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NOTE: These stories are
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Forgotten School Days
A "Kendrick" Story
By
Jennifer Brozek
Start at the beginning of the Kendrick series

Cheshire sat in uncomfortable silence as the entire Order filed in and took their seats.  He watched from the center of the ritual space, the only room large enough to house a full Conclave meeting.  Full Conclaves were rare.  They had been called only five times in twice as many years that he could remember.  He was the only one who had called more than one in the Order's recent memory.  There was a reason for that:  Calling a full Conclave was to put oneself on trial.  Since any member of the Order, from the lowest acolyte to the most revered leader, could call for a full Conclave, the risk kept the members from spuriously calling one and wasting everyone's time. However, the reward of winning the Conclave was immense. A fact he intimately knew.

The room was set up just as it had been in every previous Conclave. Those on trial sat in the center. To the right was the table where the Council sat. They would question him and his reason for the Conclave. Before him sat the rest of the Order.  The Council would question but he would answer to the Order itself. The Council would watch, listen and determine if his reasoning was valid or not. It was. Just as it had been before, he knew it was now.  This knowledge did not stop him from feeling the cooling stickiness of his nervous sweat.

The muted conversations hushed as the Council members entered and took their seats at the table.  Nightshade remained standing. Like the others, she was wearing her formal robes and her sash of office. As the Secretary of the Order, she opened the Conclave with the ritualistic words, "The Conclave is called. Look to your peers. If any do not belong, cast them out."  She paused as every member of the Order looked around them and identified those nearest.  When the rustling of people stopped, she continued. "All are accepted. Who has called for the Conclave?"

Cheshire stood. It was the last time he was allowed to stand as one of them until the Conclave was finished. "I have called for the Conclave. I am Cheshire. I am known to the Order of the Sacred Eye. Will you hear me?"

Nightshade made a mark on her paper and turned to the table.

The seated woman stood. "I am Cerridwen, Third in the Order of the Sacred Eye and Mistress of Magic. I will hear you."

The farthest seated man stood. "I am V'ger, Second in the Order of the Sacred Eye. I will hear you."

The center seated man stood. "I'm Praetor, First in the Order of the Sacred Eye. I will hear you."

"The Council has spoken. Will any within the Order deny Cheshire his right to be heard?" Nightshade looked around at the silent room and paused before intoning, "The Council and the Order of the Sacred Eye will hear our peer, Cheshire. The Conclave is now in session and cannot be broken until the matter Cheshire brings before us is completed to the Order's satisfaction."

The Council members sat again. "Cheshire, why have you called for a Conclave?" Praetor asked. He would be the main questioner.

"I wish to report that the Master of the City has directly attacked the Order and to ask for help in thwarting his attempt to take down one of the Order's own." 

"Explain."

"Nine years ago, a malicious and untrue scandal broke out about me at the school where I was the Vice Principal. Several children went missing and I was accused. My life was in ruins, the Order was in danger, and I called a Conclave then for help to stop the persecution against us. Obviously, the Order felt it was the correct action as I am still here today."  His eyes sought out and found his allies in the audience. He spoke to them. "The Order worked a great magic to cease the persecution."

"For the younger members of the Order, explain the magical working we did to help you."

Cheshire did not like the way the First broke him out of the Order and made him an individual. It had been to help the entire Order. Not just him.  He knew enough not to argue the point and nodded.  "It all took place at the Colman School. Our working shut down the school and transferred the children to the remaining junior high schools.  Most of the teachers and administrators were moved into the other schools or into the administration of the school district. Then, the school was obfuscated and made to be forgotten. All stories about the scandal were shelved. All investigations closed.

"This brings me to today and the reason I have called for a Conclave. The Master of the City has broken our magical working.  He has made the forgotten school remembered. He has put the Order in danger once more. We need to fix our working and deal with the Master. This is a direct attack on us all!"

The audience members murmured in concern much to his relief. Until now, they had been silent, still and unreceptive. It was very different from the previous Conclave he had called. Then, people had listened and agreed with him from the beginning.  This time... there were so many more faces? so many he did not really know.  Cheshire's relief faltered as he glanced over to the Council table and saw Nightshade handing out files filled with papers.  He watched the Council members open the files and saw pictures included with the papers, but was too far from the table to see their content.

Praetor looked up at that moment and caught his eye, "Tell us why you consider this a direct attack on the Order by the Master of the City."

His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He turned back to the audience and cleared his throat.  "The person who found the Colman School and brought it to the attention of the authorities was Karen Wilson, a known representative of the Master. She has interfered with the Order before: she prevented the assassination of our enemy Lamiel; attempted to stop the acquisition of the one dollar plates from the museum; halted the building of a new commerce center we, the Order, wanted to assist ourselves and our allies; and she ruled against us in two arbitrations sent to the Master of the City. She is his chosen representative. She must have broken the magic working we did and dredged up the past putting the Order in danger once more. It is the Master who is attacking us through this girl."

"If we were to rule on your behalf, what would you want the Order to do for you and this situation?"

"Seal the breach in the magical working around the school and confront the Master of the City by either challenging or removing Karen Wilson. Perhaps, we could bind her in some way to stop her from interfering with us again."

"Excuse me?" A woman from the audience stood. "May I ask a question? Am I allowed to do that?"

Praetor looked at the young woman and nodded. "Cheshire is to answer to the Order as a whole whether it be the First or the Last who questions him and his reasoning."

Nightshade stood and intoned in a not-quite bored voice, "The Council has recognized Corelli."

"I don't know who to ask," She gestured to the Council table then to Cheshire, "but, when the magical working was done nine years ago, why didn't the Order just use the magic to find the missing children? Wouldn't that have solved all the problems?"

Praetor looked at Cheshire to answer her.

"Because they were dead." He answered, taken off guard. Last time, no one except the Council had questioned him. Members of the Order not on the Council had always stayed silent. He had not taken that possibility into account this time. He mentally kicked himself for losing the opportunity to plant the appropriate questions to get the Order to see things his way.

"How do you know?"

"What?"

"How do you know?" Corelli repeated, her voice suspicious. "How did you know that the children from nine years ago were dead and finding them with magic wouldn't help?"

Cheshire had no answer that would please anyone in the room. This was not going as he had imagined it would. He was bringing to light a great danger against the Order and all they could do was prattle on about the past?

Cerridwen spoke up for the first time, derailing the uncomfortable line of questioning with a worse one, "Why would Karen Wilson finding the forgotten school prompt an investigation by the Kendrick police?"

He gritted his teeth from shouting obscenities at the woman. He knew she had the answer before her. She had never liked him, the old bat. "She found the body of a child."

"I didn't hear you."

"She found the body of a child in the ruins of the school." He took a breath to calm himself. He needed to be calm. If he was calm, he could calm the audience again. He had to think. He had to turn this around.

"Where?"

"Where what?"

"Where was the body of the child found?"

There was no getting around the question. "It was found in the closet of my old office. That's how I found out about all this. The police came to question... to speak to me."  The answer caused a dark ripple of whispered conversation through the audience. "But, I'm not a suspect. I'm just a person of interest."

"Isn't there a new junior high school about open up?" V'ger asked.

"Yes." Cheshire tried to keep hold of himself. Perhaps, the Second would be his ally.

"Do you have a position in the new school?"

"Yes. I'm the new Principal. I was the logical choice with my time in service and my..." His voice trailed off at the look on V'ger's face and knew the man was no ally.

"My daughter has been assigned to that new school."

Praetor took over the questioning again. "Did you kill those children from the Colman School?"

"What? Why are you asking me that?" Cheshire could not believe this was happening to him. "I love children. Why would I hurt them?"

"That isn't an answer."

"I called this Conclave because of a danger to the Order..."  He saw nothing but angry faces in the audience. People who had called him friend and ally were now turned away or were scowling at him.  There was no support there. He did not have to look at the Council table to know there was no support there either. There had never been any support.  He realized that the Council had made up its mind before they even walked into the Conclave and he was a dead man. His eyes darted about the room, seeking a haven or escape. He felt the garrote around his throat just as he started to bolt. Strong arms yanked him back into his seat, choking him. He knew it was Todesengel without looking.

Cerridwen spoke a word of power and Cheshire could no longer move.  The garrote loosened a little. Just enough to allow him breathe.

Praetor entered into his view, leaned down and whispered. "You did bring to light a great danger to the Order, Thomas. You." The First turned to the rest of the mystical Order and raised his voice. "It is clear that your opinion of Cheshire and the calling of this Conclave is one with mine and the Council's. His past and current actions endanger us and our mission. For his transgressions against the Order of the Sacred Eye, I hereby strip Cheshire of his status as a member of our honored group.  He is no longer recognized; no longer known to us or one of us. Thomas Rutherford stands alone."

Thomas saw neither pity nor mercy in the faces of the audience. He wanted to rail against the injustice of this and how those he had helped and worked with were stabbing him in the back. His self righteous anger warred with his helplessness, the two emotions feeding each other until he was a seething mass of impotent fury.

"What do we do with those who stand alone?" Praetor asked.

"Cast him out!" was the unified shout.

"Is the Order sure in this?"

"Cast him out!" was the repeated answer.

Praetor raised his hands. "The Order of the Sacred Eye has spoken." He looked at Nightshade.

"The Order of the Sacred Eye declares Thomas Rutherford to be Outcast. The matter before the Order is completed. The Conclave is ended."  Nightshade ticked of items on her list.  "The First Circle is to remain behind to deal with the Outcast."

Thomas watched people file out of the room except for those of the First Circle.  He saw that some people had looks of glee and hatred on their faces while others had looks of concern or confusion. But, not one of them would speak for or to him.  He heard Corelli ask, "What will they do with him now?"  Another member told her that he was to be bound in such as way as to never speak of the Order's secrets. It was a precaution against dangerous ex-members.  The answer seemed to satisfy her as they left the room.

He suspected he would not be so lucky as to simply be bound to not speak his knowledge of the Order. His own magical ability that had allowed him to rise as high as he had would preclude that.  He could, with time, break most bindings. Being the vindictive man that he was, he would break it. He knew it. Praetor knew it. The others did as well.

Once all of the members of the Order, except the First Circle, had left, Praetor turned back to Thomas. "You really screwed the pooch this time, buddy. We've known of your... proclivities... for some time now. Some of us suspected it back during the first Conclave you called. Back then, you had allies and you were useful to us. Now, you're not. But, that will change."

He stepped back as Todesengel lifted Thomas from the chair and made the helpless man kneel. Cerridwen came forward and placed a torc on the ground before him. Thomas saw his hatred mirrored in her eyes. "We knew the working on the school was fading. We hadn't decided what to do about it. The Master of the City took the choice out of our hands.  Normally, we would consider this sort of thing an act of war.  However, in this case, you sick bastard, we think the Master of the City is right. He's just protecting our children from you. Had I known then what I know now, you wouldn't have lived."

"Don't worry, Cerridwen, he won't hurt another child and he'll be useful to the Order one last time. The murder of a child murderer should be enough to empower the torc." Praetor and the others were setting up the ritual space for what was to come. "Also, Thomas, be assured that this issue will be dealt with. You will be found hanging in your home, an obvious suicide. There will be an appropriately tearful and apologetic suicide note confessing to the child murders from nine years ago. It will be an open and shut case. The school will be razed in order to cleanse it of its awful memories. Who knows what will rise in its place."

V'ger and Cerridwen took their places on either side of Praetor. "No matter what," Cerridwen said, "Kendrick is better off without the likes of you."

"Enough." Praetor gestured. "We have work to do. Let's get to it."

Thomas felt the garrote tighten around his neck. It hurt but was not lethal. Not yet. His death would be as slow and as painful as possible. Ritual deaths usually were.

***

Elsewhere...

"Technically, I don't think it was a ghost. It was a spirit." Susan said. "But, I'm not sure. Non-corporeal beings aren't my specialty."

"Why do you say that then?" Karen asked.

"Well, you said that once you saw the school building appear before you, you could hear the child's voice, calling you for help."

"So? Isn't that what ghosts do?"

"But this one called you by name and begged for help. For freedom. But, the freedom she wanted was not to be put to rest but to be taken somewhere else. Ghosts haunt one place. Right?"

Karen nodded. "I suppose. It was creepy for a little girl I could see through to tell me to take the ribbon from her skeleton and to take it to the 'pretty house on Yarrow Street.' If I hadn't seen her and the skeleton, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Oh, yes. The house on Yarrow Street. There is something special about it." She tapped her lip. "My gargoyles occasionally patrol that way. I don't tell them to. I guess that part of the city they can hear tells them to do so."

"Do you know the woman who lives there?"

"No. Sometimes, you know not to ask."

"It's Julie Steward."

"As in the Steward family? The Mayor and all that?" Susan sat up, alert and interested.

Karen nodded. "She's different. I don't know how. I just know she is. She wasn't surprised to see me. 'Reginald told me you were coming.'  When I gave her the box with the ribbon, she touched it like the little girl had been someone special to her. I don't know. She told me that Lucy would have a good home now and I swear I heard at least two little girls giggling. It makes me really curious."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't get too curious. Not with the Steward family. It's not healthy."

She frowned as the barista brought their orders. The coffee and food was amazingly good.  "OK. I'll hold my questions for now. I'm still getting used to all this. Every time I think I have a handle on things, something new pops up." She looked around the Kahili Coffee House, smiling at the Mediterranean d?r. With a lowered voice she asked, "This place is fantastic. Is it, you know, special? Like the club?"

Susan laughed. "The coffee may be a gift from the Gods but no. It's not. Not every place that seems different in Kendrick is magical." She waved off Karen's blush of embarrassment. "Speaking of the club, you going tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm meeting Aaron there for drinks and dancing."

"He does have quite the crush on you. What about David? Things not working out?"

"Don't look at me in that tone of voice. I'm allowed to date more than one guy at a time. I'm not exclusive or even serious with either. Both are becoming good friends."

"Oh, yeah? Which one's the better kisser?"

"A lady never tells."  Karen sipped her coffee with an impish smile.

Story by Jennifer Brozek, copyright 2006
Image by Rory Clark, Stopped Motion Photography, copyright 2006