Damn.
That very first day they'd met. She took one look at him and the way her eyes had lit up sparked a thrill in him. That odd feeling of inexplicable recognition, that tingle you can't name or put your finger on. That hum of excitement running through your consciousness, though you don't know precisely what you have to be looking forward to. And if you think on it too closely, you realize there is nothing special and no particular reason to feel pumped up. But you still feel it all the same. Pippa had made him feel that way the first time she'd looked at him. And to this day, he felt the buzz of excitement zap along his skin whenever she was around.
Still. He felt it still.
He'd been at Drakenfall for almost a year and a half, and nothing had … happened between him and Pippa. And not for his lack of trying. He just couldn't seem to connect with her. They would start talking and suddenly she would look away or remember some task she needed to be seeing to. And it wasn't that Pippa wasn't connecting with him. It was that Pippa wasn't letting herself connect with him.
Okay, he was from Senegal, but he knew that wasn't it. He'd seen and heard too much from Pippa to think that. He had a feeling that she forced distance between them because of the reason he was at Drakenfall. He'd come to England for the good schools and he worked at Drakenfall to pay for classes at Uni.
Could it really be as simple as some class thing? Because he was going to college and she wasn't? Because he came from a big, loving family who supported his choices, and she had no one back in the alleys from which she'd set herself free?
Did she see him as coming from better stock and heading toward a brighter future? And did she think he gave a damn about any of that?
Kafi slammed the last bag of feed onto the pile. This Christmas was his chance to show her. To really show her how he felt and what she meant.
As long as he hadn't wrecked her life by endangering her cats.
Chapter 19: In a Cozy Open Sleigh
It was almost eighty minutes after Glynis and Shaun had arrived in town when the sleigh was packed and ready for the return journey.
“Perhaps I had better sit in the back of the sleigh with the packages.” Glynis suggested. She and Fletcher looked at the teeming mound of bundles in the sleigh.
“You're proposing to climb on top of all that and ride back to Drakenfall as the Queen of the Groceries? No. As the man in charge of the horses and the sleigh and the safety of the passengers, I say unequivocally no. It is not safe. Or comfortable.”
Glynis frowned, considering. “Perhaps I should have gotten in first, before the bundles were stowed away.”
“I'll not be burying Drakenfall's house manager in parcels a week before Christmas, thank you very much.”
Glynis felt like stomping her foot. She knew riding in the back with the packages was not feasible, but ... Oh! She did not want to get herself into a situation where she might fall asleep on him. AGAIN.
“Come on,” Mr. Shaun Fletcher said. “We're losing light and that's not good for the horses.”
“Losing light? It's not even three. We hardly live in Scotland, Mr. Fletcher.”
He looked up. “Storm clouds. I don't know if they'll cover us in snow, but they're cutting into visibility. So get on the bench.” He handed her up into the sleigh then hauled himself up into his driver's seat. They were on their way before Glynis could scarce spread the travel rug across her lap.The sleigh pulled out of High Street.
“Maisy let him into the kitchen this morning,” Glynis blurted.
“Excuse me?”
“This morning. It wasn't even six yet. I heard someone creeping around the kitchen, and then they let someone in. I peeked out into the back hall to look. Maisy had let in Kafi. They were sneaking to the back stairs. Whispering. And giggling.”
“Were they, now?”
“Yes, they were.”
“And does Lord Shiley know of these goings on?”
“Certainly not from me! And I don't think—”
But as was becoming her habit when conversing with Mr. Shaun Fletcher, Glynis simply stopped speaking in the middle of her sentence.
“You're having me on,” Glynis said. “Aren't you? I am being ridiculous for thinking that Maisy and Kafi are up to something.”
“Oh, they're up to something, all right.”
And Glynis could see a sneaky smile quirk into his lips.
“Oh,” she said. “What makes you say that?”
“Lady Shiley is the Queen of Up to Something. I've only been here a month and it seems she's always planning something. Some secret delight to spring on someone.”
Glynis turned toward him fully. “You know something!”
“Now, Ms. Glynis, you aren't the only one at Drakenfall with secrets.”
“Cheeky.”
But he only laughed. “Whoa ...” And Mr. Shaun Fletcher eased the team to a steady stop. They had come to a section where they had to cross the busy road to get into the fields that led to Drakenfall, and their way was not clear, hindered by passing cars turned dingy with rock salt.
When the last car had passed, Mr. Shaun Fletcher did not re-engage the horses right away. Instead, he turned to Glynis. “Ms. Ferry. Mark and Maisy have a love that one seldom sees in a lifetime.”
“Even in many lifetimes,” Glynis whispered.
His gaze remained steady. “Rare, it is. And quietly wonderful. Glynis, there are things enough in this life to worry about, to hope for, to … wonder about. But Mr. and Mrs. Potter-Prebys is not one of them.” Another car went by, crossing in front of the sleigh, bringing Mr. Shaun Fletcher back to the task at hand.
He twitched the reins and the team started up again.
Glynis scarcely knew what to say or what to think about Mr. Shaun Fletcher's unexpected perspicacity. The horse-drawn sleigh, though open to frigid air that an optimist might call bracing, suddenly felt close and guarded, like a quiet sanctuary. The silence hummed along her chilled skin, delighting her senses.
“Mmm ...” Glynis began. “You weren't here yet, but it was an enchanted day when Maisy Potter first walked through the front doors of Drakenfall. Mark took one look at her and the boy was instantly besotted. Anyone could see that.”
“Love at first sight?” And he asked this with a level voice, one soaked with appreciation for the concept some deemed impossible.
“Yes and no. Yes, but for both of them to realize it for what it was … that's another story.”
“I heard that their whirlwind romance took but three weeks.”
“Mmmm.”
“And then they flew off to Vegas to marry?”
Glynis laughed at that. “They flew off to America, yes. Maisy had much to take care of before settling at Drakenfall. And Mark wasn't about to let his new-found love far out of his sight. When they were in Pasadena arranging to pack and sell Maisy's house, they couldn't stand not being married one second longer. So they drove to Vegas that night.”
“They didn't get married by Elvis, did they?”
Glynis slapped his well-sleeved arm. “Of course not! They were married by a woman named Pastor Cyndi.”
“A former showgirl?”
“Most likely.” Glynis nodded. “Mark was so happy to have done it with no pomp and Maisy was relieved not to be burdened with any vestiges of family or her past. A two-minute ceremony under a tree, just outside a quickie chapel.” Glynis sighed. “The two of them couldn't have planned a more perfect wedding if they'd spent a month at it.”
“Did the staff mind? To be left out of the festivities? I mean, Lord Shiley taking a Lady had to be a very big deal for Drakenfall.”
“Who said we were left out? When Lord and Lady Shiley finally arrived home, they were greeted with the most festive of wedding receptions, thrown and enjoyed by us all.”
Mr. Shaun Fletcher smiled. “Sounds like the perfect way to kick off the new era of Drakenfall.”
They arrived back at the house and Mr. Shaun Fletcher pulled into the dooryard outside the kitchen
. The sleigh stopped, but neither made a move to step down.
“What a wonderful afternoon,” Glynis said quietly. “Thank you, Mr. Fletcher.”
“My pleasure.”
She smiled and took the rug off her lap.
“Stay there,” he said. “I'll come around.”
And with a bounce in his step, he hopped down with alacrity. He came over to her side and he was just ushering her down when Kendrick and Jasper and Matt filed out of the kitchen to fetch the parcels. No Kafi, Glynis noticed.
But then she noticed something else. Mr. Shaun Fletcher still held onto her gloved fingers, even though she stood on solid ground. She looked to his face and found him looking at her. He said nothing, but … the way his eyes stayed steady on hers sent a light chill dancing down her neck.
“Ms. Ferry,” he said softly and nodded.
Then he grabbed an armful of purchases and filed into the kitchen with the boys.
Chapter 20: Dinner and a Movie
When Kafi and Maisy met in the woods, both traps gaped open. No sign of the cats. Not even any kitty paw prints in the snow. Where were the devils? Were they in danger?
Kafi returned to his work with a more listless gait than Maisy had ever seen. She made her way back to the house and stomped the snow off her boots in the mud room just before she stepped into the kitchen.
Cook was spooning something delicious-smelling into a container for Pippa. “There, now,” Cook said. “Take this home with a corner of bread. Take a long lunch and come back around dinner time.”
“No!” Maisy fairly shouted. Was Cook mad, letting Pippa go?
Pippa spun to face Maisy. “No?”
“You were such a big help to me, decorating the dining room yesterday. I thought we could hang out.”
“Hang out?” Pippa looked confused, but not displeased.
“Sure. I've been wanting to talk to you all day. I think there's a movie we totally have to see.”
Pippa brightened up. “A Christmas movie?”
“Yes! A Christmas movie. I was thinking A Christmas Story.”
“I've never seen that one,” Pippa said, her eyes lighting up. “Let's watch it.”
And watch it they did, with Maisy pausing the film as many times as she could to give commentary of some sort. But finally Pippa spoke up. “It's okay, Maisy. You don't have to keep stopping it. I mean, I know what a bully is. We have them here in England, too.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I'm pretty sure they're universal.”
“Huh. I thought bullies were an American thing.”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“Can we keep watching?”
“Right.”
But as the credits rolled over two hours later, Maisy checked her phone again, ready to tear her hair out. The movie and all her stalling had prevented Pippa from going home for a long lunch, but the cats still hadn't gone into the traps.
Pippa stood up and stretched. “Well, time to get back to work.”
“Right. Me, too.” And Maisy's heart began racing. What a day to get behind in her work, with The Christmas Ball bearing down on them more like a locomotive every day.
An hour and a half and no trapped cats later, Maisy rushed to her attic flat to get ready for dinner. Mark wasn't up to get changed yet, so Maisy worked as fast as she could, twining up her hair, doing her make up, and slipping into her strapless, deep violet evening gown. As she rummaged through her dresser looking for her long gloves, she came upon the envelope.
Even in all her haste, Maisy froze for just a few seconds.
Nay Daisy May Clay.
Maisy shuddered, jamming the card down more deeply into the drawer.
Once she found the gloves, she slipped them on, completing the picture of the Lady of the Manor. After twirling one time in front of the mirror, Maisy tore down to the east entrance mudroom where she shrugged into her long coat.
“Maisy!”
Mark came striding to her from the back hallway. “Where you off to? Dinner in fifteen minutes? It's Wednesday. We've got to do our bit as Lord and Lady.”
“Right, of course.” She quickly kissed Mark. “But there's something I've got to do. Start without me.”
“Start without you?”
“I'll be back soon. Promise!” She grabbed the Range Rover keys off the hook as she dashed out the door.
Mark stood in the chilly mudroom, shivering in Maisy's wake. She was acting so bizarre. She had been for the past few days. Was something wrong? And she felt she couldn't tell him? He hoped it wasn't that. He doubted it was that. It couldn't be that.
More likely she had something up her sleeve for the Christmas festivities. So maybe he should play along, behaving as if she weren't as crazy as a duck. But what was going on that had her racing around, then watching a film with Pippa in the middle of the day during the busiest season of the year, then back to tearing around like a mad Jack Russell who'd just been let loose? Mark checked his phone, saw the hour, and shot upstairs to morph into Lord Shiley.
Chapter 21: Now If Only the Ginger
To remain as unobtrusive and hopefully as unremarked as possible, Maisy parked the Rover on the ridge behind the cottage estates. She slammed out of the four-wheel and hiked up her skirts before racing down the slope through the snow to the copse of trees. Kafi was already crouching by one of the traps.
“We got one! The dark striped one.”
“Yes!” Maisy pumped her fist in the air.
“The ginger one's still out there,” Kafi pointed out. “Should we bring this fellow in? Maybe lock him in the bathroom until we find the ginger?”
“No,” Maisy said. “I have a better idea.” She bent and lifted the cover on one side of the trap that held the cat. Then she did the same to the other trap. She pushed the two traps together along their uncovered sides so that from inside one trap, you could see into the other trap. “We'll use this guy here to hopefully lure the ginger back in.” She rearranged the covers over her double trap, as it were.
“He won't get out, will he?”
“No.” Maisy reached under each trap. “I think the straw underneath is still dry, but I can't really get my glove off.” She pulled back. “Can you take your glove off and reach under each trap? It's really important that the straw is still dry.”
Kafi did as she asked. “Still dry.” He dug his fingers in. “Dry deep down, too.”
“Okay, then,” Maisy said. “And he's covered, so he should be warm enough out here for about an hour or so. At least.” Maisy took off her coat and draped it over the traps. “Just to be sure,” she said.
Kafi shrugged out of his coat, too, and heaped it on top of hers. “Extra sure.”
Maisy's teeth began to chatter. “Let's go.”
And the two of them ran back to the Range Rover. As soon as they got inside, Maisy turned the key, blasted the heat, and got them going back to the house.
“So you're sure he'll be okay out there?” Kafi rubbed his hands briskly along his arms, trying to warm up.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How do you even know so much about trapping cats?” Kafi demanded. “You have dogs.”
Maisy was still shivering. “Back in the states, I donated to an animal rescue group. I got to know this young couple. They trap and rescue cats all the time.” She turned to Kafi and smiled. “Mark and I sold them my house for a song before we left Pasadena.”
“So now they have a home base for all their rescuing?”
“Pretty much.”
“Wow. That was really nice.”
“Well, when it comes to helping out, it seems some people have the money and resources, and some people have the time and dedication. The trick is getting them together.” She flashed Kafi a quick smile. “ Like your project.”
Kafi nodded. “Sometimes people have both.”
“Mark is rare, that's for sure.” Maisy bit her lip as she felt hersel
f blush. “One of a kind.”
Chapter 22: Lady Shiley Takes a Lover
As Finola, Matt, Eva and Kendrick began bustling into the dining room to serve, Mark picked up his wine and took a sip.
“No Lady Shiley?” Mrs. Stockleton arched one brow in what almost looked like a smug challenge.
“Yes,” warbled Mrs. Lavinia Fox. “Where is Lady Shiley?”
Mark smiled indulgently at the old biddy who'd been a fixture at Drakenfall since even before Miss Maisy Potter had come to visit. “A Yuletide errand. But she'll be along soon and she knows that Cook outdid herself tonight, so Maisy wouldn't dream of making us wait. She asked that we start without her.”
“Ah yes,” Mrs. Stockleton mused. “An errand. I think I saw her and that strapping young dark boy on a 'Christmas errand' this afternoon. They were running into the woods with all manner of bundles.”
“Yes,” chimed in Mr. Stockleton, chuckling. “We were heading down to the lake to ice skate but it would be hard to miss that black skin of his glinting against the snow.”
“Oh, really?” broke in Ms. Lea Sinclair in a razor sharp voice.
“My word,” added Jamie, looking at the Stockletons with solicitude. “I hope the contrast didn't damage your retinas.”
Mr. Stockleton bristled. “I'll have you know they were carrying blankets. And baskets, weren't they, dear?” He turned to his animated wife.
“Well, yes. But really, how preposterous.” She laughed, though not with anything approaching mirth. “Lady Shiley dashing off into the woods for a picnic? In December? With the help?”
“His name is Kafi Diop,” Mark said, his voice slicing through the dining room like a lance. “Kafi. Diop. And that's how you should refer to him.”
A Drakenfall Christmas: A Novel Page 8