The Kidnapping King

MEANWHILE, AT THE MANOR

DUBLIN, IRELAND - PRESENT DAY 

 "Master Jack, Master Ethan, breakfast is served." Arthur briefly knocked on each boy's bedroom door then stood, expectant, in the upper hallway.

After no response from either room, he tried a second time.

Silence.

Arthur took hold of the brass knob on Jack's bedroom door and turned, opening slowly, then stepped into the room. The queen-sized canopy bed before him appeared smooth and undisturbed. Jack's clothes from the night before lay strewn across a chair beneath the far window. The butler's eyebrows shot up and he turned abruptly, taking three long strides to the adjoining door leading to Ethan's room. Boldly, he yanked the door open and, as he expected, Ethan's bed also remained undisturbed.

Dashing out Ethan's door and into the upper hallway he began to shout, "Bill, Bart, urgent situation! Come quickly!" He sprinted to the opposite end of the corridor and pounded repeatedly on both of their bedroom doors. Bill opened first. His sandy hair was a mess and he was just tying the belt of his brown velour robe around his waist.

"What is it, Arthur?" he asked, rubbing his eyes groggily.

"The boys, they're missing!" Arthur blurted frantically.

Bart's bedroom door creaked open and he peeked out, shoving messy bangs out of his eyes.

"What's all the racket about?" He asked in an irritated tone.

"It's Ethan and Jack, Bart," Bill turned to look at his son. "They're gone."

"What?!" Bart's eyes flew open with new interest. "Gone where?" He asked, throwing his door wide open and stepping out into the hallway.

Bart jogged down the corridor to Jack's bedroom then moments later exited out Ethan's doorway. Throwing his hands in the air, a perplexed look on his face.

"Where did they go?" He shouted, jutting his chin out, eyes open wide. He ran back to where his dad and Arthur were standing.

The three of them stood there in silence, looking at one another. Arthur spoke first.

"Well, whatever happened, we can't fix it in this moment. Why don't you both get dressed and let's have a pow-wow over breakfast...which is ready and waiting downstairs."

Bill looked at his son, then back to the butler.

"Ok, ya, alright. That sounds like a plan. We'll meet you down there in 10?" He agreed, eyebrows raised at Bart.

"Yeah, ok." He said, reluctantly, and they both returned to their bedrooms.

10 MINUTES LATER

Bill Flanagan pushed open the heavy door leading to the kitchens and waited for his son to walk through before entering himself, allowing the door to swing closed behind them. Arthur was just placing a silver coffee pot on a white-linen covered table in the breakfast nook at the far end of the space when he heard them come in, and turned in their direction.

"Let's brainstorm, shall we?"

Bill was carrying a large, old, leather-bound tome in his arms as he and Bart crossed the room and seated themselves at the table. Clearing a space, he deposited the ancient-looking book on the surface as Arthur sat down to join them.

"I thought this might come in handy in this situation." Bill said, carefully lifting the coffee pot and pouring himself a fragrant cup of steaming brew.

Arthur and Bart were nodding enthusiastically in response to his proposal.

"Let's find out where those boys are located." Bill gently opened the book, allowing it to fall to a seemingly random beige-colored parchment page. Closing his eyes, he held his right hand just above the surface and spoke: "Where are Ethan and Jack Mac Paidin and who, if anyone, are they with?" Opening his eyes, the three of them watched as words began to flow across the page in an elegant script.

"I am not able to locate any information about Ethan or Jack Mac Paidin."

Bill squinted his eyes together sharply, brows crunched until they almost met on the bridge of his nose. Lifting an index finger to his lips, he stared blankly at the page before him.

"What???" He whispered. "I've never seen it respond that way before," he glanced up at Arthur, then Bart.

The butler's chair squeaked against the tile floor as he pushed it back away from the table and stood abruptly.

"Well, if that old volume can't find the boys, then perhaps the locator globe can!" He looked at the two of them momentarily before Bill and Bart jumped up and all three dashed for the swinging door.

Reaching the upper level, out of breath, they stood anxiously outside the familiar walnut door as Arthur inserted a key and opened. They bumped into one another clamoring up the narrow staircase before viewing the globe in the center of the room.

Bill and Bart stood shifting from one foot to the other while Arthur pressed the red button on the locator's rim and swiped his fingers across the screen that popped into view.

Lifting his head, Arthur looked at the globe expectantly.

Nothing.

Where the two dots representing the boys had previously appeared on the globe's surface, now the device was dark.

"I know we have no information to support this presumption," Bill started, looking at Bart and Arthur, "but I have a very bad feeling that their disappearance has something to do with Inez Mac Paidin."

The three locked eyes with one another.

"What?!" Bart gasped. "I thought Clara said that witch couldn't come back without her stupid glowing pendant?!" He spouted indignantly. "So, how in the...?"

Bill and Arthur exchanged suspicious looks.

"That is what Clara said...but it seems likely there are details we aren't aware of. Do you know of any other passages or routes into or out of this house that they could have used to transport the boys?" Bill looked at Arthur expectantly.

The butler crunched his eyebrows together, a deep crease forming on his forehead.

"Noo.." he began, shaking his head slowly back and forth, "The only way they have entered in the past has been through the use of a portal." He paused. "And it does seem one of those pendants is required for the transport."

"So, if we have Inez's pendant...and we do have it...then what other option could there be?" Bill replied.

"Well, who cares how they got them out of here," Bart jumped in, "we just need to figure out how to get them back!" He said, shoving his right hand through the bangs that were clinging to his damp skin, pushing them away from his face. "That woman KILLED Jack's parents! I can't stand the thought of him being with her!" He paced back and forth across the room as he spoke.

"I agree," Arthur said, "I know, from first hand experience, what Inez Mac Paidin is capable of." He shot a meaningful glance in Bill's direction. "We do not want her to have those boys..." he rolled his eyes and shook his head back and forth, "but what's to be done? We don't know their location, and even if we did, that woman has resources. She brought four armed gunmen with her when she showed up to take Sir Edward away..." he paused in thought, "And it's not like we have magic hats or other port keys that will allow us to teleport to them..."

Bill inhaled deeply.

"We're going to need help. Fortunately, we do have an ace in our pocket...we have her sister."

Arthur and Bart looked at one another and a small grin began to turn up the corners of each of their mouths.

Bill continued, "And we have friends in The Order of Light."