Author's note- Don't own it, wish I did. Not making any profit. And lots and lots and lots of thanks go out to my beta Valawenel, whose expertise and generosity are unparalleled. (UG! I am struggling with the Review program on Word- sorry, folks! Had to edit and re-post).
Chapter 4, Carron's Couplet
"Oh, this is not good. No, not good at all." Eve shook her head slowly as they all gazed at the illustration.
"This is so not good," Ezekiel agreed. "Any chance that it's not Jake in there?"
"Carron's Couplet." Jenkins said . "I should have guessed."
Eve and Ezekiel stared at him in confusion.
"Yes. Carron's Couplet." Jenkins repeated, with authority this time. "Well, technically it's one half of a couplet. Let's go wake Ms. Cillion. We need to talk."
.
.
.
Cassandra, still more pale than anyone was comfortable with, insisted that the brief nap had helped enormously. She sat quietly next to Ezekiel and across from Eve. Ezekiel noted the dark circles under her eyes and wondered if it was too late to coax her back to bed. Of course it was, he thought. Cassie would never just walk away from this. She felt responsible. Ezekiel didn't agree but he knew that nothing he could say would deter her.
The focus of their attention, the mythology book, sat innocently on the center of the table between them. All eyes were fixed on Jenkins as he stood at the head of the table speaking in, what Ezekiel referred to as his teaching voice (when he wasn't referring to it as his snotty-better-than-thou voice).
"Alexander Carron. A talented writer, artist and story teller. He lived many hundreds of years ago in a small village in England. As the tale goes, his stories were so wonderful that people traveled for miles to hear him speak. They claimed that his stories were so well told that the listener could actually see and hear the characters. In hindsight, it is likely that Carron was a wizard of sorts and it was magic that made his stories so riveting, though it is not entirely clear whether he knew he had a magical ability"..
"Ah, I think we know where this is going," Ezezekiel said.
Jenkins shrugged and continued. "Anyway, against the advice of his neighbors and friends, Carron purchased a horse which was both strong and beautiful, though very wild. Carron was certain he could break the horse. One day, while working with the animal, it became spooked and broke free. As it galloped wildly though the village, it trampled a neighbor 's child, a young boy that Carron was very fond of. The child was critically injured and near death. Carron sat vigil at his bedside all day and all night, and told wonderful stories to ease the boy's pain."
"Did the child live?" Cassie asked hopefully.
"Well, yes and no." Jenkins said. "Sadly, the child succumbed to his injuries and died the next morning. Carron was devastated. Mourning the loss, he went home and wrote a beautiful story about the boy. In this story, he wrote that the child survived the accident, grew up strong and brave, and had many children of his own. Thinking to ease the parent's grief, Carron brought the story to them as a gift. Imagine his surprise when he arrived to find the child alive and completely healed."
Cassie, who loved a happy ending, smiled and said. "The story healed him."
"Magic has a price." Ezekiel said.
Jenkins nodded at Ezekiel in approval. "This is so. The parents and villagers were overjoyed that the child was saved but it didn't take long before someone connected the story with the child's miraculous recovery. As you well know, magic has often been viewed with fear and prejudice throughout history. Though grateful that the child lived, the villagers became fearful and shunned Carron".
Eve winced. "Please don't tell me they burned him at the stake."
"No." Jenkins said. "For some time, he lived completely alone, ostracized by his friends and neighbors. He comforted himself by writing a book about a wondrous magical realm. It is believed that his sadness and longing manifested in the book as magic. As he finished writing the last word of the book, there was a blinding flash of light and the sound of a furious wind, and Carron vanished."
"Well, that part sounds familiar!" Ezekiel exclaimed.
Eve hushed Ezekiel with one of her classic glares. "Please continue, Jenkins".
"Carron found himself in the magical realm that he had created. He spent many years living there in relative content, but there came a time when he yearned for his own world. So, he wrote himself a book about home. In this book, he was living happily in his village where his friends and neighbors still loved him, and where the accident never happened. "
"Did it work?" Cassie asked softly.
"Yes. It did."
Cassie looked hopefully at Jenkins and asked, "So, he got to live out his life at home and happy?"
Jenkins pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Perhaps he did. Some versions of this tale say that."
"And the other versions?" Eve inquired.
"Many insist that Carron didn't stop with those two books. It has been said that he wrote others. And that each time he visited a land he created in his book, he would later write a second book that would bring him home, a slightly different version of home- a different time or situation, as no two books were alike. Each pair of books was called a couplet. Each book could transport him to the other land. But just that other time and place, no where else. Each book worked only with its companion book. And the two books in a couplet could never be together because each would always be left behind in the other world. I believe this to be one of Carron's couplet books."
Eve snorted. "Come on, Jenkins! You are asking me to believe that this Carron guy single handedly invented Greek mythology? How likely is that?"
Staring down his nose at her, Jenkins huffed. "You worked a shift for Santa Claus, Col. Baird. How likely was that?"
"Point taken."
Ezekiel stood and silently paced. "Nice story, Jenkins, but can we cut to the chase? How does this help us get Stone back?"
"It seems obvious. Jake needs to find the other book." Cassandra said.
"And do what with it exactly? I mean, how did this happen anyway? Cass touched the book and she didn't disappear." Ezekiel pointed out.
Jenkins nodded. "Good observation, Mr. Jones. I would theorize that triggering the book is linked with a strong emotion. For Carron, it was yearning. He wanted something. What, if anything, did Mr. Stone want?"
Cassandra looked blank but Ezekiel grinned. "Well, he very much wanted me to not touch that precious book!"
Looking relieved, Cassandra smiled. "That's it then! Easy! I really want Jake back so I will just touch the book."
"Easy?" Eve and Ezekiel exclaimed in unison. (Nothing about The Library was ever easy).
"It doesn't work that way, Ms. Cillian. He would need to touch the companion book himself. You can't use this to summon him home." Jenkins said.
"Then I will touch the book and go there to help him," Cassie declared.
"Absolutely not." Eve firmly vetoed the plan. It's too dangerous. I will go."
"Then take me with you. This is all my fault. I need to make it right. We'll all go, right Ezekiel?"
No, no, no, Ezekiel thought, no way. Forget it. How did I ever get mixed up with these insane people? I am going to get myself killed working with these lunatics. I am a thief, not a hero. I am so outta here, he thought as his lips inexplicably said, "Sure. Count me in. Always wanted to see Greece."
"As much as I hate to disappoint you," Jenkins said dryly, "your plan is doomed to failure. In fact, your plan is more likely to kill you all at worst, or trap you in Ancient Greece forever at best. Though perhaps that would not be such a bad thing."
"Wow. Don't know about you ladies but I am really feeling the love."
Cassandra turned her most appealing look at him and pleaded "Jenkins, please. You need to help us. We can't just leave him there."
After a moment of thoughtful silence, Jenkins grunted, shrugged and replied., "I can try but the little knowledge I have of Carron's couplets is anecdotal and may not be entirely correct."
"Understood." With her usual brisk efficiency, Eve commandeered the meeting. "We will need a plan, and it needs to be soon as we don't know how long Jake will last in his current…ah…situation. Jenkins, tell us everything you know and everything you've heard about these books."