The Midnight Moon [ONC 2024]

Chapter 15: Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together

Alone with Vanteray, I was determined not to let her distract me from the case. If things were as we - I - suspected, then something very awful was about to happen, unless I - we - stopped it.

'You said earlier, you were here to protect me from danger. How?'

'I saw other things in the scrying bowl, Hereward. Things I did not want to say in front of your friends.'

'They are not my friends. They are my clients.'

Vanteray smiled at me in such a way that it meant "Hereward, you are wrong again, but there is little point in telling you".

'They are clients now,' she said quietly. 'But soon, they will be your friends.' She turned about the room, taking in everything. 'So many changes are coming, Hereward. Do not scoff at them all. You have no idea what the future holds for you.'

'But you, of course, do.'

'It's not like you to sound so sceptical. Besides, first you must survive this case, and that is why I'm here. The future can wait until then.'

'Yes, it can.'

'When you go out to find the witch, you must take your staff with you.' Vanteray walked out of the office and into the hall, returning a moment later carrying my stoutest walking staff. 'This one,' she announced.

'Why?'

'Because you will need it, silly. Also, you will need your sword and a dagger.'

'Must I go armed to the teeth?'

'If you want to see your future, then yes. How are you supposed to defend yourself without any weapons?'

'I don't even know where I'm going yet.'

'You will.'

It would have been churlish, if not downright foolish to ignore the advice of a fortune teller, so I went to retrieve my sword and dagger. As I checked over my blades, I went over once again the information Vanteray had given me from her visions in the scrying bowl. And that's when I realised I had overlooked her opening words.

'You said you saw the forest and the moon.'

'Yes.'

'Could it be...? Could it really be...? I think I might have worked out where they are holding Mistaria.'

'Where?'

'Do you remember the old house out at Lunalea? It's in the forest. In an open moon-shaped meadow there is that old falling down farmhouse. It must have been empty for years. Where better to set your base than in a remote farmhouse, in the forest, in the middle of nowhere. The only road out that way goes to the farmhouse and then stops. No-one would pass it by accidentally. It has to be there.'

'See. I said you would work it out. You always knew how to bend a vision into a riddle and solve it. I am, and always have, and no doubt always will, see things literally. But then, I don't need to solve. I only need to relay.' She smiled. 'I have missed watching you work, Hereward. To see how your mind ticks over like the workings of a clock, until everything falls into place and you find your answer.'

I stared at her for a moment, but her pull on me seemed to be lessening. Or I was becoming immune to it.

'We have an answer. Now, to decide what we do with it. Time is against us. We can hardly spare a moment and delay ending this. But how? As you shared with us your vision, there was something very immediate about it, and the town, it seems, is at least magically undefended.

'I cannot see the purpose behind this scheme being anything but nefarious. It is something we do not wish to see come to fruition. But who can help put a stop to it? We are a puzzlesolver, a werewolf, a cat familiar, a crow familiar, a witch's associate, and a fortune teller. Yet they, whoever they are, have managed to kidnap a witch, as well as potentially an astrologer and a guardian of arcane knowledge. We cannot out magic them, and if we try to enlist others to our cause, will they believe us?'

'There is only one way to find out, my love. Ask. Tell them what has happened - what is happening.'

I sat down in my chair by the fire, suddenly feeling strange. If I spoke out, I was certain I would end up being the laughing stock of the town. And what if we - I - were wrong? But there were lives at stake. If I didn't act sufficiently, people could die, and not just those three magically-powerful people, others, ordinary people, who had no hope of defending themselves against a magical attack.

It seemed like I had little option.

The door to the agency opened and then closed. In came Bella and Darius, followed by Tomasina and Jack.

'Well?' I asked with trepidation.

'Fletcher Hastings hasn't been home all day. My friend said a note was left by him in his study sometime before dawn, claiming he had business in Duskford and would not be back until the day after tomorrow. His horse was gone from the stables, but to leave in such a way, without his assistant, it was not like him,' Tomasina said, her words coming so quickly they almost blended into one.

'But the alarm has not been raised by the Hastings household,' Jack added. 'Silly fools. We implied his absence might be linked to Mistaria's but they were not convinced.'

Next it was the turn of Darius.

'We followed the trail as far as the river and lost it when they entered the water. But we did learn that a large boat was moored there for most of yesterday, but was gone by morning. And there was definitely more than one person involved. At least six people came onto the riverbank.'

I nodded. 'All right, then. We have no time to lose. Vanteray will fill you in what we've worked out,' I said, opening my desk drawer.

I pulled out a stack of parchment. Dipping my pen into the inkwell, I paused for a moment, before I started composing one of the most important letters I had ever written.

* * * * *

Chapter word count: 998

Story word count: 18,172