Page 33 of Captured on Film
“Because you shared it with him?”
Eri plucked the flask from Caleb’s hand and drained it.“Celestiabumbers and their silvery nectar are precious to the heart of the one whosewine defies comparison.”
Caleb’s heart was sinking. “Are they rare, these bumbers?”
“Increasingly so.”
With another sidelong look, he asked, “Do they look like fuzzywhite bees with blue eyes?”
Eri placed a hand over Andor’s heart.“He was dismayedover their loss.”
Hesper had said something about angering the First of Bears.
“They swarmed me.” Caleb bit back all the excuses he couldhave hidden behind. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to deprive you.”
Andor huffed and spoke to Eri, who broke into a hopefulsmile.
“Will the curious man who found a cleft in a rock callhome the flock he scattered?”
Caleb hesitated. “He needs my help?”
“Reluctant as Andor is to admit it.”Eri’s toneturned wry.“You are their only hope.”
Missing Pieces
Caleb couldn’t exactly remember how he found his wayback to bed, but nothing seemed amiss. Judging by the height of the candleglowing in the corner, it was morning. Was he actually getting used to measuringtime in candle wax? That was an unhappy thought, so Caleb pushed it aside.Because he felt good. Better than he should have, given how much star wine he’dconsumed the night before.
What was this lingering sensation?
He felt … elation? Was it hope? Maybe it was a little morelike anticipation. But what did cave-dwelling captives have to look forward to?
Eri’s words rang in his memory.The songs areculminating, and their resolution may surprise you.
With a sudden and desperate need tonotthink, Calebpushed that aside, too. Instead, he tackled the slapdash bundle of gear Andorhad harvested from their campsite. Unpacking everything, he set aboutorganizing and inventorying, from Nessie’s flea and tick ointment to Josheb’s remainingstash of canned ravioli.
Almost by accident, he realized something was missing. Hisdriver’s license.
Heart hammering, he located his brother’s wallet and thumbedthrough its contents. Josheb’s ID was gone, too. Which brought up a bunch ofquestions.
Could these people be running some kind of background check?
Was somebody reporting them missing or found … or founddead?
Oaken must have them. Since when? And who had summoned Oaken?Because if he’d left with their driver’s licenses in hand, then he’d probably beencalled in about them. Which begged a whole bunch of other questions.
“Caleb?”
He jumped and turned to find Hesper standing in theentrance. “Umm. Yeah?”
“Andor’s asking for you.”
“Is it about the bees?”
Hesper’s eyebrows rose. “That’s right. He needs your helpgetting them back to their nest.”
“Be right there,” he said distractedly. Should he changeinto his own clothes? Or keep borrowing Eri’s?
“Caleb?”
