The Book of Joby (70 page)

As he labored painfully up the stairs behind the Primrose Picket Inn and toward the attic room where Council meetings were held, Father Crombie met Mrs. Lindsay carrying an empty tray back toward the kitchen.

“Hello, Father. They’re all here, buzzing like a fallen wasp’s nest.”

“Who can blame them?” he sighed. “Have they started, then?”

“They’re waiting for you, I think.”

“Then I must redouble my pace,” he joked, hoisting himself up another step.

A moment later, as he entered the high, peaked room with its pine rafters and dormer windows, conversation came to a halt as he was greeted courteously. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, lowering himself into a chair beside Jake and near the head of the table. “Have you arrived at some solution without me, I hope?”

Alice Mayfield, who ran Taubolt’s art gallery, harrumphed something that might have been a laugh, and replied, “We’ve all been counting on
your
plan, Father.”

The Council consisted of five women, and five men, all but Crombie of the blood and longtime residents of Taubolt. At the end of the table opposite Jake sat the town’s stellar new arrival, Solomon Rand, a nearly pure-blooded ancient like Jake, it was said, and thus invited to their Council meeting, though not yet an official member.

“I still do not understand what happened to the aversions we have always maintained,” said Orrydia Honzel in her thick German accent, apparently resuming the conversation interrupted by Crombie’s arrival. “That people are finally beginning to notice our presence, I can understand, but why should one man have been able to pursue the facts of our existence with such focus for so long without being turned aside?”

“Our arts work fine on human minds, Orrydia, but not on machines,” Jake said. “I suspect it’s computers that’re shortin’ out our defenses. Ferristaff’s little trap may not be quite as foolproof as he thinks, though, for the very same reason. Solomon and I have a plan, which I’ll let him explain, since it’s execution will be largely his affair.”

Solomon cleared his throat, and said, “First, let me say that I am honored by the reception you’ve shown me, appearing unannounced, as I have, in such troubled times.”

“Any friend of Jake’s is a friend of ours, Mr. Rand,” said Bridget O’Reilly. “And the addition of a second ancient to our assembly right now is doubly welcome.”

“Thank you.” Solomon nodded. “As Jake indicated, my travels these many years have equipped me with considerable knowledge of the larger world’s new technologies, and I believe they may be used to defuse Mr. Ferristaff’s case against us. Unfortunately, I fear we will have to purchase the necessary time by giving Ferristaff at least a little of what he wants for now.”

“You mean sell him all that land?” Tom Connolly objected.

“Not all the land he wants,” Solomon answered. “Just enough to keep him interested and leave him cause to continue threatening us for a while. Given a year or two, I should be able to place sufficient ‘lost’ records in enough bureaucratic sinkholes to convince any thorough investigator that Taubolt has, in fact, been paying fees and applying for licenses all along and simply fallen victim to embezzlement and bungling.”

“But, won’t more land just make him harder to dislodge?” Bridget asked.

“It’s pretty clear by now that Ferristaff plans to log whatever property he gets his hands on,” Jake said. “Solomon’s learned that he owns a huge national lumber company.” There was a general gasp from around the table. “The mountains around Taubolt must look like the lost mother lode to him.”

“This is intolerable!” snapped Alfred Cognolio, who ran what many affectionately called “the junk shop” on Main Street and was normally the quietest of them all. “I say we just pay the bastard an unfriendly visit tonight, and scare some virtue into him!”

“And when he tells everyone what he saw?” asked Florence Kellerman.

“They’ll think he’s mad, of course.” Alfred shrugged.

“Can’t risk it,” said Jake. “To get his whole company out of here, we’d have to scare a lot of others too. ’Stead of thinkin’ they’re
all
mad, people might get interested in findin’ out what’s up ’round here. The last thing we need is more attention.”

“What do you suggest then?” asked Franklin Holt.

“There’s that old proverb about bein’ careful what you wish for.” Jake shrugged. “If half the trees he harvests turn out to be rotted useless with some new fungal disease, and enough of his equipment is trashed by rogue falls, landslides, salt-air damage, and such, we can make his operation cost him more than it’s earnin’. His own stockholders might pull ’im out then.” Jake smiled. “That’d also discourage other loggin’ operations from comin’ to
take his place. Otherwise, as his Mr. Bruech pointed out, we might just get rid of one bastard to find ourselves dealing with another.”

“All right,” said Franklin. “The hardware store can play its part in slowing him down, certainly. But what about the Cup? If the border’s gone, does it make sense to keep putting it so casually into public view on Sundays?”

Jake turned to Father Crombie.

“It would seem to me,” said Father Crombie, “that in such times, the Cup’s influence may be more important than ever. Most of Taubolt’s own ognibs have never guessed the truth. I can’t see that a few more strangers in town pose any immediate threat to its safety. In any case, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Ferristaff, and all of their crowd has seemed disinclined to attend church.”

“But if wickedness can enter Taubolt now, might not the Cup become aroused?” Orrydia asked. “Its nature might not be so subtle then. If the wrong eyes should see—”

“Evil, in Taubolt!” Daisy LeRonde exclaimed softly, as if this were too much to fathom. The room fell silent as her utterance struck home.

“Well, if it’s evil we’re up against,” said Florence, “perhaps we should be moving the spring rites forward. There would be some added strength in—”

“If added strength is what’s needed,” Daisy interjected, “it makes no sense to weaken the rite by holding it out of time.”

“Besides,” Bridget said, “if we move it forward even a week we’d have to pull half our children from several days of school. How would we explain that to—”

“Hey, hey,” Jake said, smiling reassuringly. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The border may be gone, but the Cup’s as potent as ever, so it’s not like anything monstrous is just gonna amble into town. I say we leave things be until we’ve got some better reason than vague fears of future trouble to change ’em.”

“All right,” said Alice. “But we’d still better be a lot more careful than we have been. Among other things,” she gazed gravely at the Council’s other members, “that means telling our kids to stop playing with power where anyone might see. That episode with Joby Peterson in the woods last week was downright reckless.”

“That was hardly
playing
,” Tom protested. “Jupiter and Sky were trying to save Nacho’s life, not to mention Tholomey’s and Rose’s.”

Many at the table nodded, but Alice stood firm. “I understand, and I’m grateful they succeeded, but, frankly, this was not the first time I’ve seen those
kids act almost like they’re daring Joby to get it. They’ve come to like him a bit too much, I’m afraid.”

Father Crombie glanced toward Jake, and found the ancient gazing back. Given Taubolt’s escalating troubles, it did seem time to stop hiding what they knew of Joby’s past from the Council. People must know Joby well enough by now to give him a fair hearing and decide what should be done.

“That’s because he’s likable,” Bridget replied to Alice, then turned to Jake. “It’s been months now, Jake, and I have yet to sense even a hint of threat in him. That storm may have had something to do with whatever’s happening to our borders, but I’ve come to doubt that Joby’s arrival was anything but coincidence. It does seem pretty likely that he’s of the blood though, and I’m not entirely clear about why we’re all still trying so hard to hide from him. Isn’t it time he was helped to understand, just like all the others?”

Yes, Crombie thought, the time had come. To his surprise, however, Solomon spoke up before he had a chance to say so.

“Since coming here, I have had the pleasure of making this young man’s acquaintance,” the ancient said, “and have learned things about his earlier life which, in all sincerity, I do not feel entitled to relate, but which do leave me utterly assured that he has no secret designs of any kind on Taubolt, nor intends anyone here a shred of harm.

“That said, however, I am also persuaded that it might be best, at present, to leave him blissfully ignorant of whatever he has not yet guessed about this town, or about himself. Here in Taubolt, he has found the one thing he most desperately needs:
refuge,
both from the world that drove him here and from himself. I fear deeply that the very things you would
help him understand
might serve only to deprive him of that refuge once again. As I said, I am unable to elaborate without violating confidences I feel bound to honor. I am sorry to be so oblique, and will fully support whatever decision this gathering comes to, but I felt obliged to equip you with my counsel on the matter.”

Crombie looked to Jake, as did all the others.

“I’ve got no cause to challenge anything he’s said.” Jake shrugged. “Joby seems a bright enough fellow, and such things are often best left to shake out in their own way and at their own pace. If he wants to know more about what’s goin’ on, he’ll ask, I s’pose. ’Til then, let’s just go about our business and leave him be.”

Joby was awakened from an afternoon nap by a tentative knock. It had been too soft for Hawk and too long for Mrs. Lindsay, who always tapped just twice. He shrugged off his covers and crossed the room to open the door.

“Laura!” he said, surprised.

“Mrs. Lindsay said I should just come up,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. Come in.” He smiled and bowed her through the door, before remembering the rumpled clothes strewn across the foot of his bed, or the pile of assignments he’d left spread across his desk. “It’s a little messy, I guess.”

“Not by Arthur’s standards.” She smiled.

He pulled out the desk chair for her, then went back to sit on his bed. “To what do I owe this unexpected honor?”

“Arthur’s report card came yesterday. His lowest grade was a C, and there were two Bs. I can’t tell you how grateful I am, Joby.”

“Well, it’s his accomplishment, not mine.” Joby smiled.

“I know that,” she said, getting up to look out his window at the headlands already going gold with summer heat. “Someday you should really learn how to just say, ‘thank you,’ or ‘you’re welcome.’ ” She gave him a wry smile. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to Arthur since we came here. He talks about your hikes and your talks, and even your tutoring sessions, as if you were some kind of action hero.”

Joby covered his bashfulness with a brief, sitting bow, and said, “I’ve done no more than chivalry and honor require, m’lady,” then hastily added, “but your praise is rich reward. I thank you, and you’re welcome.”

She gave a light, uplifting laugh quite unlike the weary, cynical one he remembered from their first conversation. “I’d forgotten you could do that!” she said wistfully. “It’s like being right back at one of our old Roundtable meetings.”

“Well . . . I get a little silly, sometimes,” he said, cringing at the memory of his childhood grandiosities.

“I wasn’t teasing you,” she said. “I just . . . it makes me happy, remembering how things were when we were kids.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Joby said. “I’m being . . . It’s great that Hawk’s coming into his own.” Laura got up and came toward him. “And I really appreciate your coming to—”

She bent down and kissed him on the cheek, trailing perfume as she drew away. Joby scrambled for something to say, but words deserted him.

“You’ve never known how to take a compliment,” she teased, walking toward his door. She looked back before she left, and said, “If you have nothing else planned tomorrow night, why don’t you get someone in town to drive you up to our place for dinner.” She flashed him another smile. “I know Hawk would love to see you.”

“Thanks. I’d love to,” Joby said.

“We’ll see you then,” she said and left.