The Youngest Keeper

[Mairead Harker]

The spirit form of a Great Pyrenees stretched out on the floor near Maggie's feet as she read through book after book. In the Tower of Earth, there had been answers, but not many. Earthquakes weren't a very common thing in Rhydin. However, deaths were recorded as having been caused by asphyxiation. Maggie shuddered. In connection with the Tower of Earth, the likely reason was suffocation from having been buried alive. Whether it was accidental or purposefully, it made the teenager's lungs ache just as they did when she was visited by the spirit of a drowning victim. Many of the young ones that came to her had lost their lives on beaches. What should have been a happy time was marred by accidents. The Tower of Water helped her unlock those circumstances.

Getting her answers wasn't an easy thing. Maggie had scoured the archives of the Rhydin Public Library and the cold case files Rachael had allowed her to read. A couple of Watch precincts in other districts had given Maggie access to their cold case files. Her request had been to see those regarding children. Some looked at her like she was a loon. Others ... they saw the small mob of shadows in her wake. They were the ones that remembered their own visitors and were willing to help Maggie put hers to rest. Sports and theater fans were also helpful.

One by one, pieces began to fit together. Once in while, her spectral guides led her to a still living child. They were lost siblings, schoolmates, and playmates pleading for help from those that might see them. Unfinished business her grandmother called it. The most recent was a ten year old that had gotten caught in a sudden storm with her family. She was in Riverview Clinic's Pediatric ward and alive.

It started as children waiting to move on being attracted to the light of a living child when adults with the sight ignored them. When it began just after her sixth birthday, it had been hardest on her father. Dennis had always been protective of his children. Being confronted with something he couldn't see or chase away had given him that feeling parents dreaded, helplessness. It was easy to chase away imaginary monsters under the bed. It was Maggie, herself, that reminded him that things were less scary with him holding onto her. As she got older, she still looked to her father for advice and comfort. No matter what she saw that he didn't, he was her Da and believed in her. It was that belief that encouraged her to embrace that gift or curse and use it for the benefit of others. That was the first step on a long road, a path the Moirae had been forbidden to alter or interfere with. They'd meddled enough with those that came before her.

[Mairead Harker]

“Water is powerful. It can wash away earth, put out fire, and even destroy iron.” Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

29 Mar 2021 - from the Journal of Mairead Harker

I was unable to continue as Keeper of Water. I’m by no means unhappy about that. I wasn’t unhappy about my time as Keeper of Earth ending either. I suppose some people think I should be. It’s Morgan’s time to have his chance. We were surrounded by a lot of supportive people and a LOT of great food! We had plenty to take home after.

I was a little confused that Morgan said if I didn’t want the belt he made that I could give it back. Just because I didn’t use it for the challenge doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I appreciate the work he put into it. When I heard him saying he never really had a Mom or a teacher, that put a few things into perspective for me. I’ve met several people that never had anyone filling either of those roles, but many, over time, gain them. Some people, like Amaris, lose the family that gave them their life and are able to build a family of those that accept them for who they are. It’s not a replacement, it’s more like an expansion.

I have been able to use what I had learned in the libraries of the Towers of Earth and Water. Wisely, I hope. Last weekend, I worked with a dive team attached to the Stardreamer hospital ship out of Dockside. We hoped for a rescue, but I knew we’d find at least one body from an overturned fishing boat. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a messenger among my visitors. The parents had been found earlier in the day clinging to their boat. It was nearly dark when we found a freezing ten year year old. She’d been washed up on one of those little islands off the coast of Seaside. After several days of active searching, the divers had to move on to more active cases. They’d given up hope of recovering the body that I knew was out there. They warned me to not touch a body that was underwater. Something about buoyancy and bloating in drowned bodies.

The same young spirit as before, kept coming to me. It wasn’t until this past Friday night that I learned why. The mother was awake and asked after three children, not two. Saturday morning, Aunt Nikki and I started our own search. She made use of her gift to call on the creatures of the sea to help us. Somehow, the remaining children had made their way to what looked like a pirate’s hideaway. Plenty of bones and other things lurking in there including two spirits and one living boy. The spirits were helped on their way. The oldest of the three children had been badly hurt. He might have survived, but had put his brother first. He was the one that kept coming to me. We called the dive team in to recover the remains.

I spent a good part of the night at Dockside ESMC. It’ll be a week or so before the kiddo would be strong enough to be reunited with the rest of his surviving family. There will be other chances for me to gain or defend titles, but this weekend … there may have only been one chance to save that life. This morning, I start my second year in Dragon’s Gate.