The Lightning Key by Jon Berkeley Read Free Book Online Page B

loud yell and swung his cane at the gremlins that haunted his sleep.
    â€œIt’s all right,” said Little, putting her hand on his shoulder. “We’re here. This is Iota.”
    Baltinglass of Araby relaxed at once. “Lead the way, then,” he said, “and let’s see if the departed Celeste can shed some light on the lost Egg.”
    They threaded their way through the trees, the blind explorer, the boy and the Song Angel, until they reached the edge of the silent churchyard. There they stopped, and Miles peered into the gloom beneath the spreading yew tree where he knew his mother’s grave lay. The headstones crouched menacingly in the gathering twilight. He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck, and even Little seemed unusually nervous.
    â€œWhat if Cortado and Tau-Tau have come here too?” she whispered.
    Baltinglass cupped his hand to his ear. “Can’t hear you, child,” he shouted, his customary bellow muffled by the dead silence of the churchyard. “Have you turned into a gnat?”
    â€œI said, what if Cortado and Tau-Tau are already here?” said Little in a slightly louder voice. “The Great Cortado might have found the same page while he had Celeste’s diary.”
    â€œI don’t think they’d come here,” said Miles. “Doctor Tau-Tau said Cortado wouldn’t be able to interpret the diary without his help, and to be honest I don’t believe Tau-Tau himself was able to make much out of it either.”
    â€œWhatever they want with the Tiger’s Egg, they’ve gone south to find it,” said Baltinglass.
    â€œMy mother came from down south,” said Miles. “Across the water, the Bolsillo brothers said.”
    â€œIs that so?” said Baltinglass, rubbing his stubbly chin with a rasping sound. “You still got family there, Master Miles?”
    â€œI’ve never met any of them. She had a twin sister who used to visit her once a year, but after my mother died she never came back,” said Miles.
    â€œThere’s your answer, then,” said Baltinglass, stepping out into the churchyard as though it were broad daylight. “They’ll be on their way to find Celeste’s sister so they can pick her brains about the Tiger’s Egg. What was her name?”
    â€œFabio said her name was Nura, but I don’t know if she even knows about the Egg,” said Miles. “My mother got it after she left home.”
    â€œCeleste will have told Nura about it,” said Little.
    â€œWithout a doubt,” said Baltinglass of Araby. “And you can be sure Cortado has a plan up his sleeve for extracting whatever she knows. It won’t be good news for your aunt if he catches up with her.”

CHAPTER SIX
A MOURNFUL MONK
    B altinglass of Araby, white-caned and woolly-hatted, tapped the granite headstone gently with the end of his stick. “This is the one, Master Miles?” he asked, in a tone softer than his usual bellow.
    â€œYes,” said Miles.
    â€œRead it out to me,” said Baltinglass.
    Miles cleared his throat. “‘Celeste Mahnoosh Elham,’” he read. “‘What time has stolen, Let it be.’”
    â€œThat’s a short epitaph,” said Baltinglass of Araby. He reached out again with his cane and swept it through the weeds that grew up around the headstone. “Watch your ankles,” he said. He slid theswordstick from inside his cane and aimed a deft swipe at the weeds, cutting them to their roots and knocking sparks from the granite. The plants tumbled, and Miles could see more writing that had been hidden behind them. He knelt down and peered at the words, tracing them with his finger as he read them out in the dusk.
    Â 
    What time has stolen
    Let it be
    Power grows
    From two to three
    Embrace the fear
    And set soul free
    To drink the sun
    In place of me
    Â 
    A stillness like a stopped clock filled the