Chapter 14

It was after breakfast and the formal living room at the Manor house was filled with people. After hearing the latest happenings, Mr. Wheeler decided to call Helen and Peter Belden and invite them to the morning meeting. He had tried to get in touch with Diana’s parents but they were not available. Sirene had already called her grandparents and told them about what had been going on. Peter Belden had called into work, explaining that he would be late, but would be in later.

So when Spider arrived, all of the Beldens, minus Bobby who Miss Trask was watching, all of the Wheelers, Sirene and her grandparents, Tansy, Regan, Dan and Roiya, were sitting around the living room discussing the situation. He cleared his throat and everyone looked up at him.

"I’m glad everyone’s been caught up on the latest incidents," Spider said to the room. "I won’t go into a lecture on how you kids should have informed me or at least one of the security officers about what you were up too, because it wouldn’t do any good. So I’ll just tell you what I’ve come up with. The key found at the Gifford’s residence after the break in does belong to Sleepy Hollow Inn. I was able to find out which room it belonged to and who was staying in that room at that time. Unfortunately, since they didn’t take anything or leave any finger prints behind, the key is still circumstantial evidence, not really enough to arrest them. If I can find the rifle that shot the bullet in the room or on them or in their car, then I can arrest them."

"You haven’t searched the room yet?" Trixie asked.

"No, I only found out which hotel that key belonged to and who was in that room late yesterday. I need a search warrant and I‘m not sure one will be issued, I‘m waiting on a decision. The key may not be enough to issue a search warrant, unless we can connect the shooting to the key," Spider told her. "Captain Miller has reported that there has been no more activity in the woods, except for last night, his officers didn’t interfere because everyone was on the paths, but they did witness Kern Marcellus and his sons meeting with Tansy. Unfortunately, since amateurs were trying to do police work, even if Tansy had given Kern the book, there would have been nothing we could do. No one has claimed the bikes Mr. Maypenny found, but we may have found the store they purchased them from. The phone calls came from a pay phone, outside of Wimpy’s."

"So what now?" Trixie asked after Spider was done reporting.

"Well, I would say that you set up another meeting. This time with the police and parents involved," Helen Belden suggested, knowing that her daughter would find some way to get involved.

"Mrs. Belden has a point. I’m sure this Kern fellow still wants the book," Mr. Hartman added.

"True, but what we need is a confession," Spider said. "There’s nothing illegal about Tansy selling the book to Kern Marcellus."

"But I thought it was illegal to knowingly buy stolen property?" Honey asked.

"It is," a deep, dark voice said at the doorway.

Everyone turned to look at Silvenus Marcellus, who stood in the doorway. His green eyes were dark and mesmerizing. Everyone watched him as he walked into the room. Sirene watched everyone as they watched him. Sirene noticed that Roiya was watching him but she didn’t seem to be mesmerized by him as everyone else was.

"Please forgive my intrusion," Silvenus said to Spider. "I’ve discovered that my brother has been causing some problems for these young people. I’m Silvenus Marcellus and I feel some what responsible for all of this."

"No problem," Spider said. "We welcome your help. But how are you responsible for your brother?"

"I’m the one that started looking for the book. My brother has a bad habit of trying to take things that I want and he doesn’t care how he obtains it. Of course I’ve been willing to pay for the book if, and only if, Miss Gifford was willing to sell," Silvenus explained while keeping his eyes on Spider.

"You can‘t be held responsible for your brothers actions," Spider said.

Silvenus smiled charmingly at everyone in the room. "I’ll be more then happy to help. Just out of curiosity, where is the book now?"

"What difference does it make?" Sirene asked him. "After all the book isn’t for sale."

"That hasn’t been established yet. I’m still hoping that Miss Gifford will give my offer some consideration," Silvenus said smoothly as he turned his gaze on Roiya.

Roiya lifted an eyebrow and gave him a secretive smile. "Maybe, we’ll discuss it after we take care of the person who broke into my house and took a shot at my niece."

Silvenus inclined his head in a gracious manner. "Well, let us start. I know for a fact that Kern and the twins have been staying at the Sleepy Hollow Inn. I got suspicious when I found out that they weren’t at my townhouse in the city. My brother doesn’t have the finances to stay in a hotel in the city, nor would he, when he can stay at my place. I got lucky when I showed his picture at the inn. They recognized him. He checked into the hotel last Wednesday. As far as I can tell he and the twins are still there."

"Can you think of a legitimate reason for them to be staying there, instead of here or in the city?" Trixie asked anxiously.

Spider just sighed. "I don’t know why I’m here. I might as well let Trixie ask all the questions, then just drill her."

Trixie blushed and looked apologetically at Spider, who just grinned at her.

"To answer the question, no I can’t think of any reason for them to be there. To tell you the truth, they weren’t suppose to be in New York at all. They arrived unexpectedly the day before Christmas at my home on Long Island. Before that they were suppose to be holidaying in Hawaii. We’re not that close of a family, so I was a bit suspicious that they would arrive a few months after I had discovered who owned the book," Silvenus explained.

"What is the book worth?" Spider asked.

Silvenus smiled charmingly at Spider. "The book is a collector’s item. But there are only a few people that collect books of antiquity. So it’s not easy to find a buyer. I have paid as much as two hundred thousand for such a book, but also as little as fifty cents."

"So, the only reason Kern would want the book is to keep you from getting it?" Spider questioned.

"I’m afraid that is the gist of it. My brother hates me and takes the greatest pleasure out of denying me the smallest thing," Silvenus said.

"Okay, so how do we catch Kern?" Tansy asked, anxiously. She had edged closer to Regan and was holding his hand. She was trying to borrow some of his strength to hold on. There were just too many people and too many emotions floating around. She needed to get away but wanted to know what was going to be done. Regan squeezed her hand and she looked up at him. He smiled at her. She looked deeply into his eyes and could feel a calmness coming over her. She realized that by feeling only him, she could block everything else out. Her eyes grew big as she felt his emotions churning below his calm exterior, something for her to think about at another time.

"Well, seems to me that the best thing to do is set up another sting operation, only this time I’ll be involved and hopefully we can get this guy. I would suggest that Miss Gifford be the one too approach him this time," Spider said.

"Oh, but she can’t," Tansy said. "How will she explain how she got the book? I think it’s best if I call him again. I can accuse him of setting me up and trying to steal the book."

"How dangerous would it be for Tansy to do this?" Regan asked quietly.

Spider looked thoughtfully. "If we wire her and have the meeting in an area we can control, the danger should be minimal. I’ll tell you right now that he’s not going to let you decide where to meet this time."

"Spider, can we be there?" Trixie pleaded. "We’ll do whatever you say, but we don’t want to be left out of this."

"If I may say something,’ Mr. Belden interrupted. "I’m not too crazy about the Bob-Whites getting any further in this situation. But I know my kids enough to know that it would be very hard to keep them out of it. I think that if there are enough adults there to tame down their more impetuous behavior that they could be some help to this project."

"Well, I have to admit that we don’t have the resources to cover a big area. So the more help the better, but I’ll have to clear it with Lieutenant Molinson. But understand that if you find anything at all, you can not touch it. I can’t stress that enough. I’m assuming that the Wheelers and Hartmans feel the same way as Mr. Belden?" Spider questioned.

"Why, Spider, there isn’t any other place that we would be," Mrs. Wheeler said. "This is just so exciting. To think that for once, we women will be involved."

Mr. Wheeler rolled his eyes. "This isn’t a party. This is serious business. I’m not too sure I want you catching this mystery bug that Honey and Trixie has."

Madeleine just smiled at her husband and Helen grinned at hers.

"Well, Madeleine does have a point. You and Peter have been somewhat involved with a few of their adventures while we’re always stuck at home or in Madeleine case, stuck at some boring charity function," Helen said.

Peter looked at his wife and realized that he hadn’t really looked at her for a while. He could see a restlessness about her that he’d never seen before. He would have to think about this and see what could be done.

"Well, I, for one, will be more then willing to stay at home and bake cookies and keep the hot chocolate and coffee going," Mrs. Hartman said. "I’ve had my fair share of waiting up for my husband to come home from setting up a sting."

"This is what we’ll do, for now. Tansy, you call Kern now and see what he says. We’ll go from there," Spider said.

 

"But what do I say?" Tansy asked nervously.

"Just at like you’re suspicious of him and accuse him of trying to steal the book from you. Whatever you do, don’t let him know that his brother is here or that you’ve had contact with his brother."

"You can do it," Regan said encouragingly. "Just treat it like you’re acting out a part on one of those mystery shows you like to watch."

Tansy nodded and left Regan’s side to go to the phone. She dialed the number that was given to her by the caller the other day. Everyone could hear the phone ringing. Finally, just as she was going to hang up, the line was picked up.

"Yeah,’ the voice said.

"You betrayed me," Tansy said into the phone. "You tried to force me to give you the book without paying me."

"You were the one playing games," Kern growled. "I asked to see the book and you gave me some feeble excuse. How did my brother find out about the exchange?"

"As far as I know, your brother doesn’t know anything about this," Tansy said. "What makes you think your brother was there?"

"Don’t play me for a fool. You felt the pain as well as I did," Kern yelled.

"Oh, that. I believe that was caused because I was resisting you," Tansy said. "Did you really think that I was going to be that easy? Do you still want the book?"

There was silence on the other end.

"Yeah, I want the book," Kern said. "But I set it up this time and I’ll decide who delivers it. I’ll call you back in an hour."

Kern hung up the phone. Tansy slowly hung up the phone, her face was pale. Regan had been watching her, as soon as she hung up the phone; he had jumped up out of his seat and was there to catch her as she fainted. He picked her up and carried her out of the room and up to the room she had been sleeping in.

Spider looked concerned and turned to Mr. Wheeler. "I’ll be back in time for the next call. I want to update Lieutenant Molinson about what’s been happening and what we’re proposing."

"I’ll go with you," Captain Steele offered. "My men and I can help. We all have law enforcement background, so hopefully that will convince your Lieutenant to give us the go ahead."

Spider nodded his acceptance of Captain Steele’s proposal and the two men left the room.

"My niece doesn’t handle excitement too well," Roiya said calmly, breaking the silence that had fallen upon the room after Spider and Captain Steele had left. "She’ll be all right after she rests for a bit. I think Sirene should be the one to hand the book over to Kern."

Sirene looked surprised. "Why me?"

"I can guess," Dan said. "You’re the only one immune to his powers, except of course for Silvenus, and we can’t very well have Silvenus delivering the book."

"I wasn’t there last night, so I have no idea what his powers are?" Sirene pointed out.

"My brother has the power of suggestion," Silvenus said. "He can send out a strong compulsion for someone to do want he wants. It takes a lot of effort and it doesn’t always work. It depends on the person. Usually it’s the young and innocent people that it works on. I suspect that’s because they don’t have the same mental barriers that your more cynical and older people have."

"Oh goodness! Not more psychics!" Madeleine exclaimed. "We’ve gone all these years without a single paranormal happening, now every time we turn around we’re stepping over psychics."

Honey laughed. "You sound like Jim; he said something like that not too long ago."

"Who else is psychic besides Sirene?" Helen asked. "Oh, by the way, Sirene, when you have time, I wish you would come and see what has upset our ghost. We’ve been having some items moved again."

Sirene smiled. "Of course, I’ll be happy to see if I can find out what’s the problem."

"My niece is psychic," Roiya said. "She’s an empath. I, myself have some small abilities but nothing like her."

"Empath? What’s an empath?" Peter asked.

Helen said, somewhat sympathetically. "An empath is someone who can feel other people emotions. This must have been very difficult for her, being around all of these people."

"Yes, my niece has had a hard time building barriers. But she seems to have found a way. I’ve noticed since she’s met Regan, she seems to be able to handle being around more people than she has in the past," Roiya said.

"Well, I’m for home. I’m sure that Charles will want to come back and find out what the plans are," Mrs. Hartman said as she stood up. "Sirene, dear, you be sure to tell your grandfather everything before going off."

"Don’t worry. I will," Sirene said, kissing her grandmother on the cheek. Mrs. Hartman waved goodbye too everyone and left with Mr. Hartman, who informed them that he’ll be back.

"Well, there’s not much we can do until they call back. I have to get to the bank. I’ll just have to find out what happens tonight," Peter said as he stood up. He looked over to Matt.

"I’m counting on you to keep this group in line. Usually my wife has enough common sense for all of us, but I think she caught the mystery bug also. From my experience with Trixie, I have learned that once they catch this bug all common sense goes out the window," Peter said with a twinkle in his eye.

Matt laughed. "Yeah, and I have about as much chance of controlling them as I have of controlling Honey. We all have seen how little that is."

"Oh, you two, go ahead and laugh. We’re quite capable of making some intelligent decisions here," Helen said. "After all we do manage to keep a household budge, keep track of all the kids and keep the house going while you to he-men are off doing who knows what."

"Ignore them. They’re just jealous because they didn’t think about becoming involved first," Madeleine said.

Peter leaned over and kissed his wife. "You know I’m just teasing. I wouldn’t be leaving if I didn’t know you were more than capable of handling this. As far as I’m concerned whatever you decide is fine with me."

Helen smiled at her husband, thinking how lucky she was to have him.

"Well Helen, since it’s going to be a while, why don’t you come into the sitting room with me? I want to redecorate the ski lodge and I would like to have your opinion," Madeleine said, then turning to her husband. "Please make sure you come and get us when Spider gets back. I would be extremely upset if I missed anything."

Matt looked at Honey and Jim, while they looked back, all of them shuddering, remembering the last time Madeleine had been upset. Jim and Honey both would make sure that their mother was notified when Spider returned.

"Well, since we have about an hour to wait, I think I’ll go over some work papers. Someone come and get me when Spider gets back." Matt said as he left the room.

Silvenus had stood quietly, watching the interaction going on between the couples. He felt Roiya watching him. He found it interesting that she was fast enough to talk about Tansy’s gift but down played her own. He knew that she had to be powerful. She had been able to hold Kern off long enough, until he could take over. Silvenus knew that Kern was very difficult to resist. He slowly turned his green gaze on her. For the first time he noticed what an attractive women she was. She wasn’t as thin as her niece but nor was she fat. She had a pleasing round figure. Her hair was as black as the night, and her eyes were deep blue. He could see her intelligence shining out like a bright star.

"It won’t work you know,’ Roiya said softly to him.

"I’ve already surmised that you and Sirene are immune to my gifts," Silvenus said. "But there are other ways to convince you that the book belongs to me."

"That discussion will have to wait," she said, nodding towards the Bob-Whites that were sitting close by each other, discussing the mystery in quiet tones. "What are we going to tell them about the book? If I read Trixie right, she’ll be asking me about it very soon."

"I suggest we tell them the truth. I don’t think that they will tell anyone else, even if they do believe us," Silvenus said.

Roiya frowned. "Well, that might be difficult. Somehow, I don’t think your idea of what the truth is and my idea of the truth is matches."

Silvenus gazed into Roiya’s deep blue eyes. "You might be surprised."

Roiya could feel his power reaching out to her. She wasn’t all that confident that she could fight him. There was something about him that pulled her. Her blue eyes widen as she felt a gentle caress on her lips. She yanked her eyes away from him as soon as she realized that he was trying to seduce her with his mind, right there in front of the teenagers.

She gave him a scolding frown. Silvenus green eyes lit up and for the first time a genuine grin came across his face, making him an incredible sexy, handsome man.

The Bob-Whites gave them a glance as Celia came into the room with a serving cart, that had a tray of different types of fruit, danishes and cheese and crackers. There was also a pot of coffee and some hot chocolate. Naturally, there were small plates, silverware, cups and napkins on the cart.

"Mrs. Wheeler thought that everyone in here might be ready for a snack," she said. "We know how often we need to feed Mart."

"I’m not sure I appreciate the depiction that has been cast upon my character. It seems to me that there are many other characters in this room that devour as much calorific substances as I do," Mart said with some dignity.

"Maybe, but we don’t complain as much as you do about being hungry," Trixie said quickly.

Celia smiled at the two sparring Beldens as she left the room.

"Well, I‘m know that I‘m ready for some caloric substances," Dan said as he walked towards the food.

"You an me both," Sirene agreed following him and taking a cheese danish from the platter. "We better enjoy it while we can. We start track soon and you know that the Coach is going to insist the we stop eating these kind of goodies."

"I don’t see why he would. Since neither one of you are over weight and you exercise regularly, plus you eat the right combination of healthy foods, you should be able to have goodies as long as you don‘t over indulge," Brian said as he added fruit to his small plate.

Diana rolled her eyes. "Brian, how come it’s all right for you to sprout out all sorts of medical knowledge that no one asked you about, but everyone gets on Mart when he volunteers information?"

Brian looked over at Diana. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound arrogant. I just didn’t want Sirene to worry about eating sweets."

"Besides, Brian always explains in simple words that we can understand and he keeps it short and sweet," Honey said, jumping to Brian’s defense.

Brian smiled a thank you at Honey.

"I’m more interested in what the real importance of the "Book of Be’al" is," she said, looking towards Roiya and Silvenus. "I believe you were going to tell us about the book."

Roiya smiled and looked into Trixie’s intelligent, inquisitive blue eyes. Trixie was very careful to avoid Silvenus eyes. She had once felt the pull of his power and had no intentions of being side tracked. The book was the bottom of all the problems that had happened and it was imperative that the Bob-Whites know the truth about the book.

"Yes, I did tell you that didn’t I?" Roiya admitted. "Very well. Why don’t all of you get your refreshments and get comfortable. This is going to be a long story."

"As much as I would like to hear this, I think it’s only fair that we wait for Regan and Tansy to come back," Honey said. "They’ve been involved with this from the beginning and it would be unfair to them if we hear about the book without them."

The rest of the Bob-Whites were silent as the watched Trixie’s reaction to Honey’s suggestion.

Trixie sighed. "Of course, you’re right. But we will want to hear the whole story."

Roiya was relieved to hear that they would be willing to wait a bit longer. She knew that she would have to tell them soon, but she would prefer to tell them without Silvenus being around.

Silvenus gazed at Roiya. "That’s not going to happen."

"I don’t know what you mean," Roiya said, trying to keep her blue eyes steady on his.

Silvenus smiled at her. "Don’t think for one minute that you’re going to get to tell them your side of the story without me being there."

"We’ll see." was all Roiya could say, afraid that he was right.

"You know what really confuses me?" Trixie asked. "Who searched Miss Gifford’s room?"

"Oh, please call me Roiya," Roiya said. "It seems to me that if my niece is going to be around you kids a lot, then things can be a little informal. Plus at my age being a Miss isn’t something I want to be reminded of every time one of you talks to me."

"I thought we determined that it was Kern or the twins," Sirene answered.

"Diana pointed out last night that theory doesn’t make sense. First of all as far as any of us knows, they’ve never seen Miss Gifford, I mean Roiya. How would they know what she looks like? Besides, why would they search her room neatly but trash the house?" Trixie pointed out.

"Trixie’s right. The difference in modus operandi is a good clue that we’re dealing with someone else," Mart said.

"Whose M.O. are we questioning?" Charles Hartman asked as he came into the room.

"Poppy, is Nana okay? She looked a little tired to me," Sirene asked concerned.

"Don’t worry. Your grandmother is fine," Charles said, smiling reassuringly at his granddaughter. "I think this new medicine they have her on for her arthritis is affecting her. So, is anyone going to answer my question?"

"Trixie and Mart pointed out that it seemed that someone different searched Roiya’s room," Dan told him.

"Did they now?" Charles commented. "I was wondering if any of you caught that. As soon as Miss Gifford told us about the search, I knew that there was another person or persons looking for the book."

Trixie looked over at Silvenus, who smiled at her. "It wasn’t me. From what I’ve been told it would seem that the book was all ready back at the house when you saw me at the inn. That was the first time that I had been to that inn."

Trixie looked suspiciously at him. "How did you know that we saw you?"

"I know many of things," Silvenus said cryptically. "My guess is that it was Impatia and Luke. I know that my brother had tracked them down before coming here."

"No, I can’t believe that. Impatia wrote to me that they were leaving the country. Why would they want the book? It’s useless to them," Roiya said.

"I find it odd that you didn’t mention them or that your brother was in contact with them, when you were explaining to Spider why they were here," Trixie commented.

"I didn’t see the need to bring those two to his attention," Silvenus said. "If they are after the book, then it’s a family thing and should be kept in the family."

"What I would like to know is what is so special about this book?" Tansy said, as she entered the room with Regan behind her.

Just than the phone rang, Honey who was sitting next to the phone reached out and answered it. She held out the phone towards Tansy. Jim walked out of the room and ran into Celia. He asked her if she could get his father, mother and Mrs. Belden.

Then he walked back in the room in time to hear Tansy saying. "You said you would call back in an hour and it hasn’t been that long."

While Tansy was listening to what the caller was saying, Matt, Madeleine and Helen came into the room. They could tell that Tansy did not like what she was hearing.

"I don’t think I like your idea," Tansy said. "I’m beginning to think that it would be best just to offer the book to Silvenus for a price."

"NO, you can’t do that!" Kern screamed. "Silvenus is very powerful and with the book he could be very dangerous."

"What do you mean?" Tansy asked. "What’s so special about this book?"

"Why don’t you ask my brother,’ Kern snarled. "But then again, if you approach my brother, he will have you just hand it to him. You were able to resist me, but you can’t resist Silvenus. No one can. No, I’m the only one you can deal with. I’ll call you tomorrow with the plans. I would be around if I were you. No telling when Silvenus will return. Believe me, he’ll know that you have the book and then you’ll be in real danger."

Tansy hung up the phone thoughtfully after Kern had slammed the phone down. She told everyone about her conversation with Kern leaving nothing out.

"I think it’s time you told us about this book," Tansy told her aunt and Silvenus.

"I can see that it’s time," Roiya said with a sigh. "But I’m asking all of you to please keep this to yourself. The women in my family come from a long line of Druid bards, as far back as 500 A.D. When the Druids went into hiding and for safety reasons, went their separate ways, the bards were the only things that kept the rituals from extinction. According to the story that has been handed down from mother to daughter, my ancestors moved north to what became known as the borderlands. This is the area that separates England and Scotland. Right before they left, Merlin approached them with several rituals that he wanted them to keep in trust until he returned to them. He warned them that he might be in a different form and it might be in the future. When he was asked how they would know it was him, he told them a secret phrase that would identify him."

"So your saying that King Arthur and Merlin existed?" Diana asked.

Matt Wheeler raised an eyebrow upon hearing that and glanced at Silvenus. He was amazed to see that this tough, cynical businessman, seemed to be agreeing with what Roiya was saying. He looked around him. He could tell that all of the females where enthralled but was relived to see that the rest of the males in the room had, what he would call, a polite skeptical look on their faces.

Roiya smiled at her. "It is a known fact that a man named Arthur did exist and he did have an advisor named Myrddin. This Arthur was a very respected warrior. But as to whether this Arthur and Myrddin were the legendary King Arthur and Merlin, well that depends on who you talk to. This is a subject that has been debated for generations. You have to remember that my story and history may not match. I’m repeating what has been handed down for generations, where history uses archeology finds and ancient texts to substantiate their version of the world’s history. Remember history often depends on who’s writing it and from what point of view. Anyway back to my story. The information that Merlin had given my ancestors got passed on from mother to daughter for generations, never telling anyone about their association with Druidism. Then in 1068, King William sent one of his Norman Knights to the borderlands. His name was Julius St. James. He was the youngest son of a French duke. His orders were to secure a castle of a woman by the name of Margaret, who was widowed. It seemed that the widow had problems with displaced Saxons and the Scots, trying to force her to wed so that they could control the lands. Julius solved the problem by marrying Margaret. Margaret was the direct descent of the female bards that had settled up there hundreds of years ago. Margaret gave birth to five sons and one daughter. Now what makes this important is that up until then women generally were not educated and very few could write. Julius was a firm believer in education. So he made sure that all of his children, including his daughter knew how to write, read, do mathematics and spoke several languages. Their daughter, name was Serena, who married a Highlander laird, by the name of McPherson. Now the Highlands were very different from what Serena had been use to. She didn’t quite fit in. For many years she was lonely and dedicated herself to her children. Since her mother had taught her about her heritage and had passed along the knowledge of Merlin’s rituals, Serena decided to write down the rituals. But she needed a code or a secret language. She found it in an old man; apparently he spoke a dialect that only a few people spoke. He taught Serena the language. Serena started the book. Her daughter finished the book. The book stayed safely within the McPherson clan, because they intermarried a lot or insisted that any one marrying into their clan would carry the McPherson name. Then in 1580, a Colleen McPherson was to marry a Duncan MacGowen, who was from Ireland. Colleen was a very trusting and naïve woman. She told her future husband all about the book and even showed it to him. But before they could marry, an English Lord’s youngest son, kidnapped young Colleen. At first it was for ransom, but after meeting and spending time with the pretty Colleen, he decided to keep her. So Colleen and Richard Gifford married. Now the MacGowens demanded Colleen’s dowry for the insult to their name. Colleen’s father agreed. Ironically, a piece of land, just a few miles north of the Gifford’s holding, was part of the dowry. Duncan was furious when he found that the book was not among her dowry. Colleen had felt the burden of keeping the book safe to the point where she always had the book on her person. So when she was kidnapped, the book was on her at that time. The MacGowens became enraged and vowed to get the book back. They harassed the Giffords endlessly. Colleen and Richard had two sons, but no girls. When their youngest son showed signs of having unnatural gifts, they decided to search for a place where their son could grow up without having to worry about being thought of as something evil. They left their eldest son with Richard’s brothers to raise. No one knows where they went or what happen to them. In 1858, a Philip Gifford arrived in New York. He had come up from the south, so it is unknown as to where he came from. He married an Indian woman and settled here. He had the book with him and since he never had sons, he instructed that which ever girl that could find a husband that was willing to take the Gifford name would be the one to inherit the land. Since then every female has not only had the book but has also only married men that would carry the Gifford name."

"So the MacGowens have been after the book since the 1500’s?" Brian asked.

"I’m afraid so. In many cultures feuds are handed down from generation to generation. Just look at the Middle East. There you have people who have been fighting for thousands of years," Roiya answered.

"Interesting story, but it doesn’t explain the power of the book," Jim said.

Silvenus spoke up. "It is believed that once Merlin’s words were written down, the magic of those words began building, slowly. That is why the earlier psychics didn’t feel anything from it. I believe it was somewhere around 1781 when it was first felt."

"Wait a minute. Roiya said that no one knows what happened to the book after Colleen and Richard left England," Diana said confused.

Silvenus smiled. "What Roiya should have said was that her family line didn’t know what happened. On the other hand, my mother’s family, the MacGowens, have been tracking that book for hundreds of years. There were several times that one of my ancestors thought that they had caught up with the book, but the Giffords had always moved on. But back in 1781, in east India, a Shamus MacGowen, who had the psychic ability to see patterns and connections no one else could see, was the first to ‘feel the book‘. His psychic ability made him a very wealthy man and because of business he traveled alot. He was traveling through east India when he first felt the power of the book. He was able to track the book to a house. He wrote down that he was able to gain entrance to the house, even though he could feel the book near, he couldn’t pinpoint it. Before he had a chance to search for the book, the Giffords had moved. Then once again in Ireland, in 1845, another MacGowen psychic, while visiting relatives felt the book. He was able to track it to an inn but never found the book. A week later he lost the connection. That was the last time, until last Monday. I felt the power of the book and knew it was in the area somewhere."

"What do you mean you ‘felt the book‘? How do you know it was the book?" Trixie asked.

Silvenus turned his deep green eyes on her. "You have seen with your own eyes the effect the book has on psychics. The more powerful the psychic, the more powerful the feeling. Unfortunately the non-psychics can‘t understand the call of the book. You‘ll just have to take my word that the book calls to me."

"If I’ve been following this correctly, then you’re telling us that the book contains magical rituals?" Helen questioned.

"That’s correct. Of course whether the rituals will work depends on many things. First of all, it would take someone who could speak the ancient language. Then of course it would depend on how the words are pronounced," Roiya said. "Unfortunately, once the rituals were written down, no one bother to continue with the verbal form of the rituals. So by the time I received the book I only had the basic story behind the book."

Silvenus smiled. "Well, then it’s fortunate that my people have kept our traditional language It seems that when Colleen showed the book to Duncan, he recognized the language. He passed on to his son that the book was written in the ’mother’s tongue’. My family took that as one of the four ancient Irish dialects used back in the time of the Druids. So each generation taught the ancient languages to at least one child. I speak four different dialects of Gaelic as well as the ancient tongues. I have a gift for languages. Of course until I see the book, I have no way of knowing if our guess is correct. So how are you suppressing the books powers?"

Roiya thought for a moment. "I guess there’s no harm in telling you. It is kept in a rubber container. As far as we know Philip Gifford had the book wrapped in a rubber sheet, then one of our ancestors moved it to a rubber container."

"Very interesting," Silvenus said. "It’s nice to know how to contain the power, once I have the book."

"I wouldn’t count on getting the book," Roiya said. "We may not be bards any longer or follow true druids’ beliefs but we still hold the sacred trust."

Just then Spider came into the room with Captain Miller. Mr. Wheeler updated Spider on the phone call. He didn’t feel the need to disclose the story of the book. He wasn’t sure what he believed but the last thing he wanted was for it to get around that his family was involved with psychics and magic books.

"Lieutenant Molinson has agreed to let the Bob-Whites be there when we capture Kern and his sons. But only with the understanding that the police department is not going to be held responsible for their safety and they are to follow my orders. I’ll be able to have two other officers with me and since Captain Miller and his security team have police backgrounds they can assist. We’re searching to see if Kern or the twins have any registered rifles. If we can come up with a registered rifle that matches the bullet, then we can have our search warrant," Spider told everyone, giving them the update.

"I know for a fact that my brother has several rifles. He’s a fervent hunter," Silvenus volunteered. "I, myself, detest guns of all sorts and would never have one."

"Then let’s hope that he’s registered. I have to admit that I’m hoping to get a search warrant before the meeting," Spider said.

"I’ve been thinking," Trixie said. "I know that the twins aren’t very bright, but do you really think they would be dumb enough to leave the rifle at the inn?"

"Trixie’s right. They wouldn’t leave it at the inn, but they might have left it in my Manhattan apartment or my home on Long Island. Both places are only a short distance from here. We still have plenty of time today to go check them out," Silvenus said. "

"Let me think this through," Spider said. "I have to make sure that if we find the gun it can be used in court. Therefore an officer needs to accompany both of you in order to keep the chain of custody."

"Couldn’t the officers of New York City and Long Island assist you in this matter?" Madeleine asked. "It’s not like you’re going to need a warrant."

"Let me see if I can call some friends of mine," Matt said. "I think we can arrange this for this afternoon after lunch."

Matt left the room to use the phone in his library.

"So how do all of us get there?" Honey asked.

"There are sixteen of us, so we’ll just have to take four vehicles," Madeleine answered.

"As much as I would love to come, I can’t," Helen said. "I don’t have time to arrange for a babysitter for Bobby. Plus I’ll never manage to get dinner on the table if I’m gone all afternoon."

"So, have Bobby stay here with Miss Trask and Celia. Between them and the cook, I think he’ll be well looked after. As for dinner, everyone can come back here to eat. We’ll make it a buffet that way we can talk eat around the fireplace and talk about the case," Madeleine said.

"Oh can we, Mother?" Honey cried. "That would be wonderful."

"I don’t see why not. I like to think that I’m able to be flexible," Madeleine declared. "Charles, will you and your wife want to join us?"

Charles smiled at Madeleine. "Thank you, but no. We’ll have dinner at home and then come back afterwards if that’s all right with you."

"That will be fine. But do come for dessert," Madeleine said. "So I’ll tell Cook to bake her special Boston Cream pie."

"Well, you can count Tansy and I out. Tansy’s worn out from all of this and needs to rest and I have eight horses that need some attention. The security officer that has been helping out has been great but there are a few things that I need to do," Regan said.

"I hate to admit it, but Regan’s right," Tansy said. "I just can’t handle anymore people. I’ve pretty much have reached my limit. I would rather lie down and rest this afternoon."

"Of course, dear. I know this has been extremely hard on you,’ Roiya said with concern.

"Then we’ll meet everyone back here this evening after dinner. I think Tansy and I will have a quiet dinner at my place. But if we could come back for dessert, I would really like it. You know, Mrs. Wheeler that I love Cook‘s Boston Cream pie," Regan said.

"Yes, I know, so of course, Tansy and you can come for dessert," Madeleine said. "I’ll go tell cook what the plans are. Helen, you probably should call Peter at the bank and let him know what we’re planning. He could come right over here after work."

"You’re right," Helen said smiling. "I’ll call him as soon as Matt is off the phone. I must admit I hope Matt can set it up. This is so exciting."

"Oh, no! It’s bad enough that I have a sibling bitten by the mystery bug, but I don’t know if I can handle having my maternal parent go Sherlock Holmes on me," Mart groaned.

Helen laughed. "Don’t worry, Mart. Somehow I don’t think I’m going to pick up the habit like your sister. But it is nice to be involved for once instead of hearing all about it afterwards."

Helen and Madeleine walked out together talking about the dinner buffet.

"It’s all set! A Detective Murphy with two police officers will meet us at the apartment at one o’clock and a Detective Sloan with one police officer will us on Long Island around three o’clock. That should give us plenty of time to eat and set out." Matt told them.

"I’ll need to call Lieutenant Molinson and inform him of this latest update. He probably will want to go with you. Our normal procedure is that if we must go outside our jurisdiction, then the Lieutenant goes to make sure that the chain of custody isn’t broken. Which will be very important if the rifle is found and if this case gets to court," Spider said.

"What is the chain of custody?" Honey asked.

"The chain of custody is established by knowing the whereabouts of the evidence at all times since the evidence was found. The supporter of the evidence must also establish that the object, in relevant respects, has not changed or been altered between the events and the trial. This can require the testimony of several witnesses. If there is any time from the events in question to the day of trial during which the location of the item cannot be accounted for, the chain is broken. In that case, the evidence will be excluded unless another method of authentication can be used. So since we will be the supporter of the evidence and transporting the evidence from their jurisdiction to ours, it’s essential that a chain of custody is established." Spider explained.

Just than Helen and Madeleine walked back into the room, "Cook has it under control. She’s such a treasure. She already guessed that we would have a crowd for lunch and she has lunch all ready. She said that dinner would be no problem and she would love to make her Boston Cream pie for us. So we’re all set."

"I called Peter and he’s fine with our plans. He sounded disappointed because he couldn’t join us," Helen added.

While Spider was on the phone talking to Lieutenant Molinson, Matt told Madeleine and Helen that they were all set to meet the detectives and police officers in both places.

"Well, if everyone would excuse me. I want to run home for lunch and give Emmalyn, the update on what’s going on, and what our plans are" Charles said. "I’ll be back in a half an hour."

"Well, it seems like it’s a go," Spider said. "The Lieutenant will be going with us. He’s given his approval for me to go with him as a witness. So he wants all of you to meet us at the Police Station in about forty-five minutes."

"I hope we find something," Sirene said. "I know this sounds like I’m a chicken, but I don’t like the idea of using the book as bait. Not now that I know how important it is. Plus it seems like it could get awful tricky legal wise."

"There is no doubt that if we could find a rifle registered to Kern or the boys and actually find the rifle and have the rifle match the ballistic report of the bullet, then we can get him on the aggravated assault, which is the greater crime," Spider said.

"We can hope for the best, but have a back up plan if it falls through," Helen said.

"That is true. Which means the Lieutenant and I will probably talk about plan B while driving down to the city," Spider said. "I have to go if I’m going to be ready to be gone all afternoon. I have a few things to finish."

"Well, then will meet you in about forty-five minutes," Matt said. "Everyone else, let’s eat."

The Bob-Whites followed the adults out to the dining room. Each was wondering if they would find the rifle and what would happen with the book after Kern was caught.

To Be Continued

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