The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) by Mackenzie Morgan

easier on the boy if he only has to talk to one person. Would you mind staying in the background?”
    “Not at all,” Kevin said as he stood up. “Are you ready to go?”
    Gen. Crandal nodded, picked up his pack, and put his hand on Kevin’s arm.
    ~ ~ ~ ~
    When Kevin and Gen. Crandal arrived at the chapel in Ashmont, the town was too quiet, even for a Sunday morning. Gen. Crandal’s knock on the front door echoed in the stillness. A couple of minutes later, Hayley opened the door.
    “Good morning, General, Myron. You’re here to talk to the children, right?” she asked with a smile as she waved them in.
    Gen. Crandal nodded. “Well, to the boy. I won’t know if I’ll need to speak with his sister until after I talk to him. She’s a little young to have noticed much.”
    “She might know more than you think. Where do you want to talk to them? The parlor? Or would you prefer to go outside?”
    “The parlor’s fine if you don’t mind if I move some of the furniture back,” Gen. Crandal answered. “I have some miniature houses and people I’d like to set up for him to use to show me what happened.”
    Hayley led them into the parlor. While Gen. Crandal unpacked his props, she had Kevin move a couple of the chairs out of the way.
    “What little boy did you borrow those from?” Hayley asked.
    “Actually, they’re mine. I’ve had them for years.”
    Kevin watched as Gen. Crandal set up the houses. “You’ve had to do this before, haven’t you?”
    Gen. Crandal nodded as he stood up. “Young children can show me what happened better than they can tell me. They have trouble putting it in words.”
    “It’s like trying to describe a nightmare,” Hayley said. “I’ll get Corey. Good luck.”
    Kevin sat down in one of the chairs off in a corner of the room while Gen. Crandal sat on the floor in front of his little village to wait. When Corey came in, he plopped down beside the general and began moving things around. Gen. Crandal let him play with the pieces for a while and then prompted him to show him what had happened during the raid.
    Unfortunately, Corey didn’t know much. His father had dug an escape tunnel from their house to a cellar twenty feet away, inside the edge of the woods. Every couple of months they’d practice what to do in case of a raid. Corey was supposed to get Caitlyn, pull up the trap door under his bed, drop down into the tunnel, and crawl to the cellar in the woods. They were to wait there until either their mother or father came for them.
    Corey hung his head. “But we didn’t. We came out anyway. We had been in there for so long, and it was quiet outside.”
    “Was it light when you climbed out?”
    Corey nodded. “Light enough to see, but not bright.”
    “Did you see anything?”
    “There was a big boat out in the river, bigger than any of ours, with some men walking around on the deck.”
    “How many men?”
    Corey thought for a moment. “I think there were six, and then another one popped up. I guess there was a room under the deck.”
    “What did you do then, Corey?”
    “We hid until the boat left, and then we walked over towards the river.” Corey looked down and fiddled with his shoe. “That’s when I saw our father lying beside Uncle Curad and Aunt Anna. They were all dead.” Corey’s voice choked. He swallowed hard and whispered, “I didn’t let Caitlyn see though. I turned her around and told her we needed to stay in the woods.” A tear worked its way down his cheek.
    “That’s fine, Corey. Would you like to go find Sister Janine for me now?”
    Corey wiped at the tear as he stood up. “Are you going to find our mother?”
    Gen. Crandal hesitated. “We’re going to try, but I can’t promise you we’ll be able to.”
    Corey nodded and left the room.
    While Gen. Crandal packed up his little houses and men, Kevin put the furniture back in place. By the time Sister Janine joined them, the room was in order.
    “When would you like to leave for