A Circle Of Crows Read online

  "I don't know, I feel like I have been here forever."

  Just then, a door creaked open down the corridor. A huge man dressed in a complete suit of mail was walking toward them. His black matted hair fell over one eye as he began to speak.

  His mouth revealed yellow and necrotic teeth which reminded Morgana of an ear of rotted corn. “Good, the big one is still alive,” he said to a smaller soldier, who was slight with black hair. “She'll be of use with the smaller ones."

  All the children were softly crying and huddling even closer together at the sight of the man.

  "No worries, brats. None of you are coming with me ... today."

  "Her Highness wants to see you soon, my Lord,” reminded the slight man.

  "Yea, yea. You, big one, come with me!” He grabbed her gruffly and led her down the corridor.

  A cart with food on it—bread, water and cheese—was pulled into the hallway.

  "Take this and distribute it to the younger ones. If I find you do not do as I say, there will be hell to pay."

  He shut the door and Morgana slid down the wall with her hands over her face and began to cry. Sitting down beside her, the little girl intertwinedhooked her arm in Morgana's, then laid her head against Morgana's arm.

  Half an hour later, Morgana sat up and tried to clear her head. She fed the children as she had been instructed and now began to wrestle her fears.

  Morgana was resilient and resourceful; at least that's what her mom had always said.

  "I need to think,” she said out loud.

  "About what?” piped Eva, who had not left her side since her appearance.

  "Eva, when did all the children get here?"

  "Well they all came at different times, like you did yesterday."

  "Okay. Do soldiers always bring them in?"

  "Most every time, except when they found Susan. She said she thought she was drowning in a pond when someone grabbed her ankle and pulled her through till she came out on this side."

  "Where is Susan now? Can I talk to her?"

  Eva's eyes filled with tears and her lip trembled, “They took her and she has not come back."

  "I'm sorry, it's okay, don't cry,” she said consolingly. But terror had begun to rear its ugly head. What are they doing with these children? Where are they now? She was not sure she really wanted to know.

  As she looked around, most of the children were dressed in a colonial style, just like she had seen when her family had visited Rae at school in Cape Cod when they went to Plymouth Plantation. But a few had on ratty T-shirts and torn pants like herself.

  In a surreal moment, Morgana unconsciously registered the boy in the OBX tee shirt beside one in the standard colonial knickers and snickered uncomfortably.

  Morgana silently walked among them as many had fallen asleep. She picked up a two year old who had not been able to fit on a hay bale and was now sleeping prone on the hard, cold stone floor of the dungeon. Placing him on a different bale, she pulled the heavy horse blanket on top of him as she shivered.

  She walked between the aisles of sleeping children and made sure they were all covered. Returning to Eva, she crawled under the filthy blanket and put her arms around the little girl.

  In the darkness, she heard the clicking of small toenails on the stone floor and tried not to imagine what was making that sound.

  Chapter 9

  The Queen Ivana

  The queen gazed out her tower window at the acres of charred earth beneath her.

  "I am glad the king is dead. The weak-hearted fool would not have been able to stand to see his precious land in such a shambles,” she spoke to the empty sitting room.

  The handmaiden arrived to shift the queen's attention to the situation at hand.

  Queen Ivana sat in her chambers in front of her mirror as her handmaiden finished plaiting her long black hair and began to pile it on top of her head. Another servant, a chambermaid, arrived and spoke, “Pardon me, my Lady, but the captain of the guard has returned and is requesting time in your presence."

  "Tell him I shall be along,” was her response, and she waved her hand as if waving at a nagging insect. “That's enough, Marisol. I have more important things than beauty today."

  "Yes, my Lady,” said Marisol, who looked all of sixteen and curtsied as she scurried out of sight.

  The queen walked down her hallway and into a large, chandeliered meeting room where the massive brick fireplace was glowing. The captain of the guard and his second-in-command sat at a long table and stood as the queen entered the room.

  "My Lady."

  The slight first officer merely nodded his head and kept his eyes averted.

  "Captain Dennehy, tell me of the status of our rangers and what sort and number of chattel we have obtained."

  "Keep in mind, my Lady, it is only the first quarter of the moon. We do have till it is full."

  The huge man suddenly looked boyish as he fidgeted with his glass of port.

  "The number, Captain.” Her eyes narrowed and she looked almost catlike—a Siamese cat to the first officer.

  "Twenty!” he blurted out.

  "Twenty! You know full well that is not acceptable when our safety, as well as the shire's, depends upon our having obtained fifty by the end of the lunar cycle."

  "Yes, my Lady, I am aware. However, you must keep in mind that the shirefolk no longer bear children since they know their offspring's destiny. Those who do are able to keep them hidden, even from our best scouts."

  "Yes, I am aware that the pitiful, ignorant scum keep their spawn hidden. We must build up our efforts to find them. Double the scouts to increase the effort."

  "But, my Lady!” The second-in-command finally spoke. “That will leave the castle unguarded. As you know, rangers need to be trained with many ... um ... skills that our typical soldiers are unfamiliar with."

  "If we do not meet our quota, it will not matter how many soldiers or scouts you have to guard this castle or our shire..."

  "Understood.” The captain eyed his subordinate. “I will have Colin begin the training of extra men tomorrow."

  "I will expect to hear from you by week's end. Send some out into the wastelands, you are aware that sometimes, the rifts occur there and we may locate more there."

  The captain and his mate nodded and walked from the great room. Queen Ivana walked to the window and gazed up at the sun. She envisioned the first quarter moon and shuddered involuntarily as she put her hand to her throat protectively.

  Chapter 10

  Little Girl Lost

  Raena sat in the cellar of the town library, glasses falling off the end of her nose and her dark brown eyes beginning to water from staring at the computer screen for several hours. “Chris, there isn't anything on this one either!"

  "Well, keep checking. It has to be in the microfilm somewhere."

  "Please, Chris, isn't there anything else?” Raena was beginning to resemble her twin in her frazzled, wild look and was becoming more desperate with every passing hour.

  A look of revelation shot across Chris’ face. “I may have some old town documents from the mayor to the chief of police...” The librarian hurried out of the room and up the stairs.

  Raena took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. She fought back the tears as the familiar metallic taste, which always preceded a meltdown, filled her mouth. Suddenly, sadness turned to rage within her. When I find him, with God as my witness, I will make him regret his decision to take our child.

  Chris had reentered the cellar. “Ray, hon, are you okay?"

  "Yes. What did you find?"

  "Here's a whole pile of documents. Please be careful with them, they're originals and you'll need to look at them here. I'll be upstairs if you need me."

  "Okay. Thanks.” Raena squared her shoulders, set her jaw, and fixed a picture of her niece in her head, then began to read furiously.

  * * * *

  Raena laid her head down on the desk, tears looming. She willed them to cease. She
had been sitting here perusing documents since two in the afternoon and it was now eight thirty.

  She had ignored three cell phone calls from Bella, since she couldn't bear to say she had found nothing as of yet.

  She glanced and tried one more of the two remaining boxes from the constable's office of 1903. She shuffled through the papers and her eyes fixed on something. She shuffled faster, attempting to find the list she had glimpsed. Printed on ancient paper was:

  ...and the following children were not recovered as of this writing from the year of our Lord 1900 to 1905.

  Andrew Keener—aged three years

  Abigail Anthony—aged four years

  Trenton Wiles—aged two years

  Susan Morris—aged five years

  Quinn Salsgiver—aged three years

  and more names continued down the page.

  It continued;

  We feel we have caught the beast. A drifter by the name of Alfred Littleman was apprehended. He maintained his innocence till he swung on the gallows on 5 Septembre, 1905 . May justice be served and God have mercy upon his soul.

  "Six children in five years! Chris, I found something!"

  Chris came bolting down the stairs, her face alight with excitement.

  "What is it, Rae?” She let Chris examine the document. “I'll make you copies, but don't tell a soul."

  "Ignorant is my middle name."

  "Ha! You should do standup!” She retorted and took the papers and disappeared out of sight again.

  Gratefulness flooded through Rae as she waited. She and Chris had been friends since childhood, but they had separated to go to different colleges. They both had returned to Rhinebeck with unforeseen occurrences—the death of Rachael's husband and Chris’ baby sister becoming gravely ill. They shared a common bond of family duty, and became fast friends again upon returning.

  Rae hurried home from the library. The September night was cold and she wished she would have driven, despite the fact it was only a few blocks from the inn. She spied the inn and noted only a few lights in the lower apartments. All the guests had checked out after “the incident."

  They did not have any guest reservations untill Wednesday, and she was glad. They needed time to put their collective heads together. She burst through the front door and Sam, Bella and Rachael descended upon her.

  "Well?” Rachael demanded. Rae felt fear as she gazed at her twin; normally so strong and willful, Rachael looked as if she might go mad at any moment. Her long auburn hair hung in tangles where she had been twisting it with anxiety.

  "No calls? No ransom?” Rae requested.

  "No!” was the collective reply.

  "I did find something, but I'm not sure what it means for Morgana."

  They took turns examining the documents.

  "Okay,” began Sam calmly. “We need to find a common thread with the disappearances now that we have some names."

  "We'll divide the list and start tomorrow,” said Bella decisively. She could see her time had come to hand out directives as the twins’ resolve and composure appeared to be fading. She and Sam said goodnight and walked out the back door toward their cottage, holding hands.

  "Look at them,” said Rae as she peered through the kitchen curtains, “married five years and still ridiculously in love. Love can be extremely powerful."

  Rachael rolled her eyes and said, “Hey, Jane Eyre, let's get to bed."

  "Oh, excuse me, Satine. I forgot about your amazingly callous soul for a second."

  Rae's expression was somber when she said, “Rachael, can I bunk with you tonight?"

  "Of course."

  "But I don't want to talk, Rae. I can't.” She headed toward her room.

  Chapter 11

  Isabella tossed and turned. Sam was awake and attempted to cover her up. She rolled again as she breathed heavily and her eyes were involuntarily moving with the action in her dreams.

  It was no use. He rose and called to their dog, a mixed collie and shepherd mutt, “Solomon, come."

  He went in the kitchen over to the stone island in the middle of it, then placed the brass teapot on the stove, knowing there would be no more sleep for him this night. He walked outside into the chill of the yard and brought in some firewood, which was stacked outside by their front porch. The blaze soon filled the living room and he reclined on the sofa and gazed over at the clock, four in the morning.

  Bella walked through a hall in her dream. As usual, there was mist and she couldn't see much around her. She was in the woods, and she kept imagining she could see children—or were they faeiries?—darting in and out from behind trees. She could suddenly hear hoofbeats and a Kelpie from Gran's stories came galloping toward her. He quickly morphed from horse to centaur and then to a young man before her eyes. But there was something not right about him, and when he smiled, his teeth were the size of a horse's. A young girl, who resembled her niece, came up from behind and mounted him as he returned to horse form and began to gallop away.

  "Morgana!” she called out in her sleep. She began to hear a dog barking ... And the mist began receding. “No!” she cried out in her sleep. “I have to find them! Morgana! Where are you?” she yelled at the top of her voice.

  Sam was at her side in an instant. “Bella,” he whispered, shaking her gently. “What is it?"

  She sat up, tears flowing freely down her beautiful face, which reflected the pain she was feeling.

  "Children were lost in a forest. I couldn't reach any of them and there was a kelpie there. Then Solomon's barking woke me up. What is he going on about?"

  Sam hesitated and watched her face carefully. Bella got up and walked into the living room where Solomon was still whining and looking out the window.

  Morgana's dog, Chloe, could be seen as she sat on the windowsill in Morgana's bedroom with her nose against the pane. Chloe had refused to leave the Autumn Room since her mistress had disappeared through the mirror.

  Bella burst into tears and Sam held her tight and gently stroked her hair.

  * * * *

  The dawn the following morning was beautiful. Marisol woke early and looked outside her window. It was early and frost still covered the grass outside. None of the other girls in her quarters had risen yet to begin their day. The housemother would soon be in to wake them all. “Colin,” she whispered. She went to her bedside table and took out the necklace he had given her. A flaxen rope with a stone “as black as her eyes,” he had said. He had taken it from their homeland before they had been taken away years before. He told her that it symbolized Hope and that someday, their world would be as it had been once in the glen before the beast had come to call. Colin could remember more than she could, as he was nine and twenty and she was only twenty. She placed it around her neck and put it under her shirt.

  Marisol quickly performed her chores and was about to head for the castle, when the housemother—Evelyn—stopped her.

  "Where are you off to so early, child? Just cannot wait to begin your day of serving Her Highness?” A grin flitted across her wide mouth as she said this. Although she would have loved to share in the sarcasm, Marisol thought it risky to show any disobedience to the queen, no matter how much hatred she had for her monarch.

  "I just have a lot to do, Evelyn. I'll be back earlier than last night."

  "That is, unless Her Hatefulness decides you should pull all the hair from her brushes, or polish her silver vanity set."

  "Yes, we both know that is entirely possible.” And this time, she could not help smiling as well and turned to depart.

  Softening, Evelyn said, “Mari, take this muffin with you. You're beginning to look frail. I need you robust, not slight."

  "Thank you,” Mari said sincerely and quickened her pace out the door and down the path to the castle.

  Even the servants’ entrance to the castle was guarded. Four young soldiers, ranging in ages from nineteen to thirty, stood at four points of the gate to monitor the comings and goings.

  "Good morn
ing, Miss Marisol! You are early today!” called Christian, flashing her a smile that could make even the most cynical knees go weak with its beauty. She smiled back and as she did, she slightly moved her blouse to reveal her black opal necklace and she fingered it as she went past. Colin was in charge and only glanced down and nodded as she went by.

  When she was safely past, he grinned to himself and rubbed his hands through his hair.

  "Miss Mairsol!” yelled Christian, “shall you join us later for a drink? What shall we drink to today?"

  "To hope.” And she darted into the entrance. As she closed the door, Colin's voice softly whispered, “To love someone so much is a painful, dangerous thing, indeed."

  Once inside the castle, Marisol hurried to the kitchen to obtain the queen's breakfast. One of the old women in the kitchen approached her and touched her arm to get her attention. “Leave it quiet like, Mari. She was up half the night in one of her frenzies."

  "Thank you, Helga, I will do just that."

  Marisol quietly opened the door to the queen's chambers with her key. She was one of only three servants entrusted with this privilege. The queen, the captain of the guard—who was rumored to use it at all hours since the untimely death of the king—and herself.

  As this was a lofty position for such a young maid, she felt the reason this had been entrusted to her was that the queen thought her simple-minded. Marisol rarely spoke in front of the queen, and merely smiled and bowed daily when addressed. The queen thought Marisol incapable of putting two thoughts together, which was just what Mari wanted.

  She laid the queen's breakfast in the sitting room and glanced into the bedroom. She was going to prepare the queen's clothes, when she heard, “Mari, come here."

  "Yes, milady.” The standard curtsey and bowed head followed.

  "Mari, can you cipher numbers?"

  "A little, ma'am. I was only six when I arrived, so I have received some figuring, I suppose."

  "On your rounds today in the lower levels, I want you to take a parchment and count the number of children there. I want a second opinion, one free of military influence."