Keeper: Chapter 41

Chapter 41.


Jamie made sure the basement door was both shut and locked before heading up to the upper floors. The lock was just the kind that was turned at the doorknob and required no key. Jamie frowned a little at it. Somehow a key seemed more secure than just a lock on the door knob. Something in him wanted to lock the door and hide the key in a deep drawer. He thought about it as he hung up his jacket, tucked the flashlight back under the sink and went upstairs. The basement hadn’t felt, for lack of a better term, bad. It wasn’t like a house of horrors that claimed it’s victims. The only fear he felt was the thought of not being able to get out. The basement had been insistent when he was in there and disappointed when he left.



‘I wonder if Alexander felt the same way?’ he thought to himself as he entered the hidden floor and made his way carefully to Storage room three. Jamie thought of the way he had been almost compelled to speak his thoughts aloud and wondered if there was something live voice activated magic. He thought of the smoke thing that the High Talbot battled in Albe’s room and how it reacted to his voice and presence.



‘So that would be a yes,’ he thought. ‘Although admittedly it doesn’t’ take much encouragement to get me to talk aloud to myself.’ Once in the storeroom Jamie skirted the boxes, still wondering how many of them had come from the first house. With the image of the fire in his mind and reflected in the mirror he was quite surprised that anything could have survived the destruction. Jamie reached the shelves with the journals and chose the one with the same date as House’s construction on it. With a start he realized that that was also Alexander’s first journal.



“I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said aloud. “Everyone said the old Keeper died in the fire.” Jamie thought of the past week and his first days as keeper and wondered if Alexander had been so constrained in his memories and confused about what his new job entailed even as he watched the House being built and magic being poured into the foundations.



“If tradition held, he would have been as confused as I would be,” Jamie thought, wondering how he would react to seeing a sentient house being built by fairytale creatures. He shook his head and decided to take Alexander’s journal into the library to read. After all he wasn’t just scanning pages this time but actually reading more than just events pertaining to Lune Mertos.



“Might as well be comfortable for that.” Jamie went up to the library an found a fire buring in the grate, chasing back the October chill. As he settled himself he heard footsteps behind him and found Del holding a small tea tray.



“Heard you leave the basement and thought you might need something to warm you up,” he said setting the tray on the side table.



“Del, did you feel anything odd in the basement?”



“Odd?” Del asked his face looking like he was suppressing a laugh. “I went into the basement with Burr to assist in removing death magic. I think odd would be about expected.”



“Were there any traces of death magic left when you were done?”



“No,” Del said firmly, all traces of his amusement fading. “Burr removed everything. There wasn’t a trace of anything left. After I left him with you for a restorative tea I checked the basement again to make sure we had removed every trace and that there was nothing in there that made it feel...unwholesome, if you will.”



“And when you checked then did you find any sort of magic traces down there?”



“Nothing that wasn’t tied to the House.” Del frowned as though he weren’t really sure what Jamie was asking.



“So nothing compelling you to speak out loud or wanting you to stay in the basement?”

“No nothing at all of that sort,” Del answered. “Was that what you felt?”



“Yes,” Jamie said. “It didn’t feel ...unwholesome, just disappointed that I was leaving.”



“Well now,” Del sat back and thought about it. “I can check again and see if you’d like.”



“Would you mind?” Jamie asked, feeling a little silly about the request. “And just so I know you are okay and out of the basement could you come back up here after.”



“I’ll do that don’t you worry,” Del said, amusement at Jamie’s concern dancing in his eyes.



“Thanks.” Jamie told him. Del left, no doubt to investigate the basement and Jamie felt a little tense as he opened Alexander’s first journal to the first entry as Keeper and began to read. In less time than he would have thought reasonable, Del returned to the library. Del was frowning.



“What’s wrong,” Jamie asked.



“Did you do anything to the basement door?” Del asked.



“I locked it with the little turn lock under the door knob.”



“Anything else?”



“No,” Jamie said puzzled, “What else would I have done?”



“I don’t know but the door won’t open. The lock turns as easy as you please but the door will not open.”



“Well I suppose that answers the question about there being magic in the basement.”



“I suppose so,” Del replied looking a little nonplussed. “And I suppose it must be some sort of Keeper related magic as well. Like the kind that keeps me off that floor you were talking about. The one that needs a proper cleaning.” Jamie smiled at the response, remembering that Del’s first question about a hidden floor was how it got cleaned.



“Speaking of,” Jamie asked, remembering the very clean basement. “Did you clean the basement when you went in there with Burr?”



“No,” Del replied. “It was clean already.”



“Huh,” Jamie replied. He frowned. “When the first house was destroyed, do you remember if it was just the Keeper who died there?”



“It wasn’t,” Del said, his chest puffed with pride. “When the Keeper died his Housekeeper died with him refusing to abandon him to the flames.”



“I see,” Jamie said aloud. “I wonder if that has anything to do with it.”



“Do with what?”



“Why it is so clean.”



“I can’t see why that would matter,” Del said. Jamie shrugged.



“It probably doesn’t but as I have no clue how magic of any sort works it is the only guess I have.” Jamie sighed. “I don’s suppose they have a magic for dummies book anywhere?”



“I would suspect not as most clans and houses have their own special brand they practice.”



“That would make it easy to trace should it go wrong I suppose.”



“Which would be one of the jobs of the High Talbot,” Del told him.



“Well maybe Alexander has some insights,” Jamie replied holding up the book. “Us befuddled humans ought to stick together.”



“I’ll leave you to it then,” Del said with a smile. “If anyone knows how Keeper magic works it would be another Keeper. Humans would know best about human magic.”



“Human magic?” Jamie asked. Del paused in the doorway.



“Its rare,” he said with a shrug. “Always was, even before humans started killing anyone they suspected of having it.” He shrugged again. “It tended to be unpredictable and rarely helpful from what I understand but it’s been so long since any of it surfaced that I doubt anyone could tell you much about it that wasn’t just superstition.”



“Superstition?”



“Of course,” Del said with a laugh. “Fairies and goblins may be a part of human superstition but human magic are a part of ours. A fair trade I suppose. Except for the fact that fairies and goblins still exist.”



“Makes sense I suppose,” Jamie said, wondering if there were any books about it in Albe’s library. Del left and Jamie shook off wondering to dive into Alexander’s journal. The distractions quickly faded as he read Alexander’s words and thoughts.



“Apparently I am not the only one who struggled,” Jamie mused as he read. Somehow feeling that his ancestor was as confused as he was at first made him feel somewhat comforted. “Especially since he eventually got his head together enough to make the Field guide.” The day began to wear thin as Jamie read on and he absently reached up to turn on the side lamp for more light. The tea grew cold and the fire died to ash. Eventually his eyes began to blur from too long staring at the looped handwriting of his forebearer. Jamie leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to process what he had learned.



Apparently Alexander had had similar problems as he had in the basement although his reaction to it seemed to be stronger. Alexander felt the pull to stay in the basement and the urge to speak aloud as though it would give something leave to begin but he had also felt pins and needles all over his body as though his limbs were trying to wake up from falling asleep. Jamie tapped the cover of the journal in thought, wondering if the power in the basement had simply weakened over time.



“No one else could feel it but the Keeper,” Jamie muttered to himself. In addition to the housekeeper who, like Del was a brownie, Alexander had a rather large family living with him. Neither his wife nor children could sense anything of what he felt in the basement.



“Perhaps Del is right and it is magic tied to the Keeper.” While it was interesting to think about Jamie shifted his thoughts back to the house itself. The first house had not been the first house but the house that the keeper at the time had built. Apparently the older house had not been much and had been relegated to the status of an outbuilding. The Keeper at the time, also a Fulton, had built the house with the aide of friends and family. He had been quite elderly when it was destroyed and everyone seemed to believe that when he died, the hose simply went with him. Alexander had tried looking for further details but had always come to a dead end and the unshakable belief that no one would ever try to destroy the Keeper of the Crossroads.



“As I have several attempts under my belt at this point I think that foul play is an option,” Jamie muttered, thinking of the watchers in the woods. Were they merely watching or were they doing something? Jamie walked to the desk and picked up the journal he had begun. Even though he felt like he was treading old ground, he still jotted down what he had learned in the hopes that seeing all the facts lines up would present him with some sort of pattern. In addition to noting his findings about Alexander and what destroyed the older house, Jamie also noted a new and somewhat surprising fact. House had not been created sentient but had developed the ability to communicate with the Keeper over time. A thought occurred to him.



“House?” he asked looking up from his notes.



“Yes Keeper.”



“The older house that was destroyed and used as part of your foundation,” he began carefully choosing his words. “Was that house able to speak to the Keeper who lived there the way you are speaking to me?”



“Yes Keeper,” House replied, sounding as if he should have known that.



‘Gotta wonder when the talking house thinks you have gone crazy,’ he thought. Out loud he thanked the house and let it fall back into doing whatever it did when he wasn’t talking to it.



“I wonder if what I feel is the former House trying to communicate with the present Keeper,” he wondered, jotting his thought down even as he said it. “Alexander wouldn’t have known that as House didn’t start talking to its keepers until his son took the role of Keeper. Maybe if I take Del with me as a safety net I could actually talk to the older house. Now that is something to think about.”

Keeper: Chapter 40

40.


Jamie shrugged into a light jacket and waved to Del as he headed towards the door leading to the basement. As he turned the door knob Jamie frowned. For nearly all of his child hood he had spent summers at Albe’s. When the weather was bad he would explore the house, sometimes with Albe sometimes without. Before Albe’s death he would have sworn he had covered every inch of the house in his searching. Now he had found there was at least one entire floor he had never investigated and with a start he realized that he had never been in the basement. Jamie let his hand fall away from the door knob as he thought. He couldn’t remember Albe ever telling him not to go into the basement. He could remember seeing the door when he was a child but he could never remember opening it. Considering how many of the doors he opened without thinking he found it odd that he had never even peered inside.



“House,” Jamie said.



“Yes Keeper.”



“Is there anything special about the basement?”



“I am the House of the Keeper of the Crossroads. All of my rooms are special.” House replied sounding a little bit offended.



“Of course,” Jamie said quickly. “I merely meant is there a reason that someone other than the Keeper wouldn’t be able to go into the basement? Like the hidden floor upstairs.”



“No Keeper.” Jamie thought for a moment, trying to figure out a way to phrase his question in a way that the House would actually understand him. He thought of how he would ask the question of a very small and less than intuitive child.



“Is there anything that makes the basement different from the rest of the house?”

“It was part of the House before me.”



“How does that make it different?”



“It is not the House of the Keeper. It was the House of the Keeper.”



“You mean it was the House of the Keeper but it isn’t any more?” Jamie asked speaking slowly, trying to not only understand what House was saying but to ask in ways it would understand.



“No Keeper. It was the House of the Keeper. It can not cease to be the House of the Keeper. And I am the House of the Keeper.” Jamie stared at the basement door as if memorizing the grain of the wood as he tried to work through what he was being told.



“So once a House is the House of the Keeper it is always the House of the Keeper?”



“Yes Keeper.” House seemed pleased as though he were a slow student who had finally managed to realize that not only did two plus one equal three, but one plus two also equaled three. Jamie realized that he was thinking of House as still a building, a sentient and somewhat intelligent building but a building nonetheless.



“Perhaps I should think of it as a living organism,” Jamie thought. “In that case the previous house and this house are two separate and distinct beings with separate lives and personalities...”



“House,” Jamie said aloud. “Can the basement speak to me the way you can?”



“No Keeper,” House said. “It was the House of the Keeper. I am the House of the Keeper.”



“So you said,” Jamie mused. “So there is no way to communicate. All right then.” Jamie reached for the doorknob and turned it, pulling the door open smoothly. “I suppose if Albe didn’t have a problem then it can’t be all bad.”



“Keeper Albrect didn’t have a problem with the basement,” House told him. “It was Keeper Alexander who had a problem with the basement.” Jamie paused on the top step of the basement staircase.



“The Alexander who watched you being built over the ruins of the older house?” Jamie asked.



“Yes,” House clarified.



“What sort of problems did he have?”



“He had nightmares.”



“What sort of nightmares?”



“I do not know Keeper, he did not tell me.” House sounded put out by the fact as though it felt that since the nightmares occurred within its confines it should have access to them.



“Nic to know there are some limitations,” he muttered. Jamie stared down the dark stairwell, suddenly not so certain he wanted to tour the basement. “There is the possibility that he wrote about his nightmares in his journals and I do have those upstairs.” Jamie thought about going back to the hidden floor and spending the rest of the day searching Alexander’s journals. It seemed like a safe and fairly rational idea. It still made him feel like a coward. Jamie tapped the edge of the doorframe with his hand. He really didn’t need his dreams to be any wierder.



“But Del said the basement wasn’t that large,” Jamie told himself. “I could do a quick tour and then go look at the journals. Dusty tomes and potential nightmares combined.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Right then, down we go.” Jamie started down the basement steps. He had descended less than three stairs before needing to switch on the flashlight he carried. The rectangle of light showing from the open doorway seemed to dim quicker than he thought it would. “But it could just be my paranoia talking.”



It was not a long flight of stairs and when Jamie reached the stone floor he was pleased to realize the ceiling was high enough that he did not have to stoop as he walked. As both Burr and Del reached only shoulder high on him, it had been a concern.



“No spiders, cobwebs or dust,” Jamie said as he turned, shining the light around the room. “I wonder if Del cleaned it?” Somehow he didn’t think he had. While Jamie could easily see Del finding his way into a dusty room and not leaving until it was dust free, the basement didn’t have the just cleaned feel to it. Jamie couldn’t exactly say why he felt this way, just that he did. For the moment he put the thought aside.



“I can always ask Del later,” he thought. The same instinct that told him the basement had not needed to be cleaned was also telling him not to speak aloud. He decided to trust the instinct and continued to scan the basement in silence. The floor and walls were composed of stone. He could see where the stones from the old house and the new house met. The older house had been composed of a light gray granite that still showed flecks of silver Jamie identified as mica. The blocks were large and cut square with no mortar to hold them together. In many places they were smoke stained. The mica winked from the blacked granite like stars trapped in the night sky. The newer house was also composed of stone. The blocks were a great deal smaller, measuring an average of the length of his forearm rather than the height of his body as the older stones did. There was some variation in the stones as well as though they had been composed of locally gathered river stones rather than the quarried stones of the first house. In addition they were held together by mortar, the white lines gleamed between the stones and shone bright in the light of Jamie’s flashlight.



The room was a large open square and Jamie could see all of it from where he stood. The only feature in the room was the remains of an old fireplace built into the far wall. It looked like someone had taken a giant ice cream scoop and taken a heaping helping of one of the stones. The surround looked to be all of one piece. There was a rectangle shaped piece of stone above the scooped out fireplace that looked as though it had once been a mantle but had been snapped off. Part of the former mantle gleamed bright gray while half was smoke stained.



“Maybe half was damaged before the fire gout out of control and the other half crumbled when the fire finally stopped.” Part of him wanted to run his hands along the roughly broken stone but for some reason that sounded like a really bad idea. With a start Jamie realized he had taken two steps towards the mantle and had extended his hand. Jamie balled his hands into fists and lowered them to his sides. He felt a weight surround him, pressing in on him as if he were swimming deep under water.



“I think it’s time to hit the books,” He decided. Jamie turned back to the stairs and began to climb back towards the rectangle of light. He climbed two stairs and felt his steps slow as if the air around him had suddenly thickened and he couldn’t move quickly through it. He stopped and half turned back before he caught himself. Jamie grimaced and turned back towards the open door. He took another step. The pressure increased around him. He grit his teeth to keep from exclaiming aloud and forced himself to take another step. Sweat popped out on his forehead and began to run down his hairline making him shiver. He forced himself to take another step. His heart was racing with fear and he was pretty sure the adrenaline rush brought on by the terror of being trapped in the basement helped him force his way up the staircase. The pressure around him did not feel malevolent but it did feel persistent. With a final heave of effort Jamie pushed his way to the top and stepped out onto the main floor. Jamie turned to just the door to the basement and what felt like a wave of disappointment flutter around him. Jamie frowned and closed the door to the basement. He swallowed hard a couple of times as though popping his ears after a long swim.

“Next time I think I’ll start with the books.”

Keeper: Chapter 39

The evil plot monkies have been made to see reason. v
Chapter 39.


Jamie made his way back through the woods. He lost his way a few times on the nearly invisible path but finally stumbled out into the clearing near the road. He left the woods in a different place than he had entered them but as he was still near the gate and in the clear he didn’t worry too much.



“It isn’t as though I am going to have to pass a survival skills training course,” he muttered. Now that he was free of the woods he tugged some of the remaining strings from where they had become caught up in his clothes.



“Starting with the ones around my neck,” he said. Several times the loose threads had caught on branches and pulled, threatening to choke him. He was certain he would have some marks around his neck from the experience. He let the strings fall to the ground as he walked back to the house. His thoughts were dark he found that he was just as angry with himself as he was with the fairies. He realized that they had send three pretty little things giggling smiling and flirting with him and he had just followed them off into the dark woods.



“At least they didn’t offer me candy,” he said sourly. He rubbed the marks on his neck as he climbed the steps to the porch and let himself in. Del stepped into the kitchen doorway.



“That took longer than I thought it would. Did Mr. Evers get his car taken care of then?”



“Yeah,” Jamie said. “Jim got off okay. I had a run in with some fairies trying to stage a coup.” Jamie entered the kitchen and watched as Del set a bowl of dough in a warm spot away from drafts to rise.



“A coup?” Del asked, not seaming very concerned.



“Yes apparently Janerous wants to overthrow the Queen.”



“Janerous?” Del snorted a laugh as he wiped flour from his hands with a clean towel. “He’s wanted to over throw the Queen for generations. He’ll never get the support for it though. Did they ask you to throw in with them?”



“No I think they asked the gederan to throw in with them.”



“The gederan?” Del asked. He frowned and then his face cleared into something resembling shock. “You mean they...”



“Yup,” Jamie said. “But luckily they didn’t secure their ropes.”



“If Genivia ever found out about it things could go badly.”



“Well she did find out about it actually. She and her merry band took Janerous and his people into custody.”



“And I just thought the tow truck was late,” Del said shaking his head. Jamie patted him on the shoulder.



“And I learned that I shouldn’t go into the woods with strangers, no matter how small and pretty they look,” Jamie said ruefully.



“A good lesson, that.”



“I think so.” Jamie frowned and looked over to Del. “Janerous said something after he captured me.”



“Oh?”



“He said that they would have to wait for six weeks for a blood test for Michael.”

“How long to blood tests normally take?” Del asked. Jamie shook his head.



“I have no idea but it sounded like Janerous didn’t think they could administer the test for six weeks and that sounds odd. I’m pretty sure there is a full moon before then.” Jamie caught the odd expression on Del’s face. “What?” he asked.



“What does a full moon have to do with a blood test?” Del asked.



“Well if he is infected with something that would make him change into something wouldn’t a full moon...” Jamie trailed off as he realized Del was trying hard not to laugh.



“You mean like a werewolf?” Del said, his laughter almost escaping him. Jamie felt the heat crawl up into his face.



“Maybe,” he said feeling slightly ridiculous.



“Like in the movies,” Del said. The edge of laughter was stronger and his cheeks had turned red.



“Oh go ahead and laugh,” Jamie told him. Del let his laugh loose.



“I don’t think you will have to worry about werewolves,” Del said once his laughter had calmed into a chuckle.



“But why six weeks then?” Jamie asked. “I know when you catch a cold it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to show but I’m sure you could still find traces of the virus before the sniffles begin. And what is it that he could possibly have?” Del’s chuckles stopped at Jamie’s question and he frowned.



“I don’t know about a cold virus but there are several things he could have been infected with, depending on what attacked him and if it was natural or not.”



“Natural?”



“The fey are just as natural as humans,” Del said with a shrug. “But with that nasty set up we found in the woods, I’m not so sure we can count on natural.”



“You mean the place where we found the bubbling vat of ooze?”



“That would be the one.”



“IO suppose they could have done more than just make a human suit there. I suppose I could ask the High Talbot about that as he is investigating it. I also have to set up a meeting with a representative from each of the houses, Gederan and Federan so they can state their cases for the use of the Lustan during the Lune Merdos. Perhaps I can ask them during their interviews. I don’t suppose the books I ordered as replacements came in yet?”



“Not yet,” Del said. “I believe they are supposed to be in tomorrow morning.”



“Then I suppose I’ll have to see if I can find any back up information,” Jamie said thinking of the storage room, in particular the mirror and the dream that had come after. “I have the feeling this has happened before.” He didn’t know that the destruction of the older house and the death of that keeper were tied to the Lune Merdos but the coincidence was too much to ignore. “Are House’s defenses fully functional?” Jamie asked.



“Yes,” Del said. “Burr managed to fix everything so that it is in working order.”



“Including the basement?”

“Well yes I suppose. What do you need to go down there for?” He asked. “There really isn’t much down there.”



“Maybe not but according to the notes the basement was a part of the house before this one. I’d kind of like to see it.” Jamie didn’t add his hope that like the mirror it would spark a dream that might help answer some questions. After the werewolf comment he didn’t feel like sharing. ‘After all,” he thought. “Being laughed at twice before lunch might be a bit more than I can take.”



“Well shouldn’t be a problem with the defenses up,” Del said with a shrug. “But you might want to take a light with you. No one thought to run the electric down there.” He eyed Jamie for a moment. “The stone is a bit chill as well so I doubt a jacket would go amiss.”



“I’ll grab a flashlight and jacket then,” Jamie said with a smile.



“Keeper,” Del said.



“Yes?”



“You might want to bear in mind that if either the Federan or the Gederan know details of a possible infection, they might use it as leverage during negotiations.” Jamie frowned at Del’s words.





“The thought had crossed my mind,” Jamie replied. “I’ll just have to come up with something better than rubbing alcohol and paint before it comes to that. Not sure what that would be exactly.” Del reached under the sink and pulled out a large flashlight and checked to make sure the batteries still worked. They did and he handed the flashlight to Jamie.



“Just so long as you know,” Del said. “Have fun in the basement.”

Storm Chaser now available as an e-book

Storm Chaser is now out as an e-book on Smashwords.  Just go to, http://www.smashwords.com/ and look for Storm Chaser.
New post of Keeper of thje Cross roads will be posted on friday.  v