you may be under some sort of misunderstanding. My property is not for sale.” Jamie heard sputtering from his brother and a sort of hissing noise from his mother. He didn’t glance in their direction.



“Oh,” George said slowly, his gaze darting back towards Bella and Michael. “I see.” He held his card back out to Jamie. “If you change your mind…”



“I won’t,” Jamie replied, trying to not make the words sound too harsh. “But thank you. I am sorry you drove out this far for so little reason.”



“It was a lovely drive. You have a great place here,” George said with a faded smile as he tucked his card back in its holder and slipped it into his suit pocket.



“I think so.” Jamie replied. George once again extended his hand and the two men shook. George headed back to the car. Michael left him to Bella’s care and instead joined Jamie on the porch.



“What are you doing?” Michael hissed. “They are willing to pay us a lot of money for this rat hole.”



“It is not yours to sell.” Jamie said calmly, making no attempt to keep his voice from carrying. Michael’s eyes hardened and Jamie nearly ducked back instinctively as that look had always been a precursor to one of Michael’s punches. Instead he held his ground. Michael realized there was an audience and merely clenched his fists by his sides. “How did you get here, by the way?”



“We drove,” Michael said through clenched teeth. “Can’t you see the car?”



“I realize that,” Jamie said. “But I distinctly remember locking the gate.”



“We opened the gate,” Michael said. Jamie could see the muscle in his jaw clench.



“How?” Jamie asked, “I specifically didn’t give you a key.” Michael did not answer. Instead he turned and stalked back to the car.



“Bolt cutters,” George said with a frown.



“And you did not find that suspicious?” Jamie asked him. Bella’s face was a hard mask of marble.



“A little,” George admitted with a shrug. “But they said the lock was rusted shut and the key had been lost.”

“I’ll have to get a new lock then,” Jamie said.



“I am sorry for the inconvenience,” George said. Jamie waved away the apology.



“Not your fault really. Have a nice drive back.” George nodded and got into the car while Jamie re-entered the house. He shut and locked the door behind him.



“I take it that was your family?” Del asked. A deep frown creased his face. As Jamie’s frown was almost a match he didn’t mention it.



“Mother and brother, along with one innocent bystander named George,” Jamie confirmed.



“They really thought they could sell property that didn’t belong to them?”



“They thought I’d cave and sign off on it because it was what they wanted.” Jamie rubbed a hand over his face and through his hair, suddenly feeling tired. Del snorted. “Easy money del, it is all about the easy money with them.” The two of them walked towards the kitchen as they heard the car’s engine start and then fade away as it began the drive back to town.



“How would it be easy if it wasn’t theirs?” Del asked.



“Oh they’d make sure to keep the money,” Jamie responded. He sank into the seat at the table and Del handed him a cup of coffee.



“They would sell your property and then not give you the money from the sale?” Del asked slowly, as though trying to puzzle the logic out.



“Yup,” Jamie said taking a sip of his coffee. Del seemed to have no response to this and instead fixed two plates with biscuits, eggs and bacon. He set one plate in front of Jamie and settled himself behind the second plate.



“They will be back,” Jamie warned Del as they began to eat. A dark look crossed the little man’s face. “I’ll have to see about replacing the lock on the gate before anything else. I think Albe has some spare ones in the storage room off the back porch. I don’t know that any of them will be bolt cutter proof but I can always go back into town to the hardware store to find one.”



“Will that be today’s errand rather than out hike out?”



“No,” Jamie said shaking his head. “I’ll go put the new lock on and then we can head out. I’ll go on the quest for a Michael proof lock later.”



“Will you drive to the gate?”



“Yes,” Jamie said, “That might be easier.”



“Safer too,” Del commented. “Too much Iron. You should be safe enough. I’ll put together our lunch to take with us while you lock up tight.” Jamie didn’t point out that he was pretty sure his car was more plastic and steel than iron.



“After all he reasoned,” If Del didn’t know then most of the other boggles out there might not either.” They finished breakfast and Jamie retrieved a new lock from the box in the storeroom. He had to duck upstairs to grab his keys from his night stand. Next to his keys he saw the shimmering coin and the vial of purple liquid. Figuring they had to be some sort of protection he slipped the coin into his pocket and slid the vial into the front pouch of his satchel. Jamie retraced his steps back out of the front door. He pulled the door shut and got into his car. They old Toyota took a minute for the engine to catch.



“Gonna need a mechanic soon,” Jamie thought as the engine finally caught. His local mechanic Larry and his heavily used Toyota were close friends at this point. Jamie headed towards the gate and stopped before going through the wide open expanse of road. Leaving his car running he closed and relocked the gate using the new lock. He picked up the cut lock, silently grinding his teeth. He tossed it into the passenger’s side of the car and drove back to the house. Del was waiting for him with two wrapped lunches. Jamie tucked his inside the bag swinging from his side and the two took off in the direction of Lustan.



The two walked in relative silence, needing no chitchat to fill the morning quiet. Jamie smiled as he realized he felt comfortable with Del. The woods were alive with birdsong and the general sounds of the wind whispering through leaves. Off to their left Jamie could hear the sounds of water and he remembered the thin blue line Alexander had traced on the map. He couldn’t remember the brook’s name, and had not copied it onto his sketched map. As they moved Jamie say bits of stained glass color darting through the woods and in addition to birdsong her heard snatches of tinkling laughter or barely heard words. He had the feeling fairies were following their progress. He mentally shrugged, figuring that if they wanted to speak with him they would approach. If not they could watch all they wanted. Del set a brisk pace and in a shorter time then Jamie had anticipated they had reached the outskirts of the Lustan. Jamie could only stand and goggle at the sight, his feet frozen to the dirt pathway.



“A bit surprising, I’ll admit,” Del said stopping beside Jamie.



“How do they not see this from the road?” Jamie asked. The megalithic structure easily towered over the surrounding forest by what Jamie assumed had to be a good two stories. The place reminded him of a cross between a Mayan temple and Ankor Wat. The two main entrances seemed to be aligned with the two east/west roads marked on the maps. Unlike the thin dirt trail Jamie and Del had walked through the forest those roads were cobbled and looked well kept. Jamie walked over towards one.



“This looks like someone swept it.”



“Probably did,” Del said bemused. “This wouldn’t be visible on your roads as we went through the cross roads quite some time ago.”



“Really? I didn’t feel anything.”



“Were you expecting to?”



“I don’t know,” Jamie said slowly thinking about all of the sci-fi and fantasy stories he had read over the years. Jamie looked around and at the edge of one of the buildings he saw something white fluttering slightly in a stray breeze. Jamie walked over to have a look. As he got close he again froze in his tracks. The flapping white was the tail of an un-tucked shirt. The body, or what he could see of it, looked as though it had been mummified. The skin was pulled against the bone, causing the clothing to fall in loose folds. The head was buried under a rock that Jamie was not certain he had the strength to lift. Jamie gazed at the body, unsure what to do. Del knelt down and peered closely at the rock. As he moved he accidently bumped the man’s hand. The hand slid from where it had been resting on his chest and fell to the ground. As it moved a ring, too loose for the desiccated hand slid from his finger and rolled away. Jamie bent down and picked it up. He straightened and looked at the ring in his hand. Jamie’s breath caught in his throat as he turned the ring around and saw the design.



“Del,” he said hoarsely. “This is Albe’s ring.” Del glanced at him and then turned back to the body. “He hasn’t been gone long enough for this to be natural decay.” Jamie stared at the body having a hard time reconciling it to the shell that once held his great uncle. “How can that be?” Del tilted the weight of the stone to the side a little.



“Don’t know, but you’d have to be pretty strong to heft this weight.” Jamie heard a slight scuffle from behind and started to turn. He had time to see a stone, smaller in size than the one that had killed Albe but still plenty heavy, come hurtling towards his head. His vision went red as it connected and then black as he slid into unconsciousness.