Page 14 of Capricorn Blessed

“Sia, one day you will need these skills. They may save your life or the life of someone you love,” he answers.

“Like you and Mommy?” I ask.

“If we are still around, then maybe, or the others destined to help you.”

“But I don’t want you and Mom to go away!” I yell.

“We don’t want to either. We’ll stay as long as we can,” he answers, reaching out and running a hand down my hair. “Now let’s go again. You’re getting better, but there’s always room for improvement.”

I nod and lift my sword back up as he lunges at me.

Blinking, I notice Dennis and Izzy both staring at me.

“Are you okay?” Dennis asks.

I swallow hard and nod. “I just remembered my dad teaching me to use a sword like this when I was young. He said it may save my life one day.”

“While it’s a good skill to have. Hopefully, we won’t be in sword fights on this treasure hunt,” Dennis says.

I nod and glance back down at the rapier, noticing a spot that looks smudged. I use my shirt to try to polish it, but the mark won’t move. Looking closer, I notice eight tiny stars making the shape of a triangle. I gasp.

“That’s the Capricorn constellation,” I whisper. “I think I just found the first relic.” I stare wide-eyed, waiting to see if the mark disappears. The marks remain, but the feeling that brought me over here diminishes.

“Guess it was meant to be,” Izzy answers. “Now, are we ready to go?”

We go to all three apartments to pack and get ready for the trip, deciding it is best to pack in hiking backpacks over suitcases in case we end up somewhere remote.

I’m the last one shoving clothes and toiletries into a bag. We take all three backpacks and my new sword and walk out the door, locking it behind us.

A quick stop for some travel sized items and snacks and we are ready to head to the airport. We hail a cab and pile into the back.

The cab driver keeps glancing at the mirror and looking at the sword on my lap, but he quickly takes us to the airport and drops us off at the nearest entrance for travel.

We walk into the airport and stare at the departure board.

“So where are we going?” asks Dennis, sitting the crate down at his feet.

“Hmmm...” My eyes run through all the possibilities, continuing to come back to the same destination. “Bordeaux, I think.”

“Ooo, France.” Izzy claps her hands, “I’ve always wanted to see Paris! Maybe we’ll have time to pop by!”

I laugh as we make our way to the ticket counter. We slowly make our way to the front of the line, hoping there are still tickets available on the flight.

Reaching the agent, I try to appear friendly as her eyes dart to the sword strapped across my back.

“Good morning,” she greets carefully. “What can I do for you today?”

“We are hoping to buy three tickets to Bordeaux, France,” I tell her.

“It’s very last minute,” she says. “So I can’t make any promises, but let me look. Do you have your passports on you?”

We nod and pull them out, handing them across the counter. She taps away at her computer, her brow furrowing. The wait drags as I watch other people get handed passes and head farther into the airport to catch their flights.

“Okay,” the agent says. “We have a few seats available. They won’t be together, but they are all in business class. Is that okay?”

“Thank you, that would be great!” I answer.

The agent nods and starts typing in numbers and reserving seats. A few minutes later, she prints out the boarding passes and passes them over to us.

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