Page 13 of Creed
Around midday, when the sun was at its highest, we stopped for a break near a lake that we came across. I’d seen it on the map while I was planning out our route and thought it would make a good rest spot. I was right, but the squiggly blue shape on the map didn’t convey anything about how beautiful it was. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the sky above us as if it were made of polished glass. Tall reeds waved in the breeze around the edge of the pond, creating a home for the horny frogs that sang to draw in a mate and the turtles that contentedly sunned themselves on whatever flat surface they could find.
This is what nature was supposed to look like. Untouched and left to thrive on its own without any interference from humans.
Unfortunately, land like this was becoming harder and harder to find.
Kayden stepped up next to me, holding a hand over his eyes to block the sun as he surveyed the scene.
Then he whistled low under his breath. “Damn. It’s like something straight off a postcard. I’ve been to a lot of places around the world, but natural spots like this are always the best. A person could spend eternity here.”
So could I, but we didn’t have that kind of time.
“Half an hour,” I told Kayden as I let my pack drop to the ground. “Then we need to keep going, or we won’t get to the camping area in time.”
He followed my example and took a seat on one of the large rocks near the edge of the lake.
Our timeframe actually wasn’t’ as bad as I made it sound. We were a little behind the pace I wanted to keep, but not as badly as I first feared. We’d get to our planned camping area later than I intended, but there would still be enough light for us to safely get everything set up.
I wasn’t going to tell him that, though. Kayden would take it as an excuse to let his curiosity distract him even more.
The groan that Kayden let out when he sat down was loud enough to disturb some birds roosting in a tree nearby.
“Ugh. I don’t know how you make this look so easy. I think my shoulders are about to fall off. It feels like I’ve been carrying another person on my shoulders all day.”
“It’s only been a few hours,” I reminded him as I pulled out some trail rations from my pack. “And it’s not the weight of a person. Your pack is only about forty pounds.”
Kayden laughed, and his voice echoed out over the still surface of the lake.
“Oh. Only forty pounds. You say that like it’s a small thing.” When he realized I wasn’t laughing, he gave me a dry look. “You know most people consider forty pounds to be a lot, right?”
No, I didn’t. If anything, I’d consider it to be on the lighter side. Maybe forty had seemed like a lot of weight to me once, but interacting with him was quickly reminding me that I had no idea what “normal” was anymore.
I didn’t answer him, and Kayden quickly lost interest. Instead, he occupied himself by taking photos of the lake. His camera clicked away, taking dozens of different shots, and soon, he forgot that he ever asked me a question.
While he was busy, I pulled out my phone and opened up the camera roll. Before leaving, I’d downloaded the pictures of the missing journal that Deputy Hillard brought us.
Based on what Brody and Magnus told me, the journal had probably belonged to Lisianthus Milford based on the etching of the flower on the book’s metal clasp. I didn’t know enough about flowers to identify the species from such a simple piece of artwork, so I’d have to take Magnus’s word for it. The outside art of the journal didn’t interest me anyway, only the words contained within.
The handwriting was rougher than expected. There were some attempts at adding flourish to the words here and there, but they were uneven and smeared in some spots. Whatever the owner of the journal had used to write with had obviously not been of good quality. Their pen left behind splotches of ink, and even poked right through the paper in some places.
It was also completely illegible, just as Deputy Hillard had said.
My first hope had been that the journal was simply written in a language that the Deputy didn’t recognize, but the combinations of letters matched no language that I knew. It was written in the Latin alphabet, so the letters themselves were familiar, but other than that, the writing was complete gibberish.
It must be some sort of code.
Why else would someone go to so much effort to record a book full of nonsense?
If I had the whole journal, I’d probably be able to crack it eventually, but with only a few pages, I wasn’t nearly as confident.
“What’s that?” Kayden asked as he slid over next to me. “Talking to your friends back home.”
I shoved the phone back in my pocket before the pictures could catch his attention.
“There’s no cell service out here. I’ve got a satellite phone if we need to contact someone, but that’s only for emergencies.”
I handed over a portion of the trail rations, making sure he ate while he had the chance. It wouldn’t be good for him to get so distracted he forgot to eat and then passed out later while we’re walking.
Trail rations were meant to be nutritious, not necessarily taste good, but he ate them without complaint. He was halfway through his portion of the food when he suddenly spoke up again.
