CHAPTER 27

Gone

 

earl pointed toward the woods that grew along the riverbank.

“Look, Mommy. They’re waiting for us.”

The dark water of the Quixotic River reflected the light of a lustrous pumpkin moon.

Margo’s eyes opened wide. “Oliver, look at the animals.”

Masked raccoons huddled close together on a white birch log. A trio of skunks waddled along the path while nervous rabbits darted in and out of the reeds, noses twitching. Mink, muskrats, beavers, and otters sat beside the bear in a line along the riverbank. Owls hooted from a twisted elm tree, its branches thick with crows, starlings, and jays. A family of possums occupied one of the lower limbs, along with a fat porcupine. From deeper in the brush, the golden eyes of a lynx reflected the beam of Mitch Kestrel’s flashlight.

In the center of the clearing sat Carlisle, tranquilly licking his paw.

“We have quite an audience,” said Oliver. “This really is rather odd, isn’t it?”

“I have no idea,” said Margo. “My threshold for what’s odd and what isn’t has drastically shifted.”

A trickle of tiny glowing orbs floated up through the portal. These were followed by ten, twenty, thirty more. The trickle became a steady stream of shimmering light that drifted up into the frosty night. Countless sparks of light moved as one. They curved overhead, turning together forming a dazzling wheel of light. A spiral in a circle.

Then, as one-by-one they drifted away up and over the trees, the blazing sky turned dark once more.

One tiny glowing ball drifted toward Margo who stood motionless, still cradling her drowsy little girl. Pearl reached out and the light settled gently on her open palm.

“Don’t worry, lady,” said Pearl solemnly. “I will take care of your doggie.”

She watched the orb drift away and then fell deeply asleep in her mother’s arms.

“I think they are happy now, wouldn’t you say?” asked Pike.

“I hope so,” said Casey quietly. He stood next to Pike, clutching the little bow. A tear dripped slowly down his cheek. “I told Mrs. McCurdy that I’d get her out of there.”

“You did, Red,” said Pike softly. “You got them all out.”

Casey wiped his face with his sleeve. The thought of a very long, very hot shower and a change of clothes seemed tremendously appealing.

“What do you think saved your sister from all this?” asked Pike.

“I don’t know for sure. Kidnapping Pearl was a mistake. Malakaan was trying to get me, but his plan got messed up. Since Pearl is just a little kid, Malakaan probably thought she was too small or too weak to be of any use. That’s why he didn’t bother turning her into one of his shadows,” said Casey. A little shiver travelled down his spine as he recalled the scene in the amphitheater. “He started to make her into one later, but I think that was just to torture me. Fortunately we got her out before the change completely took hold. I guess the important thing is that she’s back, right?”

The stones that had formed the portal began to revolve again, circling the mouth of the tunnel as it steadily closed. Malakaan’s world had melted away and the gateway was now shut for good. It was just a circle of stones on the riverbank once more.

As the last stone slipped into place, a hawk spiraled down and grabbed it in its hooked beak. Owls, sparrows, shrikes and starlings, kingfishers, and gulls swooped down from the trees. The birds snatched up stones in their claws and beaks, and then, with a great flapping of wings, took off into the sky, heading in different directions.

Casey turned toward the woods. A raccoon with a small stone in its paws stared back at him and then waddled off, disappearing into the brush. There was a splash as the bear crossed the river heading back to its den. Where the portal had been, not one stone remained.

Pike grew silent and turned around to face the woods, his brows furrowed. He leaned toward the trees, head cocked.

“You’re freaking me out again, Pike. Do you hear something?”

“No. Nothing at all. I don’t even hear the wind. Nothing. Look.” He pointed toward the woods. “All the animals are gone.”

“So maybe they’re job is done, and they just took off because it’s over.”

“It’s not over,” said Pike. “Not yet.”

“Now what?”

A bright glow had appeared moving closer among the trees.

“I don’t know what it is, but I don’t get any bad impressions from it.”

He looked down at the Saint Bernard calmly stretched out at their feet. Pike ran his hand across her tawny head, and Penny thumped her tail.

“Old Penny’s not worried,” said Pike. He could feel tension melting away. “It’s okay, Red. This one means no harm.”

Branches parted, pushed aside by the antlers of a stag as it stepped silently into the clearing, and stood gently pawing the ground. It was nine feet tall from its pale gray hooves to the tip of its twelve point antlers. The fur around its eyes and down its chest was snow white. Its back and the tips of its ears were silver. The magnificent antlers were silver as well. When the stag turned its head, gemstones flashed.

Casey grinned.

“I’ve seen him before, Pike, in this dream I had. It’s the stag from the Indian legends. That’s who brought the white Howlite stone that helped us.”

The white stag stood alone, shining with moonlight. Deep gray eyes, ancient and wise, watched solemnly as Casey walked forward and ran his hand gently over its gleaming muzzle. The snowy fur felt cold and there was no gust of breath against Casey’s skin.

Casey pulled Margo’s necklace out of his pocket and held it out with slightly trembling hands. The stag lowered its huge head and Casey carefully draped the sparkling band across the prongs of its antlers. It accepted the gift, and turned away. Casey watched silently as it walked along the riverbank and disappeared into the night.

As the stag faded from view, the vitality that Casey had felt pulsing through the Kokinoke bow died away. The wood was once again parched and crazed with a spider web of cracks, and the bowstring was frayed and brittle. He handed it over to his father.

“I think this deserves a very special place in the collection.”

“That’s for sure,” said Oliver. He clapped Casey’s shoulder. “Come on, Casey. It’s time to go home. Pike, I want to thank you. I don’t know how we can ever repay you for everything you did to help our family. I’m not sure what your situation is right now. You can always stay with us if you want to.”

Flustered by the compliment, Pike looked down, red-faced.

“Thanks. I’ll be just fine.”

Oliver shook Pike’s hand and traipsed off toward Margo. She stood near the path holding the contentedly sleeping Pearl against her shoulder. Kestrel was making notes in his little book. The detective was bound to have a hard time summarizing this case.

“Hey, Red, do you think the squirt will remember any of this?” asked Pike.

“I don’t know. The transformation into one of those shadow things starts with all of your color fading away, and Pearl’s hair is still white,” said Casey.

“Don’t worry about it too much. Kids adjust. Maybe she’ll think it was all a bad dream,” said Pike. “You know, Red, I thought your mom would have a nervous breakdown when you jumped into that hole. Those weird rocks slid together and the ground turned all solid again. We thought you were lost for sure.”

“So how did you all manage to come marching to the rescue with your pet bear?”

“A little bird told me how to do it.”

Pike winked, and offered a rare grin.

“Hey, look at old Bloodwyn over there,” said Pike. “He looks a lot more beat-up than you do, Red. His chauffeur got kind of banged around by the bear earlier. He’s probably still asleep in the doc’s backseat.”

“Can you hang on for a minute?” asked Casey. “There are a couple of things I’d like to ask Doctor Bloodwyn about.”

Enoch Bloodwyn was standing alone, fishing around in the pockets of his scorched jacket and looking rather glum. As Casey walked up, he pulled out what appeared to be a handful of crushed charcoal and bits of broken glass. Casey realized that Bloodwyn had lost his souvenir, and tried not to smile. Apparently Malakaan’s supernatural attack, had not only scarred his arm, but destroyed the legendary Peacock diamond as well.

“Easy come, easy go, I suppose. Although perhaps ‘easy’ might be an understatement,” Bloodwyn said, brushing the ash off his hands. “Did you have a question for me, my boy?”

“I am just a little confused, Doctor Bloodwyn. It really seemed like you were ready to trade me away like a sack of potatoes for what you thought would be the archeological find of the century,” said Casey.

Bloodwyn raised his eyebrows quizzically.

“And you threatened to shoot us!”

“Oh, I don’t think so, young man,” said Bloodwyn. “If you recall my words, I never actually said I was planning to do any such thing. Perhaps you misunderstood my intentions. After all, here you are. Safe and sound.”

“Well, isn’t that really what you had in mind?” asked Casey. “Did you have a change of heart, or was the whole thing just a bluff?”

He folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head to the side. Bloodwyn would probably be able to talk circles around him for hours without ever really saying anything.

“One generally does whatever suits one’s needs at the time,” said Bloodwyn with an eloquent shrug. “Can every action be evaluated in simple terms of good and bad, or black and white? There are many shades of gray, you know. You should take up chess or perhaps poker, Mr. Wilde. You’d learn that a good player never reveals all of his stratagems or bluffs.”

“Bad is bad...regardless of the motive,” he said. “Tell me the truth. Who were you bluffing when you were making your demands and waving that gun around, me or Malakaan?

“I’ll leave that for you to work out. This old world is so much more interesting when one doesn’t have all the answers. What’s life without a little mystery?”

The corners of Enoch Bloodwyn’s mouth curved into a maddeningly ingratiating smile. “And I’m certain that, in my time, I have been called mysterious.”

“I’ve got news for you, Doc,” said Casey. “I can guarantee that you’ve been called a lot more than that.”

Halloween was over. The first morning of November had nearly arrived, and the sky was striped with orange. Casey was dog-tired. He knew he’d probably be out like a light as soon as he hit the pillow, but for the time being he was still buzzing with nervous energy, and there were a few more questions he wanted answered.

Enoch Bloodwyn and Mitch Kestrel were trudging up the path toward their cars. Margo and Oliver were waiting patiently for him to finish talking with everyone. It was clear to Casey that they had no intention of letting him out of their sight.

“They probably never will again,” he sighed.

He walked over to them, and Oliver pulled him close.

“Dad, down there, in the cave, you laughed when you saw that burn on Doctor Bloodwyn’s arm. What was that about?”

A smile lit up Oliver’s face. He leaned over and whispered into his ear.

“Really?”

“Yep.” Oliver nodded. “Now go say goodnight to your pal, and let’s go home.”

 

*

 

Pike stood alone, staring at the spot where the portal had been.

“They didn’t even leave a pebble, Red,” He laughed and kicked at the empty riverbank with the toe of his boot. “I guess they weren’t taking any chances.”

“Nope. I guess not. We’re going to hit the road, Pike,” said Casey. “Thanks for everything. You know, I couldn’t have done any of this without your help.”

“Sure you could.” Pike looked up at the sky growing brighter. “So, what do you think? Is my dad up there with them?”

“I didn’t see him down in Malakaan’s cave. I just don’t know,” said Casey doubtfully. His face clouded. “Do you really believe that this is all over?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” said Pike. He turned to his with a wicked smile. “At least until Bloodwyn finds out we broke his car.”

Casey laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about Doctor Bloodwyn.”

Pike took in the ear-to-ear smile on his face.

“What, Red? What is it?” he asked. “What do you know that I don’t?”

“My dad said a lot of the Kokinoke symbols are apparently pretty close to some from other cultures. Symbols that he is familiar with.”

“Yeah,” said Pike. “And…”

“And you know that burn that Bloodwyn got on his arm?”

Pike nodded.

“It’s the Kokinoke symbol for thief.”