The next few days went by in a blur. Spring was long over; there was lots of work to do around the farm, and after supper they were figuring out a plan. Fortunately, Patrick was still resting and so he wasn't participating very much and couldn't ask about Lizzy's blunder – couldn't ask what Lizzy couldn't let her brother have. Unfortunately, it came up anyway when Finn remembered something Lizzy had said before the came to Northern Ireland.
"Remember when I suggested we do this in the first place?"
Lizzy nodded slowly. "Yes,"
"And Alexander refused to let you sell... something?"
Lizzy wanted to bury her face in her hands. "Yes." She muttered. She thought she had gotten out of this.
"Well – if you don't mind me asking, what were you talking about?"
Alexander shot her an anxious look, but his expression was also mildly curious as to how she would respond.
Lizzy looked around at everyone – Kit had no idea what this was about, and Marjorie didn't look like she remembered this conversation. Amanda looked eager to discover what this was about. Jack was examining his upper lip, it looked like – he was staring down, cross-eyed, with his lips sticking out. Everyone had pretty much ignored him for the few days he was there. He was planning to leave on Saturday, two days from then, and since he was quite entertaining, Lizzy was sure they would all miss him, at least a little bit – even though he made it difficult to concentrate at times, with all his random acts and comments.
Lizzy bit her lip, considering how to reply. She's told herself she would never show them this, but times had changed – even in a few days, everything could be different. And the information could help... she sighed. If she did tell them, they would be vulnerable to any agent who could be watching or listening, even though Lizzy didn't know how they could be listening. Although Amanda did give her that note – but what could it mean? Who could it be?
After a few more seconds of mental debate, Lizzy realized that even if there was a spy, they had to risk it. The information could be vital to their plan.
She took a deep breath. "The item was... something I intercepted. Something for someone else. With lots of information."
Marjorie and Amanda exchanged blank looks, but Lizzy knew Finn was thinking it through. She could almost see his gears turning. Suddenly, his eyes brightened subtly, and Lizzy knew he had figured it out. He always did.
"So, wait, you mean, you intercepted a clock? Where was it going?"
Lizzy shrugged. "I don't know. It didn't have a name on it."
Finn was getting excited now. "Did you bring it with you?"
"Of course! I bring it everywhere I go. I'm guessing you want to see it?"
Finn nodded vigorously, Kit looked completely confused, and Jack started trying to make his eyes look in two different directions. Amanda raised an eyebrow at him, mildly interested in his attempts. Lizzy rolled her eyes and left the house to find the clock among her luggage in the loft.
The clock wasn't very big, she knew, and she was sure she put it in her largest bag, but when she looked in there she couldn't see her satchel. "Where would I put it?" Lizzy muttered, looking around her spacious living quarters. The air held only a hint of smoke, since there had been a steady, pleasant breeze throughout the day. Several things of hers were sitting randomly around the loft – Lizzy knew she wasn't the neatest person, but she was sure she wouldn't throw this item about. She saw one of her smaller bags nearby, only about twice the size of the clock, but Lizzy decided she would look in it anyway. She hurriedly crossed the loft and knelt beside it. Her fingers, nimble as they were, fumbled on the clasp in her worry, but as soon as she got it open she saw her parcel. Her whole body sagged in relief as she sighed. Then she stood and made her way down the ladder.
* * *
She thumped the clock down on the dining room table. "There," she said.
By the confused expressions on most of her companion's faces, Lizzy knew they shared her very own first opinion. Initially the clock didn't look like much; it was plain reddish-brown stained mahogany, with next to no detailing. The real design lay inside.
Lizzy opened the back of the short, rectangular clock and turned it around so the others could see it. She smiled when their expressions turned from confused to blank.
"Uhh," said Jack. "What are we supposed to see here?"
Lizzy raised an eyebrow at him, then turned to everyone else. "What you see here – or rather, what you don't see here – is the expertly crafted, virtually unbreakable system of the clock maker's codes – or Donovan's codes, as they are widely known, even though the originator of this way to send information was not, in fact, named Donovan. It was his alias, although it is how most knew him."
Alexander smiled, and Marjorie and Amanda nodded. Jack still looked like he didn't understand completely, but he was staring at the clock with an intensity that Lizzy had never before seen on his face. Suddenly he pointed at several gears on the inside of the clock.
"Those spell something."
"The gears do?" Lizzy turned to look inside. To her surprise, she saw lots of little letters on the gears and one little arrow pointing down. She looked at the bottom of it and immediately identified it as false. "How could I have never notice this before?" she muttered as she pressed it open.
There was a tiny little cavity between the gears and the mahogany on the real bottom. Inside there was a slip of paper that had a collection of numbers and letters, amongst other things.
"This is a code," Lizzy breathed, showing the others. "A real, authentic Donovan code!"
"So, the letters correspond to it," Finn assumed.
"I suppose," Lizzy said, concentrating on deciphering the coded message. Jack was also focused on them, and he got the answer before Lizzy did. "Time will tell," he said. "The message is 'time will tell'."
"So, wait, it's a riddle inside a coded message?" Amanda said. Lizzy began to reply before she realized Amanda hadn't affected her German accent, and now everyone was staring at her in shock. By the expression on Amanda's face, she was just recognizing her mistake as well. "Uh – I mean," she stuttered, her eyes wide.
Lizzy knew something needed to be done, but she wasn't sure what. She was trying to figure out whether or not to do something completely offhand and drastic when Patrick wobbled into the room.
"Uhh," Lizzy said. "Patrick? You're not supposed to be – oh, whatever."
"I heard some excitement over here and I didn't want to miss it," he said, winking at Lizzy. She sighed in relief. She mouthed 'thank you' to him and he smiled.
"So, um , Patrick, remember that thing a few days ago, when I said that I couldn't let them get something, but wouldn't tell you what?"
"Oh. Yes, of course I remember!"
"And you know about the clocks that are used to send coded messages?"
"Mm-hmm. Brilliant idea, by the way."
"Well," Lizzy said. "I have one."
Patrick's mouth dropped open and his expression was of pure disbelief. "Wait, so... what?"
"We think it has information that MNT needs," Finn added. "And...
Patrick stopped short, then his knees buckled and he dropped into a chair that was, conveniently, right behind him. He put a hand over his mouth. "Riley," he said, barely whispering. Then he looked up at Finn. "Where does MNT live?" he asked urgently.
Finn and Lizzy exchanged a glance. "He lives in Ireland, Patrick," Finn told him. Patrick looked like he was about to faint.
"He's... in Ireland?"
Lizzy nodded. Finn watched his brother with apprehension. Patrick was sitting so still that Lizzy was concerned and was just about to ask him if he was all right when he jumped up from the chair.
"Well, forget solving the riddle. Let's get my son!"
"We can't just –" Lizzy started to speak, but Patrick cut her off.
"We can't what? Why can't we go now? I just discovered my son is alive, and captured by the enemy, and now you tell me that we can't. Well, I say we're going. It's your turn to listen to me, and I..."
Lizzy put a hand to his mouth. "No, Patrick, it's your turn to listen to me. The thing about MNT is that he is patient. He never lets his guard down and everything is calculated, every move he makes is set up so that it is impossible to mess up. He barely ever gets anything wrong. So, when you say we need to go get your son, you're basically telling us to fail. We wouldn't make it, Patrick. None of us would. Unless MNT wanted us to. And that is highly unlikely."
Her hands were now on his shoulders, and she was ready to push him back into the chair if need be – in fact, she was holding up half his bulk. But Patrick got her point, and there was an almost imperceptible look of defeat in his eyes. He fell back onto the chair, and Lizzy stumbled a bit from the sudden relief of the weight and fell back onto Kit, who, in turn, fell to the floor. Lizzy, a bit weak, gathered herself as best she could and attempted to get up. After stumbling a bit, she stood unsteadily, her cheeks quite red. "Sorry," she said to Kit. He nodded acknowledgement to her, and Alexander helped him up.
"Well," he said. "I'd best be going. I still need to buy sugar from town and it's getting late. My mother will wonder where I've been. Um..." he paused, glancing at Lizzy. "Tell me if there's any developments. You know."
Lizzy nodded. Kit turned to leave. "Goodbye, all," he exclaimed, waving to the rest of the group. "I'm off to get sugar."
Patrick looked up. "We have a two-pound unopened bag in the cellar," he said. "You're welcome to it – I have no need for it, since we have another five pounds in the kitchen. I don't know why, though." he added, staring at Marjorie, who avoided meeting his eyes. Kit grinned.
"Thanks. I think I will take it – maybe I'll bring you a pie or something."
Suddenly Erin appeared around the corner. "Pie?" she said, walking into the living room. Lizzy smiled. "You hear everything, don't you?"
"Absolutely!" Erin giggled, climbing up to her father's lap. "Well, maybe not everything," she admitted. Amanda laughed.
"No, of course not." She said.
Kit waved again to them and left. Erin shook her head. "No. But I do hear you" – here she pointed to Amanda – "talking while you write letters at night. But when you sign you say 'Amanda', not Minnie – why?"
Lizzy looked at Amanda, who wasn't answering Erin's question and who's face had gone deathly pale. Why was she writing letters? And who was she writing to?
Marjorie stepped closer to Erin, but her eyes were on Amanda. "Really?" she said. "What else does she say?"
Erin looked around at everyone, unsure whether or not to proceed. Lizzy smiled at her, and Patrick put his arms around her. "Go on," he murmured. Erin hesitated.
"Well," she continued after a moment, "She tells whoever she's writing to – 'Miss Daphne', or something – everything that Lizzy says about the clock makers or – uh – NMT, I think? And she says that 'it' is getting more dangerous. I don't know what 'it' is, but anyway, she said I was nice once." Erin played with the hem of her dress absentmindedly. NMT... Or MNT? Wait...
Alexander was advancing towards Amanda, and Lizzy knew what was coming by his expression – she had seen it enough times in years past. Finn looked like he didn't want to be there, and Lizzy knew Erin definitely shouldn't stay much longer.
She picked Erin up off Patrick's lap and asked her to go with Finn to play outside. Erin hesitated and was looked like she was going to say 'no', but Finn overheard their quiet conversation and took her hand to lead her outside and she didn't argue or pull away.
Once they were gone, Lizzy realized the room was deathly quiet. She slowly sank into a chair near where Amanda stood.
"Care to tell us what's going on?" she said, trying to deflect another one of Alexander's loud interrogations. She hoped against hope that the explanation was nothing big, but she knew in her heart that wouldn't be the case. Amanda bit her lip and looked near tears, and she sighed, taking in Alexander and Marjorie's hard glares.
"I – I don't... umm," she stammered. Alexander opened his mouth and Lizzy knew it was too late – he was about to let loose.