Time's Tragedies- The Books Of Beginning [2]

71. Final Plan

"Geez, the bags under your eyes are so big they could carry all of our groceries," Abby remarked. 

Rafe huffed in amusement, "thank you, Abby, that makes me feel so good about myself." 

The girl smiled sheepishly, "sorry."

"It's fine," Rafe waved her off, "I get it. I probably should have gone to bed, but I was so busy with the scroll..."

"Did you find anything out?" Abby asked eagerly. 

Rafe nodded, "a list of Robert's strongholds. I recognize the locations of many of them - he seems to be repurposing the Dire Magnus's old hideouts in many cases. I also got information on the amount of followers he has, so we know more of what we're dealing with. I've already sent messages to Emma and Gabriel, Michael and Wilamena, and our other allies, King Robbie and his followers, Abigail and her idiots, and Granny Peet and Dena and their village."

"Oh," Abby exclaimed happily, "that's good!"

"It's progress, and information we didn't have before," Rafe agreed, "hopefully it will allow us to strike back at Robert, now that we know more of where to go and what we're up against."

"So I guess the scroll was useful after all, then," Abby said. 

Rafe smiled fondly at her, "yes, Abby, it was. You and your brother and sisters did so much good in retrieving it. Words cannot express how proud of you I am."

"We were happy to help," Jake said, sliding into the chair at the kitchen table across from Rafe and his sister, with a plate of toaster-waffles drizzled with syrup, "it wasn't easy, but no one in our family is the type of person to sit around and do nothing when danger approaches."

"Not even Uncle Michael, as much as he wants to sometimes," Abby added.

Jake chuckled, "or the old man Jake and Beetles, even when they just want to cause chaos and hunt for nonexistent treasure."

"We don't know that the treasure they search for is non existent," Rafe admonished playfully, "they could just be really bad at searching for it."

"Either way, it's a miracle they haven't completely shattered Abigail's sanity," Abby quipped. 

Jake shook his head, "I have so much respect for that woman."

"I'd toast to her any day," Rafe agreed. 

The three laughed lightly, and despite the sluggishness and exhaustion Rafe was experiencing with his lack of sleep, there was genuine humor bubbling in his chest and throat. While the scroll of souls hadn't been nearly as informative as he had hoped, there was still useful tactical information on Robert Lloyd that he and his allies could put to use. Already, he was strategizing, thinking about how to get into contact with people and start picking off Robert's strongholds and forces, to hopefully back the sadistic excuse for a man into a corner. 

Rafe had long left his days as a conquer and a villain behind him, but he was going to take a grim joy in destroying everything Robert had built. 

A ring echoed through the house - the phone. Lili called from inside the living room, "I've got it!" A few minutes later, she entered the kitchen, a worried look on her face. 

"It's Miss Sallow," Lili said, referring to the mostly retired housekeeper who lived in Cambridge Falls and who often went up to the old manor house to use the library and collect the miscellaneous mail that tended to show up there, "she thinks someone tried to break in to the old mansion. Since we're the closest, she's asking us what to do."

"Pass me the phone," Rafe said, and Lili obliged. Rafe held it up to his ear, "hi, Miss Sallow, it's Rafe Wibberly. Lili got me. She says you think there was an attempted break in. Did you see who caused it?"