Keeper 2: Chapter 14

Chapter 14

As Jamie reached the Centerville city limits, the sleet and ice he had left behind seemed to catch up to him. It edged its way into Centerville and he drove deeper into the storm’s heart. The icy rain solidified into sleet.  Sleet began to be mixed with snow.  The snow became thicker and by the time he climbed out of his trusty Toyota to unlock the gate at the property line, he could barely see more than three feet in any direction. He pulled his care through, relocked the gate and made his slow and steady way up the drive to the house.

Jamie parked and ran quickly to the house, seeing the darker outline of the porch in the distance.  He sighed with relief as he climbed up onto the porch where the overhang at least gave him a little protection.  He looked out at his yard.  Visibility had shrunk to nearly one foot.

“I don’t know how a fairy could even fly in this,” he muttered to himself.  The snow falling was thick and wet.  Icy droplets were still mixed in. He shook the snow from his head and turned towards the door. He reached for the door knob but stopped as he heard the click of something walking towards him across the wooden porch boards. He had forgotten to turn the porch light on and in the absence of the sun, the porch was filled with deep shadows.  Jamie sucked in a lung full of icy air and felt his insides squirm as the largest white wolf he had ever seen stepped into plain view.  For a moment Jamie could do nothing but stare.  Somehow it had never crossed his mind that a wolf attack on his front porch would be what killed him. 

The wolf paused about three feet in front of Jamie and seemed in no hurry to attack.  Instead the wolf bent forward and Jamie heard the click of metal on wood. Jamie frowned and watched in silence as the wolf nudged what he had set down with his nose, sending it rolling towards Jamie’s feet. Jamie looked down to see an eight inch long metal cylinder.  He looked up and saw the wolf had retreated and now appeared to be sitting and waiting for a response.  Jamie took a deep breath and tried to control the pounding of his heart.

Slowly he bent down and picked up the cylinder.  He could feel the wolf’s eyes watching him as he tugged the capped end off of the tube and extracted a roll of paper. The writing on the paper was small and Jamie had to hold it close to his eyes to read in the dim light.

“Keeper,” the note began. “We would like to tender our deepest apologies as due to the weather we will not be able to take tea with you this afternoon as planned. In the hopes that you will not take our cancelation ill, we would like to offer this information for your use. The one known to you as Michael has been seen wandering our woods of late.  Our trackers have observed him and we have reached the conclusion that he is under the influence of ghatran. The effects will wear off in time and we have ordered that no one in our demesne provide an additional source of the drug. We regret the somewhat discomforting period of withdrawal he will no doubt suffer, but are certain he will come through the other side with no permanent harm.” The note was signed by Queen Genivia.

“Well that settles that doesn’t it,” he said.  Jamie glanced at the wolf, who appeared to be waiting. He flipped the page over and pulled a pen from his pocket. He leaned against the door and tried to make his letters neat and small so the diminutive queen would not have to stand at a distance to read his response.

“Your Majesty,” he wrote. “Your note provides me some relief as at this time the weather has deteriorated to the point where I fear anyone not born of ice and snow might take harm from too long an exposure. While I am disappointed in your absence I am thankful you will not be subjecting yourself to such potential harm. I thank you for the information regarding Michael and I look forward to rescheduling our tea at your convenience.”  He signed the letter James Fulton.  After tucking his pen back into his pocket, he rerolled the page and slipped it back into the tube.  Jamie fitted the cap back on and looked at the wolf.

Jamie bent down and rolled the tube across the porch towards the wolf. “You will make certain she gets the message?” Jamie asked.  The wolf bobbed his head, picked up the tube and sprinted off of the porch and into the snow.  In a blink he was gone. Jamie shivered as he realized his rain slicker did not provide much insulation and that he had stood out in the cold far too long.  He took one more look around in case anyone else was lurking in the shadows.  Seeing no one Jamie opened the door and slipped inside, thankful for the House’s warmth.

Jamie walked straight back to the kitchen figuring the mud room  in the back would be a better place for his rain slicker and wet boots than the front hall.  Del was pulling a loaf of bread out of the oven as he stepped into the kitchen and Jamie’s belly rumbled in response to the scent.

“Weren’t you supposed to eat while you were out?” Del asked with a smile at the sound.

“I wanted to beat the weather home,” Jamie responded.  He stepped into the mudroom and shucked his coat and  boots as Del peered out of the window into the snowy yard.

“It was just raining last time I looked,” Del said shaking his head.  “So you’ll be joining us for lunch then?”

“If you’ll have me,” Jamie replied with a smile.  “And we can cancel the afternoon tea.  Queen Genivia sent her regrets via white wolf as I got in.”

“Ah,” Del said as he placed three plates down on the table. “I wouldn’t expect a fairy to fly in that, but you never know what some of them would try, just to prove they can.” Both of them turned as Levas stepped into the room.  He seemed surprised to see Jamie, even more so to see three plates at the kitchen table.

“Keeper,” he said with a short bob of the head.

“Jamie is fine,” Jamie told him. Levas lifted his eyebrows high enough that they almost disappeared into his hairline.

“As you wish.” Levas replied.

Del chuckled.  “We tend not to stand on ceremony when there isn’t company about,” he explained as he stared laying out platters containing  slices of ham,  cheese and tomatoes along with the bread so everyone could make their own sandwich.

“Levas,” Jamie said as he piled his bread high with the offerings. “Can I ask you  about what you meant when you said we would soon be busier?”

Del snorted. “Hard to think of this place getting busier.”

“Just that with more people living here, you’ll need the extra is all, sir,” Levas replied. He took a bite of his sandwich and washed it down with a hefty swig of milk. Jamie waited for him to continue but the tomte apparently thought he had expounded enough.  As Del’s eyes were twinkling with amusement, he figured it was a Fae thing and let it go.

“Well,” Jamie said after he had finished his lunch.  “As my afternoon has cleared up I guess I’ll be back in the study.”

“There is a bit of a chill upstairs,” Del told him. “I’ll be along in a bit to bring you some tea to help take the chill off.” Jamie nodded.  He had learned very early in their acquaintance that Del believed everyone should consume mass quantities of tea on a daily basis to maintain regular health.

Jamie rinsed off his plate and headed up to the study.  To his surprise a fire was already crackling merrily in both the study and the library, making the upper rooms quite cozy.  Idly Jamie wondered if he should actually tell Del that the house did in fact have a central heating and air-conditioning unit and didn’t need to be heated by fire. As he settled himself in the chair behind the desk, Del wheeled in the tea trolley.

Jamie blinked in surprise wondering how Del had managed to have a full put ready in so short a time when none had been evident when he left the kitchen mere moments earlier. He also wondered how Del had managed to get the tea trolley up the stairs so easily or get fresh tomatoes from the garden in the dead of winter.  He decided none of those questions were ones he should ask.

“I don’t suppose you could answer my question from earlier or is it just one of the Fae mysteries?”

“About the tomte knowing we’d soon be busy?” Del asked.  Jamie nodded. “It’s a bit of both I suppose. Tomte’s are always tied to the farms they work and seem to know things about them that no one else can explain.”  Del shrugged.  “Actually I doubt Levas could explain it either. It seems to be something they just know in their bones.  They just accept it like you accept rain or wind.”

“Or talking houses,” Jamie said.

“Or that.” Dal answered.

“I don’t suppose you could get him to be more specific?” Jamie asked.

“I can try,” Del replied.  “But I make no promises.”

“He mentioned children earlier,” Jamie confided. Del blinked in surprise.

“Children?  Well, well, that would make for a bit of a change wouldn’t it. And it would make things a fair deal busier to boot, I’d say.  Children have a way of doing that.” He looked pleased by the prospect. He turned towards the door and started to leave, still talking to himself.  “I’ll have to look into my recipe books for some sweets to make. Children like sweets. Not too many of course, it would never do to have them spoil their dinner of course. Maybe some almond cakes for after lessons though, no one could object to that.”

Jamie shook his head as Del continued to talk to himself as he headed back to the kitchen. “Not even here yet and we’ve already got snacks after lessons,” Jamie said shaking his head.  Apparently there were some things Brownies took in stride as well.