Chapter Six

No one knew quite what to make of the astonishing statement. They all exchanged bewildered looks.

"Cursed?!" Marty finally scoffed. "Then why didn't any of the servants say something?!"

"They thought you'd run away back to the States, Marty, and they wanted to be sure you'd stay and not give this place up," Mrs. Keith said. "They don't want it to go to anyone else."

Radley still looked disbelieving. "Okay, so the Bunch saw something that looked like trees walking," he said. "What's the story behind the curse?"

"It's been lost to time," Mrs. Keith said. "There are so many variations that no one knows which one is the actual story, if any of them are."

"There must be some common elements in most of the versions," Kalin said, folding his arms.

"There are," Mrs. Keith admitted. "Most have something about one of our ancestors making a deal with the queen of the Fae. But he backed out of it and she cursed the woods around the castle. If anyone goes in, they don't come back out."

"Fairies?!" Virgil snorted. "Oh brother."

Jimmy elbowed him. "Virg, don't be rude!" he hissed. "I think a lot of people still believe in that stuff around here!"

Mrs. Keith gave a weary sigh. "I don't know whether I do or not," she said. "But there's no doubt that the woods are strange. I went in once during a visit after being repeatedly warned by everyone here not to go. It seemed like they closed in on me and that the trees really were moving. But I was so young back then. It could have been my imagination."

"And you did get out, obviously," Radley said. "But . . . if the trees actually didn't move, that would have to be a really elaborate trick to make it look like that. Would anyone have the money and means to pull it off?"

"It could be KaibaCorp technology," Marty said, "like what the crooks were using at the Bennett Ranch."

"That could explain things now," Radley mused, "but not decades in the past."

"And why would my great-uncle will me this place?" Marty said. "There was no warning about a curse! Didn't he care if I walked right into it?!"

"I think he thought you could break it, Marty," Mrs. Keith said. "He heard you've been mixed up in some supernatural mysteries and he thought that made you the perfect Keith to confront the queen of the Fae and set things right."

Marty slapped his forehead. "Oh, this is just getting too nuts!"

"Yeah, the servants' story about the dyne made a lot more sense," Scotch blurted.

An awkward silence fell over everyone.

"Scotch, for crying out loud," Biff scowled.

Scotch shrank back. "I'm sorry. . . . I didn't mean . . . I just got caught up in the moment. . . ."

Mrs. Keith relaxed. "Well, so you already know about the dyne," she said. "That makes things easier. I'm afraid both are true, though. The castle is made from dyne-infused stone, and there is a curse on the woods. And my husband's father honestly thought Marty could break it. Now, whether there really is a queen of the Fae to talk to is another matter. You know, it could simply be another family in the area and retellings of the story turned it into a conflict with the Fae."

"That would make a lot more sense," Radley said. "Maybe their last name even is Fae, or it could have been a woman named Faye."

"If it's not supernatural or KaibaCorp technology, though, why are the trees moving?!" Scotch said.

"Maybe the woman's a witch?" Virgil snorted.

". . . Which is worse, fairies or witches?" Scotch gulped.

"Honestly, it's probably a toss-up," Marty said. "In the old legends, fairies are not the sweet things people think of them as. They could get pretty nasty. They're also usually not tiny and are full-size. I don't know how that thing got started with fairies being small and something kids would want to look for."

Radley had gone over to the window to look out at the trees. But he finally frowned and turned away, shaking his head. "The trees sure aren't moving now," he said. "How about we just go down to dinner?"

"Yeah, let's do that," Marty said in relief. "Oh, aunt Martha, these are the rest of my friends here." He introduced the others as they started to walk to the stairs.

"Hello," she greeted them. She glanced to Radley. "Everyone in the dyne industry knows about you, Mr. Ramon. Your mine is one of the largest suppliers in the States."

Radley gave an easy smile. "So they talk about me, huh? What do they say?"

"Mostly they talk about your business sense, but they also mention you take in strays," Mrs. Keith replied as they started down the stone steps. "Although I wish they wouldn't think of Marty like that. He's not a stray; he has a family, a very well-bred one."

"So maybe we're mismatched, but we care about him," Virgil retorted.

Kalin held his tongue, but he couldn't help thinking that if pedigree was so important to the Keiths, maybe they should be aware that Radley was from one of the most prestigious families in California.

Mrs. Keith looked chagrined. "Of course you do. I didn't mean to imply . . ."

"You just want everybody to know where Marty comes from," Radley mused. "That's great, honestly."

Virgil shot him a stunned look. Radley just smiled.

"My family's the complete opposite," he continued. "They don't want anybody to know I'm connected with them. I'm happy Marty's family is proud of him."

They reached the dining room before the conversation could continue, and Aggie and several maids showed everyone to their seats. Marty had been consulted on the seating plan, and he had made sure to seat Kalin and Radley next to each other, and Virgil and Jimmy, and Scotch and Biff. He himself had arranged to sit with Billy and Clint, with his aunt and uncle across from him.

"This is very nice," Mrs. Keith said as the food was brought in to them and they started dishing up what they wanted.

"Thank you," a maid said. "I'm so sorry, but dessert is being difficult and it will probably be done far later than your dinner."

"That's okay," Marty said. "There's plenty to do if it's not done right after dinner."

". . . So . . . maybe we should talk about the dyne?" Scotch ventured after a moment.

Mr. Keith jumped a mile, looking sick. Mrs. Keith just sighed. "It's alright, Dear. They know, and I know they know."

"Oh." Mr. Keith cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well . . . naturally the castle is an incredible historical artifact, but it could make us all so much money. There's dyne infused in every stone!"

Radley couldn't help looking a little dreamy-eyed himself at that, but he quickly shook his head. "If Marty doesn't want to tear it down for the dyne, then that's that," he said. "You know, this probably isn't the only castle around with dyne in it. If we go tearing down all of them, we're destroying a lot of the past."

"It should be the future we care most about," Mr. Keith said.

"Well, our thing is kinda preserving the original way of dueling, even while we're supplying the dyne industry," Radley said. "None of us even Turbo Duel."

"And we like old music!" Scotch added.

"So, I mean, the point is that we appreciate the past as well as the future," Radley said.

"That's not surprising, considering you dress like you were auditioning for The Wild One," Mr. Keith grunted.

Radley immediately gave a cheeky smirk. "Oh, of course, that's my favorite movie." But he sobered just as quickly. "It's really not; my favorite is The Lord of the Rings."

"Oh?" Mr. Keith quirked an eyebrow. "For the fight scenes?"

"More for the friendships," Radley said. "It's so hard to find anything in Western media that focuses more on friendships than romance. I usually end up reading manga and watching anime because of that."

"You are an unusual one," Mr. Keith said.

"Radley likes One Piece!" Scotch volunteered.

"It's such a weird show, but he likes the friendships," Billy said.

"Yeah, the storyline is pretty weird," Radley said, laughing. "And honestly, I don't like everything about it. But the found family of misfits kind of aspect really resonates with me. It's our story, in a way. People sometimes judge Luffy and his crew because they're pirates, and we get judged for being a motorcycle gang. But Luffy's group helps instead of hurts, and that's what we try to do too."

"I guess that fits then," Mr. Keith mused. "So you wouldn't support any salvaging of the dyne, even if the castles were then rebuilt with regular stones?"

"I think you'd find that the cost of doing that would cancel out any value you'd get from the dyne," Radley said. "Plus it's unlikely you could get them put back together exactly as they are now."

"And you'd get all the ghosts mad!" Biff quavered.

Mrs. Keith sighed. "I guess it's true that the staff would never stand for such a thing. And the old and deceased residents of the castles actually might make a fuss."

"I'd make a fuss too," Marty said. "Let's just keep the castle and forget about the dyne. I'm more worried about the creep wandering around knocking people out. Why is there a tunnel under one of the coffins?!"

"It seems like the stuff of practical jokes, doesn't it?" Mr. Keith mused. "Well, there must have been a logical purpose for it to begin with, although I'm not sure what it could have been. The last place one would look for an escape hatch, maybe?"

"Do you know where it comes out?" Radley asked.

"It must be on the grounds somewhere," Mr. Keith said. "Or possibly in the woods."

"Was there ever a body in that coffin?" Radley wondered.

"Likely not," Mrs. Keith said. "But we certainly never wanted to play there and find out!"

"We'll have to go down there and see where it leads," Kalin flatly announced.

Biff whimpered. "No. . . ."

"You don't have to go, Biff," Radley said. "Someone should stand guard to make sure we'll be able to get back out again if we can't find the other exit."

"What about the woods?" Billy wondered.

Radley sighed. "I don't know. I don't think we should do anything about them until tomorrow; going out in the woods at night is loco whether they're haunted or not. But the only way we'll find out what's going on in there is to face it head-on."

"That makes sense," Billy said, but he didn't look pleased. "So tonight's crazy adventure will be going under that coffin?"

"Probably," Radley said. "We need to see if there's any clues down there to that prankster's identity."

The rest of the meal proceeded peacefully, but with everyone wondering exactly what would happen when they tried to look into the tunnel. Mr. and Mrs. Keith definitely seemed concerned, and when dinner wrapped up and they decided to go into the passageway while dessert was still being prepared, Mrs. Keith announced, "You should take Jonathan with you. He could help if you run into any trouble."

Radley hesitated. He still wasn't sure whether Jonathan might be the prankster himself, although he didn't really believe that. In light of such concerns, however, the thought of wandering in an unfamiliar space with someone he didn't fully trust didn't thrill him.

"Why don't you keep watch instead?" he said easily. "For all we know, the creep hid down there again after hurting Jarvis and they might try to come back up through the coffin."

". . . I guess that's possible," Mr. Keith frowned.

Before going down, Marty rounded up the servants to ask all of them about the passageway. All seemed hesitant, but finally one of the maids spoke up.

"It comes out in the old church," she said. "I suppose it's awfully disrespectful to the dead and all, but I use it a lot when I need to clean in there. It's better passin' through the crypt to get to it rather than goin' outside and feeling all those eyes watchin' from the woods!"

"Hey, that checks out with what happened with us!" Jimmy said. "We chased that guy all over the grounds and into the church, and then he disappeared! Maybe he went back in the same passageway!"

"Then he might still be hiding out down there," Radley said in concern. "We'll have to be really careful."

Mrs. Keith's eyes flickered with concern. "I wish you wouldn't go down with them, Marty."

"This is my property now, Aunt Martha," Marty said. "I need to know what's going on. And I wouldn't want my friends going down into danger without me."

She sighed but smiled. "Your parents would be proud that you're loyal," she said.

They headed downstairs and into the crypt. All looked the same as it had that afternoon. The feeling of being surrounded by death left them all shaken up and uneasy, but Radley tried to push those thoughts aside as he opened the fake coffin. Pressing on the secret lever, he waited while it popped open and then started to climb inside. He took out his flashlight to shine around the area.

Kalin swiftly followed him in. "How does it look?"

"Creepy, but empty," Radley said. The stone steps led down into a spacious chamber held up by strong, cylindral pillars. Shining the light about revealed plenty of shadows and small nooks with arched doorways. All were empty.

Without warning a dark figure darted out of the shadows, shoving Radley out of his way and accidentally unzipping his right jacket pocket during the commotion. Radley yelled in surprise and stumbled back. At the same moment, something clattered to the floor and footsteps ran down the passageway towards the church.

"Are you alright?" Kalin demanded.

"Fine," Radley said. "Go after him!" He bent down, feeling around for what had dropped to the floor.

"What fell?" Marty frowned.

"My auto-injector." Radley finally found it and straightened, shoving it back in his pocket. "That guy pulled it out when he crashed into me." He sighed and turned to look down the corridor. Kalin was running after the mysterious assailant, and now Radley resumed the chase as well.

"He's allergic to something?" Mr. Keith commented as he peered down through the opening.

"Yeah," Marty replied. But, not feeling it his place to say more, he ran after his friends.

He didn't catch up until a heavy stone wall creaked open and banged against the church wall. Kalin and Radley went running into the small chapel and out the open front door, but then had to stop short in bewilderment.

"Where'd he go?!" Radley exclaimed.

Kalin beamed his flashlight around the area. "He couldn't have gone far. And yet he seems to have disappeared."

"Maybe he went in the woods." Radley looked uneasily towards the trees, dark and silent and still against the night sky.

"He'd have to be crazy," Kalin grunted. "Unless he knows exactly what he's doing and he's the one making the trees seem to move."

"That would be my guess," Radley said. "I still don't buy the curse idea. Not when this is the real world and not the Duel Monsters' world." He sighed and turned away. "And it would just be stupid to try going in there tonight. Tomorrow, though, we're gonna have to tackle it."

"I know," Kalin said.

Marty caught up with them back inside. "Well?" he demanded, out of breath from running.

"He got away," Radley said in frustration. "We don't know where." In resignation he trudged back through the church and into the passageway.

"What I don't understand is why was he waiting here all this time?" Kalin frowned. "He could have easily slipped out through the church while we were all at dinner."

"Yeah. It was almost like he was waiting for us. But then he didn't do anything except grab my auto-injector." Radley shined his flashlight around the cold, musty room.

"Aren't there any lights down here?" Marty said in annoyance.

The maid was still peering down through the open coffin along with the others. "Yes, Sir, on the wall," she said.

Finally they located the light switches and turned them on, but it wasn't any less of a puzzle. The room was bare, with no indication of whom they were looking for.

"Aww man!" Scotch said in frustration when he climbed in to look. "There's nothing here!"

"You said it." Radley ran a hand through his hair. "And even if there's another secret passage, who knows when we'll find it! Are there some blueprints of the castle somewhere?"

"Oh yes, but they might not be accurate," the maid said.

"Try to find them anyway," Marty said. "We need to know where all these things are."

"Of course, Sir," she said.

With nothing more they could do right then, they all climbed back up in defeat and headed out of the crypt. Biff was all too relieved of that, and Scotch quickly had his attention on something else. "Dessert should be ready now!" he exclaimed.

Radley chuckled. "Okay, let's check it out."

The dining table was indeed prepared for dessert, with goblets filled with red-violet liquid at each place setting. Radley eyed them warily and lifted the one at his chair. "This smells like wine," he announced. "What have the rest of you got?"

Kalin picked up his. "Soda."

The rest of the Bunch chorused likewise.

Radley couldn't refrain from a slight tremble as he set the glass back down. "I'm the only one with wine. . . ."

Mr. Keith raised an eyebrow. "It's an odd oversight, but why do you look so pale about it?"

"I'm allergic to grapes," Radley said. "Seriously allergic. If I'd drunk this, I'd be on the floor within seconds going into anaphylactic shock." He drew a shaking breath. "Whoever was down there with us pulled my auto-injector out, but they'd have no way of knowing what kind of allergy it was for. They'd have to bring up my medical records to find that out."

"It could be a coincidence," Mr. Keith objected.

"No." Radley shook his head. "That'd be too much of one. Somebody is either trying to seriously scare us or kill me."

"But why?!" Marty burst out. "Why go after you?! Why not me?! I'm the heir! If they just want to get the castle for the dyne, I'd be the one to kill!"

"I don't know," Radley admitted. He sank into his chair, overwhelmed. "It couldn't be that they want to stop me from identifying the dyne. Scotch and Biff already did that and everyone admits there's dyne."

Marty clenched his fists. "I'm going to find out who filled those glasses," he vowed. He stormed to the kitchen before anyone could protest.

"I should go with him," Billy decided. He hurried off too.

Kalin's eyes were dark with rage. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this!" he vowed. He immediately followed after the boys.

The chef looked up grouchily as they approached the kitchen. "What's wrong, Master Marty?" he grunted. "Dessert will be out in a moment. I'm sorry we're having so much trouble with it, but . . ."

"It's not that," Marty interrupted. "Who filled the goblets out there?"

"Jenny," was the reply. "Why?"

"I told you no alcohol unless my aunt and uncle wanted it," Marty said.

"Yes, and she stuck to that!" the chef retorted, his voice gaining a bit of an edge.

"Only she didn't," Marty said. "She poured wine for Radley and he's allergic! It could kill him if he drank it!"

The chef bristled. "There was no wine at that table! Jenny most certainly didn't put any! She told me herself that it had been a long time since all the guests were drinkin' non-alcoholic beverages! Here she is now! Ask her!"

They turned as a confused Jenny entered the kitchen from its pantry door. "Yes," she said. "I didn't pour wine for anyone, Master Marty! Honest, I didn't!"

Marty slumped back. "Then . . . who did?" he helplessly whispered. "What's going on here?! Who's trying to kill Radley and how do they even know he's allergic?!"

Kalin gripped his shoulder. "I don't know," he said darkly, "but I'm going to find out."