KERRY FOLLOWED ARDEN as he raced through the woods, unsure what spooked the leprechaun, Quinn right behind them. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she dodged branches above her and fallen logs beneath her. How Quinn was able to keep up with her in his current size, she had no clue. “What do you think he did?”
“I think the lights going out yesterday was more than a cover for his tardiness,” Arden answered without stopping or turning. “Damn! How can I have been so stupid?”
They made their way back out of the woods to the north of Daydreamer Inn, but Arden didn’t slow down. He turned north, heading to Fireside Grille and the next block, Kerry and Quinn on his heels. She wasn’t sure what to think of everything she just learned at the faerie knoll. She knew the leprechauns had magic, knew they could manipulate the size of things, but what did that have to do with the gold? Unless… “Wait, do you think Paddy actually stole the gold yesterday? Shrunk it down and walked out with it? But you said you saw the pots of gold in the vault after the lights went out.”
“Yeah, I did,” Arden said, slowing down to catch his breath. “Or, at least, I thought I did. What if it was all one of Paddy’s tricks?”
Kerry caught up to Arden, walking on his left as Quinn stepped up to his right. “What do you mean?”
Arden glanced over at her, and Kerry couldn’t miss the worry etched in his features. “What if it was all an illusion?” he asked. “What if I only thought I saw the pots of gold?”
“I checked the vault today,” Quinn said, his breathing heavy as he had to walk twice as fast to keep up with the pace Arden set. “Everything looked normal.”
“Yeah, but that’s the point of an illusion, is it not?” Arden asked. “For everything to look the way you want it to look when, in fact, it’s something else entirely?” He shook his head. “No. Something doesn’t feel right.”
They crossed Main Street and headed for the End of the Rainbow, Kerry suddenly starting to feel as sick to her stomach as she knew Arden must feel. She didn’t understand their magic, even though she had felt it. Yet, if they could do what Arden said they could, what kept Paddy from taking the gold before then? Why now? And what set off the alarm that warned Arden someone would attempt to steal the gold? She could picture Paddy being the thief. That wasn’t a far stretch at all. Brandie probably caught on to him, and he did something with her to get her out of the way, but what?
She watched as Arden unlocked the front door of the bank and shoved his way into the bank, the torches on the wall a dull flicker as business hours were over. Nunk was absent from the front door, but that made sense. They didn’t need as much security with a closed bank.
“Ruck! Gerst! Who’s here?” Arden called out.
A shuffling came from the back of the bank and Kerry watched as an ogre she hadn’t seen before lumbered into view. He wore the same outfit as Nunk, with a long, thick club resting on his shoulder as he gripped the handle. “Ruck is gone. Just me tonight,” the giant mountain of gray skin said.
“Has anyone else been in since the bank closed?” Arden made his way to the back of the bank, aiming straight for the door in the corner.
Kerry wasn’t sure she was ready for another Alice in Wonderland adventure right then, but she also wasn’t leaving Arden’s side. This man needed her, and she needed him to find her sister.
Gerst shook his head. “No. Just Gerst.” He tilted his head. “Was someone else supposed to be here?”
Arden ignored him as he yanked the thick wooden door open and stepped into the hallway. He only paused long enough to reach out and take Kerry’s hand in his. “I assume you’re coming?”
“Where you go, I go,” she assured him, and she could have sworn his features relaxed just a little.
Arden nodded once and then turned back toward the tiny pinprick of light at the end of the hall.
Everything happened just like last time, the walls started to feel as if they closed in on her, but stopped as Arden’s magic wrapped around her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Quinn right behind her, his face a mask of anger mixed with worry. The buzzing noise that seemed to follow her all over town became louder, but she refused to release Arden’s hand to swat the bug away.
She worried what they would find once they were inside the vault, worried that Arden’s fears were true. The closer they came to the entrance, the more she wanted to just grab his arm and stop him from entering.
“Kerry, be careful,” the voice whispered around her just before they opened the vault door.
Kerry froze, coming up short and bringing Arden to a jerky stop as Quinn almost ran into them from behind. “Brandie?” she asked as she looked around the small hallway. The others looked at her strangely, but she ignored them. “Brandie, where are you?”
The whisper was there right on the edge of hearing, but Kerry couldn’t make out the words. Did she really hear her sister?
“What’s wrong?” Arden asked as he jerked his gaze around the hall, looking for trouble. “Why are you calling for your sister?”
“I just heard her,” Kerry replied. “Or, at least, I thought I heard her.” She shook her head and then turned her gaze to Arden. “That can’t be true, though, can it?”
Arden squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, love. I don’t see how it could be.”
She nodded as she took a deep breath. “Let’s go see what we find.”
Arden tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn’t help bolster her mood. She wanted to have heard her sister’s voice, but it was probably just the stress of the past couple of days deceiving her. She permitted Arden to lead her to the door and followed him inside.
The vault appeared just like the last time she saw it. Dozens of dark iron pots sat around the cavern, gold oozing over the tops and spilling onto the floor as rainbows spewed from the middle of each pot to shoot through the stone ceiling. Torches flickered their light on the walls and ceiling, casting shadows that seemed to dance in twisted patterns. Everything looked normal.
Arden released her hand after squeezing it one more time and took a deep breath. Kerry watched him, hoping he felt the support she sent his way. With slow steps, he left her side and moved over to the nearest pot of gold. He turned and glanced back at the others, hesitation on his face. What would they do if his suspicions were true? How would they save the town, protecting everyone’s money?
Arden turned back around to the pot, rubbing his fingers together as he braced for whatever he would find. Biting her lower lip, Kerry watched as the scruffy looking bank manager reached out to touch the pot—only his hand went right through it and out the other side. An illusion.
“Christ on a bicycle!” Quinn swore as Arden dropped his face into his hands.
Kerry could only stand there and stare.