The Lost Heir (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 1) (28 page)

Isabelle winced, but Dani looked at Derek. She had been there herself the night of the ‘singing’ at Newgate Prison, although to her and Jake, it had sounded like a maelstrom of thunder and fingernails on a blackboard.

It had sounded evil.

“This isn’t good,” Derek responded at last.

“No.” Helena met his gaze meaningfully, with a nod toward the girls that seemed to say, Do
n’t upset the children.
“Fortunately, all of those poor people seem to be getting back to their old selves. I’m sure they’ll stop hopping about in a few days.”

Dani pressed her lips together to stifle a giggle. It didn’t seem wise to laugh in front of Lady Bradford. But Miss Helena sent her a twinkling glance.

“Where are all our frog-people now?” Isabelle asked.

“They’re down at Griffon Castle, my dear,” her governess answered. “They’re comfortable there. Besides, once they came back to their senses, most of them were appalled at the condition of the rooms they were once responsible for. Eleven years’ worth of dust and cobwebs! They decided to get back to work, right where they left off on the day they were changed.”

“My, how industrious,” Derek said in amusement.

“I daresay they are eager for any return to normality after what they’ve been through,” Her Ladyship said.

“Cousin Jake did very well with that spell today,” Isabelle spoke up on the punished boy’s behalf.

“I suppose,” Lady Bradford admitted, and Miss Helena agreed, but Derek lowered his head.

Dani studied him with a sideways glance. She thought she detected a trace of regret on the warrior’s face. He cleared his throat. “Perhaps I’ll go check on the lad. If you ladies will excuse me?” He pushed back from the table.

Her Ladyship nodded; Helena smiled at him. Derek sketched a polite bow and retreated from the dining room.

Uh-oh. Wide-eyed, Dani watched him go, hoping Jake had returned to the compost heap by now, or he was going to be in even worse trouble than before.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Where’s Jake?

“So, what did you girls do today?” Miss Helena asked after Derek had gone. They began chatting, but it wasn’t long before they heard the Guardian’s voice booming from outside: “Jacob! Jake?!”

Dani drew in her breath; Lady Bradford raised an eyebrow and cast her a curious glance.

Conversation at the table stopped.

The others turned toward the muffled sound of the Guardian’s bellow coming from the garden. “Jake!” Derek was sounding increasingly angry. “Blast it, Jake, where are you? Come back here, now!”

“Miss O’Dell?” the dragon-lady inquired, arching an eyebrow. Her tone of voice was mild, but her stare was piercing. “Is there something you wish to share with us?”

Dani feared her guilty foreknowledge about the blockhead shirking his duty was written all over her face.

“Hmm?” Her Ladyship prodded.

“Um—” She faltered. How could she tell on Jake again?

Before she could speak, Derek came stomping back to the threshold of the dining room. “He’s gone.”

“Gone?” Helena exclaimed.

Derek nodded. “We’ve got to find him. The compost heap was barely touched. I’d wager he’s off on the grounds somewhere having a good, long sulk.”

Miss Helena pushed back from the table at once. “I’ll help you look for him.”

Lady Bradford rested her head in her hands briefly with a vexed sigh.

“Maybe he’s with Archie,” Isabelle chimed in.

The old baroness looked at her as though she wished all her grandchildren were well-behaved young ladies. “You’re probably right, dear. Let’s hope they haven’t both sneaked off again to cause more mischief,” she said in disapproval. “Go check to see if your brother’s in his room.”

Isabelle shook her head. “Don’t worry, Aunt Ramona. Archie was so terrified after what happened in the village, I doubt he’s daft enough to wander off again.”

“Dani, why are you looking so nervous?” Derek asked, eyeing her in suspicion. “Do you know something about this?”

With everyone staring at her, Dani gave up on her vow not to tell on Jake again. “I went to bring him some lemonade about an hour ago,” she admitted. “He wasn’t there.”

Derek nodded. “I saw the glass. It was still full.”

“You should have told us, child,” Lady Bradford chided fretfully.

“I can understand why she’d hesitate, my lady,” Derek spoke up in her defense. “Jake nearly bit her head off this afternoon for informing us about their trip to the village.”

“Please don’t be too angry at him,” Dani pleaded. “Jake’s not used to being punished or told what to do.”

“Well, we’d better find him. It’ll be dark soon and with all that’s happened, I want him back inside before the sun goes down.”

The others nodded, then everyone split up to find the again-missing heir of Griffon. Derek went to see if Jake had gone to the castle. When the girls checked to see if he was with Archie, they found the young inventor in his room, as ordered, working on some experiment. He shook his head when they asked if he’d seen Jake.

Dani was looking out the window in Archie’s room when suddenly a large black animal went streaking across the lawn below. She gasped. “I-it’s a-a—”

“What’s got into you?” Archie asked.

“I just saw a-a panther!”

“Oh, that’s just Helena. Probably trying to track Jake down by scent.”

“What?” Dani cried, her mouth hanging open.

The Bradford children laughed. “Didn’t anyone tell you? The twins aren’t just half French. They’re full-blooded shape-shifters.”

“Shape-shifters!” she echoed, staring out the window in the direction the sleek black panther had gone.

“Henry can turn into a wolf!” Archie boasted.

“That’s why our parents hired them,” Isabelle said.

“It’s true. Besides being a highly qualified governess and tutor, the two make frightfully good bodyguards in case we need protection against, you know, Dark Druids or whatnot,” Archie said. “Anyone who’d ever try to harm my sister and me would get ripped to shreds. Isn’t that right, Izz?”

“Am I the only person around here without any magical powers?” Dani cried when she finally found her voice.

“I don’t!” Archie answered cheerfully, pushing his goggles up higher onto his nose.

“Come on,” Isabelle said to Archie. “Help us look for Jake.”

They and all the former frog servants spread out over the grounds of Bradford Park and Griffon Castle, calling for the missing heir.

A fiery pink sunset was already setting the western sky ablaze as they all came back empty-handed.

“He’s not here.” Derek shook his head, his demeanor grim.

Helena had turned herself back into a person and rejoined them, smoothing her skirts. “I followed his tracks to the edge of the stream, but I lost his scent on the other side of the water.”

“Did the water nymphs report anything useful?”

“Actually, now that you mention it…I didn’t see them,” Helena answered with a frown.

Derek turned to the others. “Did anyone else speak to the water nymphs?”

They shook their heads. Isabelle ran to the edge of the stream, using her telepathy to search for them. “There’s no sign of them. The water nymphs are gone!”

Derek cursed under his breath.

“He must’ve used the conch shell to order them away,” Lady Bradford said. “But why?”

“This is my fault,” Derek clipped out in a taut voice. “I was too hard on him. I didn’t think he’d run away! Don’t worry, I’ll get him back here safely.”

“But Guardian Stone, we saw him earlier! He was doing as you said,” Isabelle protested.

“Maybe he got fed up with it,” Archie said.

“He’s run away before,” Dani spoke up cautiously. “He ran away from the orphanage and his apprentice masters. If you ask me, he’s probably gone back to London. It’s daft of him, I know, but he’s always hated being told what to do. He prefers to be ‘free.’”

Lady Bradford shook her head. “I’ll fetch my crystal.” She picked up the hem of her skirts and marched briskly back into the house.

The others followed her into the parlor where she took out a quartz crystal hung from a thread. She held it over a map and used some mysterious incantation to try to locate Jake. The crystal swung a few tiny degrees, though Lady Bradford was not visibly moving it.

Dani looked on in trepidation, holding Teddy. Even though Her Ladyship was a good witch, this dabbling in magic gave her the creepies.

“It seems Miss O’Dell is correct,” the baroness announced at length. “Jacob’s gone to London.”

Derek let out a growl. “How can he be there already?”

“The train!” Archie exclaimed. “Next one doesn’t come until tomorrow morning.”

“Then I’ll ride.” Derek marched off.

Helena hurried after him. “Guardian Stone, shall we come with you? I can have the carriage readied—”

“No. Without me or Henry here and the water nymphs gone, the others will need your protection. Your Ladyship, girls.” Derek nodded farewell and pivoted to go, but Dani ran after him. “Wait! I’m coming with you!”

“You stay here—”

“No! You need my help! I know where Jake’s hideaway is,” she interrupted. “I know all the places he goes!”

“Do not worry,
ma petite
,” Miss Helena soothed her. “His Guardian instinct will lead him to Jake.”

Derek glanced over sharply at her, a look of pain passing behind his eyes. “No, it’s failed me before,” he forced out with a grim look. “She’s right. She’d better come along. Dress warm,” he ordered Dani. “We’ll be on the road all night—and no dog.”

Her face fell. Leave Teddy behind? What if once they got to London, she wasn’t invited back? She might never see her dog again. “Please, Mr. Stone—”

“No, we have to hurry. I’m not stopping every twenty miles for Teddy’s little pee breaks. Hurry up, if you’re coming,” he ordered, then he left to saddle his horse.

Still holding Teddy in her arms, Dani turned to Isabelle. “W-would you watch Teddy for me?”

“Of course.” Dani gave Teddy a kiss on his head, then reluctantly placed her dog in the older girl’s arms. “I’ll take good care of him,” Isabelle promised. “Don’t worry. Of course you’ll see him again.”

Dani swallowed hard. “I hope so.” She gave Teddy another scratch under his ear, but a lump rose in her throat as she realized that if the worst happened and she was not allowed to come back, her dog would be better off here in the country.

“Don’t worry,” Isabelle whispered. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Dani dropped her gaze.
Easy for you to say.

Then she ran to fetch her cloak.

PART IV

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The Talk of the Town

For the past three hours, Jake had been whizzing down the train tracks in the Earl of Griffon’s fancy private boxcar. Uncle Waldrick and his lady friend, Fionnula, had been entertaining themselves throughout the long, boring train ride with uproarious laughter at Jake’s expense.

“Now jump around and act like a monkey!”

“Hop on one foot—while holding your nose!”

“Cluck like a chicken!”

They collapsed against the velvet seats of the booth in gales of laughter while Jake tried to keep up with their constant commands.

Unfortunately, he did not know enough about magic to understand what they had done to him, or, more importantly, how to free himself from his uncle’s control.

At last, the pair grew bored of their game.

Waldrick wiped away a tear of laughter. “I would say the Oboedire spell has definitely worked, my dear.”

“Indeed! How much longer before we reach London, Waldrick?” Fionnula whined. “My, ah,
medicine
will soon be wearing off.”

“Don’t fret, dear,” he said, giving her hand a gallant pat. “We shall be home shortly.”

He was right. Half an hour later, the train, brakes screeching, chugged slowly into the grand station and halted in a mighty puff of steam. Uncle Waldrick hurried them down the few narrow stairs of the boxcar, then out into the chilly night, where he bundled them into a hansom cab and gave the driver his address.

Shivering as if it were January instead of May, Jake did not understand why he felt so cold as he stared vacantly out the carriage window. Dark streets passed as the horses trotted along, taking them to an elegant garden square in a wealthy suburb of London called Richmond-upon-Thames. Waldrick told him they were going to Everton House.

Driving down a tree-lined street by the river, they approached a Town mansion that took up one whole side of an elegant garden square. The hired carriage drove through the tall, wrought-iron gates, then rolled to a halt under the shelter of a half-moon portico. Moths swarmed around the massive iron chandelier that lit up the welcoming space.

He found himself staring at the lantern’s flames, mesmerized by the tiny pinpricks of dancing light.

The driver brought the horses to a halt, then came and got the carriage door for them. “There you are, sir.”

Uncle Waldrick ignored the coachman but turned to help Fionnula down; she winced like someone suffering a bad case of gas. “Come along, Jacob,” he ordered.