Read Online Legend of the Book Keeper by Daniel Blackaby - Free Book Online

sleeping friend lying on his shoulder, Cody realized that Jade was still saving him. He smiled; it felt nice to let her lean on him for a change. Shutting his own eyes, Cody rested his head against the window.

     
    The world blurred into focus. Reaching up, Cody rubbed his eyes. The sound of the train’s mundane chugging reoriented him to his current situation. He immediately noticed that Jade was gone. Panic stuck. Jumping up, now fully alert, he dashed to open the train’s compartment door—and crashed right into Jade.
    “Ouch!” she cried, “I’m carrying hot coffee!”
    Cody blushed with embarrassment. What’s wrong with me? He sat down silently, feeling silly for having acted so rashly. Jade handed him his coffee before taking a sip of her own, apparently feeling no awkwardness from the situation. Cody desperately wanted to bring up the sleeping incident from last night, but couldn’t think of a casual way to do so. Instead he remained dumbly silent.
    Jade set down her coffee. “You were really out of it, bud.” The way the sun shone through the window Cody guessed it was mid-afternoon.
    “You sleep okay?” he probed.
    “Oh, yes, wonderfully. It was much-needed after all this craziness.” Cody felt a surge of disappointment in her response; she seemed completely oblivious to the entire head-on-shoulder occurrence. For several minutes neither was anxious to restart the conversation. Both sat quietly sipping their coffee as the sun’s beams flashed through the window. It was Jade who eventually broke the vacuum of silence, “Should we have another crack at that letter?” Ready for a change in conversation, Cody pulled out the note. “Read it out loud, maybe that will help change it up— unless, of course, riddles happen to speak to you as easily as books appear to . . .” she added with a playful smile. “I know what I saw,” Cody replied stubbornly as he unfolded the note but was in no mood to argue.
    Complying with her suggestion, he began to read the words. Halfway through, he was interrupted by the sound of their door jostling open. Raising his eyes from the paper Cody saw a tall man in a long, black jacket standing in the doorway. A fedora rested over his face.
    “Pardon me,” he uttered with a thick British accent. “Do you two have a moment?” Cody’s eyes meet Jade’s. The look on her face told him everything. They didn’t have a choice.

Sir Dunstan
     
    W ithout waiting for Cody’s reply, the tall man took a seat on Jade’s bench. She quickly got up and took a seat beside Cody, who in turn nervously inched closer to her. The two friends fixated their eyes on their unexpected visitor, who appeared in no rush to introduce himself or explain the situation. The scent of musky cologne vanquished all doubts; this was the very man who had invaded their alley shortcut on the day of Wesley’s murder. It was not a coincidence welcomed by the two young fugitives.
    Patting down the leather bench cushion, the man made himself comfortable. He removed the fedora that previously hid his face. He was a middle-aged man, although the hard wrinkles sharply carved into his forehead seemed to suggest that he had experienced more life than many men much his elder. His hair was dirty blond with subtle hints of white breaking through, and neatly combed to the side. Beneath his thick eyebrows was a pair of bright blue eyes. He reached to the wall and hung up his hat with a casualness that indicated he found no awkwardness in joining the younger two travelers.
    Finally, having made himself completely comfortable, he turned to Cody and Jade, “Allow me to introduce myself,” he said with quiet calmness. “My name is Dunstan.” He paused, apparently feeling that a first name would suffice, and a purpose for the intrusion was a minuscule and unimportant detail. He turned to the window. “Nice weather we’re having, don’t you think? Especially for this time of year.” He spoke with the tone of boredom