Notes from the Past
by Tanya Reed
Hey, all! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Here's the next bit, in which everyone learns why I write stories and not poems...
Disclaimer: You know the drill. Relic Hunter Not Mine.
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Part 2, Chapter 2
Claudia jerked awake in confusion, wondering what had wakened her. Nearby, she could hear Karen snoring softly, and the clock radio on the bedside table said 3:04. She blinked languidly, wondering if it could have been a dream...then, she remembered what she had been dreaming about and knew she definitely wouldn't have wanted wake from that. Maybe it was the cat.
She listened intently, lying completely still. After a moment, she heard noises coming from downstairs. Convincing herself that it was Mafdet, Claudia let her eyes drift closed. They popped open again when a small, furry object jumped onto the bed with a quiet "meow", and the noise downstairs sounded once more.
The blood turned to ice in Claudia's veins. As quietly as she could, she sat up, trembling a little. Her eyes searched the darkened room for a weapon. They didn't see anything, so Claudia decided to wake Karen.
She crossed the two feet between their twin beds and crouched to shake her friend's shoulder. Karen mumbled but didn't wake up.
Claudia bent her head and whispered urgently in Karen's ear. "Karen!"
"Just five more minutes, Mom." This time, Karen's mumble was slightly more coherent.
"Karen, if you don't wake up, we'll be murdered in our beds!"
Her eyes opened. "Mur..."
Her gasp was cut off by Claudia's firm hand against her lips. "Karen, there's someone downstairs."
Karen gently removed the hand and whispered, "What?"
"There's someone downstairs...and it's not the cat!"
"Are you sure?"
Claudia pointed to her bed where the dim form of Mafdet could just be seen kneading the blankets. At the same time, there was a crash from downstairs.
Karen's eyes widened, but she said hopefully, "Maybe it's just Syd and Nige back from their trip."
"I don't think so."
"What should we do?" Karen's voice showed she was as scared as Claudia.
"Well, I'm not sitting up here waiting for someone to come and kill me. We need to go down there and chase him off."
"How? Neither of us is Sydney."
Claudia sat on the floor and thought for a moment, her back against Karen's mattress. She bounced off of it a couple of times before saying, "Syd's got to have something that we can use to bonk someone over the head around here."
"What if he's big and it doesn't work...or he has a gun?"
Claudia looked at her. "Syd wouldn't let that stop her, and neither will we."
Karen looked skeptical, but said, "Okay."
"I saw a wooden statue of some sort in Sydney's room. I bet that would pack a punch."
"I'd feel safer with her crossbow."
"Well, we don't have it, so think of something else." She got to her feet. "Are you coming?"
"Yeah. There's a walking stick on the wall in Nigel's room. I'll go get it." The fear was gone from Karen's face, replaced with determination. "Let's level the creep."
It startled Claudia briefly to see her lamb-like friend suddenly turn into a lion.
The two of them scrambled as quietly as they could to get the "weapons" they had chosen. The noises of someone moving downstairs got more pronounced, and Claudia had to swallow her fear. The statue was a solid and comforting presence in her hand.
She met Karen at the top of the stairs. Sydney's current secretary was holding the ancient walking stick like she meant business, and the look on her face was almost scary. She nodded grimly to Claudia, and Claudia nodded back.
As they made their way downstairs, Claudia noticed that there were lights on. Whoever was down there wasn't trying to be quiet, so the burglar must have thought the house was empty. She glanced at Karen, who reached over and squeezed her arm supportively. Whatever happened, neither of them was alone.
The sounds were coming from the living room. This was clear as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Someone was rummaging through Sydney's things. Even more importantly, he—or she—was touching Claudia's own things. If that burglar tried to take her new jewelry...
The girls crept forward, silently making their way to the doorway. Claudia reached it first and peeked inside. There she saw a man bent over, taking the pillows off of Sydney's couch. He was slight, with sandy hair and black clothing.
She jumped through the doorway, screaming and brandishing her wooden statue. This startled Karen, who hopped back with a squeak.
The man turned, barely in time to deflect Claudia's blow at his head with his arm. He hissed in pain and grabbed for her, but she danced out of his way and swung again. This hit him solidly on the shoulder.
"Karen," Claudia demanded, "Call the police."
The man knocked Claudia to the floor and made a run for the door. Karen swung as he went passed, clunking him solidly in the head with her stick. He growled but kept going towards the front door. Karen didn't follow, instead she grabbed the phone.
Claudia did run out to the entryway, just to make sure he was leaving. Shrilly, she cried, "And don't come back!"
Behind her, she could hear Karen's rushed, "Someone broke into our house..."
With satisfaction, Claudia put down her figurine, knowing that Sydney would be very proud of them.
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Sydney yawned as she pulled into her driveway. The morning had dawned bright and clear and the snow plow had already gone by when they had woken in the barn for the second time. She had quickly changed into her second set of clothes, and Nigel had donned his now dry clothes from the day before. After eating at a diner near the highway, they were soon on their way home.
It was about noon when they got there, and Sydney couldn't remember ever being so happy to see her house. Even though they had slept at least ten hours while in the barn, she felt as if she could crawl into her bed and sleep for a week.
"Home sweet home, Nigel," she announced.
He peered out the windshield with a frown, not answering.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Tire tracks."
"Huh?"
"Look at all the tire tracks."
It was her turn to peer out at the snow. The sun shining off of it dazzled her eyes a little, but she could see Nigel was right. At least three cars had been there while they were gone. She growled.
"If they threw a party..."
She quickly parked the Jeep and hopped out, not sure whether to be angry or worried. She could see Claudia throwing a party, but Karen had more sense. Besides, there had been no signs of visitors when Sydney had called the day before.
"We'll ask for explanations before I kill them," she said, suddenly hoping there had been a party.
Nigel nodded, throwing her satchel over his shoulder. He looked very serious, and she wondered if he were also thinking the tracks might prove more sinister.
By the time Sydney made it to the front door, her worry had overcome any hint of anger, though she knew it would come roaring back if the worry was unfounded.
The door was locked. Sydney glanced at Nigel, who shrugged and dug through her satchel for the key.
Before he even found it, the door was flung open and Sydney found herself with an armful of Claudia.
"Sydney! You're back!" The young blond squeezed her so tightly she could barely breathe.
"What happened?" she gasped.
"It was terrible...awful...Oh, Sydney, I was so scared!"
"Are you okay, Claudia? Where's Karen? Is she all right?"
"We're fine," Claudia assured her, letting her go. "Karen's in the living room cleaning up."
"Cleaning up?" Nigel asked.
She nodded, her eyes looking large in her pale, pixie-like face. "He made a big mess."
"Who?" Sydney asked in exasperation.
Claudia looked at her as if she were crazy. "The burglar."
"The burglar? We had a burglar?"
"Yeah, but he didn't take anything. We caught him before he could."
"Did you call the police?"
"Of course we did."
That would explain the tracks in the driveway.
Sydney hurried into the house, Nigel behind her. Even with Claudia's assurances that nothing was taken, she wanted to assess the damage for herself.
She found Karen kneeling on the floor frowning, pieces of a broken vase in her hand. Karen heard Sydney enter the room and turned, holding up the pieces.
"I don't think I can fix this."
"That's all right. I never liked that hideous thing anyway. Are you okay?"
"Sure, Claudia and I can take care of ourselves." She got to her feet. "How about you guys? Did you find some place warm to spend the night?"
"We were fine. Are you sure nothing was taken?"
"Not that I can see, though a couple of things were broken and things were scattered around. I got most of them back into place, though Claudia's decided to pack her stuff up from under the tree."
Sydney had a panicked thought and glanced at the mantel. She heaved a mental sigh when she saw the music box. Then, she went over and checked the secret compartment. Coin and letter were still there as well.
"Do you think this had anything to do with our visit to your uncle yesterday?" Nigel asked.
Sydney turned to him, the coin in her hand. "Do you?"
He shrugged. "It does seem awfully coincidental."
She nodded in answer. "Maybe we triggered things."
Karen frowned, causing little lines to appear between her brows. "What kind of things did you run into?"
"Maybe we should compare notes," Claudia suggested, uncharacteristically the voice of reason.
"Good idea," Sydney threw herself onto the couch.
Nigel settled beside her, while Karen took Mafdet's chair, with Claudia perching on the arm. Once they were all settled, Sydney outlined her visit with her uncle, emphasizing what he had said about the cougar and the name Harrington.
"Well," Karen said when Sydney finished, "we did find out some stuff. There's that poem. Plus, there are Harringtons in Clarksville. As a matter of fact, they've lived there since the 1600's..."
"And get this," Claudia put in, "They own a company called Catamount construction. Guess what their symbol is."
Nigel suggested, "A hissing cat matching one we found on a hundred year old medallion?"
"Exactly!"
"Matching perfectly," Karen added.
"Interesting," Sydney said. "Do you have a copy of the poem?"
Claudia jumped up. "I'll go get it. It's in the TV room."
That was also the room where Sydney kept her computer.
While Claudia was gone, Sydney asked, "So, what exactly happened last night?"
Karen told her about being awakened by Claudia and about ambushing the thief.
"You should have stayed upstairs and called the police. You could have been hurt!"
"He wasn't that big...and he didn't even have a gun."
Sydney decided she was definitely going to have to give her friend self defense lessons if she insisted on ambushing burglars.
Claudia was back in minutes, the poem clutched triumphantly in her small had. "Here it is."
She handed it to Sydney, who leaned close to Nigel so he could read over her shoulder.
"Darkness comes on an unsuspecting world
And something dangerous takes shape
Claws and teeth and intelligence
Lives and blood to rend and take
It haunts the night
It loves the dark
It longs to tear and crush
It shies from light
That stops the heart
And turns its life to dust
The stillness breaks with one shrill cry
The victims run but still must die
The cat is loose to rule with fear
The moon has risen, the time is near
Scream and moan, flesh and bone
The prey to bleed as the monster feeds
It reeks of death, ripping into flesh
But it cannot stay come light of day"
"Lovely," Sydney said sarcastically.
"I hope the poet had a day job," Nigel agreed.
"I was talking about the subject matter. It's rather gruesome, don't you think?"
"All that rending and blood and nonsense? Do you think it has anything to do with the coin or Melody's disappearance?"
"I have no idea," Sydney admitted, "but it could. The poem mentions a cat and teeth and claws. My gut tells me it's not coincidence. Who was the author?"
"I don't know," Claudia said. She looked at Karen.
"I don't know either. It's not there?"
"No," Sydney told her. "Just the poem. Maybe it's on the website you got it from."
"I'll check." This time, Karen jumped up.
"Do you think it's important?" Nigel asked Sydney as Karen left the room.
"Maybe."
She turned the coin over and studied the words. They were small and worn but still clearly legible. Darkness. Claws. Teeth. Blood. Haunts. Crush. Heart. Dust. Shrill. Victims. Cat. Moon. Scream. Bone. Feeds.
Karen was back in minutes. They could hear her running down the hallway. Her socks slid a little on the wooden floor, and she almost went right by the door.
Catching herself on the door frame, she gasped, "Harrington. Ezekiel Harrington."
"Harrington. That can't be a coincidence. Nigel?"
"Yes, Syd?" She could hear knowledge of what she was about to say in his voice.
"Pack your clothes. We're going back to Clarksville. This time, we're going to visit Catamount Construction and poke around a little."
"Can we come?" Claudia asked, excitement in her eyes.
Sydney looked at Nigel, who shrugged.
"Sure," she said, "Why not? Karen, please call Clarksville and make us some reservations."
"On it, Syd."
"So, what's our MO on this one?" Nigel asked. "Are we going to come right out and ask them about the coin?"
"I don't think so. We don't want them to know we have it. We might have better luck if we claim to be researching the poem—maybe intrigued by the imagery or something. We can always say we ran into information on the coin as part of our research..."
"And, as descendants of the poet, we thought the modern day Harringtons might have some information!" Karen broke in.
"Exactly."
"Do you think they'll tell us anything?" Nigel asked.
"I don't know, but sometimes you learn as much from what someone doesn't say as from what they do."
"Are we making the trip back tonight?"
Sydney frowned, thinking about the long drive she had just finished. "No, I don't think so. They won't be open until tomorrow anyway. Make our reservations for tomorrow night, Karen."
Karen had been waiting by the phone for the final okay. At Sydney's instructions, she picked up the receiver and started dialing. Claudia and Nigel picked this moment to start bickering. Sydney tuned both of them out, and once more her eyes turned to the coin. This time, she focused on the cougar side. A part of her mind, one that sounded an awful lot like Nigel, wondered if she should continue pursuing the mystery. After all, the coin had destroyed at least two lives. Those lives hadn't been perfect, but Nic and Melody had been happy in their own way.
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Sydney waited at the window, peering into the cold December evening. The air was clear and crisp and stars filled the sky. Even without the aid of the outside light, she was sure she would still see the blanket of snow covering everything and the cheery form of the snowman her mom and dad had helped her make earlier that afternoon. It was wearing her dad's warm hat and Sydney's own blue and purple scarf.
"Anything yet, Scootchie?" Randall asked from behind her.
She turned to face him, almost begrudging the time it took her to look away.
"Not yet. They're coming for sure, right?"
"Your Aunt Melody said they'd be here, so they'll be here."
"I can't wait!"
Sydney squirmed a little as she went back to looking out of the window. Aunt Melody always had great hugs and pockets full of gum. Uncle Nic never failed to bring her something when he came to visit. Plus, she loved his blue eyes. They seemed to twinkle with laughter even when his face was completely serious. In the back of her mind, Sydney knew her parents didn't love her Uncle Nic like she did. It puzzled her, but she knew she was free to make up her own mind. That was something her father had always stressed.
"You're a little girl, Scootchie, but that doesn't make you an idiot." The words went through her mind. "Think things over and trust your gut. I won't always agree with you, but I'll always listen to your side."
It seemed like forever before she saw headlights coming up the driveway.
"They're here!" She let out a joyous yell, turning from the window and running towards the front door.
She reached it before they did and danced from foot to foot as she waited for it to open. Seconds stretched into years, but eventually her aunt and uncle pushed their way through the door. Both of them were smiling, and Uncle Nic's hand rested gently on Aunt Melody's shoulder.
"Is there anyone home?" the latter said in a merry voice.
"I am!" Sydney announced, throwing herself at her aunt.
Melody grabbed her and swung her into the air before giving her a firm hug and three kisses.
"There's my girl. My goodness, Sydney, you're growing so fast."
"I used to be the shortest in my class, but now Deanna Whynot is shorter than me," she said proudly.
"Is that so? Pretty soon, you're going to be as tall as your dad."
Sydney's eyes widened. "Do you think so?"
"You'll be big and strong and able to beat the bad guys," Uncle Nic assured her, his eyes twinkling.
"I hate being small," Sydney admitted. "Did you bring me anything, Uncle Nic?"
"Sydney!" her mom said in a shocked voice from nearby, where she had been watching the exchange.
This time, Nic did laugh, "It's all right, Rosemarie. I like a little girl with some spunk."
"Does your Uncle Nic ever forget you?" Melody asked, giving Sydney another squeeze before lowering her to the floor.
"Never," she replied with firm excitement.
Her uncle started digging through his pockets, which jingled and jangled in a most intriguing way. Sydney watched him excitedly, wondering if he had forgotten it in the car—or, even worse, back in Clarksville.
After an eternity, Nic's hand came out of one of his pockets holding a box. It was prettily wrapped in green paper with red ribbon and a big red bow. He bowed with flourish, solemnly presenting the present to her.
"For you, my lady."
Sydney took it, remembering at the last moment to say, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. I hope you like it."
Sydney immediately set to work ripping off the paper and ribbons. The box was small, but she had learned that many nice things—like her mom and her cat Bijou—were.
She gasped with delight as the last of the paper fell away and the box was opened to reveal a horse in perfect miniature. Though only about three inches tall, the detail was remarkable. Sydney almost expected it to blink its long, lovely lashes. The horse itself was a deep chestnut with a mane and tail as black as night. She loved it the moment she saw it.
"It's great! Thank you, Uncle Nic. Thank you, Aunt Melody...Look, Mom!"
Her mother knelt to take the tiny horse from Sydney's tanned fingers. "It's beautiful, Sweetheart."
Then, she smiled and handed it back. Sydney cupped it in her hands gently. The smile faded a little as Rosemarie stood up.
"Merry Christmas, Melody...and Merry Christmas to you, Nic." Her voice was just a little stiff.
"Merry Christmas, Rosemarie!" Melody answered, crushing her smaller sister in a firm hug.
"Yes, Merry Christmas," Nic repeated. "Thanks for inviting us."
His hand reached out and rested on Rosemarie's shoulder for a moment. She nodded and beckoned them inward.
"You must be cold. Get out of those wet things and come into the warmth."
They hurriedly discarded their jackets, mittens, and boots. Sydney's mother took the garments and placed them over the vent to dry.
Nic put his arm around Melody and drew her towards the living room. He smiled at her and winked. "This way, love."
She laughed and said to Sydney, "All right, my little doll, show us to the heat. My toes feel like ice cubes."
Feeling important, Sydney announced, "This way."