Tending the Stones for the Lock V

By aaforringer on February 19, 2017 • ( 0 )

5th part of the new weekly story. (First Part) The inspiration for this came from an off hand comment I made on Facebook, and since people seemed interested I decided to follow through. Happy Reading.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18)

“Mrs. Emily why are we going to St. Petersburg.” It was the first time they had sat down alone since he had picked her up from her room this morning. She had orchestrated their ride from the hotel this morning and Brodie initially thought they were going to the airport. They had even driven thru the airport departure area but never stopped and immediately headed for the ferry station and boarded the ferry with moments to spare before the ferry departed.

Mrs. Emily smiled warmly. “I have some business to attend to in Russia, don’t worry I arranged the visas yesterday.”

“Visas?” Brodie looked at her confused.

“Yes I made some calls to the embassy yesterday, they dropped them off yesterday while you were sightseeing.”

“You said you were taking a nap.” Brodie said shocked.

“Well I did nap for a bit, but then the nice young man from the embassy stopped by. He was from Kansas but he went to school at Northwestern.”

Brodie just nodded as she rambled on talking about the young man from the embassy who had attended Northwestern she probably would have kept on going but she stopped suddenly and faced the door of their cabin.

Brodie turned and looked towards the door and he heard a sound too. It sounded like someone had stopped outside the door. He looked down at the crack underneath the door and saw a shadow cross in front of the door. He turned and looked at Mrs. Emily who had a finger to her mouth motioning for him to be quiet. Brodie watched as she stood up and took a step towards the door and slowly and quietly latched the interior lock on the door of their cabin. She sat back down and Brodie was about to ask her a question and she motioned again for him to be quiet. Reaching into her bowling ball bag she pulled a wooded wedge and handed it to Brodie and motioned for him to place it under the door. Brodie did as his boss directed and jammed the wedge underneath the door. Just seconds after the wedge was in place he saw the door handle begin to move. Brodie was froze but glanced over towards Mrs. Emily who had steepled her hands and smiled. Brodie watched the door handle stop moving then he heard a metal on metal scraping as to what he could only guess was someone picking the door lock. The two of them sat silently and watched the lock being picked. The final click when the latch was disengaged was the loudest thing in the room and Brodie half turned to see Mrs. Emily who was still looking calmly at the door with steepled hands and nodded when she saw Brodie was looking at her. The next thing he knew there was a sudden push on the door but the wedge held the door closed, Brodie was immediately very grateful s he had it, but then he wondered why she had it.

“Go away we don’t want any thank you.” Mrs. Emily said sternly.

Brodie saw the shadow stop moving at the door, then a few moments later he saw the shadow move away from the door. Brodie looked back at the older lady he thought he knew and shook his head and placed his head in his hands. “Mrs. Emily I am so confused what is going on?”

Mrs. Emily placed her hand on his head and rubbed his hair. “Brodie you have been a real trooper and I know that you have done a lot without much explanation so I am going to explain some things to you.”

Brodie looked up and looked relieved. “That would be very nice.”

“Well first let me tell you about some other trips I have been on.”

One hour later Brodie had made his way up to the top deck of the ferry and found himself on the stern. He kept looking over his shoulder wondering if the person who had tried to break into their cabin would come up to him. Mrs. Emily stated the person who tried to enter their room would not approach him directly as he was unimportant to them, it was her and her wooden encased book which was very important to them. She had stonewalled him when he tried to discover who the people were that wanted her book, answering only that the book was valuable to them. Brodie asked if the book was worth a lot of money seeing how old it was and she simply stated it was the information that is contained that was important.

Brodie walked out of the room but only after Mrs. Emily had insisted that when was safe. He did not leave until he heard the wedge being placed back under the door. Brodie was scared he did not know what he had gotten himself into and just wanted to go home. He looked down at his hand, he was carrying his library book and noted that it was now overdue by a day. With this trip continuing he wondered how overdue his book was going to be. He would have mailed it back to his sister but he worried that it would be lost in the international mail and he would have to pay for it. Besides what if Mrs. Emily decided to go home and he beat it home, he would feel very silly paying the extra money that he did not have to.

Brodie stared out over the water, he was not even sure what the name of the water he was on, it seemed kind of silly but if the ship sunk he would not even know what water he was drowning in. This bothered him for some reason so he went looking for a crew member, it did not take him long before he found a crew member walking to deck with a clipboard.

“Excuse me sir.” Brodie said.

The man stopped and looked at him smiling.

“This may sound silly, but what is the name of the water we are traveling on?”

The man smiled and answered something in what he guessed was Finish.

Brodie let out a breath of air in a sigh. “Thank you anyways.”

Again something in Finish and the man walked away with his clipboard.

“I am sorry but I could not help but overhear your question.” A rich baritone with a British accent said from behind him. Brodie turned and saw a man sitting on a deck chair with heavy wool blanket covering his lap and a thick book on top of that.

“I know it is a silly question but I would really like to know.” Brodie said with what he thought was a slightly desperate tone.

“Nonsense young man, an inquiring mind should be encouraged.” The man said plainly. “This is the Baltic Sea, to be more exact you are crossing the Bay of Finland.”

Brodie nodded. “Thank you.”

“I take it this is your first trip abroad and it is not you directing your journey.”

Brodie shook his head. “Well I traveled to Canada once, but this is my first trip overseas and you are right my boss is directing our travels and I am just along to help her out.”

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” The older man stated. “That is from you country man John Steinbeck.”

“I think Mr. Steinbeck would appreciate the Baltic Sea.” Brodie said looking around at the cloudy sky. “I’ve lived in good climate, and it bores the hell out of me. I like weather rather than climate.”

The man smiled a genuine smile. “I am impressed and American that can quote something other than lines from a movie.” He reached out his hand. “Basil Copley Webb.”

Reaching out his hand. “Brodie Quint.” It was when he said his name that the noise happened. ‘Kaw’. Brodie turned his head towards the noise and saw the large black bird settling on wire strung between parts of the ship looking directly at him.

“A raven, that is very strange they are not usually sea going birds.” Basil said.

Brodie did the only thing he could do he fainted.

(1st Part) (2nd Part) (3rd Part) (4th Part) (5th Part) (6th Part) (7th Part) (8th Part) (9th Part)(Part 10) (Part 11)(Part 12)(Part 13)(Part 14)(Part 15)(Part 16)(Part 17)(Part 18)

Not crazy about the title, any suggestions will be duly considered.

The problem I have discovered with this type of writing is if I commit to something in the story there is no taking it back I just have to go with is and write my way out of it.

If you would like to read my last weekly story, A Disinclined Purveyor of Sequential Art her it is. (Written in 2013, the same year my wife left me, so I was a different person back then, and I hope I have learned a lot about writing since then.)

If you want to see one of my complete books try Disconnect in the Outfitters Universe.

My Response: The prophecy stated that in 60 years if the Stones were not properly aligned then the world would fall under the sway of the demon king for 1000 years. 1956 21 year old Emily the chosen one starts the quest. She arranges half the Stones around the planet, but then falls in love and life happens. Now it is 59 years later, Emily’s husband of 58 years passed away and one of the monks has found Emily and reminds her that she is the chosen one and needs to complete her task. Anyone interested?