Carl pulled the trigger and had opened the inn week later. Val was a little surprised, figuring that the man would have nothing but his daughter on his mind. "I need to keep myself busy," Carl said when Val had asked him about it. "Besides, Claire would be furious if I let the business go under while she was gone."
During the daytime, Val would help Carl with preparations to open the inn for the season. At nights, she would sit in the inn's dining room, going through page after page in her book, making notes. Carl would often be sitting at another table, trying to figure out the inn's financials.
One evening, two days before the inn would open it's doors for the season, Carl approached Val. He handed her a cup of tea and sat down across the table with a cup of coffee. He stared at it for a moment before breaking the silence.
"My staff will be starting tomorrow, so I don't need your help anymore."
"Are you sure? I don't mind, and you've been letting me stay here for free so..." she trailed off.
"I've been watching you with your book," he said. "As much as I've thrown myself into the inn, you've thrown yourself into your study. I'm not sure what it will take to get Claire and your sister back, but if whatever your doing helps with that, then I want you to devote all your energy to it."
A lump formed in Val's throat. "I will, I promise. I'll get them back."
"I know you will lass."
***
It had been two weeks since Terry had promised to put feelers out into the community. Val and Carl had not heard from the tycoon until yesterday. About mid-afternoon, one of Terry's aides showed up at the now repaired front door of the Right Rudder Inn, requesting that they hold a meeting there the next evening.
"There will be several more coming," the aide said. "Will that be a problem?"
Carl raised an eyebrow. "Who are these other people?"
"Others who have a vested interest in finding these children."
The next evening came, and so did the people. They came in ones and twos. Carl would open the door to the long drawn faces of couples, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and any other who had lost children close to them. There were about 40 in all, sitting or standing in the dining room of the inn.
Being the host that he was, Carl boiled kettles and brought out cups of tea and coffee. With the help of Val, many of the assembled now had a hot drink in their hands or sitting in front of them on a table.
Terry was the last to arrive.
"How did you find all these people?" Carl asked Terry as the merchant entered the inn.
"I have my resources," he said.
"I don't recognize many, are they all from Cain's Point?"
"Some, but I extended my reach to some other surrounding communities as well. That's why it took so long for me to get back to you, I had to give these people time to travel here."
He then walked to the front of the room and clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.
Up until that point, the crowd had been talking amongst themselves. Now, there was silence and expectant looks from all assembled.
"You've all been informed as to why I've gathered you here this evening," Terry said.
"The children," said a woman in the back.
"Yes, the children. Everyone here has had a child with the gift go missing."
Affirmative murmurs rippled through the crowd. Terry held up a hand to ask for silence.
"Through my research, I have found that these disappearances have been going on for quite some time. Some of you have told me that you were approached three years ago by a group promising that if your child went with them, they would received special training."
"That's what they told me last year as well," the woman in the back said again. "I thought it would be a chance for my boy to do something special with his powers, but I haven't heard from him since."
"Same here," another voice chimed in.
"It's been two years since I've heard from my daughter," another yet said.
"My boy was just gone one night!" The crowd devolved into shouting out what happened to their loved ones.
Terry clapped his hands again, calling for silence.
"Yes, it seems that you all share a similar story. This group has been smart, promising you the best for your children, and then secreting them away in ones or twos to some location."
"We've told the guard," said one man. "But they've done nothing!"
"And you really can't expect them to DO anything," Terry said. "They are here to prevent trouble - handle drunk sailors, apprehend thieves, but that's it. A child goes off with some strangers with his parents permission? Maybe the child doesn't want to speak to their parents anymore. Perhaps they have run away. If they are outside the city, they are no longer the guard's problem."
"Are you blaming us then?" Someone from the crowd.
"What? No! The point is that whatever this group wants, they've been doing it slowly over time. Up until now, these disappearances have appeared random. In the last year, they have gotten more aggressive."
"So, what do we do?" Val stood. "Where did they go and how do we get them back?"
"I don't think those are the questions that we should be asking ourselves. At least not right now."
Val looked around. "Then WHAT are the questions that we should ask?" Her voice trembled with frustration. She had thought Terry would be more helpful than.... whatever this was.
"The questions that we should be asking ourselves are," he help up a single finger. "1. Why are they building an army?" He held up a second finger. "And 2 - How do we stop a group of weaponized metalmancers when they start landing on our shores?"