Overcomer - The Battle, Judy Colella [first color ebook reader .TXT] 📗

me to get her lunch for her.” She smiled, holding up a fistful of dollar bills. “How come you look so rested?”

“Did you have any dreams last night?” he asked, ignoring her question.

She frowned slightly. “I’m not sure. I mean, I’m sure I did, but I can’t remember exactly. Something about the Scroll.” She stopped after they moved ahead in the line a few inches. “No. Wait. . .I think I recited it again. Weird, huh?”

“Weird, yes, because I did, too.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? Oh, wow! I totally didn’t even think to ask Celeste about it and she didn’t say anything.”

They finally got their food and headed toward the tables, Katie pointing out the one where Celeste sat, resting her head on her arms on the tabletop. “Hey,” Katie said softly as they sat down, “wake up, sweetie.”

“Huh?” Celeste lifted her head, saw Cian sitting across from her, and smiled, eyes still half-closed.

Looking deeply concerned, Cian asked Celeste if she was okay.

“No – I mean, I’m extremely, horribly tired. I dreamed I recited the Scroll all over again, and had to play the harp at the same time. Now I just want to go back to sleep.”

Katie and Cian looked at each other, and Cian said, “Really? We had the same dream, but without the harp part.”

“You did? Then how come you’re so . . .awake?”

Cian shook his head. “I don’t know, but I think the Scroll did that somehow, and I’m almost positive it’s because I really need to be awake today.”

Celeste sat straighter. “You think you’ll have to, I mean that we’ll have to. . .”

“Yeah. I do, but I don’t know exactly when.”

Katie stiffened and said in a strange voice, “I think maybe now.”

They looked at her and saw her staring at the other side of the Cafeteria where the main doors stood open. There, gazing around at the crowded room, stood the Keeper.

“Oh, no,” Celeste groaned. “I really wanted to eat – I was too tired for breakfast, and now I’m starving, and we have to go. Crap.”

“He hasn’t seen us yet,” Katie whispered, as if he could have somehow heard her. “Hurry up – eat something.”

Celeste picked up her hamburger, took a few bites, ate some fries, sipped at her Coke, and sat back. “Done,” she declared, patting her stomach.

“No you’re not,” Cian contradicted her; for a such a slender person, Celeste, like Katie, had a huge appetite. “You need to finish it – we all do. Please eat.”

The Keeper had spotted them and had begun walking purposefully toward their table, but was stopped halfway by one of the Cafeteria monitors. They engaged in what appeared to be a heated discussion as the three friends watched, using this extra time to finish their food, stuffing themselves as quickly as they could without choking. A few minutes later, the monitor took a step back, nodded, and turned away with a blank look on his face.

“Dang! What did he do?” asked Katie, amazed. “Go all Jedi and use the Force on Mr. Enwright?”

Cian drummed his fingers on the table, teeth clenched. The “force.” Jedi. Right. Okay. Where’s my notebook?

“Are you three finished eating?” Croghan asked without preamble as soon as he reached them.

“The empty plates should say it all,” Katie remarked. “By the way, what did you do to Mr. Enwright?”

“Who?”

“The guy you were talking to.”

“Oh. I let him see a little bit of who I am. That’s all. It’s very effective when time is of the essence. And speaking of time…it’s time. Do you have to sign out at the front desk or something?” He seemed agitated, something none of them had witnessed before.

Celeste thought this an odd question. “Wait, why? I mean, even if we leave right now, can’t we just come back to this same moment or something? Why do we need to sign out at all?”

His answer unsettled all of them. “Because, dear Celeste, I honestly don’t know how long you’ll be away or when I can return you. It might not be for a while.”

They all knew this day was going to come, and the momentary silence that greeted these words was the result of their simultaneous consideration that there was no point in worrying about the whole time issue at this point.

Finally, Cian got to his feet, but then stopped. “Wait. I don’t have the Sword with me.”

“And I left the Harp at home,” Celeste added through a yawn, standing.

“No, no.” Croghan waved a hand, his voice tinged with impatience, “I stopped at the foster home and Celeste’s house before coming here and got them.”

“What did Mr. Geller say about that?”

“Nothing. Can we please leave now?”

“Dang, Mr. C!” Katie was scowling as she got to her feet. “Why are you in such a huge hurry? And by the way, since only you know the answer to that, don’t be getting all snitty with us.”

The man sighed deeply and gave her a rueful smile. “You’re right, Katie. I’m sorry. But time really is of the essence right now, and we have a longer journey than usual ahead of us.”

“Maybe we should sign out, then,” Cian said. “I kind of hope the school doesn’t notify our homes, though. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly might know what’s going on but they probably won’t be happy about Celeste being taken out of school, and I got the impression Mrs. Grandol is on the verge of hysteria already about everything. As for Mr. Geller, well, I really don’t know.”

Croghan bit his lip, unable to argue with any of that. “All right – I’ll take care of it before any problems arise. Are we okay to go now?”

They nodded and followed him out of the Cafeteria. At the front desk, the secretary asked for Mr. Croghan’s ID; he produced a Connecticut driver’s license and another card that identified him as the Director of Foster Care for the State of Georgia; he explained that Cian was part of that system, giving them Mr. Geller’s address and number. She seemed to accept this without question, but was concerned about the girls.

“I see,” said the Keeper, then stared hard at her for a few seconds.

She lost all color, took a step back, and said, “You may go.”

Outside, Katie burst out laughing. “Wow! Obi-Wan lives!”

Cian rolled his eyes. Who?

TEN

When they reached Mystic, Croghan parked the car as close to the entrance as he could get, not too difficult a task since the museums were being visited mostly by school children.

The daytime security guard who had never seen Croghan before, stopped the four of them at the gate. “All right, folks – I’ll need to see what’s in those packages.” He nodded at the sword and the harp, each of them wrapped in a soft blue cloth (the backpacks had been left in the car).

“Afraid that’s classified.” Croghan gave him a big smile. “I’m a friend of Mr. Carver, you see. Gerald Croghan. These are some things he requested, and I really don’t think he wants anyone to know about them yet.”

“Uh-huh. One moment, please.” The guard turned away and pulled out a walkie-talkie that doubled as a cell phone. He mumbled something into it, got some kind of crackling response, finally snapping the device shut as he faced them again. “Looks like it’s okay. Go on through.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Croghan formally. “It’s good to see you’re doing your job.”

The man gave him a tight smile, cast a curious glance at Cian, and they went on their way.

At the Figurehead building, they had to wade through several elementary school groups to get in the front door. Getting children out of the small room with the trap door would be interesting. One group of about fifteen were filing out of it when they got there, with another, larger group waiting to get in. Croghan looked like he was going to explode.

Despising himself, Cian decided to act on what he’d been hearing and witnessing since the day he was rescued from the house in Shady Dale. “Excuse me, ma’am,” he said, approaching the woman who seemed to be in charge of the class about to enter the room.

She turned, then stared, her hand going to her windpipe. She blushed bright red and managed, “Yes? H-how can I help you?”

“I’m really sorry to bother you, ma’am, and hate to ask this, but my friends and I have to gather some information from some of the objects in that room, and we have very little time in which to do it. Would you mind terribly if we went in first? You could maybe go visit the next one. It will only take a few minutes, and by the time you’re done in there, we’ll be gone, I promise.” He gave her a brilliant smile.

She nearly passed out, but somehow held herself together and nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes! I’d be delighted to help you out, young man!” She batted her eyelashes at him, grinning like a lunatic, and started shooing her charges away from the door.

When they were gone, Cian and the other entered the room. “That,” said the boy, “was disgusting. I hope to God I never have to do something like that again.”

Neither Celeste nor Katie seemed bothered by what he’d done; in fact, they both looked mightily impressed. Croghan, in the meantime, realized that Cian had started to recognize his own power, and prayed he’d continue to stay humble about it.

When they reached the Hub, Celesta was playing a very gentle melody; it seemed not many of the darkness were interested in being around at the moment. She greeted them with a welcoming smile that looked somehow controlled.

“Keeper,” she said, standing, “I believe it is time for me to leave.”

“It is, Celesta. Thank you for all you’ve done.” He took his own harp from beside the stone and sat down.

“Celeste, my dearest love!” The angel approached the girl, taking her by the shoulders. “You must promise to be brave and wise. Remember all I taught you, and beware how you use the silver string. It is only effective once, as you know, and if you use it too soon, it could cost Cian his life. But I trust your heart will tell you – or Katie shall.” Her expression lightened for a second as she smiled sweetly down at the girl, filling her with peace. She pulled her into a hug, released her, and addressed Katie. “Your friend will need every ounce of your good sense, solid bravery and loving support. You will be facing something extraordinarily difficult, and seeing things that may cause your very souls to wither, but you must not allow this to prevail. For the sake of Cian, as well as that of so many others of your kind, you have to remember who you are – the only people in the whole world to whom it was felt this task could be entrusted. That means, my dear, that you have the ability to carry it out. Do not let go of that fact, and know, too, that you have been given authority from the Highest Source in the entire Universe to do this thing.” She hugged Katie, imparting as much tranquility and strength into the girl as she could, then turned to Cian.

“Defender of the Balance, Sword-Wielder of the Light, and Time Warrior,” she said,