Second Night (57 page)

‘This is a working lunch,' he said, flashing the smile deemed part of his well-considered charm that, hitherto, had been entirely lost on Caz. He gave a brief report on the old man's condition. The doctor had just left and the emergency nurses would care for Sir Jonas until the arrival of their resident colleagues, who were expected within the hour. ‘They will remain with us for the foreseeable future, at least until his condition has stabilised.'

Under Daisy's direction, John and Alan had already carried a plain but serviceable bed from the servants' quarters to Lady Mathilda's small suite of rooms and opened up the bedroom on the north side of the gallery that was most conveniently close to the tower room. The hushed sound of sickness reigned in the east wing of the manor house… people talking in low voices… the constant bleep of monitoring machines.

As a precaution, the inner door from the old man's bedroom to the narrow staircase was locked and barred, and the key removed. No stranger would find the way into the observatory or discover the secrets locked among the books and papers in the study.

‘Wouldn't Sir Jonas be better in hospital?' asked Maddie, voicing an opinion that was generally shared by those present who were not Guardians and who had not been permitted to attend to the old man.

‘Not in this case,' replied Charles firmly. ‘Although he is extremely unwell, his illness is not considered to be life threatening. The advent of advanced technology enables his case to be closely monitored by the staff in London and affords us with the opportunity to be able to care for him here at home where he would most wish to be.'

‘And where he'll be properly looked after,' added Daisy, doing her best to sound brisk despite the fragile, worn look on her face and the tendency to shake that had not been evident the day before. ‘John and I will be moving into my parents' old rooms in the housekeeper's flat. We'll be needing some willing hands to get that organised.'

‘Is that something Tris and I can do?' asked Laurence.

‘That would be helpful,' said Charles.

Tristan nodded. ‘Just say the word.'

‘How about tomorrow?' suggested John.

‘Fine by me,' said Laurence.

‘Me too,' agreed Tristan.

‘But shouldn't we cancel our holiday?' asked Sara.

‘We'll be away for three weeks and you're going to need us,' added Jasper.

‘There's nothing that won't wait until you get back,' said Alan.

‘And I'm good in the kitchen,' said Jemima.

Charles looked around the table. ‘I think it is generally agreed that you keep to your plans if alternative arrangements can be made.'

‘What about me?' put in Melanie. ‘I can cook and clean.'

‘And I can use you,' said Daisy, who had thoroughly approved of Melanie ever since they had first been introduced. ‘Another pair of hands never goes amiss and, between young Jemima and me, we can get you trained up and handy in no time.'

‘Which will leave Maddie free to hold the fort in the office and Sara ready to assist me as soon as she returns,' said Charles. ‘You should all know that the management of the estate, the horse-breeding programme and the academic research foundation was set up by Sir Saxon Pring in such a way to ensure that it may continue to operate unhindered while the interest remains, not withstanding the incapacity of any future heirs. We owe it to his grandson, Sir Jonas Pring, who has laboured all his life in this work, to continue as he would wish us to go on.'

‘Hear, hear!' said John.

Jemima's sharp ears caught on to the words ‘while the interest remains.'
And what happens if it doesn't,
she wondered.

The grandfather clock chimed the end of the first hour of the afternoon, reminding Guardian Keeper of Hall and Treasury that the taxi was due to collect him in twenty-five minutes. ‘I know Sir Jonas would want me to thank you all on his behalf for everything you have done and, I am assured, will continue to do for the manor and the estate. It is very much appreciated.' He stood up. ‘If Daisy and John, and Alan and Caz could join me in the study, I would be grateful.'

‘We've missed our best debut,' muttered Jasper gloomily. ‘This could put my musical career on the back-burner for years.'

‘But don't you think it's weird that Freyja's asleep and Sir Jonas is suddenly massively ill, all on the same day as Bryn died two years ago?' whispered Jemima.

‘It can't be a coincidence,' said Sara, shaking her head.

Jasper agreed. ‘No, it can't be. Don't forget to keep up the diary, Sib. We don't want to miss out on anything while we're away.'

While the girls were occupied in the kitchen and the boys were in the ballroom dismantling the stage, Maddie slipped into the privacy of the office and closed the door.

Bryony and Fig Petter were busy in the church, dusting the figures in the Nativity, when they heard Reverend Adrian taking a call in the vestry. His delight was obvious. ‘Maddie!'

The ladies stepped tactfully out of earshot, but Fig was rather deaf and what was diplomatically dulled to her hearing remained crystal clear in Bryony's ears.

‘How wonderful!' exclaimed the vicar. ‘Oh no! I'm terribly sorry to hear that! Of course I'd be delighted. I am delighted! I'll pick you up at five-thirty sharp in front of the gates. That will be wonderful. Perhaps we could grab a bite to eat afterwards? Yes? Look forward to that. Bye.'

Bryony arranged the babe in the crib.
It looks like Mum's missed the boat again,
she thought.
So what's new? Anyway, I couldn't have coped with having a vicar for a stepfather
.
I'm not wearing dustbin rags for the rest of my life.

‘Have you heard the news from up the manor?' whispered Fig. ‘They say the old man's taken really bad. They say he could be on the way out this time. We'll be putting another of the heathen under the church, you'll see.'

The archangel's bright hair gleamed, caught in a beam of midwinter sunshine on the west window overlooking the altar. Bryony knew what he was thinking. She felt the same.
We don't want old Skinflint dead yet!
She was sure she saw him nod.

‘We'll get him on the prayer service for the sick,' she said calmly. ‘I'll come and help.'

‘Well now, there's a duck!' beamed Fig contentedly.

CHAPTER 98

As Guardian Executor, second only to Sir Jonas in Council, Charles Fordham-Marshall had taken the report of the intended betrayal of Caz and Kyri particularly badly.

‘This only confirms my long-held suspicion that the Masters have always pursued some extra, unrevealed agenda that we have yet to discover,' he said resentfully. ‘We have all been betrayed.'

Daisy was white-lipped, her eyes still stinging from the bitter tears she had shed when she heard the news. ‘At least they're all home and safe. That we can be thankful for.'

John nodded his agreement, his head bowed. He was deeply troubled.

Charles turned to Caz, his hand on his heart. ‘Please understand that there was no malicious intention on the part of any of us here. There was no plan of betrayal and we are truly grateful for your courage and your safe and successful return.'

Caz put an arm around Daisy whose shoulders had begun to shake again.

‘Thank you,' he said briefly.

Charles smiled. ‘Alan tells me he will be engraving the penultimate stone in the white circle in the Council Chamber.'

‘He will.'

‘Fortunately the Master was well enough to know of it before he was taken to his bed,' said Alan.

‘The account for the care of the horses and the breeding programme will be transferred to the new Guardian Horsemaster by the end of the afternoon,' said Charles. ‘I will need copies of your signature for the bank before I leave, Caz.'

‘The exchange of title will be noted in the records,' said John.

‘So if we're questioned, how do we explain the state the Master's in?' asked Alan. ‘The nurses are bound to wonder.'

‘That has already been taken care of,' replied Charles. ‘We are employing an agency whose staff are very well paid to provide a high-level and discreet service for those who can afford it. Beyond their brief they ask no questions and will not discuss their client except with his appointed doctor. In this case they understand that, having spent his life researching the old Norse pantheon, Sir Jonas was in the act of embarking upon some obscure and private ritual when he was discovered by you, Alan, and rescued before the venture ended in tragedy.'

‘And that's not so far off the truth,' murmured John.

‘But more of the truth we must seek, and urgently,' said Charles. ‘It is not certain that the Master will return to his former state of lucidity. Therefore the Guardians must undertake to search out any documentation that may cast light on the nature of his behaviour at World Tree. His choice of successor remains equally in doubt.'

‘Where do you want us to start?' asked Alan.

‘Anywhere, and everywhere. Leave no loose flagstone unturned, no panel untapped. Take down every book in the library and examine all the panelling behind the shelves. Pay particular attention to the vault complex and be equally meticulous here in the study.'

‘I'll do what has to be done in here,' volunteered Caz.

Charles nodded. ‘Can I leave it to you to search the observatory as well? Do you know where the keys are?'

‘I'll find them.'

‘The hiding place will most probably have been constructed under the auspices of Sir Saxon and Lady Christina. Remember that, and do your best to think as they would have thought as you search. I will do the same in London.'

The front door bell rang. Charles looked at his watch. ‘That will be the taxi, or the nurses, or both. I must take your leave, Guardians, there is much to be done.' The black eyes twinkled for the first time that day as he turned to Caz. ‘The Winter Solstice has passed and Guardians Year 149 is already begun. The second of the Runes of the Deathless is won and we have entered a period of great change that can ultimately only be for the better. The wellbeing of the horses is left in your most capable hands, Caz, and two tutors have been engaged to liaise with you here during the second week in January. I hope they will enable you to complete your education to a satisfactory level without the need to return to a conventional seat of learning.'

‘Now that's what I needed to hear!' exclaimed Alan.

Caz smiled.
Thank you, Guardian Keeper of Hall and Treasury, and may both continue to prosper in your own most capable hands. I will gladly search this place from top to bottom and entirely for my own reasons. I have already found at least one treasure. I know there will be more.

At that moment he sensed Freyja stirring and knew she had opened her eyes. He held out his hand. Charles grasped it firmly.

‘You have proved yourself fearless and faithful, praiseworthy and true-souled in the most unimaginable circumstances,' he said earnestly. ‘I am honoured to name you Brother.'

CHAPTER 99

Freyja left her hay when Caz came to her box. She put her forehead to his.

‘Yes, you're mine now,' he murmured. ‘I'll always be there for you and no one will ever ride you again, except me.'

Jemima came down the passage, carrying Nanna's tack. Her backpack was stuffed full and the look on her face made it clear that whatever she was about to do was not open to negotiation.

Nevertheless, Guardian Horsemaster needed to know where she was taking one of his charges on this snowbound winter afternoon. ‘What are you doing?'

‘I'm going to Thunderslea to do a ritual for Sir Jonas to make him better,' she said defiantly. ‘Daisy said I could have the cloak. I know what I'm doing and I'll take full responsibility for it.'

‘The snow's pretty deep. Nanna'll be up to her hocks on some of the tracks.'

‘So? I can ride in snow the same as anyone else. We'll just go round the deep bits. I must get there.'

Caz hid a smile. She looked so determined.

‘Then you had better go,' he agreed.

She saw he was wearing his riding boots, the old ones that pinched and would be replaced. Everything he had worn to World Tree was laid out in the archive room where John would prepare the torn clothing and battered mail coat for permanent exhibition.

‘Are you going to watch out for us in the forest?' she asked, hoping very much that he would.

‘Yes. Kyri needs a run.'

She pointed to the spear, wrapped in the spare cloak and stood up against the partition. ‘What's that?'

‘Target practice.'

Her eyes went to the jewelled hilt of the blade in the scabbard at his waist. ‘Isn't that Lady Christina's knife?'

‘No. Al made it for me.'

‘But I've got a photograph of her and Sir Saxon, and they've both got those knives.'

Caz put the spear over his shoulder. He couldn't be bothered to argue. ‘Then Al must have seen the same picture. Saddle up. We'll go with you as far as Thunderslea.'

They rode out of the yard and around the back of the barn, following the same route as the hound had taken into the orchard the night before. It seemed like a lifetime ago to Caz.
I'm missing those old spooks already,
he thought dismally.
My sacrifice is one of the chosen and feasting in Valhall, and I'm stuck back here.

Nanna kept close behind Kyri, striding out to match her steps through the snow. Caz craved the peace and silence of the forest, but Jemima needed to talk.

‘Sir Jonas is not going to die,' she said fiercely. ‘I won't let him. He's going to get better, just like he did when he lost his eye. We'll all look after him and everything will be just the same as before.'

‘He'll die one day.'

‘But not yet, not for ages. We need him.' The memory of the suddenness of their mother's decision to leave Plymouth and Cornwall was still painful to Jemima. ‘I don't want to have to go away again and leave everything like last time. I'll never be able to say goodbye to the horses. I just can't.'