In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

on the table to the left, I believe I can scan it and translate it. What language would you prefer it be written in?"

"Maybe one of the later journals?" suggested Andre.

Nodding, Rebecca picked the last journal off the shelf and opened it. "I can read this one. Can you use it to translate?"

"Place it on the scanner as well."

While Geri hummed, Andre turned around to find his requested blueprints had slid out of a slot in the panel. There was no sign of the little machine. He rolled up the blueprints, and watched, fascinated as sheets of paper with the journal entries slid out of a different slot.

"I think that must be your journal," he told Rebecca.

She picked up the latest journal and the papers. "Thank you, Geri. We'll be going now."

"Do you have commands for me in your absence?"

"You might make sure all your working parts are ready to perform," Andre said.

Geri hummed again. The door to the hidden room slid closed behind Rebecca and Andre.

When Andre kissed her goodnight at the door of her room, he suggested, "I can think of more entertaining things to do than read old journals."

"I don't doubt you can," she retorted, catching his hand in hers as he played with the buttons on her blouse.

"Alright," he sighed, letting his mouth run down her neck. "But it's getting hard to wait."

She turned her face to his, resting her cheek against him for a moment. "Good night, Andre," she said, slipping inside her room, where she stood leaning against the closed door.

Too keyed up to sleep, she turned up the lamp beside her bed and opened the first pages of the old journal.

This one was all about the building of Ironlyn and creation of the Portal. I need to have Andre read this, she thought as she drifted off to sleep with the pages strewn across her bed.

She woke up in the morning with a large cat sitting on her stomach. "Hello, Mysty," She said. Sometime during the night, she had reached the decision to marry Andre if he still wanted to get married after he knew the truth. She had committed herself by allowing Andre to be introduced to one of Ironlyn's guardians as her betrothed husband. She didn't ask herself if she had wanted to have the decision made for her; it was just a relief to have the choice made.

The cat had made a mess of the papers she had been reading. She was reluctant to leave them out for one of the maids to put away, so she gathered them up and put them into one of the empty drawers in her dresser. Whoever used this room before her had obviously possessed a great many more clothes than Rebecca owned. After straightening her bed, she dressed and went downstairs.

"Today I plan to ride down to the Trade Station and talk with the Master about making some repairs I saw were needed. We need to set up an arrangement for him to contact us when escaping Magi are brought in by the Caravans," Lewys announced.

"Is he trustworthy?" Andre inquired.

Lewys hesitated, looking at Rebecca.

"Andre knows everything about the Cadre," she said. "I told him last night when me met one of Ironlyn's guardians."

"What?" her grandfather exclaimed. "What guardian?"

"It calls itself an artificial intelligence named Geri," Rebecca replied.

"After breakfast," Lewys declared. "I want to see this thing."

"We all do," Owen declared.

"I don't think Sarsee Jinks or the other servants know about it," Rebecca cautioned. "We should wait until this evening when they've all gone to bed."

"We shouldn't discuss it with anyone outside this room, either," Andre said.

"I suppose so," Lewys admitted. "At least until we learn more about it." He turned to Andre. "The Trebottom family has run Ironlyn Station for generations, and they have always been trustworthy. I think they will be as eager to avoid becoming known as a contact on the Magi underground as I am. I remember there used to be a way for the Magi to come into Ironlyn without using the front entrance. I'm hoping he remembers it."

"Did you know there is a fully equipped laboratory here? I want to spend the day exploring it," Catrin stated in a tone brooking no argument.

"I thought I would ride down to the harbor and look at its defenses," Andre said. "Want to come Owen?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," the boy replied.

"I thought Selene and I might look at some of the empty cottages to see what condition they are in," Rebecca said. "We may not always want to house our 'guests' in the main house, and some of the cottages may need repairs before they are habitable. Lorkeet's people have their children with them so we will need a teacher for the children and I should choose a cottage to serve as a schoolroom."

"I've already taken care of the teacher," her grandfather informed her. "When I decided we would come here, I wrote Mort Corkian to ask him to come himself to teach or to recommend someone."

"I hope he doesn't bring the stuffed shirt with him if he comes," Owen muttered to Andre as they left for the stables.

Andre's eyebrows rose and he looked an inquiry.

"His grandson Serle," Owen added. "Most of the girls thought he was good looking and he knew it. He's arrogant too."

"Did Rebecca think he was good looking?"

Owen hesitated. "I don't remember. She might have, but she was only fifteen."

The harbor below Ironlyn was set in the center of a crescent shaped spike of land blocking most of the heavy tides coming in off the sea. The marina was relatively small but the shore dropped off steeply into deep water. The wooden quay extended out into the bay enabling sea going vessels to anchor to it for unloading. The village fishing fleet brought in enough fish to feed itself with some left over to sell even after a portion of the catch was split between the Village and Ironlyn. The rest of the catch was dried and