The Screaming Stone: The Otherworld Series Book 2 (10 page)

“If ye knew their true purpose ye would no’ want to touch ‘em either,” he declared as he bent down to retrieve the first aid kit and then slowly pulled out the remaining contents of the bag pinched carefully between two yellowed fingernails.

“Not the sticks,” she told Knackers who cringingly place the item she wanted on the counter before fleeing the room.

Annie could not contain her laughter and it exploded out of her.  Instantly she felt better.  Duncan’s head snapped to her face.  When his concerned eyes met hers her smile lessened a bit but did not fade.

“I’m fine,” she reassured him.  “Ever heard of laughter being the best medicine?”  Duncan returned her smile with one of his own as he nodded his head in understanding.

“Aye I have.  An’ while I fix this would you’ll tell us why Knackers is so afraid of little pink pillows and sticks.”

“I know why,” Autie said when Duncan handed him the small pink package.  Autie’s own child-like belly laugh erupted out of him as he recognized what he was holding. “I live in the basement of an inn.  I see what comes down in the rubbish lass,” he explained when Annie shot him a confused look.

Annie burst out in another bout of laughter.  “Good then you get to open it and slap it over the cut once Duncan pulls out the mirror shard.  Ready?” she asked.  Autie nodded and Duncan poised his fingers over her still bleeding wound.  She slapped at his hand.  “Use the tweezers not your hands.  I don’t know where they’ve been,” she chastised him and then instantly regretted her words when Duncan gave her a knowing look which did not go unnoticed by Autie.

“Um,” he said dramatically clearing his throat.  “If it be all the same ta ye I’d rather hear ‘bout why Knackers be afraid o’ a sanitary napkin.”

“Yeah,” Duncan agreed as he picked up the tweezers she had pointed out to him.  She mimed their use and once he gained comfortability with them signaled with a nod to Autie that he was ready.

“Annie lass,” Autie said quietly gaining her attention.  “Look at me an’ tell me yer funny tale.”

Annie received an encouraging nod from Duncan and did as she was told.  “When we were packing to leave, Fiona, by the way best over packer in the world,” she said tuning to face Duncan whose hand stopped suddenly poised over her open wrist wound.  He jerked his head in Autie’s direction and she quickly turned her attention back to the blue-green eyed Fae that matched her seated height.  “Well anyways,” she continued.  “Knackers wandered in while Fiona, Kat and I were packing an emergency first aid kit for each group.  We had to move quickly and we had to make three.  You know in case anyone of us got hurt,” she said as he eyes drifted down to her own injury.

Duncan’s hand stilled again and he rolled his eyes in exasperation. Autie spoke drawing her attention back to him.  “Aye,” he said encouragingly.  “Then what happened?” he prompted.

“Well,” she said trying hard to focus on the tiny Fae.  “He said that he’d never seen such strange bandages as these,” she said indicating what Autie held in his tiny hands.  “When we explained to him they were designed to catch blood and draw it away from someone he stepped closer and grew more curious, and wondered how they worked.  So Kat decided to go into very specific details.  He ran from the room screaming as Kat and Fiona chased him through the house with tampons,” she said as she laughed at the memory.  She felt a sudden sharp pain in her right wrist and a warm wet sensation that was quickly replaced with firm pressure as Autie slapped the pad over her wound.

A new wave of nausea and dizziness overtook her as Duncan used a triangular bandage to tie the pad tightly in place.  “I remember that,” Duncan said as he tied the last knot.  “He popped into my rented rooms screaming about the evils of women.  Now,” he said loudly startling her and causing her fluttering eyelids to pop open.  “I think I ken how that works,” he said pointing to Annie’s wrist.

She threw his a surprised look which made him laugh.  “My mother was a healer, an’ a midwife,” he said simply.  “But these,” he said picking up the plastic wrapped tubes.  “I can no’ understand them.”

His confused expression sent both Annie and Autie into a new bout of laughter.  When Autie had regained his ability to speak he informed Duncan of the purpose of the object he was holding, but more importantly he told him where it went.

“Och, lad it goes where every mon is always tryin’ ta get,” he said as he waggled his shaggy dirty blonde eyebrows at him.

That statement sent Duncan fleeing form the room and gave Annie and Autie another round of almost uncontrollable laughter.

Once the bathroom had been cleaned, and the laughter died down to an occasional chuckle the real work began.  Annie had convinced him that she was tired but fine while Knackers worked hard convincing him that, not only were woman evil, but that Autie could be trusted.

It wasn’t as if he had never heard of the Knocker, he just wasn’t sure he was ready to trust him with Annie’s life.  Adding on to their problems he had to face was the fact that not only was the group splintered but two of them were missing; and oh, lest he forget he had been drugged and had been unconscious for over twelve hours.  So summing things up in his head, Annie was injured after battling a mirror, Rian was a silent emotional wreck after being unable to find Robert and Finn, but they had gained a mysterious ally; an oh, he had violently vomited into a trash bin.  Yep, everything was going completely according to plan.

He had decided to go along with the will of the group, who ultimately had decided to follow Manny’s plan on the advice of a talking skull.  He attempted to make sense of the skewed logic and, in hindsight, still failed.  With a deep breath he tried to encourage himself to have patience.

“Since little but a metal dragon, furry clouds and silver hands make sense about how we arrived here,” he stated truthfully to the small group.  “Would someone,” when Knackers tried to speak he cut him off with a quick halting hand.  “Right now preferably Annie,” he explained.  “Tell me how we got from Boston to Ireland?”

“Did you say Silver hand?” Annie asked confused.

“My poisoning and hence poison induced nightmares we can discuss later,” he said as he attempted to rub away the building ache that was growing inside his head.

“Are you getting a headache?” Annie asked.  “I have some aspirins I can give you.”

He held up a hand silencing her from continuing.  “I think,” he stated as gently as possible.  “I’ve had enough of your pills and potions.”  She grimaced uncomfortably in response.  He felt a momentary flicker of regret as he glanced at her injured wrist.  Annie was fighting her own demons he reminded himself.  Her stake in this was almost bigger than anyone’s.  He just had to convince her that not just her well-being hung in the balance.

“You will be asked to choose Dark Warrior,”
the haunting voice echoed in his tortured mind.

He quickly shook the words out of his mind and focused hard on the here and now and what he could fix.  “Where are Griffin, Kat and Fiona?” he asked.

“They’re in a small hotel in Knightstown just a few miles west of here,” Annie offered.  “They can be here quickly now with just a short bit of notice.  Griffin managed to rent a car,” she explained further.

Duncan nodded, thanking his brief stay in Salem for understanding what a car was.  Never again would he step a toe in one.  The short ride he had taken on the trolley in Salem had left him terrified and intensely nauseous.  The memory sparked internal realization.

“Is that why ye drugged me?” he asked Annie.

“How else was I supposed to get you on an airplane?  The airport is easily twenty miles from my house which would have required not only a trip on an airplane but one in a car as well.  And we both remember how well that short little ride you took went.”

“An aer-o-plane?” he repeated carefully back annunciating the foreign sounding word.

“Are we playing a game of questions?” Autie asked as he excitedly clapped his hands together.  “Twas my favorite game in the mines,” he added cheerfully.

“We’ll get to you later,” Duncan promised the newcomer. 

Autie stuck his tongue out and Knackers slapped him hard across the face which resulted in a small scuffle that dropped and rolled across the floor.  The scuffle continued across the floor and halted at the silent feet of Rian who had suddenly exploded into the room as he came out of his unknown hiding spot full of anger and painful answers.

“Of course you took the safest route!” he screamed at Duncan as his little brown face darkened to a frightening shade of mahogany.  “Do you think we could risk losing her?  If she had traveled by magick she would be just as lost as they are!”

“Oh Rian,” Annie whispered extending a sympathetic hand towards him.  “You don’t have to.  I’ll tell him,” she said wiping a tear filled eye with the back of her uninjured hand.

He extended his own trembling diminutive hand in her direction seeking out the saddened comfort she offered.  When his eyes fell on her bandaged hand he pulled back, straightened his tiny spine and glared up challengingly at Duncan.  If the Brownie stood just a few feet taller his anger would have morphed into a physical altercation.  The look in his eyes warned Duncan that he was very lucky that Rian was incapable of taking him on in a fair fight.

“We all sacrificed,” he spat angrily at Duncan.  “We all overcame fear and worry to make sure you made it here whole,” he screamed pointing an accusing stubby finger at Duncan.  “So you slept, you are well rested,” he continued.  His tirade caused the wrestling match between Knackers and Autie to cease as everyone stared at the normally timid and soft spoken Brownie.

“He spent uncomfortable hours locked away in a tiny cage,” he said pointing a finger at Knackers.  “As I cat,” he added suppressing a tiny shiver.  “Fiona was blindfolded as to better play her part o’ an agin’ blind dwarf wanting nothin’ more than the company o’ her niece an’ nephew-in-law with her on her finally journey home!  Kat and Griffin have spent hours worrying about the safety of their best friends only to lose one with nothin’ but a blood trail to follow.  And Annie,” he whispered as his emotionally strained voice began to crack.  “She has no slept or ate as she cared for you.  Yet you shame her by calling her by another’s name?!  You have had it easy,” he accused Duncan.  His tiny chest heaved in anguish as he clutched the wee dagger in his left hand Annie had gifted him with. 

As the seconds ticked by and the silence ensued Duncan realized how close to death he was.  It didn’t surprise him or even bother him, for he had always thought this would be the way he met his end.  He just never, not even once, imagined that his death would come at the hands of a very pissed off Brownie wielding a pretty letter opener.

         Chapter Nine

Tales of Truth

Duncan held his hands before him in honest surrender as he dropped to his knees before the Brownie that had carried so much on his wee shoulders.  “Before you take my heart for good, I’d inquire the name of the blade that will be puttin’ me out of my misery,” he asked Rian as glanced at the familiar dirk that had saved Annie from the hungry wrath of a greedy Redcap as well as having pierced the traitorous hide of Bres.

He had no doubt that Rian was capable of killing as long as it meant protecting Annie.  Rian let his eyes fall upon the jewel encrusted blade that in the hands of a human sized being was little more than a large letter opener.  “Her name is Opener,” he said with a sideways glance at Annie who nodded in return and extended a soothing arm that coaxed Rian into sheathing his weapon.  “Forgive me warrior King,” he muttered so quietly that Duncan was not sure he had heard him correctly.  For the time being he let it go, content that Rian was, for the moment, back on his side and not trying to kill him.  “Forgive me for speaking the truth,” he added a little bit louder.

“No forgiveness is needed Rian,” he assured the Brownie.  “And it is with honest truth that we need to continue,” he said reassuring not only Rian but the rest of the group whose ears he held.  “I owe you an apology for all that you have had to bear alone and for all my selfish talk and complaints.  We will never be able to thank you for all that you have done for the group,” Duncan stated using his best court speech.

“Thank you Rian,” added Annie as she opened her arms inviting Rian into them.

For the first time Duncan was honestly jealous of a Brownie.  Circumstances being what they were it was a place the Brownie had earned and deserved.  For a time stretching back to his earliest memories he suddenly became aware of how self-centered his thoughts had been.  He loved the goddess, the princess, the woman seated before him now; but so did everyone who stood to fight at her side. He had asked her more than once to run away with him.  How could he even think of taking her away from the company of those who loved her almost as much as he did?  Wasn’t that the very thing he himself had been fighting for? A chance to keep her in his life where he thought she belonged?  Where he hoped she belonged?  How was he any better than Bres if he denied her friends both Fae and human her company and a place in their lives?  If he had to share her so be it, it was what she wanted and what she deserved and it made her happy.  It terrified him to even think of continuing on with this foolish plan that lay so tattered and broken before them but it was what she wanted.  He would just have to learn how to share her if she was meant to be his to keep.  It was a humbling experience but he swallowed the pain as compensation for his own selfish actions.

“How do we fix this?” he quietly asked the group.

“We find Robert and Finn,” Annie stated matter-of-factly as she looked at Duncan over the top of Rian’s brown tousled hair. 

“I might be able ta help ye there,” offered Autie.  Knackers rolled his eyes but no one spoke out against the newcomer yet.

“We’re all listening,” Duncan said prompting Autie to continue.

“Am I correct in assuming ye all wish ta remain quiet an’ anonymous like while ye be here in Meath?”  The smallest Fae in the room asked as he pretended to dust dirt off his already heavily coal stained jacket.

“Aye,” growled Knackers defensively.  “Ye ken that ta be the truth o’ things.”  Knackers shot Duncan a wary glance which he tried to calm with a soothing hand; but truth be told his sword palm itched in anticipation of removing the Knocker’s head from his shoulders.

“From what I understand yer all easily recognizable ta the Unseelie court,” he continued straightening his rumpled suit jacket and waist coat.

“Very much so,” Rian agreed stepping carefully in front of Annie, his hand hovering above his newly named sword while Knackers stalked around towards Autie’s back.

“Ye ken Knackers.  I’ve always thought of ye as a brother,” Autie said quickly spinning to face Knackers who froze and nodded absently.  “But,” he said quickly refocusing his attention on Rian.  “I fear yer in over yer head,” he said quickly freezing Duncan from reaching for his hidden sword with a wise grin.  “Therefore,” he stated as he turned to face Annie, and gave a quick slap of his hands that drew the attention of three swords.  Each tip pointed at his throat.

The room grew eerily still as Annie slowly stood to her feet and glared down at Autie, who was now a defensive captive.  They all held fast awaiting the slightest sign of treachery, ready to dispatch a traitor in their midst.  Although Knackers’ eyes glistened with tears of love and regret his sword pushed forward first almost piercing the throat of Autie.  Duncan was so proud of his old friend.  Knackers was in a tough spot, he had to choose between old family ties and new ones.  Duncan remembered Knackers speaking fondly of the Knocker family that had taken him in when he had nowhere to go after irritating the High King and the rest of the royal court long before he had met Duncan.  He especially remembered hearing tales of all the silly adventures Autie and Knackers went on and about all the trouble they had gotten into.  Having to stand on the other side of the room from a dear old friend must have been hard on the loyal Wag-by-the-Way.  Duncan would move swiftly if need be and spare Knackers the lifelong pain of having to kill someone you once called a friend.  Duncan knew of the kind of trauma such an act could cause as still, to this day, he carried both the physical and emotional scars of one who had been betrayed by a friend.

“Really?!” screamed Annie in shock.  “We gain a friend and you all threaten to skewer him?” she accused the group in horror.  “Duncan, your sword hears the truth when it is spoken.  Listen to it if you do not believe me,” she spoke with such regal assurance that every sword drawn against Autie quivered in shame.

Duncan glanced at Answerer, the sword of truth, and felt its assurance that no betrayal was clouding anyone’s judgement.  He quickly lowered his sword which reluctantly disappeared into the stealthy invisible sheath it had created for itself upon his back.  Rian and Knackers quickly followed suit as they too lowered and sheathed their own swords.

“That’s better then,” Autie muttered with a nervous chuckle as he retrieved a soiled handkerchief from his breast pocket and began sopping up the little sooty beads of sweat that had started to form on his wrinkled brow.

Annie fell backwards, exhausted, into her seat.  Her skin took on an unhealthy pale tone and her normally bright blue eyes seemed to dim and dull under the pale artificial light.  Dark circles began to form under her eyes as the goddess she fought to contain receded from the surface leaving the exhausted mortal to deal with the consequences.  Everyone rushed to her aide, Duncan easily beat everyone to her side.  He carefully raised her tired face by her chin and gazed, full of regret, on her heavily sleep filled eyes.

“Move,” he ordered as everyone scurried to obey his demand.  He carefully scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the one bed the room housed.  After he laid her down and gently covered her already sleeping frame with the roughly spun cotton covers he turned his attention back to Autie.

“Speak quickly,” he commanded quietly.  “Her defense has granted ye time.”

Autie did not hesitate nor did he try to draw out his explanation as Fae of his kind were known to do.  He took the advice offered and used quick short words to explain his idea.  “Because ye are all so well known, I thought I could help,” rattled on a visibly nervous Autie.  “If Rian were ta tell me, or better yet show me where he lost, uh-.”

“Robert and Finn,” Knackers responded supplying the names of the missing men from their group.

“Right, if Rian could show me where Robert an’ Finn were last seen I could look for ‘em and no Unseelie would be wiser cause I’m an unknown ta ‘em,” he explained as he threw out his arms and graced everyone present with a clumsy bow.

It made sense Duncan assured himself.  Answerer remained quiet and still strapped in its invisible sheath that hung securely on his back, only truth was being spoken so he had no reason to doubt the Knocker’s loyalty.  And yet he hesitated.  After a few moments of silent contemplation he realized why he hesitated.  He wanted, no he felt responsible for not only Robert, but for Finn as well.  In some strange way he felt he had let them down and not lived up to the unspoken expectations of protection that he should have provided, especially as a Green Rider.  As illogical as it sounded it was the only explanation that felt right.  Finn was more than capable of looking after not only himself but Robert as well; but still he felt he was at fault and not Finn.

“You are brave and loyal, almost to a fault,”
they were some of the last words Finn had said to him.

“Fine,” he said quickly agreeing to Autie’s plan.  “Rian, do ye think you can show Autie where ye, uh-,” he felt himself stumble and falter, unwilling to say anything that would upset the Brownie again.

“Aye,” Rian answered quickly putting on a brave face, as his attention settled on the silently slumbering form of Annie.

“Good,” Duncan said laying an encouraging hand on Rian’s shoulder.  “Knackers, I hate to ask it of ye considering how much time ye’ve spent recently in that form but would you mind?”

“Patrolling the grounds in cat form?” he asked.

When Duncan nodded his old companion winked a cat-like eye at him and instantly shrunk down into a gray-brindle cat.  When Rian shrieked in fright and threw himself into Autie’s arms Autie threw out a sooty black booted foot and kicked cat Knackers away from Rian.  “Away ye mangy thing or they’ll be no fire ta keep ye warm tonight.  I’ll see ta it.”

Knackers responded by caterwauling loudly.  The noise caused Annie to stir briefly.  Everyone froze hoping that she would stay asleep.  She mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over her back to the small group.  Duncan pulled the covers up over her chin and gently brushed a few stray strands of hair off her face before turning and pinning the three Fae with a harsh glare.

“Stop,” he hissed quietly.  “You’re all lucky Fiona is no’ here,” he reminded them and was rewarded by Knackers and Rian shrinking in fear.  “Autie ye and Rian go now.  Once ye’ve located the trail I want Rian back here as quickly as possible.  Is the basement safe?” he asked to which Autie silently nodded.  “Good, Rian ye stay in the basement and sleep.  Do you understand?”  Rian nodded silently.  “And you,” Duncan said pointing an angry finger at Knackers.  “Three hours, that’s how long ye keep watch then off to bed with Rian in the basement.  It should be dawn by then and the Unseelie will have little ta no power especially here.  If anything happens scratch at the window and alert me right away.”  Knackers purred loudly and Duncan accepted the noise as an understanding to his instructions.  “Good, now all of ye get ta it.”