by A. W. Exley
"What?" Both men said it at the same time. Two sets of eyes turned in my direction.
"Alice said she needed time to think. That was late yesterday afternoon, and she hasn't come home. I went back along the road and I can't find any sign of her. She's gone, Frank. Gone." I dropped the sword. Silly to waste time yelling at Frank when I needed to be out looking for Alice. Tears welled up in my eyes but I blinked them away. Where was she? I wanted to hug my friend but I couldn't find her.
"No." He breathed out the one word and his shoulders slumped. "We have to find her."
"You—" I pointed a finger at his head. "—need to make her believe how you feel. You broke her heart, now you have to fix it. Once we find her. And assuming she would ever trust you again."
"I'll round up some men. We'll start where you last saw her and spread out from there." Seth, or should I say Captain deMage, took charge.
I fixed my gaze on Frank. "You're an idiot, and you don't deserve her."
A smile came back to his face. "Cut me some slack. I'm new to being in love and I'm rather inexperienced at it. But once we find her, I won't be letting Alice go again, if she'll still have me."
Seth rallied all the available soldiers. With a number of vehicles and horses, we would all head to where I last saw Alice on the road and spread out in groups from that point. We would find her, either cold and sore from a night in the woods, or tucked up in someone's parlour drinking tea. But we would find her. Wouldn't we?
It took no time to retrace my steps from the previous afternoon. I pointed to where I last saw Alice, where I pressed my rifle into her hands and made her promise to stay safe. Seth divided the men into units and gave them each a direction. Then we played a now-familiar game. Waiting. Minutes turned into hours. We rode the main routes to and from both the farmhouse and the village. The men spread out and blanketed the fields on either side, then we walked through the surrounding forest, calling her name.
Nothing.
Men went knocking on every house in the village and spread out to the more remote farms. We asked all her friends if she had sought refuge there. Warrens spoke to all the household staff, asking if anyone gave Alice a ride to somewhere the night before.
A few miles from the farm, down by the river, I found it. The soft glint of metal in the fading afternoon light caught my eye. I walked over, reached into the long grass, and pulled the object free.
My rifle.
It had been fired and discarded.
My hands shook as I held it. What had happened here? Why hadn’t I heard the shot? I tried to remember if the wind blew last night and in what direction.
"Oh, Alice," I whispered to the rushing water, but the babbling brook had no answer.
"What have you found?" Seth asked from farther along the riverbank.
"My rifle." I searched the ground, looking for any other clues. Any sign of who or what might have been here. The grass was flattened in places, as though feet had already trodden over it recently. Last night, even. Cold dread threaded through my veins and chilled me.
Frank rushed over, a horrified look on his face. No one needed to say it out loud. The three of us slowly paced by the river, combing the grass for anything. Seth found our next clue.
"Bloody Hell," he muttered. That was the first time I had ever heard him swear.
He held up an object, small, only about four inches long, and the centre of it glinted a dull white. Flesh still clung to parts and the very tip had a tenuous nail. A finger. From a vermin, by the looks.
Frank met my gaze and I slowly shook my head. Then the world shimmered and misted over as tears stung my eyes.
"No!" Frank's gaze widened. Then he dropped to his knees and began to hit the ground, striking out with his fists as anger and grief overcame him. Frank wavered and disappeared as tears filled my vision and my knees collapsed.
We had lost Alice in the most horrible way.
She was now a vermin.
9
I froze, my mind numb as though I had thrust it into frigid water during winter. I simply couldn't comprehend a world without Alice. She was my best friend. We had worked, slept, and played next to each other for nearly ten years. What would I do without her big amber eyes flashing as she cajoled me into a hare-brained scheme?
Frank raged. He howled at the sky while he dug his fists into the dirt as though he could find Alice under the grass. I understood his need to find her; I had nearly torn the countryside apart in the dark looking, myself. Now I would forever wish I had. While my friend had crazy powers of persuasion, they only worked on the living. No matter how hard she may have batted her eyelashes, I hadn't seen anyone wheedle their way out of a vermin's clutches.
I dropped to the ground, trying to comprehend that Alice was gone. We had all wanted her to return safe and sound, but we had to confront the evidence—scuff marks on the ground, a discharged rifle, and a finger.
Silent tears ran down my face. Seth knelt on the ground beside me and wrapped his arms around my torso. I turned my face into his jacket and bit the soft wool to hold back my sobs. Wouldn't do to completely break down in front of the other chaps.
Frank's cries became hoarse and then silence descended over us, broken only by the babble of water rushing over the rocks. I don't know if we sat for minutes or hours. Eventually, my tears ran out and my body ached from sitting on the ground for so long. I drew in a deep breath and looked up at Seth. As much as I hurt, there was someone else who needed him.
Frank had given up and he now sat like a stone, his head bowed and his hands flat on his thighs as he knelt in the grass.
"Take Frank back to the house. Help him get drunk," I said.
"What about you?" Deep lines furrowed Seth's brow and a storm gathered in his grey gaze.
"I have to tell the others back at home." I didn't know how, but I had to find the words to tell Henry, Magda, and Stewart that Alice would never return. That there was no point in putting the finishing touches to her cottage because she would never see it now.
Seth promised to keep the soldiers looking for her. Or what was left of her. Then he helped Frank to his feet and bundled him into a waiting vehicle. I kept my composure long enough to ride home, untack my horse, and walk in the door.
As soon as Magda stepped into the room, I dissolved on her. Between deep sobs, I managed to blurt out that vermin had taken Alice. Then two of us were in tears, which brought Stewart and Henry running. Someone fetched the whisky bottle and everything became blurry after that.
Life wasn't fair. Why did the vermin have to take bright and vivacious Alice? I wanted to blame someone, anyone, and Elizabeth was top of my list.
Somehow I made it to bed. Not that I could close my eyes. If I did, I saw Alice battling vermin. In my waking nightmare, she desperately tried to fend them off with just the rifle before they swamped her and she disappeared beneath them. Like a drowning swimmer, she was pulled under the water, the vermin like sharks, tearing at her flesh.
Guilt tore me apart and robbed me first of sleep, and then of my senses. One foolish decision to allow Alice time to cry out her broken heart, and that organ was stilled forever. I should have stayed with her and walked back to the farm together. Now I would never again stay up late sharing my secrets with her. Never again find myself doing something I didn't intend to do, because she had persuaded me with those big amber eyes.
At the same time, I raged against Frank. This was his fault. If he wasn't so dense, Alice would still be alive and unharmed. He said he loved her, yet he had laughed when she poured out her feelings. If he had taken her in his arms and declared his mutual love, none of this would have happened.
Men are to blame for so many of a woman's woes, I thought. We should save ourselves the heartache and load men into ships, send them off the sea, and then torpedo the lot of them. So many potential problems would be wiped out in one hit.
As I tossed and turned in bed, even more haunting were the thoughts that tormented me of an Alice vermin stumbl
ing around the countryside. Would I have to slay my best friend? What if one of Seth's patrols encountered her? Somehow the idea of an unknown soldier removing her head was worse. It should be me. Then I could throw Frank on her funeral pyre.
I didn't emerge from my bed the next day. Exhaustion caught me in snatches, but the nightmares would wake me up again. The cycle repeated all day and the next night. Three days passed, and I thought perhaps I had become a vermin. I walked and went through the actions of daily tasks, but my heart lay still in my chest. At least I had stopped crying, but only because I had no tears left to give.
I sat at the kitchen table, bleary-eyed, and stared at my tea. England didn’t hold a mug large enough to jolt my system awake. What was the point without Alice?
"Are you going to Serenity House today?" Magda asked. She was as red-eyed from crying as me, but somehow she had more energy. Being better at dealing with grief must be a gift of age.
"No. I've had enough of death and vermin," I muttered. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they invariably did. I wanted to see Seth, to have him hold me, but I didn't want to look at Frank. My own grief was heavy enough, and if he had truly loved her, I could only imagine the Hell he was going through.
Magda laid a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "We all miss her, love. And we will mourn her the rest of our lives, but you need to get on with yours. You need to stop these things so they don't take anybody else."
Ouch. That rubbed salt into my wound. I had spent two days tormenting myself that I was culpable for what happened to Alice. If I had only stopped Elizabeth when I had the chance, I might have likewise stopped the vermin plague from spreading over Somerset.
I rubbed my hands over my face. Magda was right, I needed to get to work, and we needed to determine how many more hives were out there. Coming up with a solution would do more good than crawling back under the blankets, no matter how tempting.
"What if I run into Frank, when I would rather run him over?" It was easier to blame Frank than examine the repercussions of everything I did.
Magda pulled out the chair next to me and took my hand in hers. "Do you think he feels any less guilty than you?"
He bloody well should feel more guilty. At least I gave Alice a weapon, whereas Frank destroyed her and left her vulnerable.
Another thing bothered me—how could I look at Seth and not see the resemblance to his half-brother? Even their mannerisms were similar. Would I blame Seth because of his relationship to Frank? I was going mad chasing decisions that needed to be remade and seeing connections in everybody. Everything reminded me of Alice and what we had lost.
Magda's hand dropped on my shoulder. "You have a job over there, and it will keep you occupied, instead of moping here. You owe it to Alice to find Lady Jeffrey and discover what these undead creatures want with us. Then you can stop them once and for all."
I didn't want to. My body and mind wanted to hide in the library and build a fort out of the books. Except I wouldn't. Partly because we needed to find a permanent solution to this pandemic, but also because it bothered me that we hadn't found Alice. Vermin attacked and then scurried away, leaving an infected person behind. Why hadn't she returned to the farm where we could have tended her wounds and waited for the change? At least that way we would have had a chance to say goodbye. Had Alice hidden herself somewhere to spare us?
"Very well." Decision made. Today I would wash, dress, and head outside. I would start by looking at any reports from the patrols of vermin activity around where we found the rifle and finger. There may be a clue I missed.
Magda managed a brief smile before she had to blow her nose and wipe her eyes. "Good girl. Chin up and soldier on. Today Henry and Stewart are going to put Sir Jeffrey on the cart and take him around the farm."
Nice change of subject, Magda. Father's continued improvement was the shining star in my sky. His speech was still slurred, as though his brain was sluggish to work, but his motor skills continued to strengthen. He could now feed himself unassisted and didn't sleep so much during the day. Bit by bit, we increased his time outside and eased him back into our daily lives. He had noticed the absence of his wife and step-daughters, but assumed she had left after her failed attempt to suffocate him. I chose not to elaborate on that situation.
With a tentative plan in my head, I dropped my mug in the sink and headed out the door to my trusty steed. The petrol powered one today. A soldier had returned Trusty after I’d left it at Serenity House. If I went fast enough on the jarring motorbike, the wind blew all the thoughts from my mind.
I still couldn't bring myself to walk through the front door of Serenity House. As I steered the bike up the drive, Elizabeth whispered as always in my head that I would never be quality; the taint of servant blood from my mother would forever mark me.
I eased back on the throttle and we idled around back to the stables and garages. As usual, I slipped in through the side door. And as usual, Warrens spotted me. The man was part bat, swooping on the tiniest movement from anywhere in the enormous house.
"Good morning, Miss Jeffrey." He strode across the hall and pushed open the study doors for me.
"Good morning, Warrens." I offered my best smile, but it was rather tired and insipid.
He stared at me, on the brink of saying something, and then he nodded. "I'll bring some tea through immediately."
I muttered my thanks. I must have looked as bad on the outside as I felt on the inside. Or possibly not quite as bad, since he hadn’t offered anything stronger than tea.
"Ella. I've been worried about you, but didn't want to intrude." Seth rose from behind his desk and greeted me.
His arms slid around me and he stroked my hair. For a moment, I allowed myself to slump against him. He smelled so good, and I wished I could stay in his warm embrace. I raised my face for a brief kiss, a gentle brushing of his lips against mine.
"There's been no sign," he answered my unspoken question.
Not knowing what happened to Alice ate at me. Finding her body would give us closure and something to bury and mourn over. Or watch over. It still hadn't been long enough for her to turn.
"How's Frank?" Stewing in his own misery hopefully.
"We kept him drunk for two days solid, and I believe he now has one Hell of a hangover." Seth took my hand and led me to the large table. "Lieutenant Bain and I have made more progress. Coupled with the commodore's excellent notes, we think there may be a hive in Dorset."
I needed a distraction, and the next few hours passed in a blur of coloured tokens as we hypothesised where a hive might be located in the next county. There did appear to be a similar circular pattern such as we discovered here. Bain wrote down the precise details of the area and Seth telephoned his contact at the War Office to mobilise troops to start searching, under the commodore's keen eye. If they found anything, he would provide an excellent report to compare to our own experience.
We had a quiet luncheon in the conservatory. I avoided the raucous soldiers and retreated to a wicker chair in a corner. My attention fixed on a flowering orchid. Its lurid pink petals hurt my eyes, but I couldn't look away. I wondered if nature chose the colour to attract or confuse bees. The plant certainly drew attention to itself, and the white orchids next to it looked bland by comparison. My thoughts on colour envy amongst plants were scattered by an excited noise from outside.
"Miss Jeffrey! Miss Jeffrey!" Lieutenant Bain's voice echoed along the hallways of Serenity House. It was unusual for the reserved officer to run through the house shouting my name. He struck me as the sort of quiet chap who could stand on a landmine and simply mutter, Oh dear.
He burst through the glass doors of the conservatory and his gaze found me, hiding amongst the ferns. "Miss Jeffrey, you have to come outside at once. It's quite urgent."
My heart flip-flopped at the same time as my stomach plummeted, and I nearly threw up my sandwich in the turmoil. Alice. They had found Alice. I stood, my gaze seeking Seth, who also discarded
his midday meal and rose to his feet. I would need his quiet strength at my back to face whatever urgent matter waited outside.
I pushed past the dangling fronds of the palm as I rushed to the door. Then Bain started running and we chased him down the corridor. He slid right into a parlour and kept on going out a double set of doors that opened onto the garden. Another quick right and we emerged at the courtyard out back.
A dusty khaki army truck was parked on the cobbles. At the rear, a group of soldiers stood around a bound and trussed vermin. One glance and relief flooded through me. Even lying on its stomach with its face in the ground, I could tell it wasn't Alice. The size and shape were all wrong, and judging by the clothing, this one was male.
"What is the issue, lieutenant?" Seth asked from behind me. He took my hand and squeezed my fingers.
"This one is for Miss Jeffery, captain," the lieutenant said. His gaze flicked from vermin to me.
Frank raced from the stable being used as a workshop, an oily rag held tight in his grip, as though he forgot he clutched it. It seemed he also thought to work off his heartache. "Is it Alice? Did you find her?"
"Not quite. Turn it over, lads." Bain made a rolling gesture with his hand.
The creature's head whipped back and forth as it snarled. Fortunately it was trussed up tighter than a Christmas turkey, with its arms bound behind its back, and couldn't reach anyone. We still treated it with caution. Two men used the butts of their rifles to flip the vermin over and onto its back.
My gaze scanned it from muddy lace-up boots, over torn trousers with tears over the knees, to a once finely-made navy wool coat. Within the open jacket, it had a sunken torso. It looked like an elephant had sat on it at some point and collapsed its rib cage. But that wasn't what made me suck in a breath. The vermin had a note pinned to its shirt.
A note written on Alice's hanky—the one with an A and F entwined inside two overlapping hearts. How I had teased her when she sat up all night embroidering it, and how my heart had ached to know how it felt to be consumed by such a love. Before I’d met Seth.