The Daykeeper's Grimoire (23 page)

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Subject: Hello from Caity Mac Fireland

Hey girlies, it’s Caity! Amisi and Chantrea, I don’t think you two know each other, but you both know me and you both know Justine. Amisi, let me introduce Chantrea—her parents own the best Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco called Lucky Pho (oh how I miss it!). She’s spending the summer in Cambodia with her grandparents. And Chantrea, Amisi is from Egypt. She lives in Cairo but went to school with us at the Academy of Cruelties last year while her dad was in San Francisco with that huge mummy exhibit (he’s the main guy in charge of the pyramids).

Anyway, as you both know my parents moved me out to Nowhere, Scotland this summer, to this very strange island. Well, it turns out that my relatives or ancestors or whatever were involved in a big mystery that is kinda unraveling right now. Anyway, one of the things I’m supposed to do is sort of unite kids. I don’t even know the whole entire story yet, but I know it has to do with kids and this ring of sacred places around the Earth and with the Mayan calendar (see website here).

OK, so let me get to it—would either of you be able to be the point person on a gathering? Amisi, you’d be in charge of the one at the pyramids and Chantrea, you’d be doing one in Cambodia at Angkor Wat (which I never even heard of before I moved here!) Anyway, it wouldn’t require much work, just your cell phone and a poster with a phone number on it. We’re supposed to do this event at the same time all over the world, on summer solstice (I know that is only a few days away! Yikes!) Justine is going to Machu Picchu and I’m going to Easter Island (double yikes!). I’ll be calling from Easter Island and all you have to do is call this 800 number and listen. There might be no one there with you, there might be ten or twenty people. Who knows? This is all new to me too.

If you’re up for it, cut and paste the message below, along with the Mayan calendar website attachment, in a new mail to as many kids as you know, and encourage them to send it to more. Let’s see how many people we can get! So here’s the mail you can send around:

Dear friends,

Did you know that if you have a room full of silent tuning forks all you have to do is strike one and its vibrations will make all the other tuning forks sing too? You can be that tuning fork!

Join us (no one over 19, please!) as we come together at special places on Earth to get everyone our age to start changing the world. It doesn’t matter if you can’t vote—as long as you feel like we need to change the hellish course the adults have sent us on, then join us.

We’re kicking off the use of the Mayan calendar (the website is attached to this mail). Check it out; if it makes sense to you, then use it and meet up with us on summer solstice. Here are the times:

Egypt/Pyramids @ 7:00 PM on June 21st

Angkor Wat Temple @ 11:00 PM on June 21st

Machu Picchu @ 11:00 AM on June 21st

Easter Island @ Noon on June 21st

Bring your cell phone! Join us! We CAN make a difference.

I hit the send button and realize that they may just think I’ve totally lost my mind. I know Amisi really well; she had English class with Justine and me and we stalked her until she would talk to us because she was so beautiful and exotic looking. Chantrea goes to a different school and I only know her from the restaurant. I was a seriously regular customer but we never had any big deep conversations or anything. But I do know that she considers herself a closet anarchist so this kind of thing might be right up her alley.

I guess I’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to see what they think.

In the morning the first thing I do is check my email. I can’t believe it, both Amisi and Chantrea have responded.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Subject: RE: Hello from Caity Mac Fireland

Hello to you! For some reason I am still on the Academy’s email list and I received an assignment on the Mayan calendar just a few hours before I got your email! Quite a strange coincidence, no?

I would love to help! The day of the gathering I will ask my father to tell the guards that I am permitted to have a few students come into the restricted area around the great pyramid for a class project. It will be a beautiful place for something like this, especially at that time of the evening. I’m sure I can get a few people to show up.

Thank you for including me. I love that it’s all girls doing this—and you and Justine are quite brave to go so far! Chantrea, good luck at Angkor Wat. I was there once on holiday with my parents and was awed by the beauty of Cambodia. In Peace, Amisi

I just love Amisi! It’s obvious from her email she has had a seriously fancy education. She writes like an adult and English isn’t even her first language. I wish I could be with her right next to the pyramids—now that I’ve heard Tenzo talk about them it’s got me very interested.

Next I open Chantrea’s email.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected], [email protected]; [email protected]

Subject: RE: Hello from Caity Mac Fireland

Hey you, I knew all that spicy chili oil you always put on your Pho would go to your head. You are crazy but I love it! I haven’t been to Angkor Wat yet but one of my cousins has been wanting to take me there. I don’t know what you’re talking about with the whole phoning in thing but I’m sure my cousin can help. He’s so into technology it’s insane, like he has pictures of Bill Gates all over his walls and stuff. Hello, dork?

I sent the email out to about 13 people I know here and I think I can get them to go. I’m like a rock star here already just because I live in the US. Seriously, all my cousin’s friends try to dress exactly like me and ask me questions like “Is Brad Pitt short?” as if I’m his best friend because we both live in California. If they only knew I am pretty much a band geek at home! Keep me posted on what else I need to do … Chantrea

A wave of relief washes over me. Now I just have to be able to pull off the big one—going to Easter Island without my parents knowing.

Tiptoeing out of my room, I sneak to see if Mom and Dad are still in their bedroom. Their door is cracked and I see them in bed talking about their plans for the day. I run back into my room for my backpack so I can get Dad’s satellite phone from the library. He bought it right when they decided to come out here, thinking he’d have to use it for Internet access while they got this place wired. Before we left, Dad and I had taken it to the top of Mount Tamalpais and used it to call Mom, pretending we were on Everest. He hasn’t had to use it here so he shouldn’t miss it.

I make it to the library without seeing a soul. I pull out the satellite phone from the cabinet in the corner where dad stashes his portable electronics and slip it in my backpack. Back upstairs, I bolt my door and roll up the phone in a sweatshirt and put it in my suitcase. Then I hear Dad ask if I’m ready for breakfast.

“Sure,” I say as I quickly slip the suitcase under my bed.

In the hallway Dad takes my hand. “I hear you’re leaving us for a few days, kiddo. We’re going to be so lonely here since the Berkeley alums are leaving tomorrow as well.”

“They are? Will they be on the same train to Edinburgh tomorrow?”

“Indeed they will,” Dad says.

“Well, if they’re all going to the airport I could just go with them. You guys wouldn’t have to take a two-day round-trip train just to take me to the same place they’re going.”

Dad looks over at Mom. “I hadn’t thought about that. Fiona, what do you think?”

Mom stops walking. “I suppose it’s more about how Caity feels,” she says as she looks at me. “You really don’t want us to take you there?” she asks.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to; it just seems silly. I definitely want you to come on the ferry and get me settled into my train car, but really all I’m going to do is lock the door and go to sleep. When I wake up we’ll be in Edinburgh and I’ll just take the train to the airport with all the Berkeley alums. I mean, who could be more responsible than a bunch of smart old people?”

Mom and Dad look at each other and shrug, wondering if it’s an okay thing to do. I don’t want it to come off like I don’t need them so I add, “I totally insist you pick me up when I come back, though. I want to see you the second I get off the plane!”

“Of course, Caity,” Mom says, grabbing my other hand. We walk down the wide staircase, all holding hands like we did when I was little.

I see Tenzo and Uncle Li at the breakfast buffet in the dining room. “You want to eat in the parlor?” I whisper to them. “We should try to talk to Thomas about you-know-what.”

Alex walks out with a pitcher. He sees me and then motions with his head for me to follow him over by the coffee urn. While he fills the cream pitcher he says quietly, “I worked it out with my mum and I’m free; turns out most people are leaving tonight anyway.”

“Perfect!” I say, amazed that this is all falling into place. “Hey, have you seen Thomas?”

“Aye, in the kitchen.”

I see Mom and Dad watching me and Alex whispering, with grins on their faces. Whatever. Let them think I’m in love with him; it will distract them from what’s really going on.

“When you go back in the kitchen, would you mind asking Thomas to meet me and Uncle Li and Tenzo in the parlor?” I ask.

He nods as he walks back to the kitchen. I slip out the side door to the parlor. Tenzo and Uncle Li are already there, and when I get to the table they both stop talking. “Are you talking about me?” I ask, sounding kind of paranoid.

They look at each other. Uncle Li says, “We’re worried that all of this is going too fast.”

“You’re not going to put a stop to it are you?” I ask. I have to admit that I’m thinking as much about losing a trip with Alex as I am about stopping the gathering.

“Perhaps one of us should go with you, for protection” Tenzo adds.

I shake my head. “It would look super suspicious if you left with me. Plus I need you to be a distraction to my parents so they don’t try to call me 24/7 while I’m gone.”

“Do you think we could at least meet Bolon?” Tenzo asks.

“Look, even I don’t know how to get a hold of Bolon,” I say. “If he’s not staying here I don’t know where he’s staying. He might even be camping. Who knows?” I say. “Next time he comes by, I’ll have him stay in my room until I can get you guys so you can meet him.” Their nervousness has transferred to me and I feel all agitated inside but I don’t want to let them know.

Thomas walks in and says, “Did you folks ask to see me?”

Uncle Li says, “Please, have a seat.”

Obviously nervous, he sits down and says, “So how can I help you, then?”

“I’m not sure where we even start?” Uncle Li replies.

“How about here: Thomas, we know about Donald and the Sanskrit books.”

He looks up, his eyes like golf balls. “Do your parents know about this? Mrs. Findlay?”

I don’t want to get Mrs. Findlay in trouble so I shake my head. “Only the three of us.”

He closes his eyes for a long moment, then opens them and says, “There are things you need to know, Caity.”

Tenzo and Uncle Li and I all look at each other. Everyone seems on edge. “What is it?” I ask Thomas.

He takes a deep breath and says, “There’s a room, off your bedroom—”

I interrupt. “I know all about that, Thomas. I know about the room, the poem, the tower.”

“Bloody hell, you work fast!” he says. “So you know how deeply you’re involved?”

“Sort of. But we don’t know anything about how you or your brother are involved. And yesterday someone locked us in the tower to translate the Sanskrit books.”

“Donald?” he asks, wincing as if he’s just about to watch two cars crash.

“We think so.”

“Can you tell us how much he knows?” Tenzo asks. “And why he wants those books?”

Thomas shakes his head. “There’s a lot more to it.”

“More to what?” I ask.

“Ah, Caity. I don’t want you to feel betrayed by not knowing this sooner,” Thomas says as he puts his hand over mine. “I didn’t know you’d find out so much so fast.”

“What?” I say, my voice getting shaky. “Thomas, you’re scaring me.”

After a pause he says, “We are related, Caity. I am a Mac Fireland. Your father’s uncle.”

“But how is that possible? Why would you hide something like that?”

“And what does that make Hamish?” Tenzo asks.

“Let me explain,” Thomas says, taking in a deep breath as if preparing to go underwater. Then he exhales and begins, “There came a point when my father, your great-grandfather Robert, was the only surviving Mac Fireland. His sister died quite early and being the only one left in the lineage, he was very concerned about the prophecy not coming to completion. In fact, he became downright obsessive about it. When his wife, my mother Elspeth, became pregnant he talked her into organizing something very … how shall I put it? Unorthodox.”

The three of us lean in, dying to hear what he’s going to say next.

“He and Elspeth went to a home for wayward girls in Edinburgh and found a young pregnant woman called Beatrice who looked about as far along as Elspeth. They talked the home into letting her come live with them. Beatrice was delighted to have such an upstanding patron, and to move somewhere where she could start anew. My father had a nice lad in mind for her, Tobey, and they were wed when they got back to the Isle of Huracan. Beatrice and Tobey lived in the little room off the kitchen while she was pregnant; she was a cook, he a groundskeeper. “

“Why did Robert go to all that trouble?” I ask.

Thomas holds his hand up as if to say
I need to finish
and continues. “When it was time for the babies to come, the castle was closed off, and nary a soul was to come or go. My grandmum was there to help with the births, and the mothers helped too, as the deliveries were thirteen days apart. My mother Elspeth gave birth to twins: me and my brother Donald. Beatrice gave birth to one child, whom they called Hamish.”

We all gasp.

“So Hamish is not a Mac Fireland?” Tenzo asks.

Thomas shakes his head.

“Why would your parents switch you at birth?” I ask.

“My father came to believe that the prophecy was being threatened; he thought the Shadow Forces would come in and snatch his children to put an end to it all. So he hid us.”

“Hid you in the tower?” I say, horrified.

Thomas laughs. “Nae, lass, I don’t mean he locked us away, he just hid the fact that we were Mac Firelands. He gave Beatrice and Tobey a house in town and took care of them well. My brother and I were raised like all other island folk, not suspecting a thing.”

“When were you told?” Uncle Li asks.

“I reckon I should have guessed earlier, what with all the time Robert spent with us. But since both my parents worked at the castle, it was natural to spend most of my time here. When Donald and I were sixteen Robert took us up to the hidden room and told us the whole story.”

“Were you pissed?” I ask. “I would have been so mad!”

“We were well loved by our surrogate parents, so I was more amazed than angry,” he replies. “Not so with my brother. He didn’t take the news well. Some people feel entitled to things, and Donald felt robbed of his upbringing as the son of the Laird in a castle.”

“Was Hamish totally in the dark?” Tenzo asks.

Thomas nods. “For his own safety, he never knew a thing about the prophecy.”

“What about the silver three hares key he sent me? The one I used to get in to the secret room?” I ask. “And that weird Mexican plaque and the photo of the Milky Way?”

“That was me, Caity. I sent those.”

“But what about my grandfather? He would have been your younger brother, right—or was he not really a Mac Fireland?”

“Aye, your grandfather Aeden was indeed a Mac Fireland,” Thomas says. “After Donald and I were tucked safely out of sight, Aeden was born. Father felt strongly that Aeden would be the one to keep the lineage going.”

“You mean to have Dad and then me?”

Thomas nods. “So at a young age your grandfather was sent off to boarding school in Edinburgh and then to university in America under a false name. For his own protection, your grandfather was never told anything until after your own father was grown. Not long after he was told, Aeden was killed in a car accident.”

“So no one thought it was weird that Hamish stayed here his whole life and my grandfather was sent off to boarding school?” I ask.

“As the eldest son, it was expected that Hamish would stay on the island with the castle. Most folks were impressed that father was preparing his younger son for life in the real world.”

“Where has Donald been all these years?”

“Haven’t a clue,” he replies. “He left the Isle of Huracan when he was about seventeen. Once we knew the truth, Donald assumed that at a certain age he and I would move into the castle and take over. When we were told that Hamish would remain the perceived heir for all our lives, Donald became enraged. He took the two books that Robert, our father, guarded most closely and left, never to be seen again. Until now, apparently.”

“Why wouldn’t Donald have had someone else translate the books?” Tenzo asks. “He could have found any number of scholars to read this ancient language.”

“Nae. He would’ve been too timid to do that. I don’t think you understand the power of this information; any scholar who could read this text would understand how valuable it is. No one would translate without questioning where it came from or wanting to publish it.”

“Have you found this to be true?” Tenzo asks Uncle Li.

Uncle Li pauses, and then replies. “I haven’t read them through yet, I’m just getting reacquainted with the language—”

“Can you read them?” I ask Thomas. “What’s so special about them?”

“I can’t read ancient Sanskrit, but Robert told me what they were: the collected wisdom of what was called the ‘Nine Unknown Men’ in India.”

“The ‘Nine Unknown Men’ were not just a myth?” Tenzo asks.

“Nae,” replies Thomas.

Suddenly I’m lost. “Wait, who are the Nine Unknown Men?” I ask.

“Over 2,000 years ago, after witnessing a gruesome massacre in war, the Indian emperor Asoka gathered together nine lads to preserve ancient knowledge that would be dangerous to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands,” says Thomas.

Tenzo looks astounded. “If this is true, Caity, it means that thousands of years of secret study have been distilled into these books, kept hidden so that methods of destruction would not fall into the hands of the unqualified or evil-minded.”

“Thomas, if you knew about this, and me, the whole time, why didn’t you just tell me about it?” I ask. “Why’d I have to sneak around and do all of this by myself?”

“If I learned nothing else in this life, I learned timing; everything in the proper order. Time is a spiral that must unwind.”

“So where is Donald now?” I ask. “Is he for sure the one who locked us in?”

“Aye, that’d be my guess,” he says. “Don’t think the Shadow Forces have been here.”

I look at Uncle Li. He nods. “Well, they uh, they kind of have,” I say, leaning away from Thomas like a dog who’s about to get hit with a newspaper.

Thomas puts his head in his hands and says, “Ah, this is not good. Not good at all.” He looks up at me again. “Who was here?”

“Remember that inspector, Barend Schlacter?”

“Bollocks! I knew that man was a weasel.”

“But you took him to the ferry a couple of days ago. Could he still be here on the island?”

“You don’t understand,” he replies. “These people can do
anything
they want, be
anywhere
they want.”

“Could Barend Schlacter have gotten the books from Donald?” Uncle Li asks.

Thomas shakes his head. “Actually, if Barend Schlacter and the
Fraternitas
had them, they’d be translated already. They’d have just killed the translator once he’d finished the work. Li, I’d keep those books hidden while you do the translations if I were you.”

We all look down, not wanting to acknowledge what Thomas just inferred.

“So what now?” I ask. “You were protected so that you could make sure this prophecy happened, but what’s next for you?”

“You tell me,” he replies. “What do you feel you need to do next?”

“Well, first of all, my parents don’t know anything about this, so keep it on the down-low. But I guess I’m supposed to start this movement, kicking off the use of the Mayan calendar for kids. Get us united around some ancient equator. I’m going to be in Easter Island, and three of my girlfriends are going to be at the Giza pyramids, Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat.”

“Ah, berries! That’s great. Good start.” Thomas says. He looks at Uncle Li and Tenzo and asks, “So which one of you is going with her then?”

They both shake their heads and Uncle Li says, “Neither, against our better judgment.”

“Alex is going,” I say. “It would be
way
too suspicious if either of them went with me. My parents just think I’m going back to San Francisco to see a friend.”

“Well, now you’re just a mad rocket, child!” he says. “You two can’t go to the far corners of the world alone! Why don’t I come along? I’ll tell your parents I have a bit of a family emergency I have to sort out in Edinburgh, but really I’ll slip away with you.”

As much as I want this adventure with just Alex, all this new information and talk of Shadow Forces has me on edge. I’d probably be more comfortable with Uncle Li going, but since Thomas is the rightful heir to the island, not to mention a blood relative, who am I to stop him from going along? He’s been involved with this whole thing for decades.

“Okay,” I say with a nod.

“Brilliant,” Uncle Li says, putting a hand over his heart. “That relieves me to no end.”

“But Thomas, I leave tonight and Alex leaves tomorrow. Can you make it happen?”

“Aye, I’ll tell your parents straightaway. Then I’ll call the airlines and book a ticket. If I can’t get on the same flight, I’ll just meet you two on Easter Island.”

Once Thomas leaves, Tenzo says, “How about that story? Imagine finding out that your mother and father were fakes, and that your real parents lived in this castle.”

“Thomas is a saint!” I say. “Can you believe he does all the grunt work around here without complaining and he’s really the heir to the whole place?”

Uncle Li nods. “But I can also appreciate Donald’s side of the story. It would be a bitter pill to swallow, to know that you would continue to live out your days in anonymous toil. The human ego is so fragile.”

“Well, I’m glad you feel sorry for him, because you may just run into him! You’ve got his books and apparently they’re pretty valuable,” I say. “I’m dying to know what’s in them.”

“I hope to have them both translated by the time you get back,” Uncle Li says.

Tenzo raises his hand. “Please, I’d be more than happy to help.”

Uncle Li says, “Thanks … perhaps,” but I can tell by his face that the answer is no. I wonder for a moment if I’m reading something into the situation or if Uncle Li doesn’t yet fully trust Tenzo.

“Listen, I gotta go pack and send a million emails and stuff,” I say, taking my plate to the kitchen. Mrs. Findlay is at the stove cooking more scrambled eggs for the buffet. Through the window over the sink I see Thomas and Alex talking outside.