Eyes of the Sun (7 page)

Jacob couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s Azuriah.”

“And yesterday, on my way from the school in Taga, I ran into one of the Makalos. His name was Kenji. He seemed very uncomfortable that I’d seen him.” Mr. Coolidge leaned over, hands on the desk, and stared into Jacob’s eyes. “He was mentioned several times in that journal of yours.”

The math teacher’s expression—and emotion colors—practically dared Jacob to deny any of this.

“Okay, you’re right. I’ve got magical abilities and can do stuff with them. And yeah—the journal is a true story. About . . .” He’d almost told Mr. Coolidge the journal was about his dad, but realized that wasn’t his secret to share, and he didn’t know how far into the book Mr. Coolidge had gotten. “About a prince from Gevkan. The kingdom you’ve been working in lately.”

“Magic?” Mr. Coolidge seemingly couldn’t get past that one word, and it looked like he was trying not to reject Jacob’s story right away. “I mean, I’ve seen a lot . . . but . . . but
magic
?”

Jacob shrugged. He didn’t have the energy to try to prove his powers. Mr. Coolidge had already seen Jacob molding things—doing it again wouldn’t be more convincing. Instead, he decided to see what the man had figured out on his own.

“What do you think is going on?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” Mr. Coolidge dragged his fingers through his thick hair. “Something . . . but it should be impossible.”

“It’s not. Trust me.”

Mr. Coolidge met eyes with Jacob. “How is it
not
impossible?”

“There’s a link to Eklaron, the planet where I’m from, in the forest between here and Taga Village. You’ve been on a different planet several times over the past week.”

Mr. Coolidge nodded. “I figured you’d say that.” He sat again, looking almost twenty years older. “Well, for what it’s worth and from what I’ve gathered, your cause is a good one. And I’m happy to be helping. But I’m going to need a lot of time to process this.”

“I totally understand.” Jacob stood. “We’re done here?”

“Yes.”

Jacob had to take a break from studying—he couldn’t concentrate. Despite all his arguments, Mr. Coolidge had insisted that he needed to take finals. So idiotic!

He’d been studying for two hours and still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen. But what? He scowled at the book and papers in front of him, then stood. He couldn’t take it anymore.

Jacob threw his pencil on his desk, grabbed his ball and a towel, and dashed outside to shoot hoops. Basketball always helped clear his mind.

It had been a long time since he’d played alone. Over the past couple of months, every time he came out, Aldo, Matt, or Kevin would join him. But for once, no one else was home.

Jacob took a deep breath, enjoying the smells of spring and the feeling of the sun on his face. A gentle breeze blew his hair back.

Then he forgot all of that and put everything into his game. He pushed himself hard, and after only a moment, sweat was dripping down his back. When he felt like he couldn’t go any longer, he pushed even more.

But still, the feeling that something was about to happen stayed with him. It had to do with the Lorkon, he was sure. He couldn’t watch them very well anymore, and he knew they’d hidden themselves from his view for a reason. They were about to do something and didn’t want to be discovered. What was it? And was it somehow possible for Jacob to figure it out and stop them?

He’d come to rely on his abilities far too much, and they were becoming a crutch.

In this case, Time-Seeing wasn’t an option. He’d have to think his way through the problem. What did the Lorkon want more than anything, besides Jacob? Well, to break into Taga Village. They’d been working on that for some time. In fact, just the other day, they’d sent more Yoons to the entrance. Jacob had tested it and again found that nothing had occurred that would disturb the integrity of the seal he’d put in place.

What else did they want to accomplish?

To gain unlimited access to all the worlds and all the things in them, right? In order to do that, they needed the Key of Kilenya . . . but that came with Jacob. And they’d been very unsuccessful at keeping him in their possession.

What about objects? What did they want for themselves? The Key of Kilenya. And the Key of Ayunli.

Jacob wiped the sweat off his face, then paused. That had to be it. They were going after the Key of Ayunli and didn’t want Jacob and his group to know.

Yeah? Well, they’d have to beat him to it first.

Chapter Five: The Other Key

Jacob rushed inside, up the stairs, and dropped his ball and towel on the floor of his room. He said hi to Early, then looked at the sun for ten seconds. He sat on his bed and started to search for the Key of Ayunli.

After only a moment, the Key lit up, making it possible for him to follow it anywhere. Jacob couldn’t believe how much easier it was this time to find the Key. Last time, it had nearly killed him, but now, he only felt a moment of pain.

Over several years, the Key made its way completely around the world of Eklaron and then to Gevkan. Then in the early 1900s, a man in a cloak and robes took the Key through a link to Earth.

It was so weird that people on Eklaron knew all about Earth, while people on Earth had no clue about the other planet.

The man gave the Key to an elderly woman in a busy city. Jacob wasn’t very well traveled, so he didn’t recognize the place—it could have been somewhere in America or Canada or even Europe.

The elderly woman passed the Key down to her granddaughter, who watched over it for forty years. She took it everywhere with her, wearing it on a chain around her neck. When she started to look frail and fragile, she gave it to her son, a tall, lanky man who always wore bright green sweats. Gross. Judging by the style of the sweats, Jacob figured it was the eighties or nineties. Mom would know better.

The man only held on to the Key for a while. Jacob watched as he fretted over it, pacing and mumbling. From what Jacob had seen, the man had no family and no close friends. He needed to hand it off to someone, but probably didn’t know who.

Instead, he hid it in the laundry room of a house in that busy city. Jacob sped up, making sure the Key stayed there. It did. No one else found or touched it since the man put it in place behind the dryer in a hole in the unfinished wall.

Still not knowing which city this was, Jacob backed up his vision so he could see better. A tall tower dominated the skyline, and the city had been built on the shores of a big lake. Jacob immediately thought of the great lakes that separated America from Canada. Was this Chicago?

He pulled out of his vision and rushed to the family computer to do a search. He first looked up Chicago. Nope. The tower wasn’t there, and the city skyline didn’t look like the one from his vision. Then he went through all the major cities that were on the shores of lakes and oceans on and around the east side of the United States. None of them matched what he’d seen.

He broadened his search to cities on the West Coast, including Seattle. The Space Needle in Seattle looked sort of like the tower, but it wasn’t tall enough.

Jacob rubbed his eyes. It shouldn’t be this hard to figure out. Then he remembered he’d originally thought the city could be somewhere in Canada. Pulling up a map on the computer, he found all the big cities that had been built on a shore, starting in the west and moving east.

Then he found it. Toronto! That was the city.

Wanting to know more about the place, Jacob read about it and quickly became overwhelmed. It was huge—millions lived there. And even though English was the dominant language, many didn’t speak it or even French, which was spoken in nearby Montreal. And a gazillion different cultures, languages, and countries were represented in the city. Jacob envisioned himself wandering the streets, asking for someone who spoke English to help him find the place where he needed to go.

He settled back in his chair, content that at least he knew where the Key was. And he’d figured it out without anyone’s help—something Mom and Dad had been trying to do for years. A big grin spread across his face, and he put his hands behind his head.

After taking a break, Jacob Time-Saw to Toronto once more. He knew where the Key was—which house—but he didn’t know where exactly in Toronto it was. He’d have to figure that out first, and zooming in close, then pulling out, just confused him. The place had all sorts of little streets and big streets and it completely dwarfed Mendon. Jacob gave up on that approach and instead directed his vision to a street sign.

Dimplefield Place. Wow. What a cheesy name. He imagined fields of little girls with big, dimply smiles. So stupid.

Jacob pulled out of his vision. The next step was to get the Key, especially since he was positive the Lorkon were trying to do the exact same thing. He looked at his watch. Matt should be home soon. He printed off a copy of a map that showed Dimplefield Place and the surrounding streets, then rushed to his room.

Jacob grabbed his backpack and started shoving things in it: Early’s container, a compass, some string, a lighter—anything the brothers might need. Then he returned to the kitchen and grabbed dried fruit and jerky from the pantry.

As he was calling Early, he heard the front door open, announcing Matt’s arrival. Jacob dashed into the living room, followed by Early.

It didn’t take long to convince Matt to accompany him.

“Dude! I can’t believe you found the Key so fast!” Matt jumped up from the couch where he’d been sitting.

“We have to take Mom.”

Matt halted. “What? Why?”

“Because the owner of the house is a woman. There’s no way she’s going to let us inside without Mom.”

“Oh. Dang it.” Matt slumped back on the couch. “And I’ll bet she’s gone, right?”

“Nope. In her office. Come on.”

Like Matt, Mom was quick to agree to go.

“But you realize that if the Key is there,” Mom said, “that means there’s a link nearby, right? And where there’s a link, there’s the possibility of running into the Lorkon.”

Jacob nodded. “True, but the person who brought the Key to Toronto destroyed the link somehow. You’re right, though. We need to hurry.”

Mom leaned back in her chair. She hesitated a moment longer, then grabbed her cell and made a call to Ida Mae, arranging to have the elderly neighbor tend Amberly.

After Matt returned from driving Amberly to the neighbor’s house, Jacob Keyed them all to Dimplefield Place. The moment they stepped through the link, Jacob knew they weren’t in Mendon anymore. Even though it was only late May, they were hit by a wall of heat and humidity. Maybe it was hotter because of the humidity, but Jacob instantly felt like he needed to cough. It was like breathing watery air!

Ignoring the way his shirt started clinging to his back, Jacob led the way down the street, looking for the correct house. The homes were small, but quaint, and the owners took good care of their yards. A couple of older people were out pulling weeds.

“That’s it,” Jacob said, pointing to a house with a cracked driveway. He took a deep breath of the humid air and turned to Mom. “Lead the way.”

She nodded and strode to the porch. Jacob and Matt followed her up the steps and to the front door, where she rang the doorbell. They waited for several moments. Jacob was positive the others were just as miserable in the heat as he was.

An attractive woman with dark hair and an olive complexion finally answered. “Hello? Can I help you?” She had a slight Middle-Eastern accent.

A four- or five-year-old boy peeked around her and stared up at Jacob and Matt. Jacob waved to the boy, then turned his attention to what Mom was saying.

“My name is Janna, and these are my sons, Jacob and Matt.”

The woman nodded. “Nice to meet you. I’m Roya.” The skeptical expression on her face showed she was waiting for them to try to sell her something.

Mom went into a lengthy description about Gerald—the man who used to live there. How he’d been entrusted with a metal box that was a family heirloom from Mom’s side of the family.

Jacob frowned, wondering if that was true. But he knew her well enough to know she never lied, so she
had
to be telling the truth.

Then it occurred to Jacob that Mom probably was a descendant of Ayunli and Kilenya. And as such, the Keys really
did
belong to her family.

“He said he hid it in the laundry room of this house?” Roya tilted her head and frowned. “I didn’t notice anything when I moved in.”

“I know where it is,” Jacob said. “Do you mind if we go downstairs to look?”

When Roya hesitated further, Mom said, “It’s really special to my family. It means a lot to us.”

The lady’s expression remained skeptical, and the colors swirling through the air around her showed she still didn’t trust them. Jacob didn’t blame her—he was well aware that their request sounded very much like a ploy to get into her house and cause damage, possibly robbing and hurting her and her boy.

He watched as her emotion colors changed back and forth between possibly accepting Mom’s story and probably wondering how they were going to kill her. She looked long and hard at each of them, then took a deep breath, stepped back, and motioned for them to enter. “All right. But please, make it quick. And I’ll be with you the whole time.”