Chapter Six
Yay! My muse is finally back from its vacation! I think re-watching Warehouse 13 really helped. Well, I promise not to make you all wait a whole month ever again! I've got several ideas to fill the story now.
Myka and Claudia stumbled into their hotel room that evening.
"I swear, if I hear one more alien abduction theory, I'm gonna snap," grumbled Myka.
"Did we find anything?" asked Claudia, plopping down on one of the beds.
"Not a thing," said Myka. "No connections, no friends, nothing in common."
"Au contraire, mon…hermana," said Pete from who knew which corner of the room.
"Hermana is Spanish," Myka pointed out.
"So I don't know the French for sister," said Pete. "Sue me."
"It's soeur," answered Myka.
"Okay, forget it!" said Claudia, waving her hands to stop the conversation. "What is it, Pete?"
"Well, while you two were interviewing family and friends, I was busy doing some invisible snooping."
"What did you find?" asked Myka.
"Each of the victims had exactly one thing in common: they each harbored a secret passion for renaissance fairs," Pete told them.
"Renaissance fairs?" asked Myka.
"Yep," said Pete. "In fact, they all had a pamphlet for an annual fair that's been in town for the last two weeks and is still going on for the next three days."
"That lines up with the first disappearance," said Myka.
Claudia shrugged as she glanced over at Myka. "Good place to start."
"Alright, we'll head over there first thing in the morning," said Myka. "Let's get an early night."
She and Claudia began heading for their bags to get ready for bed.
"I'll take the sofa," Pete offered as there was a squeak of springs from said sofa.
Myka and Claudia both froze, exchanging hesitant glances before turning towards the couch.
"Um…Pete?" said Myka.
"Uh-huh?" came Pete's reply.
"We need to talk," said Myka.
"'Bout what?" asked Pete.
"You need to let us know where you are," said Claudia. "If we ask if you're in the room, you need to answer us. Don't go all peeping Tom."
"I would never do that!" said Pete, sounding affronted.
Myka and Claudia both scoffed at that.
"Well, not to you guys," said Pete in a quieter voice.
"Either way," said Myka. "Until we fix your little invisible problem, you announce when you walk into a room, and we'll ask when we walk in."
"Deal," said Pete as the television remote floated off of the table and the television turned on. "You guys can have the bathroom first."
"Thanks," said Claudia, heading to grab her things.
Myka headed over to the couch and looked down at the cushions. "You're not laying across the whole couch, are you?"
The cushions shifted before the right side sunk even further down.
"Not anymore," said Pete.
Myka sat down next to him, and they watched TV as they waited for Claudia to finish with her shower.
Myka, Claudia and Pete walked through the fair among all the people dressed in renaissance costumes.
"Okay, so, according to the manager, Alicia was a lady in waiting, Howard was a knight—one of the queen's guard—and Nate was a metal smith," said Myka. "Each of them volunteered in the afternoons after work."
"So, what does a handmaiden, a knight and a metal smith have in common?" Pete muttered quietly from somewhere behind them.
"There must be something," said Claudia. "Maybe they shared a meal."
"Well, let's start with the metal smith tent," said Myka. "Pete, can you take a look around? Maybe listen in on some conversations?"
"No problem-o, boss," said Pete. "I'll try not to scare you when I meet back up."
"Yes, please don't," Myka called out.
"Okay," said Claudia, unable to tell if Pete had already walked away or not. "To the smithy, Sam!"
Myka frowned at her as they headed in that direction. "Sam?"
"Samwise Gamgee," Claudia replied. "The Lord—"
"—of the Rings," Myka finished with her as she smiled.
"Exactly," nodded Claudia with a smile. "This is our quest, and the artifact, our one Ring."
"And I'd be Sam in this quest, huh?" said Myka.
"Of course," answered Claudia. "Sam is the best friend and partner of Frodo, who the quest centers around. In this case, Pete."
"Right," said Myka. "And everyone else?"
"Well, I'm Pippin, obviously, which would make Jinksy Merry," said Claudia.
"And Artie?"
"Artie?" Claudia smiled. "Artie is Gandalf."
Myka burst into laughter with Claudia as they reached the tent. A man dressed in working clothes of the renaissance—mostly thick leathers—was placing some new swords in the barrels outside the tent. He glanced up as they approached.
"Good day, young lasses," he greeted. "How might I assist ye on this fine day?"
Myka took her secret service badge out of her pocket. "We'd like to ask you some questions."
The smithy stepped closer to them. "Sure. What do you need to know?"
"Do you remember the last time you saw Nate Gausman?" asked Myka.
"Uh…I don't know," muttered the man. "Maybe two weeks ago?"
"Did you ever see Alicia Paetis or Howard Nolland?" asked Claudia. "One was a lady in waiting, the other was a knight."
Myka showed him pictures of the two victims.
The man frowned as he pointed at Howard's picture. "You know, I think I recognize him. Yeah, he came by last week to get a new sword."
"Did you see him after that?" asked Myka.
The man shook his head. "I sent him off to the prop tent to get a new scabbard for his sword. In fact, that's where I last saw Nate, too."
Claudia and Myka exchanged a look.
"Can you point us in that direction?" asked Myka.
"Yeah, just go down two rows and turn left," said the man, pointing down the aisle of tents behind them. "It's the second tent on the right, big blue one. Can't miss it."
"Okay, thank you for your time," said Myka.
Claudia walked away from the metal smith tent with Myka. "So, the artifact is in the prop tent?"
"They can probably use it for all sorts of things," said Myka. "It's a wooden stick, basically. Maybe the victims didn't even use it. Maybe they just tossed it aside while digging through all the other props."
"Well, we'll just have to test everything small, wooden and stick-like," said Claudia, pulling a pair of purple gloves from her jacket as Myka did the same.
The two of them made the left into a row of tents and headed for the big blue one on the right. They pulled aside the flap and stepped inside, staring in shock at what greeted them. Dozens of boxes and barrels stood gathered in the tent, filled with all manner of props. And about half of them were filled with hundreds of small wooden props.
"Holy wooden sticks, Batman…" Claudia muttered in exasperation.
I couldn't resist that Batman line. It was so something Claudia would say!