A Circle Of Crows Read online

"Sit, Mari. Tell me all you know."

  "I saw the book, Colin. The queen has it in her quarters."

  "The Dark Book? You are sure, Mari?” he asked, his eyes wide in alarm now.

  "Yes, it was just as you described it! I also overheard the captain say you were to lead the next expedition. Is that so?"

  "Good. He is finally beginning to trust me, despite my being from the old regiment. I am not sure the rebellion can be arranged that quickly. Come, there is much to do and I will be missed.” He got to his feet and held out his hand to her.

  As she grabbed his hand, she said, “Colin, wait. I know I am usually stout of heart and demeanor, but I fear your going to the mountain. Now that it comes to down it, I am not as bold as I thought I would be.” Mari was reliving memories going back in time to the night of her enslavement. She could see her parents lying on the dirt in front of her house; hear the screams ripping thought the night air. Black smoke billowed everywhere, and as she turned to look to the house down the road, she saw it ... the eyes spied her in the window ... She was brought out of her reverie by Colin squeezing her hand and sitting beside her on the bed.

  "Mari, are you alright? You have become pale and are trembling. You know you must be brave, Mari. We will never have a chance at any kind of a life in this world if we do not fight."

  He enfolded her in his embrace. She rested her head against his chest. She breathed in his familiar smell. She turned up her face to his and kissed him hard and hungrily. Colin hedged for a moment, then she felt his resistance give way and his hand went to her breast. She pulled him to her and he resisted again. She pulled him so he was lying on top of her on the king's old bed. He began to pull up her dress and she eagerly pushed herself toward him.

  Suddenly, there was a tapping sound corridors away, and it brought him to himself. He hauled himself up.

  "Mari, we cannot."

  "I care not, Colin. I know you will marry me. Please, you are the only thing I think of.” Her eyes pleaded with him.

  He stood and began to relace his shirt . “No, Marisol. I have never wanted anything more in my life than I want you. I would readily give my life for you. What if I place a child in you, Mari? What then? They will know and they will take it and destroy it, along with you and I as we fight to stop them."

  Marisol began to cry. “I know you are right and I am ashamed."

  He pulled her to him and let her sob, just as he had done since they were children, stolen from their village by palace guards.

  "Come, we must go.” He gently but firmly began to pull her. He turned to her and said, “I am yours forever."

  They hurried out of the apartment and back through the passageway.

  Chapter 15

  Raena sat in front of the library's computer, pouring over documents reproduced from the 1900's.

  "There has to be a connection,” she said.

  She looked up each of the children who had disappeared that fall, along with the families’ accounts of the disappearances.

  Eva Entwhistle—aged three years old—disappeared from her backyard at sunset on 12 Septembre 1902.

  Julia Appleguard—five years old—disappeared from the public park in the centre of town on 14 Septembre 1902.

  Jonathon Smith—seven years old—disappeared from the rock quarry on the outskirts of Rhinebeck, 12 Octobre 1902.

  Anne Hathaway—three—disappeared from her own bedroom, presumably out the window on 17 Octobre 1902.

  "Wait a minute...” breathed Raena. “That's the inn's address. Another disappearance from behind the inn.” She quickly scanned the article and dialed her cell phone.

  "Sam, how's it going at city hall?"

  "Okay. I'm finding a lot of the old case files, thanks to Cody. What do you need, Rae?"

  "Did you look up Eva Entwhistle?"

  "No, she's further down on my list of disappearances from that year. Why?"

  "She lived at the inn. Her parents must have been the innkeepers."

  "I'll try to find the case file and ask Cody to make a copy on the sly for me."

  "I'll see you at home."

  * * * *

  Marisol awoke at midnight, looked around her quarters, and found all was silent in the cottage. She reached under her bed and removed a white dressing gown and pulled it over her head. As she slipped out of bed, she faced the mirror. She unwound her braids, which hung past her waist, releasing her hair into lustrous waves. She donned a balaclava and slipped out of the servants’ quarters unnoticed.

  She walked down a twisted path to a clearing by the lake. The moonlight was so bright, she had no trouble negotiating the way. This evening, there was a blue moon, the second time it was full during the month. Many of the fables she had listened to as a child included this moon, especially when a significant event was about to take place. What she saw next took her breath away. Colin stood in the clearing, his dark hair blowing gently in the night's breeze, and his dark gaze fixed upon her intently. He was breathtakingly handsome, even painfully so, and beside him stood the clergyman.

  As she reached him, he held out his hand for her to take, never removing his gaze from her.

  "I thought this day would never come,” he whispered quietly. “For since I was just a mere lad, I have dreamed of us becoming one."

  They knelt before the clergyman and Colin slipped his hand into his tunic and withdrew two shining silver bands.

  The man of God said, “Do you take her as your wife, Colin? Keeping you only to her?"

  "Yes,” was his only reply, and Mari saw that his eyes were bright with tears.

  "And you, Marisol, do you take Colin for your husband? Keeping you only to him?"

  "Yes.” Marisol felt weak with joy and fear—the fear of losing something she treasured as much as life.

  Colin placed the ring on her finger; its silver surface gleamed in the moonlight. Marisol was moved with the memory of Colin's mother removing the band and polishing it one evening as she sat by the hearth in their home next to Colin's sister playing with her dolls. His sister couldn't have been more than five years old.

  "Papa's is too large for my hand; we will deal with it when life has improved for us."

  He swept up his wife and carried her across the field of millet by the lake to a covered wagon. Neither of them took any note of the clergyman's departure. Colin gingerly helped her into the wagon and then deftly slipped inside as well. Inside was a cot, a lantern and a few blankets. She lay down on the cot and stared at him, her long hair now spreading out over the cot like a peacock's plume. As he came to her, it felt surreal, as if her whole life after the destruction of their village had been leading up to this moment. She felt her dressing gown being slowly slid up her bare thighs and she shivered with cold and anticipation.

  "Do not be afraid, Mari,” he whispered to her, when he could feel her trembling beneath him.

  After their bodies had joined many times over, they lay together in the still night. Marisol willed herself not to cry as she felt his arm reach around her and grasp her hand a little too tightly, then it relaxed as Colin drifted off to sleep.

  The morning light shone on Marisol's face, and its heat roused her into consciousness. She looked around, already knowing what she would find. The cot was empty beside her. She picked up the blanket, held it to her face and deeply breathed in Colin's scent. Despite her will, she felt the hot sting of tears threatening. Then she heard his voice in her head, the words he had spoken the previous night before he had drifted off.

  I am always with you, simply look to your ring and remember the vow we made in our childhood. You must be strong and carry on, no matter what becomes of me. Our families would want you to lead the people if I should perish.

  She removed the silver ring from around her finger and extracted a silver chain from around her neck. She placed the ring on the chain and clasped it at her nape. She wondered if she would become a bride and a widow all within the course of a single month. Unbeknownst to either of them, Colin had inde
ed, accomplished what he had feared. A child was already beginning to form under the hand Mari had placed over her abdomen protectively as she gazed out across the sun shining onto the lake.

  * * * *

  Raena, Rachael, Bella and Sam sat at the kitchen table. Papers were strewn all around them, and they all were exhausted and irritable.

  Rachael dragged her hand through her dark mane of hair, which hadn't been washed in days. Her face was oily and her eyes were beginning to show the slightest hint of crows feet around them. “There has to be a connection."

  "Okay. Three children have disappeared from the inn over the course of one hundred years. Several more have disappeared from other parts of town as well,” said Rae.

  "We've been pouring over this for hours,” said Bella. “Let's head to bed and maybe we'll be able to concentrate more fully in the morning."

  Rayna climbed the stairs toward her apartment. As she passed the Autumn Room, she paused in the doorway. Morgana's dog, Chloe, was sleeping on the bed as she had every night since Morgana had disappeared from the room. The Jack Russell terrier was beginning to look scraggly and her ribs were easily discernable as she breathed deeply. The dog had been eating very little in her mourning for her mistress. The moonlight was shining through the windows and fully illuminating the room. She could see the outline of the moon reflecting in the mirror—the same mirror Morgana had disappeared through.

  Rae walked over to the bed, sat down beside Chloe and began to stroke her fur. “Reflections,” she said.

  "Reflective surfaces, that's the common thread. Rachael!” She bolted down the stairs.

  "Rachael!"

  Rachael came flying through the swinging doors out of kitchen into the foyer.

  "What is it, Rae?"

  "Reflective surfaces—that's the common link. The mirror in the Autumn Room, the lake at the quarry and the one at the park. They all have reflections and children disappeared from each place."

  "I'll bet anything the children who disappeared from their yards were near a body of water as well,” chimed in Sam.

  "They also all occurred in the fall,” said Bella, her eyes now shining and hopeful.

  Rachael, uncharacteristically overcome by emotion, ran up the stairs, followed closely by her sisters. Rae glanced anxiously over her shoulder to meet her younger sister's gaze as she took the stairs two at a time in pursuit of Rachael. Tread lightly was the message conveyed and Bella nodded in silent understanding.

  Rachael stood in front of the mirror and beat it with her fists with such ferocity, Rae feared it would shatter and slice her. She screamed, “Open up, you wretched beast! Give me back my baby!"

  Raena felt the invisible wall rise in her mind. The one she called upon to block her emotions when she knew the situation was grave and she needed to think clearly, despite what she was feeling. She flung herself at Rachael and grabbed her, then pulled her back from the mirror.

  "No! I am getting in there!"

  "Rachael, if you break it, we may never find her...” said Bella soothingly. She again made eye contact with Rae while she struggled to subdue Rachael. Rae nodded back curtly.

  "Let's come up with a plan; we need to think. If there's a way in, there must be a way out."

  Rachael stopped struggling and fell limp in her sister's embrace. She began to silently cry again.

  Bella walked to the mirror and placed her hands on it, then peered into it as if she could see past it. She wondered if Morgana could sense her presence. “We'll begin tomorrow by visiting all the bodies of water in town,” said Bella decisively.

  Chapter 16

  In the dark, Morgana lay on top of the hay bale, with Eva and another little girl, Emma, curled front-to-back for warmth and comfort. She looked around at the children on the makeshift beds and sighed. Night was always the worst; she couldn't keep her fears away. During the day, there was always so much to do, and so many of the children had come to depend on her, that she rarely found time for thoughts of hopelessness.

  But in the dark, there was plenty of time to think of home, her mother, her aunts, and Chloe. Morgana shut her eyes tightly and willed sleep to come. She prayed for deliverance from this situation. As far as she could figure, most of these children came from different time periods and some were even from places she had never heard of. Why or how they were all here, she had not yet been able to decide.

  Morgana laid her arm across Eva and Emma and took a deep breath.

  Something moved in the dark. It sounded like her mother's laundry when it would blow on the clothesline on a windy day.

  She rolled over, but could see nothing. Suddenly, through the bars on the window, came a flying line of black birds, small enough to fit through the spaces. They began to swirl around the room and Morgana was frozen in terror.

  Children woke and began screaming at the top of their lungs. They all began to make their way toward her and she was soon surrounded by them.

  Morgana shook with fear and pulled them to her.

  The black swarm began to dive-bomb and peck any child they could reach, drawing blood on many, who wailed in pain.

  A little boy, no more than four years old, was crouched by Morgana when a larger magpie came, and embedded its beak in his arm and ripped off a piece of flesh three inches across.

  Morgana screamed in fury and began to smack it with her bare hands.

  Blind rage took over; she looked around the room for a weapon and spied an empty manacle gleaming on the floor.

  She leaped for it and began swinging it into the flock over her head in a circle, making contact with several of them as she did so.

  The flock began to shriek in protest and began to concentrate on Morgana. Soon, all the birds in the room were headed for her. Five landed on her arms, which she shook wildly. She bent over and three landed on her back. She fell to her knees and two landed on her head.

  Now Eva left the makeshift bed and was running to defend Morgana, her tiny body useless against so many creatures.

  Morgana could see a stream of images in her mind's eye—her home ... her mom ... her daddy...

  The chamber was illuminated by an oil lamp, which was casting eerie shadows as the guard ambled into the dungeon.

  The largest bird spied the guard and gave one long cry, then the whole flock simultaneously lifted away from Morgana and flew out the window.

  Morgana could feel Eva's tiny hands on her head before she drifted into oblivion.

  * * * *

  Raena sat in her suite on her couch facing the window. She gazed out into the moonlit yard and felt a loneliness she had not experienced since her mother died. Thoughts of Morgana drifted in and out of her consciousness, intermingled with wondering whether she would ever have children of her own.

  She shivered and walked over to the heating duct, which was a grate on the floor, and sat down with her blanket on top of it.

  She placed her head in her hands and let the tears come. She cried for several minutes and then wiping her eyes, attempted rationalization.

  She was sure Morgana was alive, she couldn't explain it; but as long as she had that feeling, all was not lost.

  Her mother's voice, a welcome change from her Gran's, sounded in her head, God will not despise a spirit broken and crushed...

  Broken and crushed.... that about summed up the state where this family currently existed.

  Moira's voice interrupted, Couldn't hurt to throw some salt over your shoulder, though...

  "Oh for goodness sake! How did I turn out even remotely normal?” she said to the cat curled up at her side.

  She picked him up and placed him on top of her bed and crawled under the covers. This time, no meddling feminine voices plagued her and she slipped off into a dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 17

  Rachael looked out the window of the Explorer as it wound its way out of town. The silence was deafening. What was there to say?

  Rae looked at her sister and was suddenly tired. Tired of being on an epineph
rine high for so many days in a row, having to deal with so much anxiety, and of trying to be the voice of reason.

  The quarry came into view and Rae slowed the truck to a stop.

  "What exactly are we looking for?” asked Rachael, her tone of voice letting her sisters know she was looking for a fight.

  Bella slid out of the backseat and coolly replied, “Anything that might lead us to Morgana."

  Rachael's shoulders slumped and she began to walk down the slope into the rockpit.

  As she turned, Rae held up her pinky and Bella linked hers with it, “Good one, I'm ready to lash out myself."

  "An answer when mild, turns away rage...” she replied.

  "Very Anna MacBeth like answer."

  "I try.” Bella flashed a smile.

  They walked in silence through the quarry, each wandering off in different directions. Rae walked up on the sloping hillside; Bella went toward the water and Rachael took the opposite hillside headed south.

  Rae weaved in and out of the pine trees and her feet crunched on the coniferous needles.

  Gran Moira appeared in her head again, reciting another of her stories of childhood: When the children were disappearing before I was born, they used to threaten us that a huge black bird would come and carry us away if we were bad. Just as the little children before us were taken.

  "People are sick, telling a child that tale,” Rae spoke out loud, fully aware she was talking to herself more than ever lately. She racked her memory for more information from her childhood and remembered something else. Her gran had related that when she and Grandpa Ewan had returned to the inn, they were convinced it was haunted because the first week they were there, they heard all kinds of odd sounds at all hours. Then in the process of house cleaning prior to accepting guests, they entered the attic. Grandpa Ewan had related there had been scores of nests in the attic. Magpie nests with eggs still in them and birds still in the attic, explaining the noises at night. They had gone ballistic at the sight of her grandfather. Moira's voice blurted into her consciousness again, Mind the birds, poppet. Always mind the birds.