Keeper of Reign

11. Strange Clues

TST TST SET her walnut bowl on her lap. “But we got these from the pot.” She pointed to another soup pot that was still on the stove. Jules and Bitha went to inspect and there the pot stood half filled with the thick chunks of potatoes and leeks peeking amongst the creamy base.

Bitha said, “That’s odd. Somebody definitely spilled soup on the floor. How is it that only some of the soup spilled—look there’s the other pot under the chair.” She looked confusedly from the overturned pot to the one on the stove.

Jules said, “We need a plan. Let’s check what’s missing.” He rushed to the hearth and pried the loose brick to the side. He reached his arm deep and thought he felt the soft nap of the pouch but then he jerked his hand back out and sucked on his finger.” Ouch!”

Ralston said, “We can’t afford to lose your pouch—maybe the only way to buy things if we have to look for Mom or Dad.”

Jules glared at him. Ralston said, “What’s wrong?” Jules reached back into the hole, this time less enthusiastically.

“Something sharp.” When he pulled it out he stared at the shard of glass in his hand. “Hold this, Rals.”

Ralston held the sharp edge gingerly. “Is it yours?”

“Would I put something sharp like that to cut myself up?” Jules then brought out his pouch, and sighed. He gave its contents a quick peek and slipped the soft pouch into his cloak pocket.

“It’s a good thing the burglars missed that,” Ralston said. “Should we toss this?” He passed the shard to Jules who turned it over.

“Some words here.” He read, “‘—ook within.’ What’s that mean?”

Bitha came over. “You never noticed it before?” She shone the drag- onfly lamp into the hole. “It’s a lot deeper than I thought.”

Jules peered in as well. “Nothing else in there.”

Ralston said, “‘—ook within’? Look within?”

Bitha said, “Book within?”

Tst Tst said, “Cook within would be good. Or maybe it’s supposed to be a warning like, ‘crook within.’”

Jules wrapped the sharp mirrored glass with an old rag lying on the floor and placed it back in the hiding hole. “It’s too sharp to take with us. But it could mean something. Only we know of this hiding spot, so either Mom placed it there or Grandpa. But why?”

“Maybe the person who hid it, found it, and saw it’s important. Like a clue.”

“But what to?” Jules took the mirror out again, unwrapped it, and turned it over. It could have come from some antique since the back was tarnished.

Bitha said, “Is anything missing besides our Book?” They went about and agreed nothing was taken. Tst Tst said, “Maybe they only came for Mom.” And she and Tippy wept again.

They waited for Saul but even when darkness completely swallowed the sky the old man still had not returned. First their dad left them for the war, then their grandparents drowned and now this? Could things get worse? Jules doubted.

“But if Mom had her Book, the Scorpents couldn’t have taken her. The Book should have protected her. Unless she was separated from it. She didn’t even use the dragonfly lamp, which means she couldn’t have sighted Scorpents. She might be out there. Maybe hiding?”

“We should stay put,” Ralston said.

Jules was polishing off the last of the potato soup in the pot with a spoon from the kitchen sink. The buttery smell of the savory garlic had made his stomach rumble. He scraped the bottom of the pot for the last drop of the thick creamy potage and licked the spoon. And that was when he saw it.

At the bottom of the pot. Written in black, with the permanent squid ink similar to the ink Ralston made. The writing was faint but Jules read it: “Lacework.”

Ralston peered over Jules’s shoulder and looked at the message. “Did Mom write it? Like a message she didn’t want anyone else to see?”

Jules said, “That was risky. How’d she know I’d peer into the pot?”

Tst Tst came over and peered in too. “Everyone knows you’d die for potato soup.”

Bitha dragged Tippy by the wrist and looked in, too. “But does this mean she’d gone to the Laceworks’? Or she wants us there? How do we even know Mom wrote it? She wouldn’t leave us here to the burglars.”

Jules traced the words with his forefinger. “Unless she didn’t have a choice. Anyway, we can’t stay here.”

Ralston said, “Let’s go to the Laceworks’. Maybe we can ask Holden.”

Jules said, “I’d rather eat glass, but what choice do we have? We must look for Mom, or something.”

“But it’s dark outside,” Bitha said. “Mr. Saul said to stay put.” Jules said, “We have our dragonfly lanterns.” Bitha said, “But what if we’re not hiding from Scorpents? Besides, we only have two left. Miranda took one.”

Jules said, “Maybe she saw the Scorpents and needs it. Two’s enough.”

“What if Mom isn’t at the Laceworks’? Then what?”

“Stop it, Bitha!” Jules saw his sister’s round eyes and softened his tone. “We go to the Laceworks’ and if Mom’s not there, we’ll ask Mrs. L for help. You and the girls stay with her and Holden. Ralston and I can see if the Taylors or the Bradfords have seen her.”

“And if they haven’t?”

“Stop it!” Jules looked at the strewn room.

Tippy came over and handed him her sardius. “You can pay for things with it.”

He smiled at Tippy. “You keep it. Let’s pack some food and stuff in a couple of pillowcases, in case we need to stay away for a while.” He saw his sisters’ eyes widen. “Worse come to worse, we will find Dad. Dad’ll know what to do. Mrs. L might know where he could be. Mr. L’s camp’s not far from Dad’s.”

Bitha said, “But they’re fighting in a war!”