Dust + Ashes, page 17
There are a handful of educated men among the workers, several of whom I’ve noted as possible replacements for when I eventually depart the camp to return to you. None of them come close to the neat elegance of Mr Thomas’ script and sums, however, and I wonder if his talents would be wasted as a mere replacement bookkeeper. Perhaps I shall bring him with me when I return to England and help him find gainful employment worthy of his skills.
On a side note, I continue to worry about our dear, mutual friend. Reggie has taken to spending great lengths of time exploring the caves by his own company. Once, after he’d been absent for several hours, I followed him in with lunch and came upon him sitting in a dark cavern. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was praying, and that he could hear God in the stone. He thanked me for the sustenance and my concern, and invited me to join him, but I politely declined, and left him to his solitude before returning topside.
I know our dear, mutual friend has always been spiritually-minded, but something about his demeanor chilled me during this encounter. I fear he may once more succumb to ill humours. I shall remain vigilant to ensure he does not.
Yours,
Ned
Chapter Eleven
What Tia Read
TIA APPEARED SUDDENLY; a forest springing into existence around her. She was lying on her back on the ground, its cold dampness soaking into her clothes, and she sat up with a gasp, feeling vibrantly alive. The brisk air smelled crisp and clean. Lush evergreens loomed overhead, and she saw a late afternoon sky peeking through their branches. She shivered and took another deep breath, relishing its freshness as she looked around. She was alone (thank God!). There were no signs of civilization, no sounds outside that of peaceful, unspoilt nature.
For a moment, she merely listened, feeling her heartbeat calm by the peace and quiet around her. She’d just decompress a moment and collect herself before trying to figure out where she had landed. Then, she heard Eddie’s laughter.
“Fresh air, blue sky, green grass! Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore!” With a gleeful grin, the viel popped up from beneath a fern several yards to her right.
Tia groaned. She was still stuck with him.
“Don’t get too excited,” she said. “I don’t know where we are.”
“The important thing is that we’re somewhere,” he said. He sucked in a deep breath, his eyes fluttering with pleasure. “That’s fresh air! Actual air! It’s been so long...”
He trailed off as he took in their surroundings and went still, his eyes glazing over as if seeing something more than just the forest or hearing something just out of normal aural range. When they refocused, he peered through the trees, alert. He reminded Tia of a dog perking up at the sound of a treat bag in the next room.
“We’re home,” he said. “We’re in Hope Falls.”
Scrambling forward, he made a beeline through the underbrush. Tia hurried after him. As much as she loathed the idea of sticking with him, she couldn’t just let him wander free. She had to keep tabs on him, lest he cause unspeakable mischief. A few minutes later, they emerged onto the shore of a lake.
It was Keener’s Lake, Tia realized, but it looked different than how she remembered. No houses or docks lined the shore. The area was devoid of any human structure and the unbroken forest felt too wild and dark. Eddie gazed across the water, his eyes narrowed. He clicked his tongue.
“I feel the Rend,” he said. “It’s weird, though... out of sorts. Kinda subdued?”
Suddenly, he staggered. He hissed in pain, doubled over, and dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. Instinctively, Tia took a step toward him before she caught herself. He was the enemy! Whatever was wrong with him wasn’t her concern. Good riddance if he was in pain! She crossed her arms and watched him carefully for signs of treachery. This could be a trap. If they really were back in Hope Falls, he didn’t need her anymore, and she certainly didn’t want to get too close to him.
There was a metallic click behind her, and she froze.
“Y’all wanna turn around real slow-like. I dunno if you’re monsters, but I ain’t taking chances.”
Tia turned. A man stood behind her; his eyes wary behind the battered pistol he had pointed at her. For a wild instant, she thought he was her father. But this man was definitely not Marcus Edwards—he was younger, for one, yet in far rougher shape than Marcus had ever been. His worn clothes were dirty under the heavy, leather duster, and topping his head was a shapeless, wide-brimmed hat. As she stared past the gun, she saw a long, badly healed scar along the side of his head where his right ear should have been.
“I’m not a monster,” she said, holding up her hands. “See.”
Confusion replaced the wariness on the young man’s face.
“You’re a girl,” he said. Behind her, Eddie groaned, drawing the man’s attention. The man shifted his aim and gasped, lowering the weapon when the viel lifted his head. “Boss! Am I glad to see you! I thought for certain you’d been killed down below.”
He holstered his gun and swept off his hat, rubbing the top of his shaved head. Eddie cocked an eyebrow, intrigued by this reaction, and staggered to his feet. He looked only moderately better.
“Yes. Well, there was some trouble,” the viel said, tone cautious and tinged with pain. “But, as you can see, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine, if you don’t mind me saying so. You don’t sound fine neither. You in pain?”
Eddie scrutinized the man as he straightened. “‘Boss?’ Do you work for me? Are you with the Greene Foundation?”
“Not anymore, you know that. I wouldn’t go back to Greene even if that lot clamped me in irons and dragged me back. I’d bite my own tongue off before they tried to.” The man shook his head. “And I know you weren’t actually the boss, so you don’t like me calling you so, but I’ll say it again like I said it before, I’m Edwards’s man, through and through. I’m your man, sir. Not Greene’s.”
For several seconds, an infernal cog seemed to be turning inside Eddie’s brain as he processed this information. His gaze flicked between the young man and Tia and back again, as if awaiting one or the other’s explanation. But none of it made any sense to Tia either; the young man wasn’t a viel and nothing he’d said, odd as it was, had triggered her clairy sense. Finally, Eddie’s expression brightened, and he cleared his throat. He gave the young man a reassuring smile.
“Yes, well. The whole affair in the mine was quite awful and has left me witless and shaken.” As he spoke, he affected a clipped, British accent, making him sound like he’d been possessed by a Victorian dandy. Hearing it made the hairs on Tia’s arm stand up. It sounded too natural, too real, and she felt almost reassured by its cadence, further befuddling her. What was the maniac playing at? “My thoughts are quite scattered, so you’ll have to forgive me if I seem distraught and forgetful, dear boy.”
The young man’s eyes narrowed again. “Truth be told, I was dead certain you were done for. I waited as long as I could, like you asked, but...” He lowered his voice, sliding his hand back toward his pistol. “They got to you, didn’t they? Whispered in your head and turned you to a devil?”
“I’m not a devil,” Tia said. The young man jumped and again regarded her with confusion. “And I hate having guns in my face.”
“Apologies, Miss. I didn’t expect any ladies out here. This ain’t a place for the fairer gender.” He looked back at Eddie. “Who’s she?”
“She’s my,” Eddie considered for a moment, before grinning and wrapping an arm around Tia, pulling her into a hug, “my daughter, Sarah.”
At this, the young man gaped, first at Eddie and then at Tia. “You mean your—this is your Sarah? By your wife, sir?”
“Yes. By my wife,” Eddie said. He winked at Tia and she pushed away from him, skin crawling. The young man, however, looked impressed.
“I’ve known you to be a good man, Mr. Edwards, but I never realized...” He grinned, scratching the back of his neck. “By the way you talk about your Susie and Sarah, I would have never suspected. Guess you were right about how things are in England.”
“What about things in England?” Eddie asked, guardedly.
“You said it’s better there.”
“It’s not all cream and poesies, I can assure you that.”
“Anywhere’s better than this,” the young man said. He looked around and gestured through the trees. “Come on, I got a camp not far from here where we can talk a bit more comfortably.”
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Tia blurted.
“Sarah,” Eddie said lightly, and Tia did not miss the note of caution in his voice. Play along, it hinted. “This is one of my close associates. We’re not safe here, but you can trust him to protect you.”
“Tad, Miss Sarah. You can call me Tad,” the young man introduced himself as he began leading them northward along the lake shore, chatting amicably, though Tia was only half-paying attention to what he was saying. She was more preoccupied with her other, more sinister companion. Walking beside him, she watched him furtively out of the corner of her eye. He looked worse than before, as if the simple effort of walking was an exertion. Every few steps, he wavered.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tia muttered to him. “Where are we and why are you sick? What’s with the accent?”
“Just something I’m trying out.” Despite the coyness in the viel’s tone, he sounded strained. “Tell me, does our host seem familiar to you?”
Tia glowered. “Cut the crap. What’s wrong with you? What’s going on?”
“You care?” He cocked an eyebrow, but immediately grew serious and lowered his voice. “I’m not sure. Something’s not right here. The Rend feels all wrong. Outta tune... scratched and buzzy.”
He stopped walking. His eyes unfocused again. Ahead of them, Tad glanced back.
“Y’all all right?” he called.
Eddie buckled, drawing in a sharp gasp. As he collapsed, Tia grabbed and eased him down to the ground. She could see his facade flickering, the monster inside dim and shadowy but had no idea what it meant. Was he dying? She glanced at Tad, but their newfound guide didn’t notice anything amiss as he hurried back to help.
“Come on,” he said, hoisting Eddie over his shoulder and starting to walk again. “We’re close to the camp, and he needs rest.”
“You know what’s wrong with him?” Tia asked. She had to watch her step on the uneven terrain as she followed the young man. He moved swiftly despite his burden.
“Nerves, I expect. After what he saw and went through in the mines...? There’s only so much a body and mind can take before it just has to stop. I was there. Saw most of what happened. The things I’ve seen...” Tad shook his head, shuddering. “Your father’s a formidable man. Might not look it, but he is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Has he told you what’s been happening here?” he asked.
“No. I’m absolutely clueless,” she said, though an understanding of the situation was beginning to coalesce in her mind, and she wasn’t sure it was one she wanted confirmed.
“There’s been some bad business at the mine. Not just bad, but evil. Your father’s friend, Mr. Greene—it possessed him and some of the miners, including my cousin, Lafferty. We were gonna stop it, maybe help free Mr. Greene and the others of it if we could, and so we went down into the mines to confront him. There’s a sort of well down there at the heart of that evil, and that’s where all the possessed folk went. Your father told me to stay back and wait for him as long as I could while he went to it, but he made me swear that if things turned for the worst I’d get as far away from here as I could and take his ledger with me. So that his family, that is you and your mama, would know what happened to him. As it turned out, things did turn for the worst, so I did what I swore, not that I was pleased about it, mind you.”
They came to a steep, rocky hill. Here, Tad led them away from the shore and around its side to a stone overhang. With a start, Tia realized this was roughly where Mr. Nash’s house should have been, perched atop the hill. A campsite was tucked under the overhang, just a small fire, some bedding, and a couple canvas bags half-packed with supplies. Gently, Tad laid Eddie down on the bedding.
“I got some medicine that might help,” Tad said, moving away to check one of the bags. “You keep an eye on him while I fetch it.”
Tia frowned but sat down, watching Eddie. His eyes were closed, and he was shivering. His appearance still flickered erratically, his human face pale and sickly and the monstrous one almost a matte silhouette beneath. She bit her lip, then caught herself, suddenly angry for feeling concerned. She looked up as the young man returned holding a tin and a leather ledger. He held out the ledger to her.
“I suppose you’ll be wanting this, seeing as he asked me to see it to you. Might help you understand better what’s going on, though it’ll be hard to believe. Not sure I believe it, and I lived it.”
Tia’s jaw dropped as she took the book and opened the cover. As she read the first page, her hands began to shake. She turned the page, looking over the oh-so familiar handwriting. This was Edmund Karlsson’s journal in near-pristine condition. She tore her eyes away and gaped at the young man tending to Eddie. He’d said his name was Tad.
She swallowed hard. Tad Thomas, from the journal, was standing before her. She was in the past, in 1851, when the Rend could have been sealed, the mines blocked, and the Greater’s influence stopped before it could even begin cultivating the Greene Vessel cycle. She looked back to the leather-bound ledger, flipping through it carefully.
There were more pages. Her heart began to pound as she realized she’d now be able to read the whole story, including all of what had been removed from the book before it had ended up in the Blackwing Archive. She sank down, eyes glued to the page as the world around her all but disappeared. Only the words on the missing pages mattered, and she drank them in, desperate for the final entry and all the answers it would provide. She needed to know what had gone wrong, why Reginald Greene hadn’t been stopped, what had become of Karlsson, the hero.
Finally, she found it. Her eyes darted across the page. It had to be there, the answer, the solution to ridding the world of the viels’ threat for good. She read the last entry:
31st of October 1851
My only love till eternity and on Susan,
Tonight, at midnight, the threat shall end. Reggie is holding a mass for All Saints’ Day. All of his followers will be in attendance, and I shall confront our dear, mutual friend, and either save him or condemn him, and, if what Lady Truthweaver and her cohorts have told us is true, save or condemn the world as well. The evil here cannot be allowed to propagate and spread. I will take dynamite with me into the depths and destroy the Well of Lies and Temptations as well as the mine itself. Let that be all I must destroy...
I will entrust this ledger to Mr Thomas so that, in the case of my untimely demise, you will know and be forewarned against what is to come should we fail. He has been a good and faithful companion, and he, along with Mr Kang and Lady Truthweaver, should be welcomed and treated as family if they find their way to you without me, for if I do fail, there are other allies hidden throughout the world that you must all seek out and bring together against the threat here.
Know that you are in my heart, always, My Greatest Loves, Susan and Sarah, and know that I do this for you, as much as for the rest of the world. I love you, Susan, to eternity and beyond. I’m on my path back to you, one way or another.
Your Ned
Edmund Karlsson
And that was it. There was nothing else there. It just ended with more of the same sappy B.S. that had riddled the rest of the entries. Nothing of the final battle had been recorded. Closing the ledger, Tia sighed. She should have expected as much. Whatever had happened, it was obvious that Karlsson hadn’t survived. The viels, after all, had proliferated. Whatever they’d planned—Karlsson, Kang, Tad, and the native Crows—it hadn’t worked.
“It doesn’t matter!” she growled and threw the book aside. “It’s worthless! What happened?!”
“Miss?” Tad looked up. She’d been so engrossed in her reading that she hadn’t noticed him move away, now tending the cook pot over the fire. The last vestiges of daylight were quickly fading.
She blinked. “With the dynamite! He was going to destroy the well and bury the mine! What happened?”
Tad shook his head. “I couldn’t say. It’s not fit for a young lady—”
“Tell me,” Tia pleaded. An uneasy expression flicked across Tad’s face at her tone. He produced two bowls from the canvas bag and ladled soup into them. “I need to know what happened.”
“It ain’t something I fancy to remember. It’ll give you nightmares or worse.”
“Please. Tell me,” Tia said again. She needed to know. Biting her tongue, she went on. “Please. For my father’s sake. He’s very ill and if he dies, I’d like to know the reason why. If we are to fight together as he wished in his final entry, I should know.”
Tad glanced at Eddie’s still form, uneasy. Finally, he nodded.
“All right, I suppose you have that right, seeing as you’re the only family he’s got right now and we’re still in dangerous territory.” He handed her one of the steaming bowls. “The monsters in these woods, they come from deep in the earth. As I said, they possessed the men working down there, the ones who went too deep and got lost... they came out different. At first, me and some of the others thought they were possessed by the Devil, but Mr. Kang, well, he explained it was something else, not of God or the Devil. Some other evil not of this world, and he knew it because he came from an ancient Chinese clan who’d fought it before.
