Key of Knowledge

Chapter Eighteen

WHEN Moe dragged Flynn into the house, they heard the single, high-pitched scream. Moe bared his teeth, Flynn bared his, and they raced toward the kitchen prepared to taste blood.

Malory stood in the center of the room, her hands crossed over her heart, laughing like an idiot.

“Where is he? What did he do? Son of a bitch.”

“Who?” Malory braced herself for Moes leap of love but wasnt prepared to have Flynn lift her off her feet. “What?”

“You were screaming.”

“Oh. Okay, Moe, down you go. Flynn, put me down. Im fine, Im perfectly fine.” Other than the fact that she was flushed with embarrassment and trying not to giggle. “I thought I was alone.”

Reaction set in and made Flynn short of breath. He dropped Malory back on her feet with a little thump as his arms started to tremble. “You stand in the kitchen and scream when you think youre alone?”

“Well, not usually. But look! Just look.” She did a fast-time step, followed by a neat little pirouette.

Clueless, Flynn tried again. “Youve realized you want to fulfill a childhood dream and become a dancing star of stage and screen?”

“No!” With a laugh, she whirled Flynn into a circle that had Moe leaping again. “Look. We have a floor. A wonderful, beautiful hardwood floor.”

She executed what Flynn thought might be some sort of clog dance. “Sounds like wood, all right.”

“No more ugly linoleum for us. And look at this!” She whirled away from him and embraced the glossy new side-by-side refrigerator with the passion of a woman greeting a lover returning from the war. “Isnt it wonderful? And see how it matches this?”

While Flynn watched, she spun to the range. “Its so beautiful.” She crooned it now. “So shiny and clean. And everything works. I tried all the buttons and dials, and it works! I actually cant wait to cook something. I walked in, saw all this, and I just had to scream. They put in the floor, Flynn, and brought in the appliances. See the new microwave?”

“Very sexy.”

“It is.” Whirling into a dance again, she tried out arhumba . “And we have pretty new cabinets with pretty glass fronts. Im going to put pretty dishes in them, and sparkly glasses. Its a kitchen. An actual kitchen.”

He was getting it now, and the charge of watching her revel. Shed switched from therhumba to… he wasnt sure what. But she looked really cute. “What was it before?”

“There is no name for what it was before. Im so happy. Im so grateful. Youre the most wonderful man in the world.” She caught his face in her hands and kissed him. “And Im a terrible person.”

“Why? Not the „Im wonderful part, because, hey. But why are you a terrible person?”

“Because I wouldnt move in with you before you did this. I made the kitchen a kind of exchange. Remodel the kitchen and Ill live with you. It was selfish. It worked,” she added, raining kisses over his face. “But it was selfish. Youre doing this for me. I know I said I wouldnt move in until it was finished, and I even madesnarky comments about the lamps up in the bedroom.”

“Something about not being fit to light a cave inhabited by bats and blind spiders.”

“Yes, that was one of them. Anyway, forgive me?”

“Okay.”

“I know its not quite finished. Theres still the counters and the backsplash and, oh, a few more things, but I dont want to wait anymore. Ill move in tomorrow, and we can start, officially, living together.”

“I dont want to live together.”

Her face went blank.

“What?”

“Sorry, Mal.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “I dont want to live together.”

“But… but you asked me to move in with you weeks ago. Youve asked me half a dozen times.”

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “I changed my mind.”

“You—you changed your mind?”

“Thats right.” Casually, he opened the new refrigerator. “Wow. Look at all this room. And it is shiny.”

She couldnt do anything but stare at him. Her stomach had dropped to her feet, and those feet no longer felt like dancing. “I dont understand. I dont understand how you could just change your mind about something like this, from one minute to the next.”

“Me either. Actually, I dont think I really changed it, I think I just realized it wasnt what I wanted.”

“You just realized you dont want me.” There was too much shock, too much anger for the pain to fight through. So she rode on the shock .and the anger and stepped forward to give him a hard shove. “Well, thats just fine.”

“I didnt say I didnt want you. I said I didnt want to live together.”

“You can take your new kitchen and stuff it. If you cant handle a committed, adult relationship then you cant handle me.”

“There you go, were right on the same page. Committed, adult relationship.” He pulled the box from his pocket, opened it. “This adult enough for you?”

Her mouth dropped open, and he thought shed never looked more beautiful as she stared down, dumbstruck, at the diamond ring.

“Lets be really grown-up, Malory. Lets get married.”

“You want to marry me?”

“I do. Look, I already know my lines.” He grinned at her. “You look a little pale. Im going to take that as a good sign. The jeweler said this was a classic, and Brad gave it a thumbs-up.” Flynn removed the ring from the box. “Brilliant-cut solitaire, blah-blah, whatever. You go for the classic look, right?”

A latch kept trying to slam shut in her throat, but she forced it open. “Yes, I do.”

“There, you know your lines, too.” He took her limp hand, slipped the ring on before she could say another word. “It fits. I didnt think it would, youve got such delicate fingers, but it looks like we wont have to have it sized after all.”

She felt the snap of heat, the spread of warmth from the gold circling her skin. Yes, it fit, she thought dreamily. It looked as if it had been made for her finger. “Its beautiful. Its absolutely beautiful.”

“You could say yes now.”

She looked up from the ring, into his eyes. “Lifes going to be a roller coaster with you. I used to be afraid of roller coasters because you just never know what theyre going to do next. They dont scare me anymore.”

“Say yes. Ill get rid of the lamps.”

On something between a sob and a laugh, she leaped into his arms. “Yes. You know its yes, even with the ugly lamps.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” With her cheek pressed to his, she held up her ring hand and watched the diamond glitter. “How could the same man who bought this gorgeous ring have bought those hideous lamps?”

“The many sides of Flynn Hennessy.”

“Lucky for me.” She heard the front door open and moved nearly as fast as Moe. “Oh, theyre coming. I have to show it off.” She pushed away from Flynn, then nipped back to kiss him again. “I have to show somebody.”

She hurried toward the front of the house, even as Dana hurried toward the back withZoe at her heels.

“What is it?”Zoe demanded.

“Have to show you both at once. Boy, have. I got news for you,” Dana said when Malory rushed toward her.

“Whatever it is, it cant top mine. Ive got news for you!”

Zoepushed between them. “Jeez, somebody tell somebody something before I explode.”

“Me first,” Dana and Malory said in unison, then both held out their left hands.

There were screams, followed by a burst of unintelligible words. At least they were unintelligible to the three men and a boy who looked on.

Simon watched his mother and her two friends jump and squeal like the girls did on the playground at school. Wrinkling his brow, he looked up at Brad.

“How come they do that?”

“Its just one of the many mysteries of life, kid.”

“Girls are dopey.” He clapped for the dog, who was blindly joining in the female ecstasy, and hunkered down for some wrestling.

Flynn looked past the women to Jordan. “Beer?” he asked. “Beer,” Jordan agreed, and skirted the madness to seek the relative sanity of the kitchen.

“I cant believe it!”Zoe gripped both Malorys and Danas hands and bounced on her toes. “Engaged! Youre both engaged. At the same time. Its like magic. The rings. Theyre so beautiful. Oh, boy.” She dug into her pocket for a tissue.

“Sheesh. Mom, get a grip.”Zoe sent her son a glare. “Ill give you a grip.” He snorted, rolled with a delighted Moe. “Are we getting pizza, or what?”

“Why dont you go back in the kitchen and ask Flynn? Politely,” she added as he scrambled up. “Ive got to show you the kitchen,” Malory remembered. “But first.” She grabbed Danas hand again to admire the ruby. “Its gorgeous. So perfect for you.”

“Soshe. Wait until I tell you how he asked me.” , “I can top it,” Malory claimed. “Were you naked?”

“No.”

Dana licked a finger, swiped it down an imaginary Scoreboard. “I win.”

“Mom!” Simon shouted from the kitchen door. “The guys say if you all want pizza you have to say what kind, or else you have to take what you get.”

“Tell you what.”Zoe draped an arm around her friends shoulders. “When we dont have a bunch of guys cluttering things up, you can tell me, and each other, every detail. Well have a little celebration at Indulgence in the morning.”

“Works for me,” Dana agreed. “Im starved, and I dont want a bunch of onions and mushrooms messing up my pie.”

AN hour later, Dana was polishing off her third piece. She stretched out on the floor beside Simon and Moe and said, “Ugh.”

“On that note,” Flynn began, “lets talk about finding this key.”

“Simon, why dont you take your book upstairs? Thats all right, isnt it?”Zoe asked Flynn.

“Sure. He knows the way.”

“You and Moe can hang out. Ill call you when its time to go.”

“How come we cant hang out here while you talk about the magic stuff?”

“Where do you get that?”Zoe demanded. “Simon, have you been eavesdropping?”

“Jeez, Mom.” He sent her an insulted, sulky frown. “I dont have to go sneaking around, I just have to have ears.” He pinched them between his fingers, wiggled them. “Hey, look! Ive got two of them.”

“Well talk about your ears later. Upstairs, to that horrible prison with a TV and a dog. You can write a letter of complaint to your congressman tomorrow.”

“Man.” Though his lips twitched, he rolled his eyes for form, then they widened and focused on what Brad held in his hand. “Holy Cow! WWFSmackdown !”

“Maybe you want to borrow it, take it for a few rounds.” “Yeah?Smackdown ! It really kicks—”He caught himself, swallowed back the word that would get him in serious hot water with his mother. “Really kicks,” he amended. “Thanks.”

“No problem. This way when we gomano amano and I humiliate you, you wont be able to whine that you didnt get to practice.”

“Yeah, sure, right.” Simon took the video disk. “This is so way cool. Thanks.”

He streaked off, hooking his book bag under one arm and calling for Moe.

Zoefolded her hands in her lap. “That was very nice of you.”

“He may not think so when I trounce him in the upcoming match.”

“I dont want you to feel obligated to—”

“I dont.” Brad cut her off, coolly, firmly, then deliberately looked at Dana. “You want to get this rolling?”

“As long as I can start it from the supine position. As previously discussed, Jordan wrote up the sequence of events.”

“He gave me a copy,” Malory interrupted. “And I made copies for everyone. Ill go get them.”

“Shes something, isnt she?” Dana commented as Malory left the room. “Our own Debbie Detail. SinceMals already read it, and the rest of you will, Ill just say that it puts everything into a comprehensive and cohesive form. Its helpful to see just how everythings unfolded to this point. Malory,Zoe , and I getting the invitation to Warriors Peak, meeting there for the first time. Our first contact with Rowena andPitte , and hearing the story of the Daughters of Glass. Though we didnt know they were called that until Flynn stepped in.”

“Theres the way Flynn met Malory, and became a part of the quest,” Jordan continued. “The fact that each of you was at a crossroads,jobwise .”

“We were in trouble,jobwise ,”Zoe corrected. “And that made the offer of twenty-five thousand dollars for agreeing to look for keys—keys I dont think any of us really believed in—that first night too tempting to pass up.”

“Its more than that.” Malory came back in and distributed manila envelopes, neatly labeled with names. “There was the financial incentive, yes. But there was also a sense of mutual frustration, of being in flux, not knowing what we were going to do next. And that almost instant connection between us. Jordan caught that, very clearly, in writing it out.”

“Add,tothat how those tendrils spread out,” Dana went on. “How they hooked Jordan and Brad in. Connecting them to us, to the quest, to Rowena andPitte , and to the daughters. I think thats an important point. Each of us has a role, each of us has to be here for this thing to go through.” “Then theres Kane.” Malory slid her copy out of the envelope. “The way you describe him, Jordan, its so spooky—and so accurate. As if youd seen him through my eyes.”

“Seeing him through my own was enough. I think we need to look at him as more than the bogeyman, more than a foe. Hes another element to the quest.”

“I agree with that.” Brad nodded. “Hes as essential to this as the rest of us are. In the end, I think, its not going to be just a matter of outwitting him, as Malory did, or twisting his game to our advantage, as Danas done so far. Its going to be a matter of destroying him.”

“How do you destroy a god?”Zoe demanded.

“I dont know, but first Id say by believing you can do it.”

“Maybe. But right now Ill settle for getting my hands on the key.” Dana sat up. “Ive only got a few more days.

And heres what I know. While I may have to find it on my own, Jordan is essential to the search. Kane has tried to separate us or pull us apart, and its not just because he doesnt want us to live happily ever after. What he did, however, was push us closer together. Hes not going to be pleased by that.”

She reached over, peeled a round of pepperoni off a slice of pizza and nibbled; “And he miscalculated by showing me the past. That was one of the steps I had to take, and might not have, at least not as decisively, if he hadnt thrown me back in time. Past, present, and future. Ive resolved and accepted the past, Ive made my peace with the present, and…”

She held up her ring hand. “Im looking toward the future. This is important stuff, not only to me personally but to what Im meant to do. One of the constants in those three time frames is Jordan.”

“Thanks, Stretch.”

“Dont get all puffed up. Some of this is just fate. Now if you read some of this stuff…” She plucked the copy out of Malorys hands. “You start to feel it, see it, even if you werent part of that particular event. You get a good, clear picture. Here—that blue fog that took over Indulgence. The bone marrow chill of it, the oddness of the light, the color, the texture. You start to feel it creeping over your skin.”

“Writers tools,” Jordan said.

“Yeah, and youre damn good with them.”

“Excuse me?” Mildly annoyed with the interruption, she glanced up to see him staring at her with a kind of narrowed intensity that brought heat to her face. “I said you were good. So what?”

“So… theres a first time for everything. Need another drink,” he said and walked out of the room.

Dana shifted, then huffed out a breath. “Short break,” she announced, and followed Jordan to the kitchen.

“Whats the deal?”

He pulled a soda out of the refrigerator. “No deal.” he popped the top, then shrugged. “You never—well; since I moved to New York, youve never had a good word to say about my work.”

“I was pissed at you.”

“Yeah, I get that.” He started to take a swig, then set it down. Truth, he thought again. No matter how it exposed him, there had to be truth between them.

“The thing is, Dana, it mattered. Theres nobodys opinion I respect or value more when it comes to books than yours. So it mattered what you thought of my work.”

“You want to know what I think of your work? My honest opinion?”

“Yeah, lets be honest.”

“Well, you did buy me this really terrific ring, so I guess I should come clean.” She took the soda, sipped, handed it back. “You have such an amazing talent. You have a gift, and its obvious that you nurture and appreciate it. Every time Ive read one of your books Ive been astonished by your range, your scope, your skill with the language. Even when I hated you, Jordan, I was proud of you.”

“How about that,” he managed.

“Im not sorry I swiped at it before. Maybe it made you work harder.”

He had to grin at her. “Maybe it did.”

“Are we okay now?”

“Were a lot better than okay.”

“Then lets go back, because I havent finished. And Im going to be very interested in what you think of what I have to say next.”

She walked back out to the living room, settled down on the floor again. “Okay,” she said, raising her voice over the conversations. “Breaks over. The point I was trying to make was that however skilled Jordan might be, this is more than a writers point of view. Its more than a series of events entertainingly woven together in story form. When you read it, you start to see how often hes linked to one of those events, or is to one of the people involved in the event. In fact, he was the first, years ago, to see or feel anything, well, otherworldly about the Peak, He once thought he saw a ghost there.”

She stopped, amused to see Malory pick up a highlighter from the crate and begin to mark the sections under discussion on Flynns copy.

“Jordan was the first of us to see, and own, one of Rowenas paintings,” Dana continued. “Flynns my brother, Brads my friend, but Jordan stepped up from being a kind of brother, from being a friend, to being my lover.”

“He broke your heart.” Malory meticulously coated typed words with bright yellow. “A shattering of innocence. Sorry,” she said to Jordan, “but theres a very strong kind of magic in that.”

“And it was Jordans blood that Kane shed.” Nodding at Malory, Dana smiled. “Hes the one who left home— orphaned, alone, young, on a quest. And came back,” she concluded, meeting Jordans eyes, “to finish it.”

“You think I have the key.” Fascinated, Jordan sat back. “I follow the logic, and the traditional elements of your theory, Dane, but where? How? When?”

“I cant know everything. But it makes sense. It just plays through. I havent hammered it all out yet. Theres still that business about goddesses walking and waiting. Walking where? Waiting for what? Then theres that image I saw when I was trying to put myself into a trance.”

Something started to click in his head, then shut off again at her last statement. “When you did what?”

“An experiment. Like meditation. Blank out the mind, that sort of thing, and see what formed. I saw the key, just sort of floating on this blue-green field. Probably my wall at Indulgence, as thats what Id been staring at.-It was like I could reach out and touch it. But I couldnt.”

Frowning, she looked back, imagined it all again. “Then the field changed. White with these blurry black lines running across it. And I heard these words in my head.”

“You heard voices?” Brad asked her. “Not exactly. But I heard the words. Wait a minute, let me think, get it right. „She walks the night, and is the night with all its… all its shadows and secrets. And when she weeps, she weeps for day.

“So, doesnt it make sense that shes the goddess— whoever the hell she is? Thats got to be one of the last pieces to put into place.”

“I can put it in place,” Jordan told her. “Its mine. I wrote that. Phantom Watch.”

There was a moment of stunned silence, then everyone began talking at once.

“Hold it!” Brad got to his feet, held up his hands. “I said hold it! Lets not lose the thread. First, lets eliminate any coincidence. Dana, did you read the book?”

“Yes, but—”

“You did?”

She rolled her eyes at Jordan. “Im not going into another round of pumping your creative ego. Yeah, I read it, but it was years ago. Even I dont remember every line of every book Ive ever read. I didnt recognize it when I heard it.”

“I read it, too.”Zoe raised her hand like a girl in a schoolroom, then, mortified, immediately lowered it. “It was great,” she said to Jordan. “But the woman, the one you wrote about walking at night, wasnt a goddess. She was a ghost.”

“Good point,” Brad put in. “But its an interesting touch that Jordan wrote that book about Warriors Peak, that he created that ghost because he thought he saw her one night.”

“You did?”Zoe asked. “Thats so cool!”

“We went up there to camp. Brad and Flynn and I. Brad managed to… liberate some beer and cigarettes.”

NowZoe turned to Brad. “Is that so?”

“We were sixteen,” he muttered.

“As if that makes it better.”

“Scold him later,” Dana demanded. “Lets pull this thread through.”

“I saw her walking on the parapet,” Jordan continued. “In the moonlight. Washed in light and shadows with her cloak streaming in a wind that wasnt there. I thought she was a ghost, and when I wrote her I drew her as one. Lonely, trapped in the night and weeping for the day. But she wasnt a ghost.”

Dana laid a hand on his knee. “She was a goddess.”

“She was Rowena. I understood that today, when I went to see them at the Peak. I didnt know what it meant until now.“

“You were the first to see her,” Dana said softly. “And you wrote of her, in whatever form. You gave her another kind of substance, another kind of world. She, the key holder. The keys in the book.”

Her hand trembled as it slid into place for her. “The white field with black lines across. Words on a page. And the key melted into it. Into the page. The book.” She sprang to her feet. “Flynn, youve got a copy.”

“Yeah.” He looked around the room. “Im not exactly sure where. I havent unpacked everything yet.”

“Why should you? Youve only lived here nearly two years. Well, find it,” Dana demanded.

He gave her a weary look, then rose. “Ill go upstairs and look.”

“Ive got a copy at home,”Zoe put in. “A paperback. Ive got all your books, but my budget doesnt run tohardcovers ,” she said in apology.

Jordan reached over, yanked her hand to his lips, “You are the sweetest thing.”

“I could go get it. I might be able to bring it back before Flynn finds his.”

“Give him a little time.” Malory glanced at the ceiling, imagining Flynn upstairs rummaging through boxes. “Ive got a copy, too, and my place is closer if it comes to that.” Then she stopped, lifted the index fingers on both hands. “What do you want to bet we all have copies of Phantom Watch?”

“Well, I certainly do,” Jordan confirmed.

“And me,” Brad agreed.

“Yeah. Clink, clink, clink,” Dana said. “Thats the sound of links fusing on the chain. Come on, Flynn, how hard can it be to find a book?”

“Whens the last time youve been up in one of those spare rooms?” Malory asked.

“Good point.” She began to pace. “Its in there. Its in there. I know it. Ill go up and find it myself.”

She spun toward the doorway just as Flynn came jogging down the stairs.

“Got it. Hah. It was in a box labeled „Books. I didnt know I had a box labeled „Books.” He handed the book to Dana.

She ran her hand over it, hoping for some sort of sign, and studied the silhouette of Warriors Peak brooding under a full moon. She opened it, fanned the pages, and smelled paper and dust. “Wheres the line, Jordan?”

“Its the end of the prologue.”

She turned the first few pages, read the words in her head, spoke them out loud. Waited.

“I dont feel anything. I should feel something. Malory?”

“There was an awareness, a kind of knowing. Its hard to explain.”

“But Id know it if I felt it,” Dana finished. “And I dont. Maybe I have to read it, get the whole picture. The way you had to paint the whole portrait before you could reach the key.”

“I wonder…”Zoe hesitated. “Well, I just wonder if maybe its not in that book, because that books not yours. Jordan wrote it, so all the copies are his in a way. But only one is yours. And youre the key, so wouldnt it make more sense for it to have to be your own book?”

Dana stared at her, then grinned. “Zoe, thats absolutely brilliant. Okay, troops, saddle up. Lets move this to my place.”

“Ill be right behind you.”Zoe picked up her purse. “Ill just run Simon home and see if my neighbor will sit with him.”

“Let me just get rid of these boxes.Zoe , Im going to wrap up some of this leftover pizza for Simon.”

Life, Dana decided, didnt stop. Not even for magic keys and wicked sorcerers. And wasnt that why it was life?

“Meet us there after youre done the domestic stuff.” She grabbed Jordans hand, headed for the door. “And you could wrap up some slices for me while youre at it.“