The Curse of Deadman's Forest

by Victoria Laurie

  Magus’s lip curled in a snarl, and Dieter realized how dangerous this course was. But he thought of his boy upstairs and he pleaded again. “We have a son!” he cried desperately. “And he is young! A boy needs his mother, Master!”

  But there was no mercy in Magus the Black’s eyes. He looked directly at the man on his knees and said, “If your son needs a mother, Dieter, you will need to find a replacement.” And with the flick of his wrist, Hylda Van Schuft lay dead.

  Dieter bent over his wife and pulled her limp body into his arms. Long after Magus left him, mournful cries of “Liebling!” could be heard echoing through the halls.

  AN UNWELCOME VISITOR

  I an and the others made it safely back to Dover without incident, although Ian was quite weary after so little rest while they’d been away. The earl made only slight mention of what had happened to them in Spain, cautioning the children not to tell their headmistresses too much, lest it upset the two women.

  The earl also gave strict orders to the headmistresses that for reasons of safety, Ian, Carl, Theo, and Jaaved should stay within the grounds of the keep, and the earl would increase the security staff around the orphanage until further notice. When he had an opportunity to address all the orphans at the keep, he cautioned them against venturing to the shore, which won him a sizable groan from the children, but Ian knew there was no other choice. No one was safe from Demogorgon’s long reach.

  Carl looked simply miserable after the earl’s announcement, although he didn’t complain to Ian about it. Instead, he moped off into the corner to stare moodily out the window of the keep’s sitting room.

  Ian felt a real pang of guilt. He’d been insufferable to his best friend and he knew it. All the way back from Toulouse, Ian had been polite but distant with Carl. And now, as he watched his friend sitting by the window, looking so forlorn, Ian decided it was time to put an end to the cold shoulder he’d been giving the lad.

  “Oy,” Ian said, gaining Carl’s attention. “Fancy a game of cricket?”

  Carl turned to stare at Ian, as if he couldn’t believe that Ian was talking to him again. “That’d be brilliant!” Carl said, jumping up from his chair and dashing off to grab his wicket and bat.

  Ian turned with a smile to follow him and caught Theo’s eye. “It’s about time,” she said to him. Then she added, “Well done, Ian.”

  And Ian soon decided that it was indeed a good thing he and Carl were friends again, because the boys quickly grew bored keeping to the grounds of the orphanage.

  By the end of the week following their return from France, Ian and Carl sat moodily up in the tower room, staring longingly from the window as a group of other children was ushered out of the keep’s gates by two of the earl’s men to enjoy the balmy summer day. Carl sighed wearily and turned away from the window. “Lucky gits,” he complained.

  Ian turned away from the window too. He was just as irritated as Carl at being cooped up and not allowed outside the orphanage grounds. “It’s not as hard on Theo,” he noted. “She’s got Lady Arbuthnot coming over to keep her company.” The earl’s aunt was indeed below with Theo at that very moment, helping the girl to expand her intuitive abilities. Ian was convinced he wouldn’t be nearly so bored if he had someone to visit him and challenge him mentally.

  Carl kicked at a plank of wood. “There’s nothing to do now that the fortress is finished,” he moaned. The boys had finished the small wooden structure two days previously, and they’d played Viking invaders until they were well and sick of it.

  Ian got up from his seat by the window and began to pace like a caged animal. There had to be something to do. Meanwhile, Carl moved over to the bench by the stairs. He stared at it for a bit before pulling up one of the slats. Setting it aside, he reached for another, then another.

  “What’re you up to?” Ian asked, eyeing Carl curiously.

  “The earl didn’t say anything about sticking close to the keep belowground, now did he?” Carl said before turning to look at Ian as if he were asking permission.

  “That tunnel’s blocked off, though, remember?” Ian said, even though he got up from his seat and walked over to Carl.

  “Yeah,” Carl agreed, turning back to pick up more of the slats. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t go down and inspect it from this side, does it?”

  Ian smiled. “Right,” he said, holding out his hand for one of the planks. “Let’s have a look, shall we?”

  The boys made their way down the ladder and went only a short distance before they found a large pile of rubble blocking the tunnel ahead of them. Ian frowned, all the enthusiasm leaving him. “Bugger,” he grumbled. “It’d take us hours and hours to clear all that.” Dejected, he turned to go back up the ladder.

  But Carl stood there for a moment longer, kicking at the dirt of the tunnel floor. “Bloomin’ waterspout,” he growled before turning to follow Ian.

  Just as the boys reached the top and were making their way out of the bench, they heard the door below open and quick footsteps come up the stairs.

  Ian and Carl hurried to put the slats back into place before their visitor could see what they were up to. The boys still hadn’t told a soul about the secret passageway.

  Ian let out a relieved sigh when he saw Theo’s blond head crest the stairs, yet one look at her face told him something was terribly wrong. “What’s the matter?” he asked the moment their eyes met.

  But Theo appeared unable to speak. Her lower lip trembled and tears poured down her face. She opened her mouth to talk, but the only sound she made was something of a mew. Ian reached out and pulled her into a hug. “There, there,” he said, trying to soothe her. “It’s all right, whatever it is.”

  But Theo shook her head into his chest and her sobbing carried on somewhat desperately. “What’s happened to her?” Carl asked quietly.

  “I don’t know, mate,” Ian said, still patting Theo’s back gently. “Maybe you should go downstairs and see if anything’s amiss.”

  Carl was about to go when Theo reached out and caught his arm. “Wait!” she said, visibly trying to collect herself. “I’ll tell you.”

  Ian wiped the tears from Theo’s cheeks and looked earnestly into her eyes, waiting for her to speak again. “It’s all right, Theo. Whatever it is, we can fix it.”

  But that just seemed to upset Theo all over again and she resumed her crying. Carl made a face at Ian. “Nice going.”

  Ian resisted the urge to say something rude in reply. Instead, he hugged Theo again and gave her some more gentle pats on the back. “There, there,” he said.

  Finally, Theo pulled away, wiped her eyes, and announced, “There’s a man!”

  Ian gripped Theo’s shoulders. “What man? Did he hurt you? Where is he now?” He asked one question right after another as he prepared to launch himself down the steps and chase after whomever had caused her such distress.

  Theo shook her head and appeared frustrated. “Stop!” she said, holding up her hand as Ian continued to pepper her with questions. “He’s just left.”

  “Who’s just left?” Carl asked gently, looking pointedly at Ian, as if to instruct him in the art of talking to an upset girl.

  Ian closed his eyes, thoroughly irritated with Carl, but before he could say anything more, Theo took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and explained, “While I was saying my goodbyes to Lady Arbuthnot, a man in uniform came to the door. He asked to speak to the headmistresses, so I fetched Madams Dimbleby and Scargill. There was something odd about the stranger, so I hid in your hiding place under the table at the top of the stairs and listened to what he had to say to them.”

  “What did he have to say?” asked Carl.

  “I’m getting to that!” Theo said sharply, and Ian made sure to give Carl a rather smug look, as if to say, “See? It’s not so easy, is it?”

  “Sorry,” Carl said. “You were saying?”

  Theo exhaled wearily. “The man said his name was Major Fitzgerald and he had come to the keep in se
arch of his daughter.”

  Ian’s brow furrowed. He was having a difficult time understanding why this would upset Theo so, but he was determined to be patient, so he waited quietly while her voice caught and she attempted to swallow another sob.

  “His daughter is here at the keep?” Carl asked when Theo seemed ready to continue.

  Theo nodded. “That’s what he believes. He said that twelve years ago he had made the acquaintance of a woman who had ended their relationship rather abruptly and then she disappeared. He said that his heart had been broken, because he’d fully intended to marry the lady, but believes now that his feelings were completely one-sided and that she had ended their affair because she did not return his affections.

  “Then, one day a few months ago, a letter arrived from one of his fellow classmates, suggesting that the major’s former love had in fact born a daughter nearly eleven years ago and that she had deposited the child here at the keep before vanishing from the countryside.”

  A very unsettling feeling began to creep into Ian’s bones as Theo revealed the man’s tale. There was something acutely familiar about it and his mind flashed back to a conversation he’d had almost a year ago with one Alfred Shillingham, who’d claimed to know Theo’s mother from the university she attended.

  “Who is the girl?” Carl asked.

  “Theo,” Ian whispered before he could catch himself.

  Theo looked at him in shock. “Yes.”

  The three of them stood mutely for a full minute as they all absorbed this news. “He’s lying,” Carl finally said. “Of course, he’s lying, Theo! The Van Schufts probably put him up to this!”

  But Theo only bit her lip as more tears trickled down her cheeks. “The major says he has proof,” she said softly. “He showed Madam Dimbleby several letters that my mother had written to him.”

  Ian looked sharply at her. “Were they signed?”

  Theo nodded. “Yes. Madam Dimbleby read one of the shorter ones out loud. It was signed ‘most affectionately, Jacinda.’”

  Ian sat down heavily on the bench, his mind reeling. “That still doesn’t prove he’s your father!” he nearly shouted.

  Theo’s eyes filled again with tears. “The major …,” she said, her voice trailing off when her voice cracked again.

  “The major what?” Carl coaxed.

  Theo blinked and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. With trembling lips, she said, “Ian, I don’t know, he seemed so earnest. He insists that he is my father, and he wants to take me home with him.”

  Ian stared up at her, his mouth open and his head shaking back and forth. He refused to believe it. “He can’t take you away, Theo,” he said softly but firmly.

  Just below them on the stairs, they heard a gentle voice say, “Ah, but he can.”

  All three of them started. Ian had been so focused on their conversation that he hadn’t heard anyone else on the steps, and it was clear that neither had Carl or Theo. When Madam Dimbleby came the rest of the way up to them, they fell abruptly silent. “I came to find you,” their headmistress said to Theo, “to tell you the news, but it seems you’ve already heard.”

  Theo threw herself into Madam Dimbleby, hugging her fiercely. “Please!” she wailed pathetically. “Madam, please don’t let him take me away!”

  Ian looked hopefully at Madam Dimbleby and was stunned to see her eyes glistening with moisture. If he’d had any doubt about whether she believed the major’s tale, the look on his headmistress’s face told him everything. “I’m afraid, my dear,” she said softly, “there is little I can do. If Major Fitzgerald is your father, as he claims to be, then I am powerless to stop him from taking legal custody.”

  “No!” Ian shouted, and even when Madam Dimbleby turned wide, astonished eyes at him for his outburst, he continued to rail at her. “You cannot allow it, ma’am! You cannot let her go! She doesn’t belong with him! She belongs here!”

  “Ian,” Madam Dimbleby whispered, and reached out a hand to him, but Ian felt like he’d been struck hard in the stomach, and all he could think about was getting out of the tower.

  He flinched to the side, out of her reach, and darted past her, running down the steps with balled fists and an anger and panic like he’d never felt before. He pushed through the door at the bottom of the stairs and raced through the hallway, down another set of stairs, and out onto the keep’s grounds. He looked wildly about for a moment before dashing across the lawn toward the gates. The earl’s warning to stay on the keep’s property was all but forgotten as he sprinted down the drive and out to the road.

  Ian had no destination in mind; he just knew he needed to get away. A terror and panic filled his heart when he thought about losing Theo. She was his to protect, to keep safe. Hadn’t Laodamia ordained it when she’d named him the Guardian? How could they even consider allowing her to leave the keep’s safety?

  Ian knew that if this Major Fitzgerald was allowed to take Theo, she’d be left completely vulnerable. The Van Schufts or one of Demogorgon’s brood would certainly hunt her down and kill her, and then what? They’d be facing the end of the world! No, that couldn’t happen, Ian determined. The only one who could stop this charade was the earl. He had to get to the earl!

  And to his surprise Ian discovered that he had already steered himself in the direction of Castle Dover, which loomed on the horizon like a safe haven. He knew that the earl was not in residence, but his staff would surely be able to reach him. Ian paused for a moment to catch his breath—he’d been running as fast as he could for several minutes—and that was when he heard fast-approaching footsteps. He turned defensively only to see Carl racing toward him.

  “I’m not going back,” Ian warned as his friend neared him. “I’m going to get a message to the earl.”

  Carl stopped short, huffing and puffing, cheeks red, and sweat soaking his forehead. “I know, mate,” he said between breaths. “I came to tell you that Landis has already been sent to bring you back.”

  Ian looked over Carl’s shoulder and in the distance he could see someone approaching on bicycle. “Come on,” he said. “We can cut across the downs.”

  Ian and Carl dashed the rest of the way to the castle and quickly made their way to the front door, where Ian used the knocker a bit too exuberantly and the door was opened abruptly by the earl’s head butler, Mr. Binsford. “I say!” he exclaimed when he took in the two sweaty boys on the front steps. “What is this about?”

  “We’re terribly sorry, sir,” Ian said in a rush as he glanced over his shoulder for any sign of Landis. “But we have an urgent matter for the earl!”

  “The earl is not in,” Binsford said with a sniff, still looking put off by the racket Ian had made with the knocker.

  “We know, sir,” said Carl. “But it’s a matter of life and death! Can’t you send word to him and have him come back immediately?”

  Binsford’s expression suggested that not only had Carl spoken out of turn, but what he was asking was highly inappropriate. “I’ll do no such thing!” the butler said loudly. “Now off with you two before I alert your headmistresses that you are creating a disturbance!”

  Ian’s heart sank again and he was about to throw himself at Binsford’s mercy when a voice from inside the great hallway asked, “Who is that, Mr. Binsford?”

  The butler’s face turned a shade of crimson. “No one, my lady. Just two lads from the orphanage.”

  “Oh! I’ve just come from there,” said the earl’s aunt. “Which two lads is it, then?”

  “It’s us, my lady!” Ian said loudly, ignoring Binsford’s warning scowl. “Ian and Carl. If we might have a word with you? We’ve a very urgent matter to discuss. It involves Theo, my lady.”

  “Urgent matter involving Theo?” repeated the earl’s aunt as she stepped to the door. “What’s this about, Master Wigby?”

  “Someone claiming to be Theo’s father has come to the orphanage and he wants to take her away!” Ian cried, flinching when he heard his own voice crack.


  Lady Arbuthnot’s hand flew to her open mouth. “Oh, my,” she gasped. “That is most distressing! Most distressing indeed!”

  “Madam Dimbleby says she can’t do anything to prevent the man from taking Theo away with him,” added Carl. “That’s why we need the earl. He’s got to come back straightaway!”

  Lady Arbuthnot looked keenly down at them. “Yes, I quite agree,” she said, and turned to the butler, who was quietly smoldering off to one side. “Binsford,” she said, her voice full of authority. “Alert my nephew that he is to leave London and journey back to Castle Dover this very instant.”

  “We are expecting him the day after tomorrow, my lady,” Binsford replied politely.

  “That is not soon enough!” she snapped with an impatient hand gesture. “Send an urgent telegram. Insist that he come home at once! Tell him that I shall expect him no later than the morning, in fact.”

  Binsford looked from Lady Arbuthnot to the boys and back again. Knowing he’d been outmaneuvered, he bowed slightly. “As you wish, my lady.”

  Later that night Ian was back at the keep and sitting with Carl and Theo in his room. Below, the clank of utensils on china sounded, and Ian’s stomach gave a small rumble. For leaving the keep’s grounds, the boys had been sent to bed without supper and were ordered to their room until further notice.

  In protest, Theo had also skipped her evening meal, and maybe because she’d done so voluntarily, she seemed to be in brighter spirits than the boys. “The earl will figure this whole affair out,” she said for the fiftieth time. “He’ll know what to do.”

  And also for the fiftieth time, Ian silently hoped she was right. He’d been fidgety and nervous since they’d returned to the keep, but was glad to learn that even though Madam Dimbleby had suggested that she would not be able to stop Major Fitzgerald from taking Theo away if he could prove that she was his daughter, she had in fact told the major that for the sake of everyone involved, she would require more evidence than just the one letter from Jacinda Barthorpe to prove that he was indeed Theo’s father.