Christmas in Montora (The Chronicles of Montora Book 4) Read online

  Christmas

  in

  Montora

  The Chronicles of Montora – Book 4

  Ward Wagher

  Christmas

  in

  Montora

  The Chronicles of Montora – Book 4

  Ward Wagher

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, an d any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012, 2019 Ward Wagher

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9781078335348

  Cover Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

  DEDICATION

  Dedicated to my friends in Christian Service who enjoy Science Fiction and put up with my writing

  CONTENTS

  DEDICATION

  CONTENTS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  The Montora series keeps generating modest sales and the readers seem to like it. I had never gotten around to doing a print edition of Christmas in Montora and decided to use a summer vacation to correct that shortcoming. Aa usual, this is an opportunity to clean up the endemic typos and word use problems. I am glad for the chance to do so.

  .

  CHAPTER ONE

  Sarah was having a delightful afternoon working in the flower beds that lay on the banks of the moat surrounding Montora Castle. The five-year-old blond girl loved being among the vibrant blossoms. She carefully moved among the plants and removed weeds with unerring precision. She loved the castle and the village. She loved sitting among the flowers and looking at the towering snowcapped mountains that sheltered Montora Village. The gurgling rush of the Moody River filled in the background sounds as it tumbled and rolled under the bridge that connected the castle with the village.

  Sarah was happy here. Glenn and Monica had brought her to Montora to visit the village and stay with Franklin and Signe. Signe loved her and took good care of her. Franklin frightened her a bit, and she didn't know why, but she knew he protected her. She loved her people and she was safe here. She was going to stay here forever because outside of the ring of mountains that protected Montora village, bad things happened to Sarah.

  She looked up to see a group of men marching up the road from the village. They were dressed in scruffy clothes and were none too clean. Bad men were coming! She jumped to her feet and fled towards the drawbridge. A roar of harsh laughter erupted from the men, and her panic redoubled. They were going to hurt her again! Her little legs moved in almost a blur as she ran across the drawbridge and into the keep, as though she was being chased by the Furies themselves.

  Through the courtyard of the keep, she ran. The guard up on the allure looked down in bemusement as the little girl ran towards the door of the keep proper. She bounced off the door since it was latched. She scrambled about trying to press the latch button and push the door open.

  The cook and housekeeper, Mrs. Marsden, had been working with a feather duster in the foyer, and heard the scratching and thumping at the door. So, she pulled the door open.

  “Why child, whatever is the matter?”

  A white-faced Sarah slipped between her and the door frame, then ran up the wide, central staircase, as fast as she could go. Mrs. Marsden watched her go, then looked carefully into the courtyard before closing the door. She shook her head and walked through the first-floor hallways to the Margrave's office. Franklin and Signe Nyman were both standing behind the desk as Franklin shoved documents around the desktop comp term screen.

  “Yes, Mrs. Marsden?” Signe asked.

  “The child has come back into the keep, Ma'am. Something has frightened her.”

  “Very well, Mrs. Marsden,” Signe said. “I will see to it.”

  The older lady nodded and left to return to her work. Signe looked at Franklin, who raised his eyebrows.

  “I wish Sarah would talk,” Franklin said. “She's like a little bird. Everything terrifies her, and it's hard to reassure her when we don't know what it was that set her off.”

  “She's probably gone to her favorite hiding place,” Signe said. “I'd better go rescue her. I fear she will die of fright one of these times.”

  “It's no wonder after the way she was treated by those animals. Thank God most of them are dead.”

  “Unfortunately,” Signe replied, “her demons are still alive and in pursuit.”

  “Then you'd better go. When she gets this way, she won't come near me.”

  “I'll talk to you later, Love,” and she walked out of the office.

  Franklin watched her leave and shook his head. He marveled, once again, at the train of events that had brought him together with Signe. He had met the tall, voluptuous brunette at a party hosted by her parents. He immediately mistook her for Stacia Cummings, the well-known actress who played Honor Hawthorne of the Merchants and Manufacturers League Space Navy. Her parents, Glenn and Monica Foxworth lived in Cambridge, the planetary capital of Hepplewhite, where Glenn was the planetary governor and Seneschal for the absentee Duke of Hepplewhite.

  Franklin had rescued Glenn and Monica after their kidnapping by pirates. The child, Sarah, and her mother had also been held by the pirates and were rescued at the same time. Glenn and Monica had been badly abused by the pirates, as had Sarah and her mother. In fact, Sarah's mother had not survived – she had died during the voyage away from the pirate lair. This left a mystery. There was nothing to identify the little girl, and she was still too traumatized to speak. Glenn and Monica took her in and treated her as their own child.

  Signe made her way to the third floor of the keep where she and her husband, Franklin Nyman, the Margrave of Montora, maintained a suite. Across the hall was a smaller suite which had been turned into Sarah's apartment, reserved for her frequent visits. She stepped into the expansive, sun-lit room and looked around. The suite consisted of a small sitting room, a bedroom, and a fresher.

  She
walked into the bedroom, and over to a section of the bookshelf next to the closet door. She touched a hidden latch, and the bookshelf swung out into the room, revealing a small alcove containing a chair, a table, and a terrified little girl.

  Signe bent over and swept the child into her arms and held her head close to her neck. Sarah's arms wrapped around her neck and held tightly.

  “Oh, Sarah, Sarah. It's okay, child. I am here,” she whispered softly into the girl's ear.

  Sarah shivered in her arms like a frightened fawn, yet she made not a sound beyond her panting.

  “It's okay, Sarah. I won't let anybody hurt you. You are safe here.”

  She carried the girl across the room, where an old-fashioned wooden rocker decorated a corner. She sat down and began rocking the child. She could feel the little girl's heart beating madly in her chest. Signe once again felt the searing hatred for men who would do things to a little girl that the pirates had done.

  Forty-five minutes later Signe stepped back into the office where Franklin struggled with the accounts. He looked up as she walked in.

  “One of the house girls is sitting with her,” she said. “This was the worst panic attack so far. I wonder what set it off.”

  “I had a delegation of workers from the village, right after she ran in,” Franklin said. “They were somewhat boisterous, and their appearance was not what you would call civilized.”

  Signe nodded. “That was probably it, then. She thought they were after her. Poor thing.”

  “She seems so happy here, too,” Franklin said. “And she has those flower beds looking better than the gardeners ever did.”

  “I get concerned about her spending hour after hour out there, but it seems to make her happy.”

  “I just wish we could get her to speak. We keep coming up dry in our efforts to locate relatives. If we could get a name or something about her background out of her....”

  Signe folded her arms across her chest. “Well, Mommy and Daddy will be here this afternoon, so she will be back in Cambridge with them for a while.”

  “I'll say something to your dad about reading from the Psalms during their evening family time tonight. For some reason, she really loves that, and it settles her down.”

  “Does that bother you to see her bonding so well with Daddy, instead of with you?” Signe asked.

  “Not in the least. It is obviously very good for her, and have you noticed how happy it makes your Dad?”

  “Daddy really dotes on her.”

  “Is it wise to split her between us and your parents this much, Signe?”

  “I've wondered about that,” she replied. “But she loves it here and loves being with us. Just the same, she is so delighted to go back to Cambridge. I think if she didn't like it, we would surely know.”

  Franklin snorted. “Isn't that the truth. Sarah is good at making her displeasure known when the occasion arises. So, now that you're back, can you help me sort out these accounts. Our beloved Seneschal has managed to wreck them again.”

  “Is that why we haven't seen much of him today?” she asked.

  “You got it. He's afraid I am going to fire him.” Franklin stopped to run his hands through his hair. “Sometimes I am sorely tempted.”

  Gerard Blakely had served Frank Nyman, the previous Margrave, as well as Jack Nyman, who Frank replaced. He was utterly faithful to the Nyman family and served them well for the most part – except that he was hopeless in managing the accounts of the Margraviate. Signe's business degrees allowed her to provide the overall management of Franklin's finances, but Blakely still took care of the day to day work, sometimes for the worse.

  “And if you think I'm going to take over his job, Mr. Margrave, you have another thing coming,” Signe challenged.

  “Oh, I'm sure we could find somebody,” Franklin grinned. “I suppose Louie could probably find a warm body.”

  “Louie would probably bring in one of his extended family to fill the position for us,” she said. “While I love your friend dearly, I don't think I could handle eau de Woogie day in, and day out here in the castle.”

  Woogies were five-foot tall, one-eyed, pink, autochthons from the planet Woogaea. They had interacted with humans for centuries, and were honorable if unpredictable partners in humanity's march through the stars.

  “It doesn't seem to bother your mother.”

  “Yeah, well, Louie can do no evil in Mommy's eyes, and don't you think Louie takes advantage of that?”

  Franklin chuckled softly. “I would qualify that just a bit, my dear. Louie would never take advantage in a way that would harm the Foxworths. But there is no doubt he has your mother wrapped around his little... tentacle.”

  Woogies were endowed with radial symmetry, having five arms resembling tentacles, and five appendages functioning as legs.

  Signe was openly grinning now. “You have such a delicious turn of phrase, Franklin. Nevertheless, I would suggest we find somebody here in the village to train up to work for Gerry.”

  Franklin studied his wife for a moment. “Okay. You're thinking about the political equation. The villagers would be impressed if we had one of their own in a key position.”

  “I don't think anyone would complain if we brought in another outsider, but why pass up opportunities to demonstrate the wise beneficence of the Margrave?”

  Franklin snorted again. “And you pick on me for my language.”

  “All the same, does the idea make sense?”

  “Of course, it does,” Franklin said. “I ought to just turn this place over to you. You'd make a far better Margrave.”

  “Stop that!” she barked. Her eyes flashed as she glared at him. “Since we got married, we are one flesh. I used to think the Bible was just referring to the physical part of marriage. I've realized since then how much more fulfilled both of us are here. Together we are much more effective than we would be separately. You'd best remember that.”

  “Whoa,” he said. “What set that off, all of a sudden?”

  She stepped back, still glaring at him. “Every once in a while, Franklin, you go all passive on me. I don't understand it, and it scares me. You sometimes remind me a lot of Daddy. I love Daddy to death, but if Mommy hadn't constantly pushed him, he never would have amounted to anything.”

  “What are you saying, Sig? That I'm weak? I like to think I do what needs doing.”

  “I know that, Franklin. I've seen you. You never shy away from making the tough decisions and assuming leadership. It's just that now things have quieted down, you seem to be coasting. I'm starting to make all the decisions, and I don't like it.”

  Franklin looked at her curiously. They made an interesting couple. He stood at six feet five and had raven hair and dark eyes. He was a big man. Yet, she was a big girl at six feet even and was unafraid of using her size to intimidate. People saw their comparative size and aggressiveness and therefore assumed them to be the perfect couple. The reality of their relationship was much more complex, of course.

  “I can't be on all the time, Signe. Look at what it did to your Dad before he found the Lord.”

  She shook her head. “It isn't that.”

  “Well, what is it, then? You can't expect to just jump on me about something, and then not explain it. I don't feel like I'm being passive.”

  “I don't know. In some ways, you're a lot like Daddy. I think that's why you two argue so much. But you never seem to turn yourself inside out over your decisions.”

  “I did before I turned to the Lord.”

  “That's different. That was God working on you. No, I'm talking about your role as the leading figure on this planet. You revel in it and soak it up.”

  “You think I'm turning into a tyrant?”

  “No,” she said. “I do not think that. That would wreck the machinery of governance on the planet, and you love tinkering with the machinery too much to do something like that.”

  Franklin stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head. “Okay, once
you figure it out, kindly let me know. Meanwhile, we've got to untangle these accounts. I can usually look at them and find his mistakes, but this time they are tangled to a fare-thee-well.”

  She suddenly stepped forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Yes. Let's. And sorry for shoving you against the wall like that. I guess I'm just worried about Sarah.”

  “I just wish we could find out who her people are,” Franklin said.

  “Me too.”

  “At the risk of changing the subject again,” Franklin said.

  She raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she looked at him.

  “You're having your weekly coffee and girl talk with Mayor Gris this afternoon, aren't you?”

  “I wouldn't put it that way, Franklin, but, yes.”

  “Why not you two put your heads together and come up with some names of people we could train in basic business? Between the basics I got in the Naval Academy and your vast education, we should be able to get somebody trained.”

  “Not a bad idea, Mr. Margrave, Sir!”

  “Don't push it,” he growled. “We still have dungeons here.”

  “Oooh, are you going to take me to the one with the whips and chains?”

  “Oh, for crying out loud,” he sighed.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Bunny get your feet off of Franklin's coffee table,” Monica Foxworth said sharply. “You don't do that at home; why should you do it here?”

  “Signe wants to replace the furniture in here,” Glenn Foxworth replied. “I'm just helping the process along.”

  Franklin sat in the wing-back chair on the other side of the Margrave's Sitting Room and raised an eyebrow. He said nothing, waiting to see how the girls would react.

  “Daddy!” Signe said. “If you scar the furniture, I'll never be able to sell it.”

  “Sell it?” Franklin said. “I like this stuff. Go ahead, Glenn, if it makes you comfortable.”

  Monica leaned over and slapped Glenn's leg, the report sounding like a small caliber handgun. “Get your feet down, you lout. I know what you're doing.”