CANNOT BE SEEN

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Chapter 8

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" Anonymous

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It was a cold and windy morning, like so many others before it. The fog lay in a sheet a few feet above the damp grass and the sky was colorless. The treetops of the forest fell on the horizon line in sharp relief against the cloudy gloom. The barrage of chilly air pounded the steadfast trees and the leaves rustled against each other as the boughs of the trees bent to the wind's will. The air was thick with moisture and the fresh smell of early morning was carried by the heavy breeze. It was inevitable. The dampness condensed and then started to fall from the sky in tiny droplets. The drops were pushed by the wind, whipping them into sharp icy pricks of water, pelting the entire village.

Ivy had led Lucius to near the middle of the village when it had started to rain. They both gasped as the first sheet of icy water hit them and they stopped dead in their steps. Ivy started to laugh as she slowly got soaked by the rain and Lucius grabbed her hand, slick with water, and shouted over the wind.

"Let us go back to your house."

Ivy's smile fell from her face as she shook her head. "No, Lucius, I need to talk to you away from there!"

He sighed and looked around quickly, his clothes already saturated with rain water. "Fine, to my house," he started to lead Ivy towards his house, walking quickly.

"No, Lucius," Ivy dug her heels into the flooded grass. "Your mother is there. We must go where no one can overhear."

Lucius sighed and cast his eyes around the village, trying to see through the rain to find somewhere to go as water ran into his eyes. Then his gaze stopped.

"The meeting house!" He called to Ivy. She turned to where she knew the building stood and nodded, then, hand in hand, Lucius and Ivy ran towards the meeting house.

The drops pounded the thin layer of water on the ground and their feet kicked up the puddles, splashing their shoes and legs with the cold water. Finally, Lucius guided Ivy up the steps and they stumbled into the large room, closing the door behind them forcefully against the invasion of the wind.

They then stood, panting and dripping all over the wooden floor. Their clothes were soaked and uncomfortable against their skin. Lucius's hair was plastered against his head and Ivy's hung in pieces around her face. Water dripped from their bodies and clothes, rolling off them and pooling around their soggy shoes. The water started to evaporate from them in the cold draught blowing in from the open window and it made them both shiver violently.

Lucius moved first. Still breathing heavily, he went over to the open window and pulled the shutters closed, snapping the locks shut. It brought instant relief from the wind, but it did not help the cold caused by the unfortunately wet state of them both.

"Oh, Lucius, It is freezing." Ivy whispered, wrapping her drenched arms around herself and trembling.

Lucius searched the room for something to aid their condition and his gaze settled on the line of wooden chests below the windows. He moved over to them and pulled the first one open. It was filled with table linens that were used on the long diner tables. Not the most appropriate, but they would do. He pulled a few out, taking one and bringing it over to Ivy, wrapping it tightly around her shoulders.

They removed their sodden shoes and Lucius peeled off his soaking coat, and then they sat together, wrapped up in the table linens, on the chairs that were stacked in the corner of the empty room.

It was silent for a long while, nothing but the sound of the rain angry on the roof, as Lucius waited for Ivy to speak.

Instead she startled him with her frozen hand on his face. She ran her fingers over his damp features and pushed his sopping hair off of his forehead. He sat still for a moment and then pulled the cloth tighter around him and removed Ivy's hand from his water-logged hair. He took both her hands in his own and rubbed them together, bringing them up to his lips and warming them with his breath. Then he whispered into the room.

"What is it you wish to tell me?"

Ivy let out a small sigh before, in great detail, relaying the story of what happened between her and her father. When at last she ran out of words, she looked on at Lucius's blazing color, waiting patiently for him to process what she had said.

"Your father would not even let you hold the book?" He asked finally.

Ivy nodded. "He took it away from me nearly as soon as I took it from the shelf."

Lucius rolled this information over in his head. "And you said he acted oddly when he saw which book it was?"

She nodded yet again. "His breathing changed. He started acting awkward…uncomfortable. It was so plain that he was hiding something."

Lucius was silent for a long moment. "What did he do once he took the book away?"

"He tried to distract me with a different book. One that was not disguised."

Lucius again was silent for a stretch and all that could be heard was the rain outside.

"Ivy, I think we need to go look at the books again." His voice was hushed and she immediately nodded in agreement at his words.

"Let us wait until the storm passes." Ivy suggested as she leaned into Lucius's side and closed her eyes in the tranquility of the rainy morning.

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Mr. and Mrs. Walker were startled from their continued quiet conversation by a loud rap on their door.

Edward stood from his seat on the settee and moved to the door, pulling it open. Before him stood a young man of the village looking quite stricken. Matthew Adams.

"What is it, Matthew?" Mr. Walker asked him with a kind, but apprehensive voice.

The young man took the hat off of his head and looked up at Edward. His words were stilted and troubled, "My…youngest sister, Marybeth, has…fallen ill, Sir." There was a pause. "Just as young Daniel Nicholson had." This addition revealed the seriousness of the situation. Daniel Nicholson had fallen ill and, after a short struggle, had perished.

"Has the doctor seen her?" Edward asked, his tone turning grave in a heartbeat.

"Yes, Sir. He is with her as we speak. He told me to inform you." The young man nodded and took a step back for Mr. Walker to have room to step outside. It was an unconscious prompt to follow him and Edward needed no further provoking. He looked back to his wife. Her face was tight with worry and her lips were pressed tightly together. She quickly moved to Edward's side and they, together, took haste in following the young man across the flooded grounds to the Adams' house.

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Lucius was staring unseeingly out the window when movement caught his eye and brought him from his state of daze.

He was still sitting, wrapped up in the table linens with Ivy pressed firmly to his side. She was dozing, the sound of the soft rain lulling her.

The storm had lost its ire and was now mellow and calm. The pouring rain had receded into a drizzle and the wind had died down considerably. All that Lucius could hear, save for Ivy's breathing, was the patter of the rain overhead. It had soothed even him into a state of drowsiness. But, now he was alert as he saw the movement of figures outside through the front window.

Lucius squinted his eyes slightly, trying to discern the shapes through the rain and gloom. They had come from the direction of the Walkers' house and he decided that one was Mr. Walker and the other was Mrs. Walker. The third person's identity was now unimportant to Lucius. An idea had wormed its way into his mind.

"Ivy," Lucius whispered loudly, shaking her shoulder gently.

She stirred from her sleep and took a moment to blink away her sleepiness before turning her eyes to Lucius's color. Her face was beautiful in a slumbering sort of innocence and Lucius was unaware of his hand as it brushed Ivy's still-damp hair back from her face and the back of his fingers brushed her porcelain cheek. This woke Ivy further and she placed her hand atop Lucius's murmuring, "Mmmm."

"Ivy," He mumbled after the slightest pause of staring into her piercing eyes. "I have just seen your parents leave your house…and before they return I wanted to take another look at the books."

Ivy nodded in agreement, still not fully awake, and moved to stand. She stretched out the creaks in her body created by an uncomfortable position of sleep and let the wrinkled linens fall the floor. Gathering them from the floor, she took Lucius's from him as well and replaced them where they had found them.

It was only moments until Ivy and Lucius were down the meeting house steps and quickly walking across the village to the Walkers', trying to evade the slight rain. When they made it to the front door, they entered the house swiftly to get out of the wet, and Lucius took one last look over to his shoulder to make certain Mr. And Mrs. Walker were not returning. There was no one outside, so he shut the door firmly.

They both stood in the front room for a moment to catch their breath and then Lucius moved past Ivy towards the bookcase. His first glimpse showed him something completely unacceptable. The bookcase had lost several books. There were spaces where books would fit perfectly, and although the shelves were still quite full, they looked empty to Lucius.

"Ivy," Lucius's tone was not normal and she picked it up immediately.

"What is it, Lucius?" Her voice betrayed her concern and she took a few cautious steps to meet him in the middle of the room.

"The books, Ivy…they…they are gone."

It was silent for beat.

"Gone?" She repeated. "The shelves are…empty?"

Lucius shook his head slowly. "Not entirely. Only the disguised books."

Ivy turned her blind gaze from Lucius's blinding color to the shelves. She took a couple of sure steps forward and stopped in front of the books. Running her hand down the books she reached a space where it was empty and sucked in a breath. Her hands roamed over the entire bookcase, feeling every space. It used to be full to bursting; it used to feel that if you took a book off the shelf they all may tumble down with it.

"Do…Do you think that my father…knows we saw them?" Her voice was hushed in distress.

Lucius did not know, and he admitted it to Ivy. She let out a sigh and Lucius looked to the other side of the room, slowly immersing himself in his conflicting thoughts.

Could Mr. Walker have known? It is possible. Probable, no. But possible, yes. He had been careful to return everything to its place, he knew he had. Maybe someone had seen them? Again, not probable. If, however, someone had…would Mr. Walker have hidden them further? Most definitely. If so…where? And was it completely improper to look for them? Probably.

Lucius's internal dialogue went on before he began to confuse himself with thoughts. He just didn't know what to think anymore. He tried to clear his mind and looked around the room lazily.

It was then that he caught sight of the blackened fireplace. He thought nothing of it until, minutes later, when it came fully to his attention. He then also noticed the smell of a peculiar smoke lacing the room.

He stared before slowly moving to the fireplace and kneeling before it, his eyes still searching the dark interior.

"Lucius?" Ivy's voice penetrated his mind and he turned back to watch her come kneel beside him. "What is it?"

He did not reply because it was then that something light in the black pool of ashes distracted him. He reached into the fireplace and took hold of the off-colored item. He shook it free of straying ashes and brought it slowly closer to his face, trying to figure out what it was he was examining.

It was an off-white grey color and, after brushing off the soot, one could see black ink stamped in letters. The small piece of paper was glossy and smooth between Lucius rough fingers. It was a piece of a page from one of the books.

Lucius looked back into the immense mound of cinders. It was clear that very much had been consumed by the now dead fire.

"Burned." He whispered, almost to himself.

"What?" Ivy asked, placing a hand on Lucius's arm.

"They were burned, the books. In the fireplace." He raised the tone of his voice only slightly and it took Ivy a moment to process what he had said.

"Burned?" She reached out blindly towards the fireplace, searching for some kind of proof, or evidence. Lucius took a small handful of ashes and pressed them into Ivy's hand, smearing them, staining her hand black with the only remnants of the mysterious books.

"Oh, Lucius. They are gone." Her voice held unexplainable sadness. She had grown deeply fond of the books. The knowledge they possessed, although she knew not what knowledge they truly held, captivated her. She had foolishly assumed they would always be there to think over at their leisure, but now they were all gone. All of them. She closed her eyes in despair at the mere thought of the information that they had lost. The answer to all the secrets lie in those books, she knew, and now they were lost. They had served no other purpose than to fuel a brief, fleeting fire. The answers to all her and Lucius's questions had, most literally, gone up in flame.

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TBC

Until next time…