by Sharon Sant
‘I promised Annie that we would if she came to heal you. And as she’s kept her end of the bargain, I intend to keep mine.’
Mrs Harding bustled back into the room, all traces of weariness gone. ‘Annie is awake but still weak. I’m going to give her some broth and hopefully that will give her a little strength. Then we can all sit down and talk this mess through.’
As the sun peeped over the horizon, Annie sat in front of the fire on Isaac’s makeshift bed with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Isaac had now moved to the table, feeling much better for a wash in an ice-cold barrel of water in the garden (Mrs Harding had offered to warm it but Isaac had insisted that the cold would improve his wits) and had a bowl of broth. Annie had eaten very little before abandoning her portion, but Isaac had wolfed down his own and hers afterwards. The spoon clattered into his bowl a second time and without a word, Mrs Harding filled it again, Isaac shooting her a grateful smile.
‘Three of us can’t ride Chester at once,’ Annie said. ‘And it will take so long to get back on foot that we’re sure to lose Georgina forever.’
‘You certainly can’t go like that, you’re far too weak to be useful to anyone,’ Mrs Harding chided.
‘But I have to. She’s my sister.’
‘I’ll go by myself,’ Isaac offered as he slurped at a spoonful of broth.
‘Ernesto would kill you for sure if you turn up,’ Polly snapped. ‘Better if I go. I can get round him.’
Isaac looked doubtful. ‘You sure about that? I don’t think you’ll be ‘is favourite once he finds Annie out of the cellar and you and Chester gone with her.’
‘He won’t know it were me, could have been Annie gettin’ herself out.’
‘He ain’t that stupid.’
‘Perhaps we can organise a rescue party with help from people in the village?’ Charlotte cut in. ‘What about that, Mother?’
Mrs Harding looked doubtful. ‘People have their own business to tend to. I’m not sure they’ll want to spare the time looking for a child who everyone will believe has gone back to her proper place.’
‘But we can tell them she is in danger,’ Charlotte insisted.
‘We have the word of a group of…’ Mrs Harding paused as she glanced in turn at the three guests in her house.
‘Ragamuffins?’ Polly said with a barely disguised sneer.
‘I don’t want to be insulting, but that is how others will view you. As far as they’re concerned, they only have your word that any of this is true. In fact, Charlotte and I only have that too.’
‘I believe them!’ Charlotte said. ‘Isaac almost died trying to protect Georgina, we saw him with our own eyes!’
‘But we only have his explanation for his actions.’ Mrs Harding sighed. ‘For all anyone knows, Dr Black could well be Georgina’s father.’
‘But he ain’t!’ Annie cried.
‘I believe you. But others might not.’
‘So I go alone, like I said.’ Isaac let the spoon fall into his empty bowl a third time and leapt from his seat. ‘Thank you for your hospitality, but I’d best be on the road.’
‘I’m coming,’ Polly said, getting up too. ‘You need me whether you think it or not.’
‘You can’t expect me to sit ‘ere waiting for you an’ doing nothing.’ Annie pushed herself up slowly from the bed.
‘Annie, you’re far too weak,’ Mrs Harding said sternly.
‘I’ll get better. They’re goin’ to need me too.’
Charlotte suddenly jumped up from her seat too. ‘Mother… I know you won’t approve but I’m going with them.’
‘Now really!’ Mrs Harding thumped the table making everyone jump. ‘This is quite ridiculous!’
‘Mother…’ Charlotte said more gently now, taking both her hands. ‘You want Georgina back, don’t you? And I want her back too. But she doesn’t belong to us. However, she belongs with Annie and we love her dearly so it seems right that we should do everything in our power to give happiness to the child who brought so much happiness into our lives. If that means reuniting her with her sister, then I want to do everything I can to help.’
‘NO!’ Mrs Harding shouted. ‘I absolutely will not allow it!’
‘But, Mother –’
‘NO!’
Charlotte scowled as the others watched the altercation. Every occupant of the room sensed the impasse. After wordless moments, Mrs Harding gave a deep sigh and embraced her daughter.
‘I’ve already lost one child, and another of sorts. I could not bear to lose you too; it would break my heart completely. You understand that, surely?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘Then indulge me this one wish. Please stay here with me.’
Charlotte shook her head slowly. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said in a small but determined voice. ‘I have to help them.’
‘What can you do?’ Mrs Harding replied, a vexed note creeping into her tone.
‘I don’t know. But I cannot sit here, safe and warm by the fire doing nothing yet knowing that they and Georgina are in danger.’
‘You can read?’ Isaac cut in. Polly fired him a hate filled glare but he ignored it.
Charlotte nodded. ‘Of course I can.’
He looked at Charlotte’s mother. ‘Then she might be able to help after all.’ His gaze flitted to Charlotte. ‘I ain’t sayin’ it won’t be dangerous, mind.’
‘I saw what happened yesterday; I am well aware of the danger.’
Isaac shifted his weight slightly, Charlotte’s steady gaze making him feel slightly uncomfortable. ‘I was just saying.’
‘You surely cannot intend to go?’ Mrs Harding cut in. ‘Charlotte, this is madness.’
‘Then, Mother, I am sorry, but I must be mad. I am almost a woman. I am old enough to make my own decisions and I am going. Let that be an end to it.’
Charlotte’s hands shook as she fastened the long woollen coat over her dress. It was an old one of her mother’s – one that was rarely used these days – excellent quality and had clearly been expensive when it was new, many years ago. Mrs Harding had insisted that Charlotte wear it to protect her from the cold on such a long journey on the road. She had done the best she could for Annie and Polly too, gifting Polly the shawl to go over her own thin jacket, and finding an old coat of Charlotte’s for Annie. Isaac had refused, insistent that he wouldn’t feel the cold and if he did it would keep him awake. Charlotte understood her mother’s need to do something – anything – to feel as though she was keeping Charlotte and the others safe, at least a little. And so Charlotte had agreed without question that she would wear the coat, even though she didn’t feel she deserved it.
She looked up to see that Polly, Annie and Isaac were all ready and watching her with expectant and apprehensive expressions – something like the expression Charlotte wore herself. What they were heading into, none of them knew, but giving up had never once been mentioned since the decision to look for Georgina had been made. Mrs Harding watched her daughter with eyes that held barely restrained tears. Charlotte turned to her.
‘I will be as quick as I can. Please do not worry; the others will keep me safe.’
Her mother walked towards her and pulled her close to plant a gentle kiss on her forehead. ‘But who will keep them safe?’ she murmured.
Charlotte pulled away and smiled tightly. ‘Now is not the time for melancholy thoughts. We will have Georgina back by nightfall and all will be well again.’
Without another word, Charlotte turned for the door, the others following. Isaac tipped his cap to Mrs Harding as he left, and then the outside door was closed behind him and the room was silent.
The dawn smelt fresh and sharp in their nostrils as they tethered Chester up to the tiny trap that Charlotte had persuaded the smith to let them borrow. He had viewed her request with considerable suspicion, but had eventually agreed to let her take it in return for Mrs Harding taking in some sewing for him. All four shared the same sober thoughts as Isaac and Polly saw to the horse while Anni
e and Charlotte looked on, though nobody had dared voice them. What if they were already too late to save Georgina? Charlotte glanced towards the tiny cottage as she climbed into the cart to see her mother’s half sorrowful, half accusing face at the window. The burden of guilt at leaving her in this way was hard to bear, but the burden of guilt at failing to protect Georgina even more so.
‘We’d best be moving,’ Isaac said quietly as he climbed aboard last of all. ‘And quickly too.’
Polly gave him a short nod and he clicked Chester into movement. Charlotte looked back one last time. Nobody knew what kind of danger they were heading into. Her mother’s face was still at the window, unmoving, her expression unreadable. Silently, Charlotte wondered if this was the last time she would see it.
The journey had passed quietly with the briefest of conversations, each lost in their own thoughts. While Annie panicked and fretted for her sister, Charlotte doing the same, Polly brooded on her lost fortune, on what sort of reception she would get from Ernesto, and on some very confused feelings for a boy sitting not so far away, while Isaac simply wondered whether he would still be alive by the time night fell. But nobody spoke of turning back and nobody questioned their mission. Whatever any of them thought, they would not abandon Georgina now.
As the morning grew old, Ernesto Black’s mansion finally rose up in front of them, impressive in its gloom. Isaac pulled Chester to a halt outside the gates.
‘I’ll not take him in. We might need to get him out quick if things turn nasty.’ He turned to Polly. ‘If Ern goes for me, you take these two and get them away.’
Polly screwed up her nose. ‘If Ern goes for you, he’ll get a pan across his ‘ead.’
Isaac grinned. ‘But before you do that, make Annie and Charlotte safe.’
‘I still say I should be the one to go and talk to ‘im,’ Polly insisted.
Isaac shook his head, his quick grin fading. ‘There’s no telling what mood he’s in right now. I won’t have it on my conscience.’
‘You think I can’t look after myself because I’m a girl.’
‘I think you can look after other things a darned sight better than me, which is why I need you to be the one to get away if things go awry. You’re sharp enough to track Georgie down and rescue her without me, but I ain’t without you. So these two girls need you.’
Polly nodded. ‘Fair enough.’
Isaac leapt nimbly from the trap, the others following while he tethered Chester to the railings.
‘Right. I’ll see you all in a mo,’ he said.
‘Wait!’ Polly called him back. Isaac turned with a look of faint surprise. Without another word, Polly strode over and pulled his face towards hers, planting a forceful kiss on his lips. Isaac stepped back looking startled, while Annie and Charlotte glanced at each other awkwardly.
‘Well…’ Polly said carelessly, ‘you might be dead soon. I was just giving you a sort of consolation.’
Isaac grinned broadly again. He hooked Polly by the waist and drew her back into him. This time he gently brushed a curl from her face and kissed her tenderly. ‘Might there be more consolation if I manage to get back out?’
‘Not bloomin’ likely,’ Polly snapped, but around her lips there was the ghost of a smile. She pushed him away and straightened her dress. ‘Now go and see Ern before we all die of old age.’
Isaac sprinted up the driveway and veered off towards the courtyard at the rear of the house. As soon as he was out of sight, Polly turned to the others. ‘If he thinks he’s leavin’ me out here while he does all the important work he can think again.’
‘What are you goin’ to do?’ Annie asked, her eyes wide and fearful.
‘I’m goin’ to find a big pan and make sure I’m ready to knock ol’ Ern out if he tries any more funny business. You two stay here and wait.’
Hitching up her skirts, she marched towards the house in the direction that Isaac had just taken.
Charlotte looked at Annie. ‘We can’t just let them go in there alone.’
‘Polly said to stay here.’
‘Polly is not in charge of me.’
‘You don’t know Polly,’ Annie replied darkly. ‘If you’re in her company, then she’s in charge of you.’
Charlotte was about to reply when her attention was drawn to a figure sprinting down the path towards them.
Isaac drew level panting. ‘It looks like we don’t need to worry about Ernesto after all.’ Charlotte and Annie exchanged confused looks. ‘You’d better come inside, and quick,’ Isaac added, glancing around with a worried expression. ‘We don’t want anyone to see us here now.’
‘Why not?’ Annie asked. ‘People see us here all the time.’
‘When you see what’s happened,’ Isaac said, ushering them through the gates, ‘you’ll realise that ain’t a good thing.’
Twenty
Inside the study, the dusty old curtains were still drawn. Polly stood next to Ernesto’s chair staring at him. Ernesto appeared to be asleep – his head lolling onto one shoulder and his arm dangling over the edge of the seat. But something didn’t look quite right about the scene, and a couple moments closer inspection revealed more sinister details: purple marks around his neck and a bloodless pallor.
‘Is he breathing?’ Charlotte whispered.
Polly shook her head.
‘He’s dead?’ Annie whimpered, looking as thought she may faint at any moment.
Polly nodded. For the first time in her life, it seemed, she was speechless.
‘But I don’t reckon he went peacefully,’ Isaac said with a grimace.
Charlotte’s eyes raked the room. ‘Everything seems to be tidy.’
‘What does that matter?’ Isaac asked.
‘Well… you’d think if he was murdered there would be signs of a struggle.’
Isaac shrugged. ‘Depends on how he was murdered, don’t it?’
Everyone was quiet as their attention returned to the body.
‘The Brethren…’ Polly finally spoke into the silence.
Annie dropped to her knees, her eyes wide. ‘The people that did this have got my sister…’
Charlotte knelt beside her. ‘Perhaps. But we don’t know that for certain. And besides which, this cult – this… Brethren – must need her for something so she will be safe for now.’
‘The prophecy,’ Annie said quietly, unable to tear her eyes from Ernesto’s body. ‘I heard them talk of it. They said they wanted Her Majesty dead and then the only other thing they needed was the black-haired witch-child of the prophecy and then they could take power.’
‘So she’s supposed to lead them or something?’ Charlotte asked with a look of utter confusion. The day’s revelations were getting stranger and stranger.
‘That’s why I had to hide her away.’ Annie turned to Charlotte. ‘That’s why I had to leave her with you. She weren’t meant to be found. She weren’t meant to be the child they were looking for.’
‘But she’ll be alive!’ Charlotte grasped her hand and gave an encouraging smile. ‘She’ll be cared for because they need her.’
Annie shook her head in a tiny movement. ‘No… they need her out of the way.’
‘So they’ll have her prisoner?’
‘They want her dead,’ Polly cut in.
Everyone turned to her. ‘How do you know that?’
Polly swallowed hard and took a deep breath. ‘Before, I didn’t know what Ernesto intended, I swear. But as soon as he told me where the nipper was ‘eading, I knew I done wrong. I heard talk of the Brethren on the streets and it ain’t good. They’ve been searching for years for magical kids of a certain age and they get rid of them good an’ proper. Nobody knows why or how or where, but everyone knows they do it. But now we know why. If they knew this prophecy business, then they were looking for the witch that was mentioned in it. I’ll bet you half Ern’s mansion that all the missing children are girls with black hair.’
Annie’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I’ve lost h
er.’
‘No,’ Isaac cut in. ‘I reckon anyone who calls themselves The Brethren like a bit of pomp. They won’t just slit her throat…’ he paused as Annie whimpered. ‘Sorry, Annie, I mean, they won’t do anything with her yet. They’ll want to make a fuss, do rituals and whatnot. They probably have to wait for magical times of the day or year and all that. She could still be alive right now.’
‘But the Queen is already dead,’ Annie cried. ‘There’s only Georgina in their way now!’
‘We don’t know that it’s Georgina,’ Isaac shot back. ‘They don’t know it is either. They might want to do away with her but they don’t know for sure they have the right girl. They might never have the right girl and they must realise that.’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ Charlotte cut in. ‘I agree with Annie, uncertainty won’t stay their hand and it’s too big a risk to take with Georgina’s life to trust that it will.’
Isaac sighed and shoved a hand through his hair. ‘We’re wasting time. We need to find out where she is…’ he nodded his head at Ernesto, ‘and he ain’t tellin’ us. So we need to think of another way of finding her.’
‘Perhaps there will be letters, paperwork, something documented in this room to help us?’ Charlotte suggested.
‘Not likely,’ Polly replied with a barely disguised sneer. ‘Ern weren’t that green.’
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. ‘You can’t read.’
‘What’s that got to do with the price of eggs?’
‘None of you can read?’ Charlotte continued, ignoring Polly’s rebuke and searching the faces of her other companions. Both Annie and Isaac shook their heads. ‘So why would Ernesto have to be concerned about you finding any of his documents? It would mean nothing to you.’
‘If the Brethren have been and taken care of him, then they’ll have taken any papers mentioning them too, you can bet your life,’ Isaac replied.
Polly flew to the desk and began to feel underneath it with a slow smile. ‘Not if they don’t know about this…’ A second later there was a click, and a shallow drawer slid out. Polly stood back and clamped her hands on her hips with a triumphant look. ‘Secret compartment. Ol’ Ernesto might have been clever, but you have to get up with the crowing of the cock to keep up with me.’