Chapter 6: The Archives

Like every morning since Edith came to this remote little town, Blaze woke her up before her alarm went off.

“Blaze,” Edith groaned. “At least let me sleep until the alarm…”

She cracked open her one eye and saw the orange cat gazing adorably at her with his amber eyes.

“You know it’s a work day, don’t you?” Edith asked the cat as she slowly sat up. “This week, my little cat, I get to meet Caden Byrne’s horses.”

Blaze blinked slowly and yawned.

“Well, I’m excited,” Edith mumbled. “Plus, Lydia said she’d bring coffee today.”

Edith dropped off her rental car and called for a taxi. She arrived at the office perfectly on time, and was surprised to see activity near her desk.

“He asked?” Theresa was saying loudly. “Did he finally ask you?

“Yes! Lydia practically screamed. “He finally asked, just last night.”

Sam laughed, “So, of course you said no. Right? It’s your turn to make him wait.”

Lydia looked appalled, “Of course I said yes!”

Edith looked around, “It sounds like someone just got engaged.”

Lydia’s curls bounced even more than usual as she thrust a hand forward for Edith to see. A gorgeous diamond, surrounded by smaller diamonds, sparkled as it reflected the light of the office. Edith gasped and joined in the conversation. She was thrilled for her new friend.

“I’ll tell you the date as soon as we decide. You are all invited!” Lydia beamed. “It will be soon though, we both hate waiting.”

The conversation continued and Edith chatted excitedly as she got her computer ready and prepared her work for the day.

Lydia finally took a breath, and there was an irritated rustling of papers from beyond Mr. Byrne’s door.

“It’s time to get to work,” Caden’s voice was sharp and demanding from the depths of his office. “You should have started today’s tasks almost ten minutes ago.”

Theresa cringed, and Sam bit his lip.

“Sorry, Mr. Byrne,” Lewis said swiftly.

They all went to their desks quietly and quickly.

“Miss Doyle, my office please.”

All eyes turned to Edith as she slowly stood and picked up a pen and notebook. Lydia leaned over and slid a hot latte towards Edith’s hands.

“Thank you,” Edith whispered. “I’ll save it for when I come out of there.”

Lewis crossed himself like he was praying in church, and Lydia giggled.

“Good morning, Mr. Byrne,” Edith said calmly as she entered the cool, dim office of her employer.

Byrne answered without looking up from his papers, “Good morning, Miss Doyle. Bring the notes you made during the meeting with Miles.”

Edith opened her note book, “Would you like me to read them out loud?”

Caden Byrne looked up, “Just the adjustments we needed to make to the Investment department.”

He looked tired, worn, and rather ill.

“Are you feeling alright, Mr. Byrne?” Edith asked quietly.

“Read the notes, please,” Byrne snapped. He then paused, “I apologize. I am not at my best, but I am not contagious.”

Edith replied, “I’ll try to make this as quick as possible.”

Mr. Byrne looked up, and his dark eyes regarded Edith thoughtfully. With a slight smile he said, “Thank you.”

Together, Caden and Edith reviewed the notes. Once, while talking, Edith dropped her pen. She leaned down, just as Caden reached for the pen and their hands touched. Both man and woman jumped as if shocked, and Edith thought it was from the surprise of touching. She smiled uncomfortably and apologized.

Caden looked puzzled, and turned away, “Is that all?”

“Yes,” Edith confirmed. She opened her mouth to speak more, but Caden interrupted.

“I have a job for you today that you may enjoy,” Caden turned back around to face his blushing employee. “For the upcoming anniversary of this company, our friend Miles thought it would be interesting to incorporate early photos into our promotion materials. You will have to look for some in the archives. Miles should already be down there. You can work with him today.”

Edith nodded, and took her leave. Caden shut the door behind her.

Taking her latte, delighted that it was still hot, Edith informed her friends where she was going.

“Oh, we’ll take you to the Archives,” Theresa waved. “We all have stuff to return.”

The group wandered out of the office with barely a glance at the Byrne’s closed door.

“So, how was the meeting with Mr. Byrne?” Lewis asked.

“It went fine,” Edith said thoughtfully. “But Mr. Byrne looks sick.”

“Well, you said he was out riding in the rain when we were on the trip,” Lewis said as he walked backward down the hall. “I bet he caught a cold.”

Sam frowned, “He gets sick every month.”

“Mr. Byrne could have an illness,” Lydia huffed. “You don’t know.”

Theresa pulled open the large, heavy door leading to the Archives room.

“Well, all I know is he gets in a bad mood and shuts that door for a few days every month. I don’t blame him. He’s probably tired of us talking while he’s doing financials,” she said firmly. The discussion was over.

Upon entering the archives, Edith found it to look more like a library. Miles greeted them warmly and without asking why they were there, put them all to work.

“Mr. Byrne won’t mind,” Miles mentioned happily. The friends looked at each other nervously, and one by one made excuses to go back upstairs. Edith, alone, found herself engrossed in books, reports, and albums searching for useful information and photos of the company. The day wore on, and when it was time for lunch, she returned upstairs. Byrne’s door was still shut. After lunch, Edith left the others and returned to the archives.

“Let’s start putting this stuff together,” Miles said.

During the project, Edith found other interesting local facts.

“The Byrne family has been here for generations,” she whispered in awe as she looked at a generational chart showing the oldest families living in the town. “They’ve survived disease, wars, disasters and more.”

“Here is their family story,” Miles plopped a book down in front of Edith and pointed at a weathered page. “This shows they’ve owned the Castrel Ruins for centuries.”

Before Edith could get far, however, she noticed pages of the book ripped out. When she brought this up to Miles, his shoulders dropped.

“This is not the first book that has had pages taken out. If I catch who is doing it, I’ll have them arrested,” he sighed in frustration.“All the pages deal with the Byrne family. Not even Caden Byrne himself knows what those pages held. It’s so unfair.”

Edith carefully flipped through the rest of the old book. Suddenly she stopped. Her father had notes. Caden said her father often came to do research. Perhaps he would have more information.

‘Or..’ she thought to herself. “Dad was the one who took the pages…”

The icy-smooth voice of Caden Byrne cut through the air, interrupting her thoughts.

“When you are done with my employee, Miles Godfrey, I promised her a visit with my horses.”

Miles laughed and waved Edith away. After a sudden, dry cough, Caden led the way out of the Archives. Edith looked at him worriedly, but he ignored it.

“Are we leaving work early?” she asked with a smile.

The corners of Caden’s mouth twitched, “It may rain later, so we should go now.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Edith laughed. “I’ll grab my purse.”

When they left the building, Edith looked for Caden’s motorcycle under an increasingly cloudy sky.

“I walked today,” he said as if he read her mind. Edith blushed. Another cough escaped Caden, and only briefly did his eyes connect with Edith’s.

“My farm is not far,” Caden continued. “As I said, we can just walk through this cemetery and we will reach my house.”

Caden and Edith walked briskly across the road and down the sidewalk. Her smile faded quickly as they approached the black, wrought-iron gate at the entrance of the cemetery. Two signs hung clearly at eye-level. Edith read them aloud.

“Enter at your own risk”

“Do Not Enter After Dark.”

“Oh, that’s a bit creepy,” Edith shivered.

“Yes,” Caden said darkly. “They are honest warnings. Never come through here alone. There are unfortunate stories from people who do.”

“Were they attacked?” Edith looked at Caden.

Caden shrugged off the uneasy conversation, “Come now, the horses await.”