Chapter Eleven
Return to Burnam Tau'roh
It was definitely a stay-in-bed kind of morning—one best viewed from beneath a thick, goose-down quilt and through the drawn curtains of misted windows. For Lincoln Torres, however, there would be no snug bedcovers. The twelve year-old sat silent and motionless with his back against the base of the old hotel. Hugging bent knees to his chest, he stared anxiously out at the landscape before him. A sagging mantle of charcoal-grey clouds made the sky appear almost within reach. Rain was more than a simple promise; it was an unyielding guarantee.
The Oak Hotel, perched atop a cliff overlooking eastern Burnam Tau’roh, did not crouch from the miserable heavens above. A massive, multi-storied structure, this grand building was sentinel to everything that happened below. Its strength of presence was material as well, as it seemingly emerged from the solid stone that marked its foundation.
The Sughi River (speaking in a muted, foamy roar from far below) rushed away from the base of the mountain toward the great Eastern Sea. Just south of the river’s distant estuary, Lincoln could make out the white, vertical brushstroke of a lighthouse. Looking directly southward, a sprawling forest waited secretively behind Ticket Station IX. Lincoln recalled how he and Kayleigh had made their way through the woods to the creepy town of Shora Cessyu. The now silent tracks of the Burnam Tau’roh Eastern Rail Line ran like the dry remains of a snake-shed to the southeast. Listening, Lincoln did not hear the sound of BTEL #3, the train that had transported them down the line and had spoken as if alive.
And to think I was born here, he mused. He heard the old librarian’s voice explaining that, as a baby, he had been found alone in a boat on Autumn Harbor Bay. There was but one item with him in the small dinghy, other than the blanket swaddling his small body—a copy of The History of Burnam Tau’roh.
What now? he wondered. Having arrived hours ago in the young pine forest that covered the posterior side of this small mountain, Lincoln was painfully aware of his impossible circumstances. He guessed there was a greater good to serve, but the only thing he saw before him was Kayleigh. He needed to find Kayleigh.
“Lincoln?” a soft, female voice called out.
Heart racing at the thought of being caught so early on, Lincoln scanned the mountaintop and focused on the figure emerging from the cylindrical conveyance known as SkyCarOne. Through the mist, the thin form moved steadily toward him. Stumbling to his feet, he couldn’t believe his luck at finding Kayleigh so quickly. After a few steps toward her, however, he stopped. She wore a dark, grey robe with a hood pulled loosely over her head. Slowly, two pale hands reached up and pushed the hood back. Lincoln beheld a young woman in her early twenties. Her features were soft, but her bright, green eyes demanded his attention.
“You’re not—” he began.
“No,” she said, almost apologetically, “I’m not Kayleigh, but I know where she is and I’m here to help. Quickly, go back to where you were sitting and make yourself still.”
Confused, Lincoln did as he was told. As he set his back against the hotel, the front door burst open and a voice filled with menace bellowed, “Sheenie! You have good news, I hope?”
“Yes, Truman. The Cinema is locked down. Creek is secure on the lower level. He’s not going anywhere.”
“Excellent,” hissed Truman Stitch. Lincoln could almost see his eyes, reflecting not only his own dark soul, but the cancerous glare of Ka Tolerates as well. He could feel the dark energy pulsing outward in heavy, leaden waves.
“Are you still planning to leave at sunset?” Sheenie asked. It was at this point when Lincoln realized that her name sounded familiar. It didn’t take much searching to recall that she was the woman he and Kayleigh had heard outside the closet just before their first journey to Burnam Tah’roh.
“I’d leave now, but we still need the suspension draught.”
Just the sound of Stitch’s voice caused Lincoln to cringe.
“Will it be delivered to the hotel?” Sheenie asked.
“Yes. You might as well stay here and wait. Pay for it with this.” Truman tossed a coin through the air and Sheenie caught it without hesitation.
“Our mission is nearly complete,” he said slowly. “After we deliver her to Applewhite, we will be free to explore more… interesting possibilities.”
“Yes, Truman,” she replied, standing her ground, showing neither fear nor trepidation.
The front door slammed shut with sudden finality. Sheenie stood where she was for the count of ten, then allowed her braced shoulders to relax. She walked toward Lincoln, helped him up with one outstretched hand and led him around the building to an area beneath the back stairway. Lincoln could not get over her green eyes. They held power and control, though understanding as well.
“I’m unsure where to begin,” she said as, together, they backed secretively into the shadows.
Shaking his head slightly, Lincoln asked, “Is Kayleigh okay?”
“Yes. Kayleigh is inside the hotel as we speak. She’s safe… for the moment. Truman is preparing to take her back to our world. Delivering her might cancel out the fact that he and I were not able to bring back the Pilgrims, as was our primary mission.”
“Emil told us about some of that. I found out more from the glass spheres on Te’hæra Thorn.”
The young woman’s eyes sparkled. “I so wish that I could have been there. You were actually in Kana Hove?”
“I was there a couple of days before I figured out how to leave.”
“Truman wasn’t very talkative when he returned. I noticed the change instantly. That’s why I’m speaking to you now instead of turning you over to him. I’ll admit that he and I have taken advantage of our situation here in Burnam Tau’roh. I’m not proud of it, but I’ll admit my own faults. When he returned, though, I knew that he had done the unspeakable. I could read it in his eyes. I still cannot believe he had touched the last tree of the valley. I’ve followed him every step of our timeless journey, but here is where I get off. When we return to Atoth with Kayleigh, he plans to beg for mercy. Whether or not this is given, he intends to use his new, dark power to take control of our governing system and use it as a stepping-stone to greater gain. He has made many connections here in this backwater province, but this has only been a testing ground.”
“I don’t understand,” Lincoln said.
“Truman has been running illegal trade between parallel worlds. For those willing to pay, he can hunt down items not found in one world and pull them over into another. Burnam Tau’roh is the crossroads for this trade. Autumn Harbor is the main port of transfer into your world. He has found more than a few wealthy people on your side interested in such things.
“But Truman has no lust for money. He is concerned only with power. He has broken many laws and traded for certain high technologies that have not and will not be invented in this world or yours.”
“Like the computer screen in the book?” Lincoln asked.
“Well… yes. That book, however, has caused many problems. We still don’t know where it came from or how the transposition panel came to be part of it. Truman has hunted down many copies of this book and tampered with the panel, but it’s still anomalous.”
“Did Truman do something to the panels so Emil couldn’t travel through them?”
Frowning, Sheenie spoke quickly, “You know far more than I imagined, but we can’t continue talking like this. Truman needs to be certain I’m still on his side. Wait here for one hour, then go up these stairs and find Mona Tarok. She is quite upset at having us here at the Hotel and seeing you will lift her spirits. Truman will be gone by then and won’t return until it’s time for him to leave.”
“So you’re not going with him?”
“I believe that he is done with me, Lincoln Torres. He wants me to remain here and keep my eyes open, but I don’t think he intends to return. He is moving on to other, more horrible things. I will remain his spy no longer. There are things he has done here in Burnam Tau’roh that I wish to repair. There are people he has taken advantage of that I wish to make amends with.”
She stood and took a deep breath.
“Kayleigh is in the basement of the hotel in a room filled with Trokamano crates.”
“Troka—what?”
A loud thud caused them both to jump, then Truman’s voice called out for Sheenie.
“Mona will help you as much as she can. Good luck!”
With that, Sheenie took off around the side of the hotel. Lincoln sat silently, wondering how exactly he was going to count off an hour’s time with any accuracy. He reached into his pockets and pulled out three items from his first visit in Burnam Tau’roh. The first was the brass coin. One side held the image of a large tree and the other a lighthouse. The second was the tiny bottle. The final item was the note Mona had given them from the strange guest who had taken ill. He held these things and thought of Kayleigh. It was maddening that he had to wait down here with Kayleigh so close by. It was by sheer force of will that he remained sitting. A persistent urge to stand and move filled his veins. Go, a voice inside told him. Go now and get her before something happens and it’s too late!
Waiting, waiting… but for how long, really?
“I’m sorry, Kayleigh,” he whispered to the space between his knees. He continued to wait… ten minutes? Thirty? Had it already been an hour?
Lincoln stretched and yawned, then smacked his forehead with an opened palm. Why hadn’t he just counted the seconds and minutes off in his mind? But what good would counting do now?
Still, because there was nothing more to be done, he began to whisper, “One, two, three...”
A fragrant wind blew against the hotel, carrying the scent of the pines that grew along the mountainside and sweetened by the nearby sea.
Lincoln counted.
And then, without meaning to, he fell asleep.