“By the way, I’d been meaning to write you about your previous letter.” Rachel leaned closer to her sister. “If Father doesn’t approve of Bavaria, wouldn’t he favor sending one of his daughters to work her will upon the Bavarian heir? To warp him to the ways of good? I mean, couldn’t Vlad change the government once he became king? So it wasn’t a dictatorship? Father would have to be in favor of that. Really! It’s important to think these things out.”
Sandra sighed and did not answer. Rising, she crossed to the windows and leaned against the glass, staring out at the brightly-colored barges on the canal below.
“Don’t you want to be Queen of Bavaria?” asked Rachel, from her seat.
Apparently, she had spoken too loudly, because from across the room, their mother turned and gazed at Sandra.
Their mother asked softly, “Do you want to be Queen of Bavaria?”
Sandra glanced at their mother and then looked away. She did not reply. Their mother blew on her hot cup of cocoa and sighed.
“I’ll talk to your father, dear,” she said, adding. “Oh, and Rachel, there’s a letter for you.”
Rachel took the letter and brought it over to one of the windows. Inside was a sheet of lined paper. It read:
My feelings for you have not changed. I hope you come back soon, because I can’t wait to see you again.
Gaius
Epilogue
Back at Roanoke, the next day, Rachel landed her steeplechaser and sat on the rounded boulder next to the wingless statue. The cold bit through her robes and her wool coat, and the rock was hard beneath her, but she did not care. With fingers nearly numb from the cold, she opened the envelope that had come for her from Detective Hunt and read what was inside.
“Oh!” she whispered with joy. “Old Thom would be so pleased!”
Across the river, lightning lit the thundercloud that still hung over Storm King Mountain. Thunder rolled across the Hudson Valley. The Heer was still on the loose.
“Pleased about what?” asked the old ghost, barely visible in the darkness of the forest.
“You’re here!” Rachel cried. “My friend’s father found your family! There are photos.”
Rachel pulled out the photographs and laid them side by side on the pine needles. “Your family escaped the fire by running to the neighbor’s farm. They stayed there for a time, but when news came that your ship went down, they went to live with a cousin in Saratoga.”
“Cousin Olivia!” swore the sailor. “Never thought of going there!”
“Your wife never remarried, but she took good care of your children. Your eldest son died fighting in World War I.”
The old ghost’s face fell. “Poor Thom, Jr. He was such a bright little tot.”
“Your second son joined the navy. Made it all the way to captain. Commander of his own ship.”
The old sailor grinned a toothy grin. “Good for Freddie! A captain! Me own son!”
“And your daughter married a…” Rachel turned the page, “a shipwright from Maine and had three children of her own.”
“Good old Sue. Knew she’d make good. Pretty as a posey, my girl.”
“Oh my!” Rachel gasped, gazing up at the ghost in great excitement. “Her granddaughter grew up to marry, of all people, the son of Captain Vanderdecken and Merry-Merry Moth! Rowan Vanderdecken, one of my classmates here at school, is your great-granddaughter.” Searching the line of photos, she found one of the smiling, fiery-haired Rowan and held it up for the ghost to see.
“My great-granddaughter.” The old ghost’s eyes filled with tears. “A Roanokean.”
As he stood, transfixed with joy, the clouds shifted, and a single beam of light pierced the gloom of the forest, striking the exact place where Old Thom stood. It was so bright that, for a moment, Rachel was blinded by the light.
She raised her hand to shade her eyes, but the old sailor was nowhere to be seen. With a flutter of wings, a very large Raven lifted off a nearby bough, where it had apparently been watching, cawed once, and flew away.
It could have been her imagination, but Rachel would have sworn it sounded like a caw of approval.
The End
To be continued in:
The Awful Truth About Forgetting
Subscribe to the Roanoke Glass, a feature of the Wrights’ Writing Report
http://eepurl.com/cg-40H
to be kept up-to-date on all things Unexpected and the further adventures of Rachel Griffin.
For more information about the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts, see the school’s website:
http://lampwright.wix.com/roanoke-academy
Glossary
Agents
Magical law enforcement. Agents fight magical foes, both human and supernatural.
Alchemy
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of putting magic into objects.
Bavaria
A country that exists in the world of the book but not in our world. It is known to both the World of the Wise and the Unwary. It is ruled by the Von Dread family.
Canticle
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of commanding the natural and supernatural world with the words and gestures of the Original Language.
Cantrip
One word in the Original Language, i.e. a canticle spell.
Cathay
The Democratic Republic of Cathay, a country that exists in the world of the book but not in our world. It is known to both the World of the Wise and the Unwary. It is ruled by an elected council.
Conjuring
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of drawing objects out of the dreamlands.
Core Group
A group of students, usually from the same dorm, who attend all their classes together.
Dare Hall
The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by enchanters.
De Vere Hall
The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by warders and obscurers.
Dee Hall
The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by scholars.
Drake Hall
The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by thaumaturges.
Enchantment
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is based on music and includes a number of sub-arts.
Fulgurator’s wand
A wand with a spell-grade gem on the tip that is used by Soldiers of the Wise to throw lighting and to hold other kinds of spells.
Gnosis
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of knowledge and augury.
Heer of Dunderberg
Storm Goblin locked up with his Lightning Imps in a cave in Stony Tor on Roanoke Island.
Jumping
A cantrip that allows the practitioner to teleport.
Magical Australia
A country that is only known to the Wise. It is ruled by the Romanov family.
Marlowe Hall
The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by conjurers.
Morthbrood
An ancient organization of practitioners of black magic. During the Terrible Years, the Morthbrood served the Terrible Five.
Mundane
Without magic. Refers both to the modern technological world and to those who cannot use magic. It is possible to be mundane and Wise, if one has no magic but is aware of the magical world.
Obscuration
A subset of Warding. It allows for the casting of illusions that hide things and trick the Unwary.
Original Language
The original language in which all objects were named.
Parliament of the Wise
The ruling body of the World of the Wise.
Pollepel Island
The name the Unwary call the island they see in place of Roanoke Island. It is also called Bannerman Island.
Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts
A school of magic on a floating island that is currently moored in the Hudson nea
r Storm King Mountain.
Scholars
Practitioners of the Art of Gnosis.
Sorcery
The study of magic.
Spenser Hall
The dormitory at Roanoke Academy that is favored by canticlers.
Terrible Five
The leaders of the Veltdammerung, who terrorized the World of the Wise during the Terrible Years. They consisted of: Simon Magus, Morgana le Fay, Koschei the Deathless, Baba Yaga, and Aleister Crowley.
Thaumaturgy
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of storing charges of magic in a gem.
Thule
A country that is known only to the World of the Wise. It occupies the section of Greenland that is, in our world, occupied by the world’s largest national park (larger than all but 32 countries).
Transylvania
A country that exists in the world of the book but not in our world. It is known to both the World of the Wise and the Unwary. It is ruled by the Starkadder family.
Tutor
The term used for professors at Roanoke Academy.
Unwary
One who does not know about the magical world.
Veltdammerung
Twilight of the World. The organization that served the Terrible Five during the Terrible Years. It consisted of the Morthbrood and of supernatural servants.
Warding
One of the Seven Sorcerous Arts. It is the Art of protecting one’s self from magical influences.
Wise
Those in the know about the magical world (as in the root of the word ‘wizard’).
Wisecraft
The law enforcement agency of the Wise. The Agents work for the Wisecraft.
World of the Wise
The community of those who know about the magical world.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Mark Whipple, John C. Wright, and William E. Burns, III who breathed the life into the original story.
To Virginia Johnson, Erin Furby, Brian Furlough, Bill Burns, and Jeff Zitomer, who helped iron out the bumps, and to my sons, Orville and Justinian for playing along and particularly to Juss, for wearing a lightning imp under his cat.
To Erin Furby, Katherine Petersen, Laura Taylor, Theresa Murphy, Mark Thompson, and April Freeman for slogging through the early drafts.
To Anna “Firtree” Macdonald and Don Schank, for making it readable.
To Jim Frenkel for the gift of editing, for which Rachel will be forever grateful.
To C J Armstrong, Casey Hand, Lucas Huguet, Josh Huguet, Charlie Jackson, Darren McCormick, Jimmy McGuigan, Tanay Pandey, Junior (JR) Strickland, and Orville, Roland, and Justinian Wright for a performance beyond the call of duty. Troop Two! Second to none!
To my mother, Jane Lamplighter, for listening and making dinner on Wednesdays, so I could write.
And to Jonathan Kruk, Storyteller Extraordinaire, for his superb research and entertaining writing style in presenting the lore behind the legend in his book Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow. Mr. Kruk can be found in Sleepy Hollow on Halloween night, telling Washington Irving’s story to eager listeners at the Old Dutch Church.
About the Authors
L. Jagi Lamplighter is also the author of the Prospero’s Daughter series: Prospero Lost, Prospero In Hell, and Prospero Regained. She is an assistant editor with the Bad-Ass Faeries Anthologies, and she maintains a weekly blog on writing called Wright’s Writing Corner. When not writing, she switches to her secret identity as wife and stay-home mom in Centreville, VA, where she lives with her dashing husband, author John C. Wright, and their four darling children, Orville, Ping-Ping, Roland Wilbur, and Justinian Oberon.
To learn more, visit http://ljagilamplighter.com
On Twitter: @lampwright4
Mark A. Whipple grew up in Croton-on-Hudson, which is not far from Roanoke Island. He then attended St. John’s College in Annapolis, the mundane sister school to Roanoke Academy. Until recently, he has spent his free time, when not busy torturing Rachel Griffin, protecting the world from video game threats. Now, however, he volunteers with Stillbrave, a charity devoted to helping the families of children with cancer.
Unexpected Charity: 30% of the authors’ proceeds from the Unexpected Enlightenment series goes to charity. Current charities of choice:
Mark’s choice: Stillbrave Childhood Cancer Foundation – helping families of children with cancer.
Stillbrave Childhood Cancer Foundation
6731A Edsall Rd, Springfield, VA 22151
https://stillbrave.org
Jagi’s choice: All Girls Allowed – fighting for the rights and dignity of girls in China, and St. John’s College – which, as the Wise all know, was started by two students from Dee Hall.
All Girls Allowed
101 Huntington Avenue, Suite 2205
Boston, MA 02199
http://allgirlsallowed.org
St. John’s College
60 College Ave
Annapolis, MD 21401
http://www.sjc.edu
The Books of Unexpected Enlightenment
The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin
The Raven, The Elf, and Rachel
Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland
The Awful Truth about Forgetting (forthcoming)
Guardians of the Twilight Lands (forthcoming)
… and more to come
Other books by L. Jagi Lamplighter
The Prospero’s Children Trilogy
Prospero Lost
Prospero In Hell
Prospero Regained
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter One: Falling Out of Dreams
Chapter Two: Trapped in Transylvania
Chapter Three: A Day in the Life of an Ordinary Girl
Chapter Four: The Mystery of the Moonlit Mirror
Chapter Five: Flops-Over-Dead Chick Saves the Day—Sort of
Chapter Six: Feasting Upon the Flesh of Innocents
Chapter Seven: The Vultures, the Wolf, and Mrs. March
Chapter Eight: Awkward Homecomings
Chapter Nine: The Goose and His Intrepid Daughter
Chapter Ten: “Don’t Ever Give In!”
Chapter Eleven: Uncommon Commoners and Kings
Chapter Twelve: Ancient Echoes of Sardonic Laughter
Chapter Thirteen: The Die Horribly Debate Club
Chapter Fourteen: Memories in Dreamland
Chapter Fifteen: The Library of All Worlds
Chapter Sixteen: In Pursuit of Tell-Tale Glints
Chapter Seventeen: Beautiful Children of the Immortals
Chapter Eighteen: Behind Enemy Lines
Chapter Nineteen: One Classy Lady
Chapter Twenty: So Swears Dread!
Chapter Twenty-One: Blood Sister of a Blood Brother
Chapter Twenty-Two: Slaying Elves and Chestnuts
Chapter Twenty-Three: Crashing the Dead Men’s Ball
Chapter Twenty-Four: The Dead Denizens of the Hudson Highlands
Chapter Twenty-Five: They Died at Their Posts Like Men
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Swan Who Would Be King
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Wild Hunted
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Though the World May Burn
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Cold as a Tiger
Chapter Thirty: A Conspiracy of Angels
Chapter Thirty-One: Plunged Into Darkness
Chapter Thirty-Two: Banished Knight
Chapter Thirty-Three: Interlude at Sandra’s
Chapter Thirty-Four: A Unicorn to the Rescue
Chapter Thirty-Five: Saturn’s Army
Epilogue
Glossary
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
reading books on Archive.
Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland (The Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 3) Page 46