Treading as quietly as possible, the two crouched low, staying hidden behind the balcony’s railing and creeping toward the edge. Peeking down onto the worship hall’s vast expanse, Kirsten and Thomas scanned the area for any sign of Billson or the guards.
“I don’t see them,” Thomas whispered.
Kirsten shrugged a hushed reply, “Maybe they have him in another room?”
“How do we get down to the main floor?” Thomas asked.
“There’s a set of stairs near the back,” she pointed to the back of the balcony behind the pews.
“Let’s do it,” Thomas said, reassuring his sister that he was not afraid to continue.
She gave him a half smile in return. When Kirsten’s foot landed on the first step leading down to the main worship hall, they heard the cries of their friend, Billson. Pausing and looking wide-eyed at her brother, Kirsten waited until the shouts faded.
“That sounded close,” Thomas whispered.
Kirsten nodded and continued slowly, placing her feet carefully on each step to make sure no unwanted noise sounded from the wooden boards. Upon reaching the end of the narrow staircase, Kirsten pressed her back against the wall and tried to look around the room. As she did so, they heard a door swing open. The voices of two men echoed into the hall. She made herself as thin as possible, stretching her body against the wall of the stairwell and hoping her brother was doing the same.
Breathing slowly, fully aware of how much noise her breathing was making; she remained still. Suddenly two men walked out into the worship hall, nearing their hiding place in the stairwell. The guards’ shadows ran the length of the floor directly in front of the stairwell entrance. Kirsten held her breath and watched the shadows as they stopped.
“That’s what happens to those who can’t keep their mouths shut around here,” one of the guards said in a gravelly voice.
“Yeah,” the other responded. “The governor don’t tolerate any sneaky business from the townsfolk.”
“I wonder what their secret meeting was about?” the first guard asked, then Kirsten heard Rankstine’s rough bark ordering the guards to return into the room.
She let out her breath as she listened to their footsteps echo across the floor. It wasn’t until she heard the door close that she turned to Thomas.
“That was so close,” Thomas said.
“Did you hear what they were saying?” Kirsten asked him.
“Yeah, they said something about Billson having a secret meeting. I wonder what that was all about?”
“We should try to get a closer look at what they’re doing in there,” Kirsten whispered.
She began to step out into the worship hall when Thomas stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Look,” he whispered pointing to the balcony that wrapped around the rim of the worship hall. “If we go back up on the balcony, we can get right above that room. Maybe there’s a vent up there that we could peek through.”
“Good idea,” Kirsten agreed. They quickly snuck back up the stairs and onto the balcony. Quietly, they worked their way around the horseshoe-shaped balcony to the opposite side of the building.
Kirsten leaned over the edge of the railing to see if there might be a better way to spy on the room where Rankstine and his guards were keeping Billson. The room stuck out slightly from the base of the balcony. Thomas rolled his leg over the edge of the railing and gently placed one foot at a time on the lip of the room’s ceiling. He noticed a gap between the room’s roof and the balcony’s base. Lying on his stomach, Thomas shuffled partially under the balcony and motioned for Kirsten to join him.
Once inside the gap between the balcony and the room, Thomas and Kirsten searched for a ventilation duct or some other way to peer into the room. Not seeing anything on the top, Kirsten maneuvered her body to the front of the room, just above the doorway. She hung her head over the edge and was pleased to see a half-inch gap between the door and the doorframe. She placed her eye in line with the crack and saw Billson tied to a chair. Rankstine was standing in front of him with the two guards standing on either side of Billson, their arms folded over their chests.
Next to Rankstine, she could see something round and glassy like an orb. She shifted, trying to get a better visual. To her surprise, the orb reflected a small replica of Grandwood, from a bird’s eye view. She could even see little dots moving about the city, and she realized suddenly that the dots were the people of Grandwood.
That must be what he’s using to keep everyone trapped, Kirsten thought.
She caught a glimpse the width of the area that the orb enveloped before Rankstine shifted, blocking her view. The orb seemed to cover an area that stretched just beyond Highborn Bay. She thought it extended well into the woods around the town, but couldn’t see it clearly enough to be sure before her view was blocked.
I wonder if the orb’s powers are related to his control over the people as well as his control of the barrier, she thought.
As she hung over the doorway, she felt her mother’s necklace begin to slide up around her chin, dangling in front of her face.
Oh, no, she thought as the necklace’s chain rolled over her ears. She couldn’t let her hands come off where she held herself or her weight would carry her over the edge and she’d fall head first onto the floor below. She tried to move one of her hands to catch the necklace before it slid all the way off her head, but her body began to slide off as soon as she’d let go of the roof, forcing her to return her grip.
Crap, she thought as she watched the chain roll over her eyes and slide over her head. It fell loose through the air, momentarily weightless, before landing hard on the wood floor in front of the door. The large gemstone cracked loudly as it collided with the ground. She looked through the gap in the doorway to see Rankstine’s head turn sharply at the sound.
Looking at the dumbfounded guards, Rankstine said, “Well,” he spread his arms out and shook his head slightly. “Don’t just stand there, go check it out.”
Kirsten pulled herself back up into the safety of the gap between the balcony and the room’s roof. Thomas met her with wide eyes and a concerned look.
He mouthed, “What the heck?!”
She mouthed back, “Sorry!” and cringed.
The door swung open and the two guards emerged, looking down on the floor in front of the door. One of them noticed the pink-hued sapphire necklace. He bent down to pick it up. Showing it to the other guard, they shrugged confused and looked directly up. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, the two began to search the worship hall. Kirsten and Thomas remained still. She could see the guards’ movements and watched as they searched the large open room. Moving up the stairs, she listened to their footsteps as they made their way around the balcony and came to stand directly over them. After several long breaths, they moved back along the balcony and down the stairs. The guards exited the main worship area, in a hurry, obviously thinking they’d catch whoever had left the necklace behind. Thomas and Kirsten carefully crawled back out of their hiding place and onto the balcony. Tiptoeing, they were already beginning their climb up the bell tower when the two guards returned.
By the time they’d reported their unsuccessful search to Rankstine, Kirsten and Thomas were at the top of the bell tower. Before they emerged onto the side of the building to climb down, Kirsten heard Rankstine enter the large sanctuary.
“Get him back to the others,” he said. “I’ll deal with the spies.”
Kirsten and Thomas hurried down the spire and were on the ground running by the time the guards emerged from the temple to escort Billson back to the wall project. The two sprinted as fast as their feet would carry them. They didn’t stop until they were back outside Grandwood’s limits.
“What the heck was that?” Thomas asked, exhaling heavily.
Bending over with her hands on her knees next to her brother, Kirsten nearly sobbed, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t. Take my hands. Off the edge. Or else I’d fall.” She waited until she’d caught her breath to speak again. “The necklace slid off my head.”
Thomas shook his head, “You lost mother’s necklace. Now Rankstine has it. He doesn’t deserve such a nice piece of jewelry.”
