Faith waited outside Mr. Tetley’s house for Sheriff Willet and the two others who came with him. Holtby wasn’t with them. Faith didn’t look back at the still open door, at Mr. Tetley lying there. The sheriff spoke to the two others quietly for a moment, then they went inside. Willet didn’t follow. This time Faith saw the other side of him, the side she hadn’t seen from the park. He had a blue mark on his neck like the one on Destiny. Faith tried not to stare, not wanting him to know she’d noticed.
“What happened?” Willet asked gently.
“I came to visit Mr. Tetley,” Faith said, choosing her words carefully. “The door was open and he was lying there.”
Willet glanced at the house, then he moved closer to Faith. “We have to keep this quiet. Telling anyone will only make them more of a target.” That was an odd thing to say.
“Then the lake caused this?” Faith asked.
Willet stared at her, then he sighed. “We’ll find out what caused this. You should go home, but keep in mind what I said.” He went inside the house.
Sheriff Willet knew something, but what? And what was that mark? Faith headed back around the lake. The water was still, just as before. It seemed likely a messenger had killed Mr. Tetley, but did Willet know that? From what he said, Faith was sure he knew. When she reached the path back to Silverfield, she stopped. Destiny stood up ahead on the path, staring at Faith. Destiny turned and walked away into the forest. Faith started along the path and didn’t see her through the trees along the way.
Faith called Riley as soon as she got home. She told him about Mr. Tetley, the mark on the sheriff’s neck, and what the sheriff had said. Riley was silent when she finished. Faith glanced at the hall, but there was nothing there. The light from the windows shone into the empty hall.
“The sheriff definitely knows something,” Riley said. “That mark has to mean something, but I don’t know what.” He sounded as frustrated as Faith was.
She had searched for answers and only came across more questions.
“I saw Destiny on the way back from the lake, but she didn’t say anything,” Faith said. “She walked away into the forest.”
“I think the mark has to do with Ninivus,” Riley said.
“I spoke to Daena earlier,” Faith said. She told him what Daena had said about the pendant.
Riley said nothing for a moment. “Wyvern blood?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Huh…” Riley was silent again, but not long. “I haven’t read anything about wyverns in any of the books or notes. Nothing about their blood having to do with beings like Ninivus either.” He sighed. “Maybe she’ll tell us more later, though it would be nice if she would just tell us what she knows.”
“Have you found anything more in your notes?” Faith asked.
“Something is waking up these beings, and it started off of Gull Bay,” he said.
This brought to mind Collin, him working with Riley and the others and not mentioning any of it to her. Something else as well.
“I have a box of Collin’s stuff that he used to keep in his desk,” Faith said. “Maybe there’s something in there.”
“Could be,” Riley said. “Would you mind going through it? I understand if you don’t want to.”
“I will,” Faith said. “I’ll call if I find anything.”
Faith went to the closet in her room and took the box from the top shelf, setting it on the floor. She glanced at the hall, at Suzie’s closed door. Faith closed her own door and locked it. The box was dusty. She stared at it for a moment. What would she find in there? She breathed in deeply, thinking of Suzie. If she found answers in this box, it could help her get Suzie back. Faith removed the lid. The box was full of pens, a few of Collin’s favorite books, and a jar of fishing hooks he had made. Faith dug to the bottom of the box and found something flat and smooth. A folder.
She carefully extracted the folder from everything else in the box. The folder was blank on the outside. Inside were maps of the sea with places circled and hastily written notes. There were pages and pages of notes. Faith closed the file and called Riley to tell him she was coming by with the folder. He sounded excited. So was she, but she tried not to get her hopes up that the notes contained anything Riley didn’t already know.
It was raining hard when Faith got in the car and headed for Riley’s house. By the time she reached his house, the rain was pounding against the windshield. Faith kept the folder under her jacket on the way to the door. She knocked and he let her in quickly. It was warm inside. The candle on the table was lit again. Did he have electricity? At least the house was warm. They both sat at the table and Faith handed him the folder. He looked through the papers and maps. He paused on a page of notes, then sorted through the other folders on the table.
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“Find something?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know.” He had a deep frown. “He mentions Sky and Sea here with an address in Sills. I’ve seen them mentioned in other notes. They were a group that kept Ninivus and the others asleep, but it doesn’t say anywhere how they did it, or what happened to them.”
“Isn’t Sills past Baylis?” Faith asked. Baylis was the city north of Silverfield.
Riley nodded. “Sills is west of Baylis. I don’t recognize the address, but maybe Collin found something there. I’ll look into that later.” He smiled. “Maybe that will tell us where Sky and Sea was, or something they left behind.”
A phone rang from beyond the kitchen doorway on the far wall. Riley disappeared into the kitchen for a moment. When he came back, he seemed deep in thought.
“Everything okay?” Faith asked.
Riley sat back at the table. “That was Eliza Boldon, one of the others I work with. She said she might have something and wants to meet us.” He hesitated. “Will you come with me? You’re just as involved as the rest of us now.”
“I’ll go with you,” Faith said.
Hopefully Eliza had found something that would help with Ninivus, and with finding out what had happened to Suzie.
Riley smiled. “Good.”
The two of them got in Riley’s car and drove away from Silverfield, along the road to Baylis, the one road out of town. The rain let up before long, but the sky was still cloudy.
“Are there any lakes in Baylis?” Faith asked.
“No,” Riley said. “Not even a pond. Baylis is a big city. Have you been there?” He glanced at Faith.
“No,” Faith said. “We had everything we needed in Gull Bay. Collin and I had both lived there for years.” She knew Collin had reasons for not telling her what he’d been looking into, but she still wished he had told her, had let her help him.
About forty minutes later, they reached Baylis. The stretch of plains between Silverfield and the city ended. Riley seemed to know his way along the confusing streets and tall buildings.
“Could the address in Sills belong to a friend of Collin’s?” Riley asked.
“Not any he mentioned,” Faith said. “He had friends in Gull Bay, and those were the only ones I met. They were fishing buddies.” She thought about something she hadn’t before. “He stopped fishing a year and a half before he went missing.”
Riley frowned. “It must have been because of what he found. After watching these beings, it’s hard to want to go out on any water.”
Faith hesitated. “How well did you know Collin?”
“Not well,” Riley said. “I only met him once, but he sent me several notes over the years. I don’t know most of the others I work with well. The only one I know well enough to consider a friend is Hew.”
He turned down another residential road and parked out front a small house. The wooden shingles on the outside were bright green, and the fence was pastel blue. The grass was mowed and there were flowers along the front walk. Faith and Riley headed up to the yellow door and Riley knocked. The woman who opened the door had tied back her long light brown hair. She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her light blue eyes. She looked worried. Despite the heat, she wore a black turtleneck sweater.
“You look just how Hew described you,” she said to Riley. “Come in.” She opened the door further.
The two of them followed her through a doorway on the right wall, into a small kitchen with a window over the sink. Three chairs sat around a small round table. One chair was missing part of a leg and wobbled when Eliza sat in it. Faith and Riley joined her at the table.
“You said you found something?” Riley asked.
Eliza nodded, that worry not leaving her eyes. She glanced at the doorway, her eyes darting back to the two of them. “I’m sorry. I…” Her brows furrowed.
“Is something wrong?” Riley asked.
“I have to help him,” Eliza said quietly. “Because of what he’s done to me. I don’t know what he’ll do if I disobey.” She reached up and pulled down the neck of her sweater, revealing a blue mark on the right side of her neck. “They’re coming. For the two of you.” She glanced at the doorway again. “I’m sorry.”
“This is a trap?” Faith asked.
Eliza looked at Riley. “I’m sorry. Find—” A messenger, wet and dark, rose up behind Eliza. It became water entirely, rushing in through Eliza’s mouth.
Faith and Riley stood. Eliza coughed and gasped, but no water came out. She fell out of her chair, to her hands and knees. Faith glanced back at the doorway and saw two more messengers oozing across the floor. Eliza collapsed onto the floor the rest of the way. She had stopped breathing. Riley knelt beside her. Faith backed away from the doorway and the other two messengers.
Two more messengers came through the doorway, and Faith could see more behind those. How many were there? Riley took the chair with the half missing leg and threw it through the kitchen window. He pulled off his jacket and lay it on the windowsill. The messengers were getting closer and there were even more of them now.
“You first,” Riley said.
Faith climbed up onto the sink and out the window. Riley followed, taking the jacket. The two of them ran back to the car. No messengers followed. Riley drove away from Baylis, gripping the wheel much tighter than before. Faith didn’t know what to say. What had Eliza been about to tell them? That had been a lot of messengers. More than Faith had seen in one place before, and it was during the day this time. Neither of them spoke on the way back to Silverfield.