“You’ve got an hour to get ready. I’ve managed to get you and Rafe flights within an hour of each other this morning so I’m dropping you both off at the airport together.”
He left the room without another word.
Aethelu hopped out of bed and dashed into the en suite to have a shower. Whilst she showered, Anais located a bag big enough to fit a few days’ worth of clothes in and brought it over to the bed. Then she moved to the drawers and wardrobe and found a few outfits to fill the bag with. It was difficult carrying the clothes whilst walking with crutches, so it took her the entire time of Aethelu’s shower to pack it all up. She had just managed to get it zipped up and had placed the travel documents in the side pocket when Aethelu emerged from the bathroom wearing a red towel.
“I’ve packed your bags. Just enough for three days. That way you won’t be able to stay any longer.”
“Thank you,” she grinned.
Moving over to the wardrobe, she selected an outfit to wear while travelling, a crimson dress with a black belt. She threw it over her head and let the towel fall beneath it. Anais, watching her, got a glimpse of bare porcelain flesh as she did it.
‘It’s going to be a long three days,’ she mused.
Breakfast was a rushed affair. It was served in the parlour to save Anais having to descend the spiral staircase to the kitchen. Bagels had been hastily smothered in cream cheese, and Aethelu had barely finished her coffee before Alex whisked both her and Rafe out of the door to get them to the airport on time.
Anais had three days without Aethelu ahead, and she vowed to herself to make the most of them. The first job was to get her leg working properly again. Luckily, she was saved having to go and look for Winnie by her arriving in the parlour to collect the dirty breakfast plates.
“Winnie, I’d like to start physiotherapy today if that’s ok with you.”
“Of course it is, love. I know that Aldrich was working on a program for you last night. The sooner we have you fit and well, the better. I bet you are sick to death of those crutches. You stay here, I’ll go find it and bring it back and then we will begin.”
Anais waited in the white parlour room for ten minutes until Winnie finally reappeared.
“Right, first things first. Can you stand without crutches, put weight on it I mean?”
“Yes, I tried yesterday. I can put my full weight on the leg, but I’m struggling to walk on it. I can’t bend the ankle, and the knee seems to have a mind of its own.”
Winnie chuckled, “That’s to be expected. You’ve not moved either joint in weeks. They have seized up a little. They just need to relearn how to work properly again.”
Winnie took her out into the main hall as it had a large expanse of floor space. She gave her exercise after exercise to do, some of which were excruciatingly painful, but which, Winnie assured her would help in the long run. She persevered and by the time Alex arrived back from the airport, she was able to walk with only the aid of one crutch.
“Did they get off ok?” asked Winnie when she saw her son.
“Yes, Rafe’s flight was delayed, but as his was the first flight of the two, it worked out better. They both flew out at almost the same time. Aethelu’s was a direct flight, and she promised she’d call as soon as she landed. Rafe will have to make a change at London Heathrow, so we shouldn’t expect to hear from him for ages. You know what he’s like, though, he probably won’t call anyway.” He paused and noticed what Anais was doing.
“Hang on a minute. I think I have something that will help you.”
He ran upstairs without another word.
Winnie shrugged her shoulders.
He came hurtling down the stairs, moments later, with Rafe’s tiger-topped cane in his hand.
“This should be easier to use than a crutch.”
Anais had never seen Rafe without his cane before. It was like it was surgically attached to his hand, despite the fact that he could walk perfectly and held it only for show.
“Why did he not take it with him?” asked Anais, taking it tentatively from Alex’s hand.
“He hates taking it through customs. Apparently, they took it off him last time and dismantled it looking for drugs.”
“I’m not sure he’ll like the idea of me using it, though.”
“Well, he won’t know, will he? I won’t tell, if you don’t.” He winked at her.
Anais felt extremely uncomfortable using Rafe’s cane without his knowledge, but she had to admit it was easier to use than the crutches. With the help of the cane she would finally be able to get into the kitchen without Alex having to haul her over his head. That was a bonus in itself. She decided that Alex was right, what Rafe didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, and she’d take extra special care of it.
“Have you finished with Anais now Mama?” Alex asked Winnie.
“Yes, she’s done very well. We will continue tomorrow.”
“Great, I thought that we would make a start on trying to solve this mess we are in. We can use the computer in the cellar, now that James is out of there. Father has asked that all the security be put back to high alert, which means that the security cameras will all have to be switched on and monitored. I hope Andrew gets over Judith soon because It’s not a job I enjoy.
Anais followed Alex to the kitchen door.
It was tricky, getting used to Rafe’s cane, but she couldn’t deny that she preferred it to clunking around on the crutches.
The big test was the winding staircase. Could she manage it herself? She felt extremely self-conscious as the cane tapped on to the top of the metal stairs. She warned Alex that she was to do it on her own without any help from him. She couldn’t cope with the humiliation of being carried down again.
He insisted on walking just in front of her in case she fell, which she had no intention of doing.
With a determined mind, she held on to the bannister and slowly made her way down the steps, the cane tapping all the way.
Once at the bottom of the stairs, a feeling of exhilaration came upon her, and she jumped into Alex’s arms without thinking of what she was doing.
“I did it!” She felt so proud of herself.
“Well done!” Alex held her tightly and it was only seconds later, she began to feel uncomfortable, so she broke away, thoughts of that kiss firmly in her mind.
She had tried to keep it out of her mind, to forget it completely, but it kept popping back in there when she wasn’t expecting it. It was definitely her own fault this time. She had jumped onto Alex. A feeling that she couldn’t quite put her finger on had happened between them. Stepping back quickly, she made her way to the larder and the cellar lift, conscious that her cheeks were once again giving her away and burning red.
Once inside the cellar, Alex went straight over to the computer and inputted a code. All of a sudden the sixteen screens came to life, and once again, showed life around The Manor.
Anais always felt voyeuristic watching these snippets of manor life. As she looked, she could see a few of The Manor’s inhabitants milling around. Winnie was chatting to Mrs Smithson in the parlour. It looked like they were polishing silver and having a chitchat.
Aldrich and James were in the surgery. They, too, looked like they were chatting, but Anais knew that their version of chatting would be scientific discussions. Although there was no sound, Anais figured they would be talking about the Elixir.
She couldn’t see August anywhere. He was probably in his gatehouse cottage with his spaniel, Baker.
She didn’t expect to see Andrew either, so she was surprised to see him walking in the grounds. He had spent a lot of time with Judith, walking in the grounds. He must be reminiscing about old times, thought Anais. She hoped this didn’t mean he was feeling worse. She wanted to watch where he was going, but in a few seconds, the picture changed to show another part of the house, this time the kitchen which was unusually empty.
“Right, that gets the security back up and running. The monitors are all on a
nd working, the perimeter electric fence has been activated, and we are back in Fort Knox! At least Father is letting us leave this time. I hated being cooped up here all the time.”
“Does everyone know that the electric fence is being turned on today?” asked Anais, thinking of Andrew out in the grounds.
“Yep, everyone knows. The only way in or out is, once again, through the main gates.”
Anais remembered the time that Aethelu had taken her to the tramway, traversing a branch of a particular tree to get over the electric fence. She also remembered how Jago had managed to get in, despite all the security. She suddenly felt very foolish for not mentioning it to someone earlier. If Jago had found out about Aethelu’s secret way to get in, then she only had herself to blame for her injuries.
“Alex,” she began hesitantly. She didn’t want to get Aethelu into trouble, but the thought of one of the family being hurt again outweighed any amount of trouble.
“Mmmm?” He was concentrating on the computer screen and didn’t look up.
“There is a way in to the grounds over the electric fence.”
Alex looked up.
“There can’t be. We’ve got the whole grounds surrounded. The electric fence is way too tall to get over. It’s impossible.”
“Aethelu showed me a way. There is a tree that has branches that hang over the fence. One particular branch is strong enough to hold a person. It’s close enough to a tree on the outside to jump across.
“That can’t be true!” he said with an expression of shock on his face. “Jago was getting into the house and grounds for months. Why didn’t you tell anyone sooner?”
He was shouting at her now. Anais had never seen him so angry. Despite herself, she felt tears spring to her eyes. It hadn’t seemed important at the time, but now that Alex had put it like that, she felt an enormous sense of shame.
“I’m sorry.” It was no answer, but then again, she didn’t have an answer. She hung her head and cried. “I’m so sorry!” She had never felt so ashamed, firstly at not telling anyone sooner, and secondly, for crying about it in front of Alex.
She wondered if he was going to shout at her some more, but suddenly, she felt his large arms envelop her. This time, she let him. She didn’t back away like she had upstairs in the kitchen. Instead she sobbed into his shoulder making a big wet patch on his t-shirt.
He stroked her hair soothingly and it felt so nice that she made no attempt to stop him. As when Aethelu did this to her, she could feel the tingles starting. Alex was one of the few Guardians who had not learnt to control this particular symptom of The Light, just like Aethelu. It got less and less as time went on and as Anais got used to it.
When Alex next spoke, he spoke in soothing tones.
“Ok, here’s the plan. I can ask August for help. Just point out the right tree, and we will cut off the branch. We don’t have to tell anyone else.”
“Thank you, I’m so sorry,” Anais repeated.
“Don’t worry.” He finally broke away and smiled at her. He still had his hands at either side of her head. Very slowly he leaned forward and gently kissed the tears from her eyes. Before she had a chance to respond, he had turned away and moved back to the computer.
It took her a few minutes to recover from the electricity of The Light that was now coursing through her brain making her head fuzzy. When it finally cleared, she walked over to the tiny kitchen to grab a paper towel to dry her eyes.
That was the second time in a week that she had let Alex kiss her. What was the matter with her? She had to stop it. She debated on talking to Alex about it, but when she came back into the main cellar room, he was all business again.
“So, where do we start?” he didn’t turn round as he spoke, “Amber and Abel and their necklaces, Kew Gardens, or Sabine?”
“If we find Sabine, we find Jago. That is, if he does have her held hostage somewhere.” She limped back over to Alex and sat on the sofa.
“It makes sense, but Jago is crafty, plus we know he has a complete disregard for human life. To be honest, Sabine is probably dead by now.”
“Don’t say that!” Anais hadn’t even considered it, but now, as she thought about it, she had to admit it was a possibility. “She can’t be dead. James would be devastated.”
She paused
“We’ve got a few days until Aethelu and Rafe come back, anyway. I think we really need to talk to people first for any of those options. Finding out what happened on the day Sabine was taken would be a good start, and to do that, we would need to talk to James. For Amber and Abel, who knew them best?”
“Mama and Amber were best friends. She would probably be the best to ask.”
“Ok, I’ll tell you what, you start on tracking Sabine. Find out everything you can on the internet. I’ll go talk to Winnie about Amber.”
“Are you sure you can manage the stairs?”
Anais smiled “I think so.”
She wasn’t too sure, but she had no intention of telling Alex that. As it was, she did manage to get up the kitchen stairs by herself. Rafe’s cane was surprisingly good in helping her manoeuvre up the winding staircase, and the pain in her ankle from the physiotherapy she’d had earlier had subsided.
She moved slowly, but eventually, she made it to the parlour. Winnie and Mrs Smithson were still there, each with a rag in their hand, rubbing a silver candlestick and teapot respectively. Newspaper had been spread out on the table, which protected the white table underneath from the silver polish. One half of the table held a large amount of unpolished silver. On the other side, the silver sparkled, thanks to the ladies’ cleaning. Anais sat down in between the two women.
“Can I help?” She might as well make herself useful.
Mrs Smithson handed her a spare cloth. “Here you go, love.”
Anais realised she’d never really had a conversation with Mrs Smithson before. She’d exchanged pleasantries and smiled before but never much more. She still felt a little guilty for suspecting she might be Jago, a couple of months earlier.
She picked up a silver photo frame, which held a relatively recent picture of Aldrich and Winnie, and dipped her cloth in the polish.
She wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of Amber and Abel without giving anything away to Mrs Smithson, who didn’t know that the family she worked for was over six centuries old. Thankfully, she didn’t have to think of a way, as just then, the old lady got up.
“I’ll make us a nice pot of tea, shall I? Wet the whistle, so to speak.” Without waiting for an answer she upped and left.
“Something I said?” Anais looked at Winnie.
“No, she suspected a good gossip was in the air and wanted refreshments to go with it,” Winnie grinned. “How’s the leg going?”
“Good. Look, whilst Mrs Smithson is making tea, I need to speak to you about Amber and Abel. Alex tells me that you were the closest to Amber.”
“Oh yes. We were the very best of friends. Even before we drank The Light Elixir she couldn’t have children. She was desperate for kids, but it wasn’t to be. She pretty much helped me raise my lot. She was a second mother to all of them. She doted on them, but there was always a sadness there. Shame really, she’d have made a wonderful mother.”
Anais didn’t want to think about The Light and how it made carrying babies impossible. She knew the heartbreak only too well after miscarrying her triplets and the pain was still raw.
“Why did she leave here?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. We’d all lived together for five hundred years by then. There had been the odd argument here and there, but nothing that would have caused her and Abel to leave. I never understood it. It took me a long time to get over it. I still think of them both fondly, even after all these years.”
She looked downcast, but carried on rubbing the candlestick.
“What happened the day they left?”
“Nothing, really. There had been a little tiff the day before. It was a difficult time. As you know yo
urself, we can’t carry children. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I had become pregnant again. I think I just wanted to give it one last try. Amber had tried to talk me out of it, and I should have listened to her, but I didn’t. Of course, I miscarried before 12 weeks, like all the other times since drinking that infernal Elixir. Amber had been wonderful, helping me through it, as I had helped her through when it had happened to her. This time though, she was mad at me. I don’t blame her really. She knew, just as well as I did, that getting pregnant was foolish with the way we are. Anyway, the next day I found a note. They’d gone in the middle of the night, taken all their stuff. I’ve not seen them since.”
“Did they give any indication of where they were going?”
“I’ve been racking my brain as to where they could be. I’m afraid I have no idea. I know that Amber always wanted to visit Egypt, but I have no idea if that’s where they went. She did like the sunshine, though. I would imagine they will be in a hot country somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you where, I’m afraid.”
“What did the note say?”
“That was the weird thing. She’d written how sorry she was and how much she’d miss us, but something had changed, and she felt she was unable to stay with us anymore.”
“Something had changed? What did she mean by that?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. Nothing had changed as far as I could see, quite the opposite. I’d have been a lot less surprised if she’d said that she was bored because nothing ever changed. Of course she could have meant my miscarriage, but who knows? I’m sorry, I know I’m being next to useless, and I know how important it is that we find them, but I really have no clue as to where they are. I promise I’ll do my best to remember anything that will help, any clue at all. It was a hundred years ago, though, and that’s a long time to remember.”
Just then Mrs Smithson came back with a tea tray and some cookies, rendering any further conversation on the topic impossible. Anais felt frustrated with the lack of information, but was saved further dwelling on the subject by Mrs Smithson offering her a chocolate cookie and asking how things were going with Aethelu.
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