“There are too many watchers in it, too many snags for our souls.”
He saw her staring in wonder at his eyes and knew they must reflect some of the amazing light spectacular that hers did.
Pondering the alternatives, as little as he knew about any of them, he asked, “What about using water?”
He didn’t know the details of his fears or his plans but knew that what he was saying was possible.
Apparently, so did Emma. Sitting back, she seemed to want to let him go, but he held onto her hand. “A water calling, instead of a mirror calling?”
Confirming, he nodded, although he hadn’t known the names.
Uncertain, she glanced over to the other two. “Do you think it could work?”
Apparently, his idea was novel, although it didn’t seem so to him.
Benjamin looked serious. “There’s only the children’s story of that.” His glance moved speculatively to his guest. “I think there’s a version in the null world, although they don’t get it all right. Narcissus.”
Having—like all the educated men of his class and era—had a thorough classical education, Frederick nodded. “He fell in love with his own image in the water.”
But somehow, even as he said it, he felt it to be wrong—although he had known both men and women who would have been more than capable of doing so.
Emma’s grandfather shook his head. “That’s not the right one—or not the truth of it, anyway.”
Benjamin sighed, and Frederick wondered just how the man must be feeling, his whole world and history so thoroughly rearranged. Then again, so had his.
“He wasn’t looking at himself. He was communicating with his twin in another world. He had been banished there by . . .”
Breaking off suddenly, he waved his hand.
“We don’t have time for the whole story. Anyway, he was communicating by water magic.”
Pondering, Frederick laid his head back against the sofa. This certainly changed a few of the ideas he had been raised with, although he supposed they didn’t have time for a mythology lesson, at the moment. “So it should be possible.”
Everyone around him nodded, although he noticed that Natalie still seemed terrified, poor thing. He wondered whether it were more that his conversion was mostly unprecedented or that she was having problems with his sudden bond with her best friend.
Still, smiling at her, he knew they could work it out eventually. Natalie held a huge part of Emma’s soul, and there was nothing his love would do to change that. He was more than capable of loving and devoting himself to Emma without damaging the bond the two already shared.
Silently agreeing to the altered plan, Benjamin rose to take away the mirror.
Before he could leave the room, though, a strange sight arrived—two cats in harness pulling a tiny sleigh with a water bowl on it.
The man seemed to startle for a moment, before he grinned. “Just what I needed, thanks.”
Taking it from them, he exchanged it for the mirror, then took turns scratching each of them under the chin. One purred. One let out a sort of murping noise which seemed to suggest happiness.
“Sorry I’ve been so neglectful today. I’ll be down when I can.”
The unfazed cats purred or murped at him, then proceeded down the hall with their new burden.
This was a sight which would have either shocked or appalled Frederick earlier in the day. He wasn’t quite certain how the cats had managed it, but there was something about them which said that they had taken to the harness themselves and would dispense with it as soon as it wasn’t necessary.
Besides, they were cats. If there were one animal it was simply impossible to get to do anything it didn’t wish without inflicting serious physical harm on yourself, it was a feline.
He would have asked more about this, but it wasn’t the moment, focusing on the water, instead. “It can be done.” He squeezed Emma’s hand tenderly before looking to the others, holding out a hand to Benjamin, as well. “Would you like to be part of it?”
He had intended the question for both of their companions, but only Benjamin joined the circle, after a brief moment’s trepidation, and he knew that the man wanted his chance to speak to Penelope again.
Glancing over to Natalie, Frederick waited, but the woman held back.
Smiling, he told her softly, “You may join us, or you may watch. I won’t make demands.”
He watched the woman sigh slowly, while his beloved murmured, “Nat.” He knew her heart was breaking to see her friend in such a quandary—and he hated to be part of her pain.
Watching the woman’s struggle, he accepted with regret that it was her uncertainty of him and his choices which kept her away from her best friend.
Finally, she sat back, looking at them both steadily. “No. I’ll watch.” She looked over to Emma. “Someone should be here mentally, in case something happens.”
He knew it was more her fears of mirror magic than water magic which decided her, but the latter was clearly an unknown.
Even understanding that Natalie would hear, he spoke into his beloved one’s mind. She’ll be with you mentally. That bond can’t be broken. He was quite certain of that.
He felt his beloved’s uncertainty, but she nodded, nonetheless, looking to him, as she took Benjamin’s hand. “How do we begin?”
Accepting her odd deference as a sign that she trusted the seer he was becoming, he let his inner certainties guide him. “I will find the way. Benjamin will focus on his old knowledge and feelings for Pen.”
He squeezed Emma’s hand.
“You will be our strength and observer. You may well see more clearly than we do.”
Emma sighed, and he knew her heart was aching. “And Nat?”
Concentrating, he nodded. “She will keep an eye out for you, as she always has.”
Adjusting his grip on both of them, he focused down into the water—knowing his eyes were glowing.
“Friendship as deep as hers will feed all of our strength.”
Splashing through time and space, deep into the well within seconds, he didn’t have time to focus on Natalie’s emotions. It was much like what he had witnessed when disapparating, but thankfully not so visceral.
Focusing his thoughts, he joined some of them to the huge spill of emotion which washed from Benjamin. “Penelope,” he called. “Aunt Pen.”
Silence—except for the lapping of water, but he knew she was there somewhere.
“Hester is not here, and I need to speak to you.”
It took another few, long moments, but he knew she had heard.
Eventually, an image bobbed to the surface, although it was slightly brown and cloudy—and he suspected that she was seeing him in her usual cup of milky tea. He watched her startle, nearly dropping it, before a huge flash of magic rose from her, flowing toward the door, and he knew she had just done her best to make this conversation very private.
He smiled, as she had never shown him that side of herself before. It would be nice to know more of the real woman now.
It took her a second to speak, and, when she did, he could feel her astonishment. “Frederick,” she murmured, shaking her head. “Your eyes.”
He could see her terror, as her thoughts moved on.
“And water magic?! Not even Hester can manage that! She can’t even stand to go near the stuff.”
Hmm, no wonder it seemed such a good idea. Although he wasn’t certain if that thought were his or Emma’s.
“Too much has happened for me to tell it all to you, but I need your help. I’m in the Salem you come from. I’m in the Goodwinter home. And I need your help to stop Hester and the Philberts.”
He heard Emma’s silent prompting.
“Yes, and the Randolphs, too.”
However, this latter part of his plea went unnoticed, Penelope much more flustered than usual for a moment.
“Oh, when we heard the train had crashed, I feared that you may have been pulled there, but . . .�
��
Startling visibly, she blinked, as the rest of his words filtered through. “Did you say ‘Goodwinter’?”
Frederick nodded and noticed a very girlish blush take her over.
“I don’t suppose Benjamin Goodwinter’s still around?” Her eyes fell. “Or maybe he’s somewhere else with his partner.”
Her use of mundane terms only showed how long she had been in that world.
Frederick moved to reassure her. “They became estranged not too long after they were partnered. Benjamin’s here with me. Can’t you see him?”
To his surprise, Penelope let out a strangled, angry noise, fidgeting in her chair. “I can’t ever see him while Hester is alive! That’s the curse she saddled me with, before flinging me out of the magical world. She was so angry, she sent me back more than a century without realizing it.”
There was a knowing smile.
“It took some work for her to find me again.” A moment later, the grin faded. “Sadly, she’s a much stronger witch than I am.”
Hester was apparently a much stronger sorcerer than nearly anyone else, if her work up to now were anything to judge by, but it wasn’t the time to discuss it.
“Why did she throw you out?” Other than the fact that Penelope had always been the most decent one in their family.
“Lord, that’s a long story!” Her hand was to her head. “Don’t even get me started!”
There was a deep breath, as she pulled herself together.
“Suffice it to say that I’ve been standing up to her since the womb, and she’s always hated me for that.”
He felt Emma’s surprise, which mirrored his own, made certain he understood. “Are you saying that Hester’s your twin?” They didn’t look it. Hester was tall and thin, while Pen was the sort of plump which, in the 19th century, worked perfectly with the words “maiden aunt.”
She shrugged. “Fraternal twin, but yes. I don’t have her power, but I also can’t be bound and controlled like she enjoys doing so much with everyone else.” She leaned in. “You know she’s even convinced nearly all of them that she’s their mother? They can’t even remember our real parents!”
This brought about another question, one Frederick decided he would have to discuss with Emma later. After all, what had happened to her parents?
Shaking his head, he focused on his aunt, feeling Emma’s urging. “Aunt Pen, can you tell me what her plan is? I know she’s working with Philbert and Randolph, and I know she married my sister off only to then take her baby once it was born.”
He was still furious about this but tried not to focus on it. Somehow, discovering that Penelope was Hester’s twin had made him realize that the water magic might not be enough to protect them, even given Hester’s disgust with it.
“What else is she intending?”
“What isn’t she?” Penelope rolled her eyes. “She’s been actively getting rid of anyone who opposes her for a century now. This Philbert hasn’t been around that long—I never knew him—but Randolph, assuming we’re still talking about the same old bird, has been her co-conspirator since childhood. She even bragged to me once when she was here that she got Benjamin’s daughter to marry him. I suspect she did it just so she could control more of the family of the one person I loved.”
He could feel both Emma and Benjamin reeling from this information—and understood their light-headedness. Natalie came and braced his beloved, and he knew he couldn’t keep this going for much longer. He would have to hope that they had gotten what information they needed.
It was just as he was thinking this that he started to see an inky black streak floating its way toward them, like oil in water. His heart pounded, speaking quickly. “Pen, we have to go. Is there anything else you need to tell us?”
“Yes. Hester will not stop at killing either you or Jane. Be careful!”
She was focusing on his eyes, which he knew were sparkling wildly with his magic.
“And listen to your teachers, Frederick. I know you have all three of them. I can see their bond to you. Don’t let them . . .”
It was here he had to cut her off or risk having them both touched by that lume-noir he knew Hester had sent for them. Relieved that they had contacted his aunt by water, he understood that, had they used the mirror, Hester would have had them within the first heartbeat.
Returning to this reality a moment later, he found chaos all around. Emma looked faint, was being supported by her friend, and Benjamin had both hands to his head in a wild sort of despair.
Running down the hall to get Trudy and apologizing to her husband, Frederick did what he could. Her happiness magic might not be able to undo all the horror this information had caused, but it could at least calm everyone down enough to see them through.
It took a little while, but the woman’s magic worked wonders—that and four steaming cups of tea brought along on the cat sleigh. He wasn’t certain whether that or just the general feline company helped out Benjamin, but, within a few minutes, everyone was more themselves again.
Trudy withdrew, leaving them to sort everything out—but that didn’t make the moment any less overwhelming. Hating to begin, Frederick also knew there was too much which needed to be said to stay silent.
Looking between Emma—who was being comforted by Natalie, who sat on the arm of the couch—and Benjamin, who had cats which were no longer harnessed pawing at both his knees, he smiled a little at the obvious support. But the look faded, as he began. “What happened to Emma’s mother?”
This was not an easy question. Poor Benjamin’s head shook between his hands. “I can’t remember.” His gaze was tortured, as the cats mewed at him. “I can’t remember anything between leaving Gloria and Emma’s birth. I mean,” he continued, looking all the more tormented. “. . . I don’t remember who was giving birth or any of the circumstances, just being given Em to look after.”
Seeming wracked with horror, he finally let go of his head.
“It’s as though 80 or more years are just . . . missing out of my head.”
Lord. Frederick would have liked to think that his great-aunt wouldn’t do such a thing, but he wouldn’t put anything past Hester anymore.
Poor Emma broke in. “Does this mean Randolph Spear is my father?” She started to grab her own head. “What in the seven branches of magic are they trying to do?”
It was a ghastly new truth for everyone. He could see the lights in his beloved’s eyes—and they suddenly terrified him. Mixed in with the brighter sparks of her own, sweet magic were the lume-noirs of doubt and pain and rage.
As he grabbed her hands, his heart nearly seized. “No, Emma.”
She looked at him, but her despair seemed to fill the room.
“This is Hester’s doing.” His hand cupped her cheek. “Please don’t let her win.”
His pleas didn’t seem to be helping, Emma looking so lost and sad.
He couldn’t stand it, couldn’t bear to see her hurt. So he kissed her—and reminded her, as he did, that he would gladly take on any pain to help her through.
Chapter 13
Emma
All of her life overturned with a simple few words, Emma could barely think. Before them, she had thought that her world made some sense, but now even her very birth was a mystery.
Moving back from Frederick’s kiss with a gasp, the torment pounded through her soul. While she understood, and appreciated, his concern and his love for her, they couldn’t answer the necessary questions. Her thumb stroked over his cheek once, her eyes begging for forgiveness. Then, she turned to her oldest friend and sought comfort in her arms.
Natalie received her warmly, holding her close, her soothing tones in her mind. Ssh. It’s okay.
Emma started to cry, as Nat stroked her back.
It will be all right, Em. We’ve gone through a lot. We’ll get through this, too.
Natalie’s presence settled her, as it always had as a child.
You know I’m not going to let you go through
this alone.
There was a part of her which knew that she wouldn’t have had to, anyway, Frederick’s presence in her soul already established. And showing the good man he was, she could feel not anger or disappointment that she had abandoned him for the comfort of her oldest friend but simple sadness. He wanted to be the one she came to for support, was more than willing to be her strength. That she already had that source of comfort he accepted without a fight, even if it were a subtle desolation for him now.
Saying nothing, he was trying to hide the feeling from her, which she appreciated but knew to be futile. Even if she hadn’t claimed him as her partner in return yet, they were already entwined. Not saying the words was only putting off the inevitable.
Cherishing this bond, she let him feel her love flowing toward him, even as she sat with her head on Natalie’s shoulder, crying softly. She knew that both her companions understood. In different ways, she was connected to each of them. She had no idea what would happen if she had to give any of that up.
That neither was asking her to was her only bit of sanity now.
Smiling warmly, Frederick’s acceptance of their bond soothed her futher, but her pleasure in his look was distracted by the sight of her grandfather.
“Benjamin,” she whispered, finally noticing the cats’ meowling. Trying to sit up, still holding Natalie’s hand, she stared at Frederick, begging him to do something, but he was already at the other man’s side.
“Benjamin?” he whispered softly. “Benjamin?”
Nothing. The man’s eyes were blank, as though something had been turned off within him—and Emma prayed that Penelope’s information hadn’t triggered some sort of defensive system in Hester’s spell. It would be just like the woman to snap off the mind of anyone who dared to work around her ensorcellment.
A brief memory of Frederick’s nearly-comatose sister in the other bedroom came to her, deepening the fear—but she was fortunately distracted by a very loud, “MEOWL!”
The cat had said it as though they were all idiots not to understand—and way too slow at picking up hints.
It might be right. There was certainly all too much that she didn’t know at the moment.
A Wild Conversion Page 14