Chapter 21: Chapter 21
“Lindisfarne.” Lyric pointed at the map spread out on Cutter’s parents’ dining room table, an air of confidence about her that made Ru almost believe she was right.
“Gesundheit,” Rider replied. He was sitting at the opposite end of the table from Lyric, so Ru supposed he couldn’t actually see the name written on the map, though he likely would’ve had a similar response even if he’d been the one to come up with the foreign word in the first place.
“And how did we come to this conclusion, exactly?” Cutter asked. He was sitting next to Ru, his knee bumping into her leg underneath the table, which somehow seemed to calm her otherwise turbulent tummy.
“Well,” Lyric began, sitting back in her chair and looking at each of them. “Once Cinder told us we were looking at things wrong, I was able to find the answer pretty quickly.”
Cinder was in the room, but she was sitting off in the corner next to Windy. It was almost as if they were observing the youngsters to see if they were getting it right. Ru knew it was rude of her to think of it that way since they were probably just there to help if they needed to, but something about Cinder’s assuredness earlier had rubbed her the wrong way. Or maybe it was the fact that she thought her mother had cut a phrase into her back when she was a baby….
“What was the thought process?” Ivy asked, staring at the map with hopeful eyes.
“The word on the paper Cutter sent to me, the one Cinder wrote down, translated as ‘oileán naofa,’” Lyric explained.
“There weren’t that many letters carved in her back,” Rider pointed out, looking skeptical.
“No, of course not. There were runes that represented both of those concepts in an ancient form of Gaelic. Since we knew it was a Celtic cross, thanks to Cinder,” she gestured at the woman across the room with a smile, which was returned, and Ru tried not to scowl, “I realized where I needed to look, so I did the translations from the original symbols, to Gaelic, to English.”
“So, what does oileán naofa translate to?” Cutter asked. A look at his face let Ru know he seemed to be questioning things almost as much as Rider, and she assumed that was because they were all naturally prone to avoiding wild goose chases.
“Holy Island,” Lyric answered quickly, as if she was expecting the question. “A quick search led me to Lindisfarne.”
“God bless you.” Rider never missed a beat, and it at least made Ru chuckle. “And what is this place?”
“It’s an island in England,” Lyric replied. “Essentially, it’s been a holy place dating back to the seventh century when it was known for its healing properties. There’s been a monastery there since 634 AD. It’s difficult to get to and clearly not even on our radar anymore.”
“Why not?” Ivy asked, looking around. “How can there be a monastery there and we aren’t even aware of it?”
“We know about the monastery,” Lyric clarified. “It’s just very difficult to get to, scarcely populated, and hasn’t been contended for hundreds of years.”
Cutter looked over Rider’s shoulder at his mother and sister. “Do you know anything about it?” he asked, and Ru wondered if he was questioning either of them or both.
“No,” Cinder admitted with a shrug. “But then, I specialize in the Middle East.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Windy nodded. “I know some of the Keepers who deal directly with the Archs have mentioned it before when discussing prayers and areas of solace, but it’s been… years. I don’t think it’s come up since I was a little girl.”
“And you think Sera’s there?” Cutter asked, turning back to Lyric.
She nodded. “I think that’s where we need to look.”
“Could we reach out to her?” Ivy asked, looking from Lyric to Cutter. “Maybe we could detect if she’s there before we go trekking across the globe.
“Too risky,” Rider chimed in, and Ru could tell by Cutter’s expression he would’ve given the same answer if his cousin hadn’t interrupted. “If we tip her off that we’re on to her, she’ll disappear. Then, we’ll be back at square one.”
“Without any nifty carvings to clue us as to where she’s hiding.” Ru didn’t mean for her words to be sarcastic, but she could tell by the expressions on her friends’ faces it had come out that way. “I think we just need to head that direction.”
“You say it’s not easily accessed?” Cutter repeated.
“Yeah,” Lyric confirmed. “There’s a causeway that’s only accessible certain times of the day. And winter’s not exactly the best time to visit.”
“Thank goodness we’ve got a few more days of fall.” Rider definitely meant for his comment to be every ounce of sarcastic.
“Okay. Let’s make arrangements,” Cutter said. His voice was confident, but Ru couldn’t help but notice he looked at his mother and sister to see if they agreed. They both nodded, and Ru wondered why, all of a sudden, he needed approval from anyone outside of their team.
“I’m on it,” Lyric nodded, clearly proud of herself for coming up with a lead. Ru prayed that she was right and this would lead to her mother, even though the information she’d gotten from Cinder hadn’t made her overly confident that Sera was going to be the loving mom she’d always longed for. Still, the sooner they found her, the quicker this nightmare would be over. It really had been nothing but a bad dream, and other than meeting Cutter and the rest of the people sitting at the table, it would’ve been difficult for Ru to name anything at all positive about her Keeper experience so far.
The teammates dispersed, and Cinder and Windy said something about going into the living room to watch television with Walt. Ru was certain they were just giving her some space to absorb the information, and she appreciated it. Cutter was the only one who didn’t move. As usual, he was the rock she needed to lean on.
“You okay?” he asked, his furrowed forehead showing his concern.
“Yeah,” she said, though her voice wavered. “It’s just… what if this is a dead end? What if we get there, and we can’t find Sera. Or, what if she doesn’t know anything or won’t talk to us?”
“Ru,” Cutter said, a calm smile spreading across his handsome face as he rested his hand on her shoulder, “you’re getting ahead of yourself. Let’s just take it a step at a time, like we said, and see what happens. If she’s not there, well, it wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve followed the wrong rabbit down the wrong hole. We’ll find her though, eventually.”
Ru nodded, but then another question popped into her head. “And what happens when we do?”
“We see what she knows about the portals, if she’s willing to share, and bring her back here to her mother.”
“What if… what if she doesn’t want to come?”
He shrugged. “I mean, as long as she understands she’s safe and there’s no one out to get her, why wouldn’t she want to come back here?”
Though she could think of lots of different obvious answers to that question that Cutter couldn’t see through the fact that he thought Los Angeles was some sort of utopia, the most obvious response stuck out in her mind like a sharp, shooting stab of a headache. “What if there are people who want to hurt her?” she asked, turning in her chair so she was almost facing him. “Do we know that for sure?”
He looked almost hurt at first before he caught himself and relaxed his expression. “No one wants to hurt Sera, Ru. We just want information and for her to know she’s welcome back into our community. Trust me; if anyone were out to hurt your mom, I’d know.”
She swallowed hard, wanting to believe he knew what he was talking about. But did he? Still, she couldn’t help but nod along. “Okay. But… maybe we shouldn’t broadcast what we’re doing just yet. I mean, is there any reason to tell the Archs or whoever you guys answer to that we think we’re on the right path if we’re not? Could we just keep that information to ourselves, for now?”
He seemed to consider what she was saying and she could see the inner war going on in his mind. Clearly, he felt less than confident about this place holding the answers and wanted reassurance from others that he was making the correct decision taking his team there. “I guess we could do that.”
Ru smiled, hoping to solidify his “guess.” She reached over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Thanks, Cutter,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. It took him a moment to respond, but then his arms were around her, too, and Ru felt more at peace than she had all day, perhaps since she’d arrived in Los Angeles.
“Sure, Ru. We’ll do whatever we can to make sure you’re comfortable with everything that’s going on.” He said it into her hair, and Ru let him pull her even closer, her eyes closing, shutting out the doubt and hesitation that filled her mind about their upcoming mission, her decision to follow this path, the darkness that lay just on the other side of her consciousness.
A few moments passed, and once Ru realized her breathing had evened out, she sat up. “Thanks again, Cutter,” she said, looking him in the eye. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
A grin pulled out the corner of his mouth, and his blue eyes twinkled. “I’ll do whatever I can to protect you, Ru. I promised you that at the beginning, and I meant it.”
Her smile broadened. “You’re such an amazing friend,” she said, looking up at the ceiling as if she were thanking God for sending her a real-life angel to see her through this troubling time. He pulled back a bit, and Ru dropped her gaze to meet his eyes. His eyes narrowed and every trace of grin was wiped from his face. It looked as if he were physically reeling from her words. “What?” she asked, moving so that her hands were grasping his shoulders. “What did I say?”
In a flicker, the discomfort was gone, and Cutter shook his head, the smile back on his face, though it looked forced. “Nothing,” he replied, shaking her hands off as he stood. He reached over and awkwardly patted her shoulder. “That’s what friends are for. Buddy.” He strode out of the dining room toward the living room, and she assumed he was going to join his family, but he was definitely acting strange.