rated * for adult references

Chapter 12

Diana sat down in disgust in the middle of the hallway. "I never thought I would be spending my holiday looking through dusty old books."

Sirene sat down next to her. "I can’t believe that anyone would have so many obscure books. How in the world will we ever figure out if any of these are the one we’re looking for? They all look Greek to me."

"I vote that since we got stuck with the messy job, that they can go through these and try to figure it out," Diana said grievously.

"Now, it wasn’t that bad,’ Tansy said calmly. "At least we have something to show for our efforts. Even if they do find out that Kern and his sons have been staying at the hotel, it doesn’t prove anything."

"Unless the key that was found is theirs. That links them to the break-in," Diana pointed out.

"I take it you’re not upset about the phone call anymore," Sirene stated.

"After I thought about it for awhile I realize that it was just one more of their scare tactics. If they really had my aunt, they would have contacted me sooner," Tansy said.

"I can’t believe anyone was dumb enough to pull that stunt," Sirene said.

"After all, anyone with an ounce of common sense would realize that they didn’t have your aunt. True it might have scared you at first but it didn’t take you long to figure out what’s really going on. So what would be the purpose?"

"Well, if you ask me, I don’t think we’re dealing with professionals or real intelligent people," Dan said as he and Mart came out of the book room.

"Which is why I don’t think Silvenus is behind this," Sirene said. "That man is definitely intelligent."

"What concerns me is how powerful he is," Tansy said. "What if he does catch up to my aunt? I don’t think she’s strong enough to hold him off."

"Do you and your aunt have the same psychic abilities?" Sirene asked.

"Mostly, I’m more sensitive to emotions than she is," Tansy answered.

"And what’s the second gift?" Sirene asked.

"What do you mean second gift?" Regan asked, looking at Tansy even as he questioned Sirene.

"So far as we can tell, strong functional psychics, like Tansy and I, usually have a second gift," Sirene explained. "Like you seeing spirits and auras?" Diana asked.

"Yes, just like that. Most the time one ability is more developed than the other one. I’m unusual in the fact that I’m strong in both areas," Sirene said.

"Well, we’ll agree that you’re unusual," Dan said dryly.

Sirene looked at him with narrow eyes. "You better mean that in a good way, Daniel."

Dan just smiled at her. "I think it’s time to raid the picnic basket," was all he said.

They all went downstairs into the kitchen, where the picnic basket and thermos was sitting.

"So, are you going to tell us?" Diana asked Tansy.

"Yes, why don’t you tell us what your other gift is?" Regan said, somewhat tartly. "Considering that you haven’t had a chance to mention this before."

Tansy looked over at Regan with wide eyes. "Well, I haven’t mentioned this before because it’s not a very reliable gift and I’m not very strong in it."

"So what is it?" Mart demanded. "It would be better if you stop procrastinating."

"Sometimes I can see into the future," Tansy blurted out.

"So you’re clairvoyant," Sirene said calmly, pouring herself some tea. "My cousin Shayla is clairvoyant."

"Well, I think my aunt and mother are stronger clairvoyants then I am. My aunt doesn’t talk about it much but I think she can see way into the future at times," Tansy admitted. "I’m afraid that I can only tell if something is going to happen a few days before and it’s not usually very clear. It doesn’t happen very often."

"So, I take it that you didn’t get any sense of trouble coming our way?" Mart asked, more curious than hostile.

Tansy sighed. "Nope, not a clue. Of course my aunt might have picked up something but, as you can see, she doesn’t tell me everything."

"You would think that if this book has any kind of magic that one of you would pick it up psychically," Diana moaned.

Sirene smiled at Diana. "All that means is the book isn’t on the same wavelength as we are. Or the house might be shielding it. Remember, I already said that I thought there was a shield of some sort around this house. That’s why I can’t sense any spirits."

"Well, at least we have some books we can look through. Who knows? Maybe something will jump up at one of us as we look through them," Dan said, trying to be optimistic.

"That’s it!" Sirene shouted and jumped up excitedly. Everyone looked over at her.

"I felt that there was something different about this house all day. It’s the energy shield. It feels like some powerful energy has come in contact with it and has disturbed it," Sirene said.

Tansy looked at Sirene, shocked. "Why didn’t you say something earlier? I’ve felt something strange all day but I thought I was imaging it."

"Oh, I’m sorry," Sirene said. "I mentioned it to Dan when we got her but I forgot to say anything to you about it. I was going to ask you to look around carefully and see if you see anything at all out of place."

"I’ll look, but I’m not too sure I would notice," Tansy said doubtfully.

"I’ll walk around with you," Regan offered.

"We’ll wait here. This way we won’t distract you," Mart said. "Just yell if you find anything."

They all silently ate their lunch as they waited for Tansy and Regan. Soon after they had walked out of the kitchen Regan came back in and motioned for them to follow him.

Tansy was standing in the living room by the huge fireplace, looking at the pictures on the mantel. Tansy looked at the group as they entered the room.

"This may sound strange but I think someone has been here. It looks like they picked up my baby pictures then set them back down," Tansy said thoughtfully.

"How do you know?" Diana asked curiously.

Tansy smiled. "Because I hate dusting and that’s one of my chores. I never move the pictures. I just wipe around them. You can see where the dust has been disturbed and they’re not in the right order."

"But why would someone move your baby pictures?" Diana asked. "That doesn’t make sense. It’s not like you can hide anything."

They all were standing there looking at the mantel, trying to figure out if they were missing something, when Trixie, Jim, Brian and Honey walked in.

"You’ll never guess who we saw at the hotel!" Trixie exclaimed as she came into the room.

"What are all of you looking at?" Honey asked at the same time.

Regan shook his head at both girls and grinned at them. "Now which one do we respond to first."

"That’s easy, watch" Diana said. "Honey, we were looking at the fireplace mantel and who did you see Trixie?"

"We saw Silvenus!" Trixie said, her blue eyes bright.

"Why are you looking at the mantel?" Honey asked.

"Because we’re trying to figure out why someone would move Tansy’s baby pictures around," Diana answered Honey, then said to Trixie. "Do you know why he was there?"

Both Trixie and Honey looked at each other and laughed, while Jim and Brian shook their heads.

"Good thing you’ve had a lot of practice at interpreting these two," Sirene said to Diana.

"Okay, first things first, tell us what’s going on here," Trixie said. Jim gave Trixie a hug of approval. He knew that she was bursting to tell them about the hotel.

"No, it can wait. Tell us what happen at the hotel," Tansy said.

"Well, at first it looked like a dead end because when I asked if a Kern MacGowen and his sons had checked in he said no. But the owner is a real nice guy and he gave us a tour of the hotel. During the tour he did mention that there was a MacGowen and his sons staying there. Apparently they are using different first names. So we went into the conservatory and ate our lunch. When we got ready to leave the conservatory, there was Silvenus talking to the owner," Trixie explained.

"Did he see you?" Mart asked.

"No, he didn’t. I think he was looking for someone, because he showed the owner a picture. I saw the owner nod his head. Then he pulled out his register book and gave Silvenus some information. Then Silvenus left the hotel," Trixie said.

"Could he have been checking up on his brother?" Sirene asked.

"But why would he?" Honey asked. "I mean, it’s not like he knows about all of this."

"Unless Dad told him last night or this morning," Jim said. "Remember Dad didn’t promise not to tell Silvenus about what’s been going on. I know he said he would tell us if he does but I haven’t seen him since early yesterday."

"And if your dad did tell him, then he could be suspicious of his brother," Trixie said. "Somehow I don’t think Silvenus is unaware of his brother’s hatred from him."

"You’re right, Trixie," Tansy said. "One thing I did pick up is their mutual distrust and hatred for each other."

"So, once Silvenus realized that someone else was after the book, he naturally assumed it was Kern," Honey said.

"That would be my guess," Trixie said. "We’ll know more if your dad did tell him. But if he didn’t talk to Silvenus, then we have to wonder why Silvenus was at the inn and what picture did he show the owner?"

"Well, at this point I hope Mr. Wheeler did tell Silvenus," Dan said. "This thing is complicated enough without more questions."

"So now that the inn situation has been discussed, would any of you like to explain to me why you’re curious about why someone would move Tansy’s baby pictures?" Brian asked

Regan explained about Siren’s strange feeling and about Tansy’s observation. "So, we are trying to determine if we’ve missed something about these pictures," Regan finished explaining.

Trixie grinned. "Nice to know I’m not the only one that is lousy at dusting."

"Just out of curiosity, did anyone search the book room?" Jim asked.

Dan, Sirene, Mart and Diana all groaned.

"You bet we did. Just look at how dirty I am," Diana complained. "We piled the ones that could be the ‘Book of Be’al’ outside of the door in the hallway."

"We stopped for lunch and that’s when I remembered that I wanted Tansy to check out the house. So here we are," Sirene added.

Trixie and Honey had walked over to the fireplace mantel while Diana and Sirene were talking.

"I may be seeing things but the pictures look like they’re in a certain pattern," Honey whispered to Trixie.

"I noticed. I was thinking about how crowded our mantel at home is. You can barely see all of the pictures. But on this mantel everything looks to be spaced at the exact same distance," Trixie answered.

"If it wasn’t for the fact that everything in the rest of the house seems to be disorderly, I wouldn’t have noticed," Honey admitted.

"Tansy, who put these pictures up here?" Trixie asked.

"I don’t know. I imagine my aunt. That mantel has been that way as long as I can remember. Aunt Roiya has been hanging my recent pictures on the walls," Tansy answered. "Why?"

Trixie didn’t answer because she was studying the pictures. Then she moved the youngest picture of Tansy forward, then moved another one backwards, and continued until all of the pictures had been moved. Everyone watched her, nothing happen. Trixie put them all back then started again only this time she started with the youngest picture moving it back then continued moving all the pictures. Nothing happened. Trixie put them all back, stood back and looked at the pictures again. No one said anything as they watched her.

After a few moments, she walked back up to the mantel and started moving pictures again. This time the wall above the mantel slid open about two feet, leaving a hole in the wall.

Mart rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprise that super sleuth Belden figured it out?"

Diana slapped Mart and said. "Don’t tease. I think it’s great and was very smart of her."

Mart rubbed his arm and frowned at her. "Woman, you better stop hitting me, and I can say what I want. After all she is my sister."

Diana put her hands on her hips and glared at Mart. "I’ll stop hitting you, when you stop being a butt-head. Just because she figured out something you didn’t, is no reason to get sarcastic. Sometimes I think your jealousy of Trixie gets the better of you Martin Belden."

"Some times I think you stick your nose in things that don’t concern you, Diana Lynch," Mart shot back really angry.

Diana gasped. "Well, if that’s how you feel about it, see if I every say anything to you again." Diana turned and moved away from Mart across the room. She was determined not to let him see her cry, so she focused on the hole in the way and try to ignore him.

Everyone else looked at each other, not sure why they were fighting and what caused the argument.

"Tansy, since this is your wall, why don’t you check it out?" Trixie offered, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Tansy moved over to the mantel, but was too short to reach; she looked around to see what she could stand on. Regan came over and lifted her up. She reached in and pulled out a book. It was a very old book. The cover was made out of animals skin and the vellum pages were sewn together to form a spine. The cover had symbols and strange letters. The book was thick but not heavy.

Tansy took the book and went into the kitchen area. She laid the book down on the table and everyone gathered around it. She slowly turned page after page as everyone looked at it.

"So, I guess this is what we’ve been looking for," Mart said quietly.

"What language is that?" Trixie wondered.

"I wonder what those symbol stands for?" Honey inquired.

"The book sure has pretty artwork in it," Diana said looking more closely.

"I’m not sure but I think I’ve seen those symbols on some ancient Celtic artifacts at the museum, when they had that collection here last fall."

"Didn’t you buy the book they were selling?" Mart asked.

Diana ignoring Mart looked at Trixie. "I think I still have the book that they were selling. I can look for it, if you think it would help."

"That would be great!" Trixie answered. "I think this book is the one, but who moved the pictures and if they knew about the secret place, why didn’t they take the book?"

"Well, I don’t know those answers but I can’t see what the fuss is about this book," Sirene said frowning. "I find it odd that I don’t feel any energy from this book. I was assuming that if the book had any magic or paranormal properties I would feel something."

"Mmm… maybe it doesn’t, maybe it’s just the age of the book that is valuable to a collector," Brian said.

"Brian, could be right," Jim said. "I think this book would be very valuable to a collector. It looks older then anything I found in the cellar and some of the collectors offered a lot of money for my books."

"Well, I think I should take the book back with me to the Manor House. I don’t feel right leaving it here," Tansy said.

"Rats! We have to go back and put the books we left in the hallway back," Dan moaned.

"If we all work together, it shouldn’t take long," Sirene said reassuringly.

"After all it’s not like those books were in any special order."

"Sirene is right. We’ll just get them out of the hallway and put them anywhere in that room," Tansy said. "I keep telling aunt that I’m going to organize that room but so far I haven’t found the time."

Regan looked at Tansy and raised his eyebrow. "Tell them truth, time hasn’t been the issue, but motivation for doing it is the problem. That’s a big job and it will take months."

Tansy smiled and admitted that Regan was right but she really did need to do something about that room. After they got the books off the floor and put back into the book room, they locked the house up and started walking back to the Manor house.

All of a sudden Tansy dropped the book and Sirene let out a yelp. Everyone looked at the two young women.

"Did anyone else feel that?" Sirene asked.

"Feel what?" Trixie asked. "I didn’t feel anything."

"Well, I felt it," Tansy said.

Honey, Diana, Mart, Dan and Regan all shook their heads in denial. Jim and Brian looked at each other and slowly nodded their heads.

"Well, did it feel like a lightning bolt just hit you?" Sirene demanded.

Tansy nodded her head yes, still looking at the book warily.

"Not exactly, if felt more like when you get a static shock," Jim admitted, with Brian agreeing with him.

Trixie bent down and picked the book up. She turned it around in her hands, but could find nothing to explain what had just happened. She handed the book back to Tansy, who took it back very carefully. Tansy looked at Sirene and held the book out to her. Sirene took the book.

"Okay, I get it, but why didn’t we pick up on it before?" Sirene asked.

"I’m glad you got it. Maybe you would be willing to explain it to the rest of us," Mart said.

"What we felt was the power of the book. I told you all that I expected to feel energy if the book had paranormal properties. It was strong because we’re close to the book and it came as a surprise to us.Right now I can feel the energy but it’s like my paranormal radar has adjusted to the energy flow and so I’m not getting the electrical shock I first felt. Is it easier on you all?" Sirene answered looking at Tansy, Jim and Brian.

"Yes, I’m fine now," Tansy said, taking the book back. "It’s down to a tingling but not unpleasant."

Jim and Brian both admitted that they had an uneasy feeling, like someone was watching them, but that was all.

"So, why did you, Tansy, Jim and Brian feel this but we didn’t?" Trixie asked.

Sirene looked at Jim and Brian. "I don’t know," was all she said. She had her suspicions but wasn’t going to say anything to anyone. Dan looked over at Sirene and caught her eyes. He knew that she had an idea but wasn’t going to share it. He narrowed his dark eyes at the lack of trust she was showing.

Sirene dropped her eyes from him.

"Of course, why didn’t we think of it?" Diana asked. Everyone looked towards her.

"The energy field," Diana said, still getting blank looks from everyone she continued. "Remember, Sirene had said that she felt that there was probably an energy field around the property. That field probably hid the book’s powers, when we left the property there was nothing between all of you and the book. That’s why Sirene couldn’t zoom in on it at the house."

"You’re right," Sirene said. "I completely forgot about the energy field. Well, I’m glad we were able to come up with an explanation."

They all started walking again. When they reached the Manor house, they went into the library, where there was a nice cozy fire going. Miss Trask told them to warm up and she would have Celia bring in some hot chocolate and a snack.

"So, where should I put this?" Tansy asked as everyone got comfortable.

"If you will trust us, I think we should ask Dad to put it in the safe," Jim suggested. Regan shook his head.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think that book should even be in this house," Regan said. "After all if Kern is after it, it doesn’t seem wise to have the book within his reach."

"How will he know we found it?" Trixie asked.

"I don’t know, but if our psychics were able to pick up the energy that book puts out, what makes you think Silvenus can’t?" Regan asked. "Tansy told me that Sirene seem to think that Silvenus had some sort of psychic ability. And if Silvenus has it, what makes you thing that Kern doesn’t have some form of psychic ability. Didn’t Sirene say it runs in the family?"

"Regan has a point," Tansy said. "What do you think, Sirene?"

"He could be right," Sirene said thoughtfully. "Silvenus’s mental block could also be blocking us from picking up Kern’s ability, especially if Silvenus is more powerful then his brother.

"Why don’t we hide it at my house?" Diana asked. "Daddy has a safe and I live far enough away, so they shouldn’t be able to pick up on it."

"Are you sure your dad won’t mind?" Honey asked.

"Of course not. I know the combination and besides he and mother are out of town for the rest of the week," Diana said.

Just then the phone rang and Honey, who was the closest to the phone, picked it up. She looked up, quickly and her eyes got big. "Please, hold on while I try to find her," Honey said in to the phone. She gently laid the phone down on the table.

"Jim, would you go and find Tansy and tell her she’s got a phone call," Honey said loudly.

"Sure, I’ll be right back," Jim said, understanding that Honey wanted him to get Captain Steele. A few minutes passed while Honey kept up the idle chatter, not wanting to alert the caller to what they were up to. The rest of the Bob-Whites caught on quickly and kept the talk to common every day chitchat. Captain Steele came in, walked over and whispered something to Tansy and then walked over to the desk. He waited until Tansy was by the phone on the table and then picked up the phone the same time she picked up the phone, making a lot of noise while she did it.

"Hello," Tansy said. She listened for a few minutes, looking at Captain Steele, the whole time.

"No, I haven’t found it. But I think I might know where it is," Tansy said carefully. "Look, I know you don’t have my aunt. But I’ve been thinking. I need some extra money and since my aunt isn’t here, why can’t I sell you the book? How much are you willing to pay for it?"

The Bob-Whites eyes got big as they listen to her, while Regan grew concerned as he listened to the rest of the conversation.

"That much! Yes, yes, I think we can come to an arrangement," Tansy said.

"Look, why don’t you give me a number to call you at? That way I can contact you as soon as I see if the book is where I think it is."

Tansy motioned for Honey to get her a pen and paper. Honey brought Tansy what she needed. Tansy wrote down a phone number.

"Now see, isn’t this easier working together. You get what you want and I get some extra cash that I need," Tansy said. "I’ll call you as soon as I can. I have to be careful though because I don’t want anyone to know about this, that is, if I find the book."

Tansy listen for a few minutes then said. "Because I don’t like Mr. Silvenus Marcellus. He’s creepy. Besides, he didn’t offer to pay me, just my aunt, so why should I help him?"

Tansy nodded her head to something the other person was saying. She said goodbye and hung up. Captain Steele hung up at the same moment she did. He smiled at her.

"You did a very good job," he complimented her. "Very convincing. I’ll give this number to Spider and we’ll see what we can come up with."

He smiled at the group and left the library.

"It has to be Kern or the twins!" Tansy said excitedly. "The person on the phone asked me why I wasn’t going to give the book to Silvenus. Who else, but Kern or the twins, would know about that?"

Trixie had been very thoughtful during this time."I think we should try to catch whoever is doing this,’ she announced.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"What’s the plan?" Jim asked.

"Why don’t we have Tansy call them back and meet them someplace for the exchange. Of course all of us would be there and then we can capture them after Tansy gives them the book," Trixie suggested.

"I’m not sure that we can legally do anything," Dan said. "There’s nothing illegal about Tansy selling a book to someone and we can’t prove that whoever shows up is the same one that vandalized Tansy’s house and took a shot at her."

"But if the book is stolen, and they know it’s stolen, then we got them," Honey said. "Because it’s illegal to knowingly buy stolen goods."

"Honey’s got a point," Brian said. "We know they know that Tansy doesn’t own the book, her aunt does. And we can prove it because they have been asking for Roiya Gifford all this time, even to the point of saying they kidnapped her."

"Well, I think we’d be better off having Spider with us. That way we know it will be set up properly, so legally we can catch them," Dan said.

"Oh, Dan, Spider will never allow us to be there. He’ll say it’s too dangerous. Besides we don’t know if we have the right book. He’ll never agree to this unless he knows for sure that this book is the ‘Book of Be’al’," Trixie said. "By setting up the meeting ourselves, we’ll be able to confirm that this is the book."

"But this has to be the book," Sirene said. "There aren’t that many books that are going to have paranormal properties to it."

"Oh, sure, we’ll just tell Spider that we know that this is the book because all of our psychics can feel it," Trixie said, somewhat sarcastically. "I’m sure he’ll believe us."

‘You’re right," Sirene said sadly. "If anyone knows how people react when you tell them about being psychic, it’s me. You all have been so accepting that I forgot that others aren’t ready to accept such possibilities."

"Trixie didn’t mean anything mean, Sirene," Diana said. "She just gets so excited and she’s always looking for an excuse to not include the police."

"Di’s right," Trixie said somewhat shamefully, then gave Sirene a rueful grin. "I do have a habit of wanting just the Bob-Whites to solve things. I didn’t mean to be mean. I’m glad that you have gotten so comfortable about being psychic around us that you don’t even think about it anymore. Dan’s probably right also, we probably should have Spider there, but I would really like to try to do this ourselves."

"Trixie, you may be right about Spider not going for a set up without proof that this is the book," Jim said thoughtfully. "He may think it’s too dangerous or that we might lose them if this isn’t the book they want. We’ll probably only get one chance. We can’t tell him how we know the book is for real, because he’ll never believe us."

Tansy looked over to Regan. "What do you think?"

"I think that Jim and Trixie are right. Spider might believe us but he won’t be able to get the manpower he would need on what we have. I’m not too crazy about you meeting anyone but if we pick our spot carefully and if we’re all there, except for Sirene, then I think we might be able to do this. But we need for whoever to show up to confess to what he did and we need to record it," Regan said.

"Do you think you can get him to talk?" he asked Tansy.

"I can try. If nothing else we can report him to Spider afterwards for buying a stolen book," Tansy said.

"But won’t that get you in trouble?" Diana asked.

Tansy shrugged her shoulders, "I’m not sure. I think my aunt would have to be willing to prosecute me and she won’t."

"Why can’t Sirene be there?" Dan asked.

"Because if the person who comes is psychic, he’ll be able to pick me up and that would give us away," Sirene answered.

"How will he tell the difference between you and Tansy? You said that it’s hard to tell who’s who and which psychic has what power when there’s more then one of you," Dan demanded.

"True, but there is an energy level that can be picked up. Since Kern and Silvenus have been around Tansy and I when we were together, and if Kern is psychic, then they both would feel the same level of energy that they felt when we were together," Sirene tried to explain.

"Not if the book is messing up that energy level," Brian said, thoughtfully.

They all turned their eyes towards him.

"Just think about it. If Sirene and Tansy were both literally shocked by the energy level of the book, wouldn’t the book also affect any other psychics around? So the energy level is going to be off anyway. How would they know the difference, of what they’re picking up, between Sirene and the Book?"

Trixie looked at her brother in amazement. "Since when did you become a believer in psychics?"

Honey just looked at Brian with thoughtful eyes.

Brian glanced at Jim, "Let’s just say that since we’ve been having some very strange things going on around here, that I haven’t been able to put a scientific reason too, I’m willing to keep an open mind."

"Well, I don’t care why? It’s about time my big brother realized that there is more to this world then science and logic," Mart said.

"Well, anyway to get back to the plan," Trixie said. "I think we set it up by the bluffs. We’ll have to make sure we’re on the Wheeler’s property or we’ll run into that shield thing. We can set it up so we can hide in the woods, while Tansy waits for them in the open. If we stay close to the main trail then the security officers shouldn’t interfere."

"Okay, but I think we should also have one or two people at the inn," Honey said. "Just in case they get by us. I bet that’s where they’ll go to afterwards."

"That’s a great idea!" Trixie said. "Why don’t we have Sirene and Dan stake out the inn?"

"Sure, we could get there before the meeting and see if they leave from there. If only we had someway to let you all know they were leaving," Sirene said. "The good part is if we’re spotted, I can always use the excuse that I wanted to see the inn they told me about."

Diana smiled. "I know one way to see if the twins are involved. Why don’t we set it up for tomorrow night, say around nine o’clock? If the twins are involved, they’ll have to call Sirene and cancel."

Mart looked at Diana with pride. "That’s putting on the thinking cap!"

Diana ignored Mart, still mad at him.

"I think we need someone here too. We don’t know if our person is coming from the inn or the Manor," Jim said.

"That would work. We have those new walkie-talkie’s dad gave us. We can give one to who ever stays here and we’ll take one. Jim and I know they work from that distance because we tried them out already. This way Sirene and Dan can call here if they see anyone leaving the inn, and let’s say Mart and Diana will be the look out for the Manor, so they can call on the walkie-talkie with any news," Honey said.

Regan shook his head. "It’s a good thing we’re all use to the way you talk, Honey or things would get real confusing fast. Okay let’s review. Tansy will call the number and set up a meeting for tomorrow night at nine o’clock. Dan and Sirene will be at the Sleepy Hollow Inn around eight o’clock. Diana and Mart will be stationed here with a walkie-talkie, keeping an eye on our suspects. The rest of us will be hiding in the woods near the bluffs. If someone leaves the inn then Dan or Sirene will call the Manor house and pass the information on to Diana or Mart. Then Diana or Mart will pass the information on to us via the walkie-talkie. If Diana or Mart sees one of our suspects leaving the Manor house, then they’ll alert us. Tansy is to try to get whoever shows up to admit to the vandalism and taking a shot at her. Once the deal is done we try to nab the person. If he gets away then Sirene and Dan will hopefully confirm that they returned to the inn, or Mart and Diana will confirm they returned to the Manor house at which time, will call the cops. Did I get it all?"

Trixie happily nodded. "Yep, that’s the plan."

Regan groaned. "I’m supposed to be the adult here, so how do I get involved with this craziness?"

Tansy smiled at him. "Because you’re a sweetheart and because you’re a bit of a rebel."

"Sure, go ahead. Add insult to injury," Regan told her with a grin.

"So what do we tell our parents and my grandparents?" Sirene asked. "I don’t know about you all, but my grandparents aren’t going to let me stay out too late. You know how they are. Nine o’clock is my curfew unless something special is going on or a school project. They’re not going to allow me to leave the house at eight o’clock and stay out without telling them were I’m at."

"Just tell them that you’ll be with the Bob-Whites and we’ll be meeting at the Manor house," Dan said. "You’re not really lying because I’m sure that’s were we’ll end up."

"I guess the rest of us are lucky, as long as our parents know we’re all together, and we’re home by eleven, they don’t ask us much," Honey said.

"Hey, why don’t we have a house party at the Manor House. That way you won’t be lying. Mother will let us have one, especially when I tell her it’s to celebrate Sirene joining the Bob-Whites. It can be our first official gathering for the year and for Sirene as a new member."

"Well, little sister, I think you came up with a great idea," Jim said. "If we’re all here, it will make everything easier. We have plenty of room, even if Silvenus, Kern and the twins are here."

"Speaking of Kern and the twins, where are they?" Trixie asked.

"As far as I know, they went in the city for a New Year’s party and haven’t returned," Honey answered.

"Interesting that they always seem to be in the city when the calls come in and when other things happen," Trixie remarked. "I wonder if Silvenus came back yet. I wish I knew why he was at the inn."

"Well, hopefully we can have our answers tomorrow," Jim said. "Tansy, why don’t you call the number and get this plan into action. Honey and I’ll go find mother and ask her about everyone staying here tomorrow night."

"Do you think there’s been enough time?" Tansy said as Honey and Jim left the room. "I don’t want to get them too suspicious if I call them too early."

Regan looked at his watch. "Sure, I think there’s been time enough for you to run to your house, check the hiding place and get back here. They’ll just think you’re eager to make some money."

"Okay, here goes," Tansy said picking up the phone. She dialed the number and listened while it rang. After the third ring, the line was picked up and a male voiced answered.

"It’s Tansy. I have the book," she said. "No, I can’t meet tonight. I already have plans and someone will get suspicious if I change them. I can meet you tomorrow night at nine o’clock."

She listened for a few minutes, turning to Sirene and smiled. "Well, I guess I’ll have to give the book to Silvenus because it’s tomorrow night or not at all. He might be willing to pay me."

Tansy listened some more to the person talking on the phone.

"No, that won’t do. I really don’t trust you, so it has to be done on my terms. I want to meet on the bluffs behind the Wheelers house. Do you know how to get there?" Tansy asked. Tansy listened for a while longer.

"Okay, nine o’clock sharp, because I won’t wait," Tansy said then hung up the phone.

"Well, Sirene, you should get a call canceling tomorrow night if the twins are involved," Tansy said.

"If they call me I’ll call everyone and let you all know," Sirene offered.

Just then Honey and Jim came back into the room.

"Mother says it’s okay about tomorrow night. She suggested that everyone come for dinner. It seems that Kern and the twins won’t be back. They apparently have decided to stay in the city, so Silvenus is the only one here. Mother reminded Jim that they were going tomorrow morning, to take

Nightrider to the track in White Plains," Honey told them.

"I wish I could see him run," Trixie said. "We’ll have to get home and see if moms wills let us stay over tomorrow night."

"You’re welcome to come tomorrow morning if you want, but we’ll be leaving about six o’clock in the morning," Jim told Trixie.

"Jeepers, that would be great! I’ll go ask my parents and call you right back. Tansy, why don’t you tell Jim and Honey about your phone call? We, Beldens need to get home," Trixie said as she hurried out of the room.

Mart and Brian looked at each other.

"Well, I guess we’re going home," Brian said.

"Yeah, not that Trixie left us much choice," Mart said. "Someday that girl’s impulsive behavior is going to cause catalytic changes."

"Which is nothing new for our Trixie," Jim said fondly. "That girl has caused more changes, for the good I might add, since I’ve known her then most people cause in a lifetime."

Brian said. "Yeah, but there are times when it has caused us to worry some."

"Well, we better catch up to her or she’ll have Moms so confused that we’ll never be able to straighten Moms out," Mart said.

Brian and Mart left to try to catch up with their sister. Dan looked over to where Diana was sitting and noticed her watching Mart leave. Dan took Sirene’s hand and walked over to Diana.

"Why don’t we go over to Sirene’s for a while?" He asked her. "We can chill out with some music and see if the twins will call. I’ll walk you home later."

Diana looked up at Dan and gave him a weak smile. "Sure. I think the book will be safe at Sirene’s house for a bit." Diana then turned to talk to Tansy and Honey. "I’ll lock it up when I get home and I’ll also look for that Celtic information I got from the museum. I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to join the house party tomorrow night."

"Okay, Di. Just let us know," Tansy said gently as she handed the book to Diana. Tansy could feel the younger girl’s mixed emotions of anger, hurt and confusion.

Tansy and Regan walked back to his apartment; each lost in their own thoughts. Tansy took Regan’s hand and looked up at him. "It will be all right. You really had no choice. I think the Bob-Whites would have found a way to confront this person even if you had told them no. All we can do is try to keep them safe."

Regan squeezed her hand and sigh. "I know. I thought about going to Matt Wheeler but if I do then they’ll never trust me again and that scares me more than having Mr. Wheeler angry at me."

"I know. It’ll be alright," Tansy said reassuringly.

Trixie called Honey back about a half an hour after she had left. Her parents had not only agreed to letting Brian, Mart and Trixie stay overnight but Trixie was allowed to go to the track in the morning.

"I guess having the house to themselves for a day relaxed them. I can’t remember when I’ve seen them in such a good mood last, " Trixie was saying to Honey after giving her the good news.

Honey laughed. "Your parents are always in a good mood."

"Well, most the time. They are great sports but they seem even more relaxed. Oh, I can’t explain it and I guess it doesn’t matter since they agreed to let us spend the night at your house tomorrow night," Trixie said. "I have to go. Moms is about ready to put dinner on the table and I need to set the table. I’ll talk to you tomorrow."

After seven o’clock that night, each house got a call from Sirene letting them know that Roman had called her canceling out Tuesday night. But what

Sirene found even more interesting was the fact that he was reluctant to make another date.

So the plan was a go and each Bob-White was eager to catch this person and put an end to this.

Diana was finally able to cry. She had been holding in the tears every since she and Mart had that silly fight. When he had left without saying goodbye to her, she had felt the tears well up again, but luckily Dan had intervened. Diana was confused, because Mart has never stayed mad at her for long. Mart said he didn’t mind her going to the country club dance with someone else but Diana felt that things have changed since she told him. She felt like he was drawing away from her. They had been so close for the last few months, having the kind of friendship that Diana had always wanted with him. She didn’t want to lose that but she didn’t want to disappoint her parents either.

Mart lay on the floor of his and Brian’s room, with his feet propped up on the windowsill, looking out the window. He knew Diana was hurt but he was still angry with her. He tried to make amends but she wanted to carry a grudge. He wasn’t the one in the wrong. She had started it by criticizing him. He at first had tried to make a joke out of it, but then she had started talking that nonsense about him being jealous of Trixie. No, if anyone was going to apologize it was going to be her.

Brian looked over to where he was lying on the floor and sighed. He felt for Mart and Diana but knew that he couldn’t do anything for them. They were going to have to work things out for themselves. He just hoped that it didn’t cause problems within the group. He was confident that their friendship would last but he had a feeling things could get a little uncomfortable in the mean time.

He would rather deal with Trixie and her mysteries. They were easier.

 

Chapter 13

Dan and Sirene sat outside, behind the front hedges that faced the doorway to the inn. From their position they could see everyone that went in and out of the inn. So far, they haven’t seen anyone familiar. Dan had brought a sleeping bag knowing that the ground would be cold and wet. The sleeping bag was waterproof, so he figured that it should protect them from the snow. He had a pair of binoculars that he had gotten for Christmas. Sirene had brought a thermos of hot chocolate and some cookies in a picnic basket. They both were bundled up prepared to sit in the cold for a long time.

"You know they will only get a warning if it’s someone we know," Sirene said quietly. "If it’s a complete stranger then we won’t be much help."

"Do you really think that it’s a stranger?" Dan asked.

Sirene sighed. "No, I think its Kern and the twins. But I’m not sure that it’s about taking something from his brother. I sense a power from the book. I’ve been thinking that there are a lot of strange things in this world. What if that book is more than we think? I just wish I knew exactly what the ‘Book of Be’al’ was," Sirene answered thoughtfully.

"Maybe Tansy’s aunt will answer all of our questions once she shows back up," Dan said keeping his eyes focused on the inn. "I think it’s awful strange that she’s disappeared and hasn’t contacted Tansy."

"If it’s been intentional, then she has a lot to explain. Tansy hasn’t said a lot but I can tell that she’s worried about her aunt," Sirene said as she watched Dan.

It was dark out but there was enough light reflected off of the inn so that they could see each other. Dan was wearing a black jacket, with a black sweater underneath. He had on a pair of black pants and black running shoes.

His face with emotionless and his eyes were narrowed as he concentrated on who was going in and out of the inn. Sirene could imagine him on a stake out as a cop. He looked dangerous and it sent a chill up her spine. Just at that moment she realized that there was a hidden side of Dan. She knew that he was a passionate person but in spite of his history, she never really thought of him as dangerous, now she realized that he was capable of intentionally hurting someone and never feeling guilty about it.

"What would you do if someone raped one of the Bob-White girls?" Sirene asked him.

"Kill him," was Dan’s answer without looking at her.

"What would you do if someone beat one of us up?" Sirene asked.

"I wouldn’t kill him, but it would be awful close," Dan answered once again without looking at her.

"Wouldn’t you be concerned about going to jail?" Sirene asked.

Dan shrugged. "It would be worth it."

"Not to us it wouldn’t. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that I would rather have you here with us then sitting in jail," Sirene said.Dan finally turned and looked at her. "So what am I suppose to do? Let the low-life get away with it. If you think I’m the only one you would have to worry about, then you don’t know the rest of them. Believe me if anything happened to one of the Bob-Whites, then it would just a matter of who got to that creep first."

"Look, I can understand. But one of the things I learned from Poppy is that control is everything," Sirene said. "Take my Dad for instance, when he was shot down by those gang members, I wanted to hunt them all down, but I was too young. Later I found out that they were caught and were convicted, that is, the ones that weren’t shot during the arrest. Interesting enough, the guy that actual pulled the trigger ended up dying in the shoot out. Poppy had gone down there and he worked within the law to see that justice was done. He explained that avenging your love ones was okay as long as you did it legally. He also told me that there was no time limit on avenging your loved ones, so being patient would only work for you not against you."

Dan turned his eyes back on to the inn. "Yeah, your grandfather does talk a lot about control during our lessons. Let’s hope nothing happens to any of us before it sinks in."

Sirene smiled. "So after it sinks in, it will be okay for something bad to happen to us?"

Dan looked at her again. "You know that’s not what I mean. Sometimes I wonder about that warped sense of humor of yours."

"What’s to wonder? It’s warped," Sirene told him still grinning at him.

Dan grinned back at her. "Well, at least you have one."

He turned his head back to the inn. All of a sudden he tensed up and raised his binoculars to his eyes.

"Yep, it’s them. I see Kern and the twins. They’re getting into a black four door sedan," Dan said to Sirene.

"Okay, soon as they leave, we’ll go into the inn and call the Manor house," Sirene said. They both watched as the black car pulled out of the parking lot. As soon as the car was gone, they both ran indoors, into the lobby where they saw a couple of pay phones. Sirene put in the necessary coins and dialed the Manor House.

"It’s Kern and the twins. They’re in a black four-door sedan. They left just a few minutes ago," Sirene told Mart who had answered the phone.

She hung up the phone and looked over to the front desk, which had no one there.

"Don’t even think about it," Dan said. "If we break into their room, we could mess up any clues that Spider will need when he investigates their room."

Sirene looked at Dan, her eyes glowing silver.

"Sirene, what is it? Is someone trying to contact you?" Dan asked after seeing her eyes.

"Yes, so many, there’s too many. They all are talking at the same time. Please just one at a time," Sirene said, softly. Her face was beginning to turn pale and Dan could see sweat forming on her brow. He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the lobby and out into the night. He put his arm around her shaking body as he led her back to their hiding place.

 

At the Manor House…

Mart and Diana waited in Jim’s room at the Manor house.

They had all gathered earlier for dinner. After dinner the Bob-Whites had met in the library for awhile and then had separated and gone upstairs, where the guys went to Jim’s room and the girls went into Honey’s room.

At seven thirty they all met in the upstairs hallway. It was decided that Mart and Diana’s best look out spot would be Jim’s window. From there they could see the garage and the wooded area that led to the bluffs. Since Miss

Trask and Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler thought they were going to the movies, they were able to get out of the house without anyone noticing that Diana and Mart were not with them.

Diana looked over to Mart, who sat in a chair, looking out of the window with Jim’s binoculars. They had to keep the light off because they didn’t want to alert anyone that they were there. Mart had told Diana to stay by the phone because they had to pick it up on the first ring. Diana started to think of all the things that could go wrong. What if someone else called and she picked it up? What if Celia came in to put extra towels or blankets in Jim’s room? Why was Mart still mad at her? She had almost asked for someone else to stay with her but she didn’t really want that either. She can’t remember a time that she had been so uncomfortable around him.

"I think this is a waste of time, since Silvenus has already left. It’s pretty suspicious that all of the Marcelluses are supposed to be in the city tonight," Mart whispered.

"Why don’t I watch for a while? I’m not sure what to say on the phone if it’s not Sirene or Dan," Diana admitted, relieved to have Mart talking to her.

"Sure," he said casually. Diana walked over to him and he handed her the binoculars, taking care not to touch her. He quickly moved away from her and went over to sit on Jim’s bed by the phone. Diana turned to the window with tears in her eyes. After taking a few deep breaths and making sure that she had herself under control she put the binoculars up and scanned the area.

"Why are you mad at me?" Diana asked, in a hushed whisper, when the silence finally got to her.

"If you think about it, I’m sure the answer will come to you," Mart answered her just as quiet. "Then again, maybe not."

"Look, if I knew, then I wouldn’t be asking," Diana said, her voice still soft. "Do you like the way things are between us now?"

"Why did you pick a fight with me yesterday?" Mart countered.

"I wasn’t looking for a fight. I was just tired of your constant remarks about Trixie," Diana said.

"Since when did my sister need anyone’s help in defending herself?" Mart asked. "First of all, Trixie and I understand each other. She knows that was my way of giving her credit. If you hadn’t interfered she probably would have said something like ‘of course, dear twin brother, who else would discover it’ which would be her way of acknowledging my praise. Everyone would have laughed and that would have been the end of it. The second thing is that you had no right of accusing me of being jealous of my own sister. And later when I handed you the olive branch, you slapped it in my face. I’m not taking the full blame for what happened yesterday."

Diana didn’t say anything for awhile, thinking about what he had said.

"I’m sorry," she said softly. "You’re right but I didn’t know you were right until just now. I think I was upset because you took me going out with someone else very well. I know that doesn’t make sense and I can’t really explain it. I guess I’m a little confused right now. I don’t really think you’re jealous of Trixie and you were right. I shouldn’t have interfered."

"Okay, apology accepted," Mart said. "As for us, well, I think we need to go back to the way it was before we became closer, until you’re not so confused anymore."

Diana nodded because she couldn’t speak. She knew that with her parents insisting that she date other guys and not get serious about anyone, that this was the best solution. But she didn’t want it to be the way it was before. For the last few months, all her free time was spend with him in some way or another, and that’s how she wanted it.

The phone rang interrupting their thoughts. Mart quickly picked up the phone and said hello. Sirene was on the other end. After a few minutes, Mart hung up and picked up the walkie-talkie. It was decided that he and Diana did not have to be a look out anymore. But Regan did not want them coming down to the bluffs, in case they ran into the Marcelluses on their way there. Diana lowered the binoculars.

"Well, I guess I’ll go and wait in Honey’s room," she said quietly. "If anyone sees me I’ll just tell them that I stayed home because of a headache."

Mart looked at the beautiful girl in front of him. He knew that she was confused by his actions. In the past he had always done anything and everything in order to be in her good graces, but he couldn’t do that this time. He had realized that what made him really angry is that she was seeing this other guy just because her parents wanted her too, not because she wanted to. What did that tell him about her? What if she decides that Mart would never be good enough for her? He lay on Jim’s bed thinking that growing up really sucked!

 

In the woods by the bluffs…

"Are you going to be okay?" Regan asked Tansy.

"Sure, you’re going to be close, so no worries," Tansy said with a nervous smile.

"I just wish Spider was here. I would feel a lot better if the law was involved," Regan said. Tansy squeezed his hand.

"I know," was all she said.

"You probably should get out there a bit earlier, just in case one of them comes early to scout out the area," Trixie said.

"Okay, don’t forget to whistle, if anyone contacts you," Tansy said before taking a deep breath and walked out into the open.

She focused her energy on listening to the woods around her. Slowly she relaxed as the familiar sounds comforted her. She heard a cry and looked up.

She held out her arm as the hawk landed. She ran her fingers over the bird’s head and softly spoke to him. She realized that she had been so involved with Regan that she had been neglecting her animal friends. She promised that in the future she would balance it out so that she would have time for them also.

She thought about New Year’s Eve. She and Regan had been so close to making love but Regan had pulled away and only held her as the desire that had build up between them slowly burned down to a ember. She knew that he wasn’t convinced that she really loved him and that’s why he held back. She hoped that in time he would realize that her love was real and true.

After some time had passed she heard the bob-white call. She continued talking to her friend. She knew that someone was coming. Since all of the Marcelluses were conveniently away from the Manor house tonight, she knew that the person or persons would be coming from the direction of her house.

That was the only place someone could park without alerting someone of his or her presence.

She could feel extra people in the area. She lifted her arm and the hawk flew away. She turned towards the wooded area. She then heard a sound to her left. She turned towards the sound, seeing people approaching her. She was puzzled because she was sure that she felt more people in the woods. A man walked forward while the other two people stood back, too far for Tansy to see who they were.

Kern smiled at her. "I had a feeling my brother made you uncomfortable. He has that affect on people. So where is the book?"

"You didn’t think that I would have it in my hands, did you?" Tansy said. "I told you that I didn’t trust you. You show me the money and I’ll get the book."

Tansy looked into Kern’s eyes and she suddenly knew that he was the evil that her mother had warned her aunt about. Tansy tried to look away but couldn’t. Kern’s light blue eyes looked lighter and almost colorless.

"Go get me the book," Kern commanded. "Don’t resist me. It’s so easy to give me the book. The book belongs to me."

Tansy could feel the urge to go and get the book from the hiding place they had decided on. The book was in a hole that was in a tree trunk wrapped in plastic. All Tansy had to do was walk to the edge of the woods and the tree was right there. She felt confused on why she shouldn’t do that. She began to realize that the book really belonged to him. She started to slowly walk over towards the woods. All of a sudden she stopped as a sharp pain lanced through her head. She cried out and fell to the ground; her cries were echoed by others. Kern looked around in fear as he turned and ran, with the two other people following him, holding their heads.

Just as Tansy cried out, Jim and Brian both let out a groan. Trixie and Honey turned to them as Regan ran to Tansy.

"Jim, what’s wrong?" Trixie asked anxiously. Honey was asking Brian the same question with concern in her eyes.

"Just all of a sudden I have a splitting headache," Jim said. Brian nodded that he had the same problem. Regan was down on his knees, with his arms around Tansy. Tansy’s face was pale with pain.

"Brian, I need you," Regan yelled. Brian stood up and carefully walked over to Tansy. Jim also stood up, but leaned on a tree until he could steady himself. Honey had followed Brian, concerned about his unsteadiness.

Tansy sat up and looked around. Brian stopped in mid-stride and Jim looked puzzle.

"Tansy, what happen? Are you alright?" Regan asked. Jim and Trixie walked over to Tansy.

"I don’t know. I was feeling hazy and then all of a sudden this blinding pain came into my head. It was so bad that I couldn’t even see," Tansy explained. "Then it was gone."

"What do you mean gone?" Trixie asked.

"I mean it just disappeared, like it never happened," Tansy said. She looked at Jim and Brian.

"You both felt it didn’t you?" she asked them.

Both of the young men nodded their heads in affirmative.

"Just as she said. It was there then it was gone," Jim said puzzled. "It wasn’t blinding but it was very painful, for me anyway."

Brian was quiet, aware that Honey was watching him closely. He didn’t feel like he had anything to add. He didn’t understand what had happened and why only he, Tansy and Jim were affected. But he had his suspicions and he didn’t like it.

"Well, lets get the book and get back to the manor," Regan said. "Whatever happened interfered with this set up."

"Did you notice Kern’s face just before he left?" Trixie asked the group as the slowly walked back to the Manor house. "Boy, did he look frightened! It was obvious that whatever affected the guys and Tansy had the same affect on them."

"Yes, curious that it seemed to affect every psychic around," Honey said softly, "of course with the exception of Jim and Brian."

Jim and Brian glanced at each other briefly and just shrugged their shoulders. Trixie didn’t notice because she was focusing on what had happened and what their next step needed to be, but Honey noticed that glance. It was a very thoughtful and quiet group that arrived at the Manor house.

 

Back at the inn…

"Are you feeling better?’ Dan asked as he held Sirene close to him.

"Yes. Thank you for getting me out of there. I should of known better than go into an old place like this without taken precautions," she told him.

"What happened?" Dan asked.

"Sometimes old places have a lot of spirits hanging around. Some places even have haunts. I’ve told you about haunts before. Anyway, if I mentally prepare myself, I usually can control things. But I didn’t do that and I got overloaded," Sirene explained.

He looked down at her and gently kissed her lips. The kiss heated up as he softly licked her lips. Soon they wee lying down on the sleeping bag, kissing passionately. Dan ran his hands under her coat. In frustration he stopped kissing her and sat up, breathing hard. Sirene looked up at him uncertain. He slowly peeled off his gloves and gave her his sexy grin.

"Gloves are great for keeping out the cold, but I want to feel what I’m touching," he whispered to her as he took her back in his arms and started kissing her again.

He once again put his hand under her coat, moving slowly and caressingly over her stomach and sides. His hand moved just a finger away from her breast. Sirene held her breath as she felt his warm hands caress her. Dan nibbled on her ear, and then moved down her neck, kissing and nibbling.

Sirene turned her head so he would have better access. She was tingling where he touched her and her stomach had butterflies in it every time his fingers caressed the underside of her breast. She could feel her heart racing. She started running her hands under his jacket, trying to feel his muscular back through this sweater. She tried pulling him closer.

Dan whispered "Do you love me?"

Sirene froze. Dan felt her stillness. He stopped kissing her to look into her beautiful gray eyes that gleamed in the moonlight.

"I want you," Sirene said. "Isn’t that enough for now?"

Dan slowly moved away from her and sat up; folding his arms over his knees and then laid his head down on his folded arms. For a few minutes there was only the sound of their heavy breathing. Dan took a deep breath and looked up.

"No. I told you before that I want more than sex," Dan told Sirene looking at the stars.

"Dan, it’s too soon to talk about love and that sort of thing," Sirene said gently. "I’ve only known you for a few months."

"Sirene, do you realize what you’re saying?" Dan asked.

Sirene looked at him confused.

"You’ve got it backwards. You’re saying you’re ready for the physical part but not the emotional part of a relationship. It’s supposed to be the other way around. Not that it matters, because I’m going to wait until you’re ready for all of it," Dan gently explained.

Sirene sat up. "Well, can we at least cuddle?"

Dan put his arm around her and held her close, as Sirene laid her head on his broad shoulders.

"You know, Mangan, this isn’t helping your bad boy reputation," Sirene grumbled.

"Maybe, but I know what I want and I won’t settle for less," Dan stated firmly.

They sat there for awhile, just enjoying being with each other, each with different thoughts. Sirene wondered if she would ever be able to trust anyone enough to love him and Dan was wondering if his will power could out past her determination to cling to her old views and ways.

Sirene sat up suddenly.  "They can’t be back this soon, can they?" She asked Dan, pointing to the black sedan that pulled into the inn’s driveway. They watched Kern and the twins get out of the car and walked into the inn. They could see that no one was carrying anything.

"We need to get back and find out what happened," Dan said. They packed up everything and headed to the side road where Dan had stashed his motorcycle.

"Thank goodness, Regan gave you this for Christmas, or we would be stuck here until Brian and Jim could pick us up," Sirene said as she put on her helmet.

Dan grinned as he mounted the bike, after putting on his helmet. "Yeah, I guess he got tired of having to take me to school every time I missed the bus. Since I can legally drive a bike with a junior’s license, this works for both of us."

Sirene laughed as she got on the back of the motorcycle after securing the sleeping bag and picnic basket. "Don’t think that I don’t know that you love this bike and wouldn’t trade it for a brand new car."

Dan started up the bike, wondering when Sirene would realize how well she does know him.

 

A short time later, at the Manor house…

The Bob-Whites, Tansy and Regan were sitting around in the library, drinking hot chocolate and eating chocolate chip cookies, discussing that night events. They were amazed that it was only ten o’clock. It felt much later than that. Diana had brought the book of Celtic art down with her. She and

Trixie were looking through the book to see if the could identify the design on the book, when the library door flew open. They all looked up towards the entrance and there stood Roiya Gifford, in a long flowing heavy dress. The dress was dark colored and had dragons and unicorns all over it and her black long hair was loose and flowing down her back. Her blue eyes were snapping.

"Aunt Roiya!" Tansy gasped.

"What do you thing you were doing?" she asked as she stood in the doorway.

"If I had wanted Kern Marcellus to have the book I wouldn’t have taken it in the first place."

"If you had told me what was going on instead of disappearing, then this wouldn’t have happened," Tansy said, with fire shooting from her eyes. "Why couldn’t you have told me about all this and why didn’t you tell me about my mother and father?"

"I didn’t tell you because Kern is very powerful. I knew that he could get the information out of you. I had to protect the book. I figured that once he realized that you really didn’t know anything he would leave and come searching for me," Roiya explained. "As for your parents, I was trying to protect you. I’ll explain about them later."

"Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was about you? " Tansy asked, not convinced but realized that her aunt would never admit to being in the wrong. Tansy walked over and hugged her aunt, even though she was still angry at her.

Roiya smiled for the first time. "I was at the Sleepy Hollow Inn."   Everyone looked astonished.

"But that’s where Kern and the twins are!" Honey exclaimed

"I know. I figured no one would think to look for me there," Roiya said walking towards an empty chair and sitting down

"If you took the book with you then how did the book get back into our house?" Tansy asked her.

"Well, it seems that someone searched my room at the inn. I was concerned about keeping it there after that. I went back to the house once to check on you and saw the note about the break in, so I figure that since they’ve searched the house once, they wouldn’t bother to do it again. So on New Year’s Eve I put the book back into the secret place. I never expected you to find it," Roiya explained. . "Now tell me what all of you were doing out in the woods and why was Tansy going to give the book to Kern?"

"It’s a long story. Why don’t I pour you some hot chocolate while Trixie explains it all to you. After all she’s the one that found the secret place. You’re right, I would have never located it," Tansy suggested, somewhat tiredly. "I believe you met everyone in this room last October, didn‘t you?

"Of course, I remember. I’m not senile yet," Roiya said, somewhat tartly.

"So, let Trixie explain to me how you almost ruined everything."

Trixie glanced at Honey, who nodded in encouragement, with Jim holding her hand; Trixie told Roiya everything that had happened. Roiya turned pale when she heard about the rifle shot and glanced at her niece. Trixie also told Roiya about their suspicions. Roiya was real thoughtful as she looked around at the group of young people.

"I guess you would like to know about the book?" she asked. "And I’ll tell you, but first I want to know if Mr. Wheeler ever told Silvenus about your suspicions?"

"I asked Dad that this morning after we came back from the track. He said that Spider and Captain Miller convinced him that it would be best to keep all of this quiet. He still was having Silvenus’s background checked but hasn’t found out anything yet," Jim reported.

"Mmm…I see," Roiya said. "Sirene, you said that you thought Silvenus was the powerful one and because of that you weren’t sure if Kern even was psychic. Are you sure that it was Silvenus you were picking up?"

Sirene nodded her head. "For sure. Have you met him, yet?"

Roiya shook her head. "No. I’ve ran into the twins and Kern, of course they didn’t know who I was, but not Silvenus."

"Well, you’ll know what I mean once you do meet him. Believe me the man maybe able to shield himself in hiding what type of power he has but he can’t hide the fact that he has power. It oozes out of him," Sirene told Roiya.

"Maybe he was there also tonight," Tansy said quietly. Roiya looked at her niece with questioning eyes.

‘I felt more people in the woods besides Regan and the Bob-Whites, that’s why I was surprised to see Kern coming from the direction he came from. I thought I sensed someone familiar, which probably was you, but someone else was there. I admit that it did get confusing and then the pain," Tansy explained ending with a shudder.

"Well, yes, I’m sorry about that," Roiya apologized looking a bit guilty.

"Do you know what happened?" Brian asked quietly.

"Yes, I do. I could see that Kern had Tansy in a trance so I was trying to counter it. I think Tansy may be right about Silvenus being around because I was having trouble countering Kern’s power when all of a sudden I felt this burst of power. It came out of no where and it was so strong that it literally overpowered me for a moment. When I tried to take control and focus on where it came from, it was gone. I might have passed out because I woke up in the woods and everyone was gone," Roiya admitted. "I’ve never experienced that type of energy or anything so strong. At first I thought it was Kern and he got the book but now I realized that it must have been this Silvenus person," Roiya told them.

"Are you saying that you were in some type of mental war with Kern during this time?" Regan asked, not quite believing what he was hearing.

Roiya looked at him haughtily. "Of course. It wasn’t done by magic. If you remember that psychic abilities are nothing more then someone being able to use a part of their brain that most people do not use, and that is through mental energy, then you can see how it can happen."

Regan looked at Tansy’s aunt and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that’s explanation is as good as any."

"I have two questions," Diana said softly. "How come Kern didn’t feel the book’s presence while it was with you at the inn? And why did someone search your room if Kern didn’t know who you are?"

"Very good questions. The first one I can answer. I placed the book in a rubber container. As far as I know, the energy that the book sends out can’t go through rubber. As for who searched my room, I really don’t know. They did it very neatly. Only reason I knew that it was searched at all was because I could feel the change of energy in the room, letting me know that someone had been there. After checking out my room I could see that my clothes had been moved and my suitcase wasn’t in the same spot I put it in," Roiya answered.

"So the question is what do we do now?" Mart asked.

"Well, I think we all should go to bed and sleep on it. We can discuss it tomorrow morning. Maybe it’s time to talk to Spider and Mr. Wheeler again," Regan suggested.

"I think that’s a good idea. I’m going back to the hotel. Is it okay for Tansy to stay here for now?" Roiya asked Honey.

"Of course. We love having her," Honey said graciously. "Why don’t you come back for breakfast and we can figure out what to do next?"

Roiya smiled at Honey. "You’re such a sweet person. Thank you. I’ll take you up on your offer and be back tomorrow morning."

Roiya got up and walked over to her niece and caressed her cheek, she gave Regan and wink and turned and hurried out of the room.

Regan stood up and took Tansy by the hand and helped her up. They said good night to Bob-Whites and Tansy walked Regan to the back door. The girls went ahead of the guys, upstairs, heading for Honey’s room.

"What’s wrong, Di?" Siren asked.

"Nothing," Diana answered.

"Oh, come on. We can tell something’s wrong," Trixie said.

"Mart and I had a talk tonight," Diana said with a sigh. "We’ve decide not to spend so much time together. We’re still friends and everything, so you don’t have to worry about us not getting along. It’s no big deal. I mean, it’s not like we were going together or anything like that."

"Sure. We understand," Siren said. "It will be fine. I don’t know about you

all but I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed. See you all in the morning.   Coming Di?"

"Yes, I’m tired also," Diana said quietly. She said good night to Trixie and Honey and followed Sirene out of the room. She was glad that Sirene would respect the fact that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore tonight.

"Poor Mart and Di. I wish I knew what brought this on and who was the one that suggested it," Trixie said, getting ready for bed.

"I can tell Diana’s not too happy about it. But if she’s going to date other people, it might be for the best, especially for Mart," Honey replied.

Trixie nodded in agreement, thinking fleetingly of how lucky she was that she didn’t have to worry about dating other people yet. She climbed into bed, her mind back on the book.

"Do you realize that Roiya left without telling us about the book?" Trixie asked, as the thought just occurred to her.

"Yes, I noticed that. She’s very good at changing the subject," Honey answered sleepily. "But if I know you, you’ll make sure she tells us after breakfast."

Trixie didn’t say anything, but her mind was turning.

Jim and Brian had locked up the house after making sure that Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were home and that Tansy had come in from saying good night to Regan. Dan and Mart had already gone upstairs.

"I think Honey is suspicious," Jim said to Brian. "And why didn’t you tell me?"

Brian wasn’t sure that he wanted to admit, even to his best friend, about what he had learned about himself in the last few days. But Jim had been opened with him and he needed Jim’s opinion.

"I’m not sure about anything," Brian said. "I can’t imagine what psychic ability I might have. The only reason the thought cross my mind was because I know that you, Tansy and Sirene are psychic, therefore it stands to reason if all of you are affected by something psychically and I’m also feeling the effects, I must be psychic."

"Yeah, I thought it was something like that. So how do we find out what your gift is?" Jim asked.

"I don’t know. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if anything triggers it like yours was triggered. The real question is how long do you think you can keep your abilities a secret? Once Trixie starts thinking about what happened, she’s going to figure it out. As you said, Honey’s already suspicious. I have a feeling that my sister will be a bit upset with you for not telling her."

Jim grimaced. "I already figured that out. But I have to have time to deal with this. It’s not an easy thing to accept, which I have a feeling you’ll be finding out for yourself one of these days."

Brian put his hand on Jim’s shoulder as they walked upstairs, to show Jim that he did understand and Brian would stand by him no matter what.

Dan and Mart both went to bed, neither one saying much, both of them thinking about how complex certain girls could be, both also wondering if they had made the right decisions tonight.

 To Be Continued

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