by Beth Byers
Violet happily drank the chilled champagne with little care about the lack of juice. “Shall we go for a tromp through the snow?”
Given they’d have to light the fire, clean their own baths, and deal with their own clothes, they eyed each other and then Jack said, “We are here to play in the snow.”
“That we are,” Ham agreed. “It isn’t like we have so much of this back in London.”
“It would be far lovelier if we could have cocoa at the end.”
“Do you even know how to make cocoa?” Smith asked, snorting. “It’s heated milk with chocolate melted in it. Even our limited skills could make that.”
“I knew that,” Lila crowed.
“As did I,” Beatrice and Vi said together while Rita, Ham, and Jack nodded.
“So only I didn’t know that?” Denny demanded. “Hardly seems fair, does it?”
“Given you are our chocolate addict,” Smith said idly, “you should be ashamed of yourself.”
“Oh I am,” Denny agreed happily. “All of the time. Very rarely holds me back.”
Chapter 4
Violet layered wool stockings over silk stockings and then laced up her fur lined boots. With her warm hat, scarf, and large coat, she felt like she was being baked in an oven. She glanced over at Jack who was frowning at their still packed trunks and then he grinned at her.
“You look like you’re ready for the Antarctic.”
“Isn’t that what it is out there? If only there were penguins—”
“I believe there’s an island we could visit. I was reading about it rather recently.”
Violet crossed to him and tightened his scarf. “Do you think Kate and Victor have scarlet fever?” Saying it out loud had her stomach aching, and she wanted nothing more than to telephone her great-aunt or her father and ask them whether they’d already had the illness. Of course, Great Aunt Agatha had passed and Father probably wouldn’t know.
Vi pressed her head against Jack’s chest and added, “Tell me no even if you think yes.”
Jack cupped Vi’s head as he told her, “I don’t think they have it. Neither do you.”
Vi’s voice was hoarse as she whispered, “What if they get it? What if we lose one of them?”
Jack, to Vi’s relief, didn’t just tell her things would be all right. Someone was likely going to die in the village from scarlet fever. Was it wrong of Vi to desperately want it to be someone else? Not her loved one? Did that make her a beast? Violet hated herself for the idea of it, but she couldn’t shake it. They’d had too much death in their lives and the idea of losing the twins or the baby was horrific. Little Lily? Vi’s eyes were burning at the thought.
“Violet, I spoke with Nanny. She told me that children under three very rarely get scarlet fever. It might be a worry for the future, but it isn’t right now.”
Vi pulled back and met Jack’s gaze. He’d searched out the answers for her when she’d been afraid to ask. “And Kate?”
“It’s a bad cold. Nothing more. Hot compresses on the chest, aspirin for the headache, a chapped nose and an excess of tea, and she’ll be fine.”
Violet nodded rather frantically and then found enough courage to ask, “Victor as well?”
Jack nodded. Vi grinned suddenly and wrapped her arms around Jack’s neck, kissing him deeply. When she pulled back, she said, “Snowman?”
“Of course.”
“Snow angels?”
He paused.
Vi laughed when he didn’t agree and then turned when Smith threw the door open. “If I have to play in the snow, Wakefield, you have to play in the snow.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Jack said to Smith and then grinned. “But I’d be happy to throw you into a mountain of it.”
Smith was unimpressed, but Violet hurried ahead to find Beatrice already waiting. Her one-time maid, turned secretary, turned business manager was already rosy cheeked and Vi guessed that she and Jack weren’t the only ones stealing kisses.
They played for quite a while and then Violet—who’d attempted to drag Jack down into the snow and failed—wrapped her arms around his neck and frowned. “Jack, do you see that?”
Her change in tone made him stiffen and he asked in a low voice, “What?” He swung her around, so she was held in his arms. She pointed to the trees, across the snow where they’d been playing.
There was a little movement in the trees that the stillness of the snow didn’t justify.
“Not a deer?”
“No,” he said in a dark tone. “I think we might be seeing our earlier visitor.”
“So odd,” Violet told him. “Why would anyone come by here?”
He shook his head, not having an answer either. A moment later, he, Ham, and Smith did something with their eyes suddenly and then all the gents were looking towards the woods.
Rita crossed to Vi and asked, “Do you think they don’t know we’ve noticed? Even Denny is noting their distraction, and he’s already back into his cups.”
Violet laughed. “I’ll have you know I spotted our peeper in the woods first.”
“Of course you did,” Rita laughed. She then called, “Go on then. We’ll be fine. Vi and I can look after Denny, and Beatrice can look after Vi and me.”
Beatrice snorted with laughter as Smith snorted, “Too true.”
“Let’s go inside,” Violet suggested. “We’ll have that chocolate.”
They made their way inside and found Victor sitting near the library fireplace.
“Brought your germs down to share?”
“It’s just a cold,” he snapped.
“Here we go,” Denny muttered. “I’ll be adding liqueur to my chocolate.”
“Everyone expected that,” Rita told him.
“Why are you being mean to me?” Victor demanded. “I could be dying.”
Vi eyed him and then crossed and placed her hand on his forehead. No fever. She considered him carefully and he faltered under her gaze. “It’s grim up in the room. Nanny says Kate is fine.”
“Why are you so—” Vi didn’t finish but Victor didn’t need her to.
“Kate. She hadn’t fully recovered from the baby. There was bleeding this time, you know. Rather a lot and then we went to see her mother. Now we’re here. Foolishness might lose me Kate, Vi.”
“It’s a cold,” Violet told her brother gently with a low voice. “That’s all. She just needs permission to sleep and recover.”
“There’s still no fever,” Victor agreed. “Nanny said perhaps it could be scarlet fever when we heard of it. Perhaps, but unlikely.”
“Why are you so grim then?”
He frowned and then leaned back against the back of his seat while Vi tucked in next to him. “You know how I get.”
“When you’re sick? Yes, I’m aware.”
“Well, you’re a brat when you’re ill,” he said defensively.
Violet laughed and then patted his knee. “Bored of sleeping?”
“Yes,” he said and then coughed into his handkerchief.
Violet groaned. She could almost see the illness coming for her. His grimness hadn’t faded and Violet could practically see the blues falling over him. “I’m worried about Jack.”
She could see him calculate the statement. Was she just saying it to distract him? Yes. But was it true? Also yes.
“Work?” He coughed.
Violet nodded as Rita and Beatrice appeared with the cocoa. They had a teapot as well and Violet rose to get some for her brother. He winced as he swallowed and then said, “It’s hard, isn’t it? I feel like we deserve to be mocked for it, yes? Here we are struggling with boredom when all around us others are struggling to survive. We’re spoiled to an unreasonable extent. You know what Kate does?’
Violet nodded. Kate learned new things to avoid boredom. Would there be something that would catch Jack’s attention? Something he’d want to give his time to?
“Do you think he’d want to plot mysteries with me?”
Vic
tor started to reply and then shook his head. “It’s not his passion, Vi. You and I love it. He doesn’t.”
Violet frowned and then asked, “What should I do?”
Victor shook his head and then muttered, “I don’t know, Vi. His passions are you and investigating.”
Victor started to cough again and Vi reminded herself that he didn’t have a fever, that he only had the signs of a cold, and that a chest cold wasn’t going to kill her twin. Violet fiddled with her ring and then glanced towards the front of the house.
“There was someone in the woods,” she told him, more because she was wondering what was taking Jack so long. Maybe they’d found the fellow and were having a chat in the snow.
“What do you mean?”
“There were footprints!” Vi told him with a laugh and then rose again getting some of the chocolate for herself. “When Denny was chopping wood.”
Victor grunted. “Denny didn’t chop wood. Now, I know you’re playing games with me. Be nice, devil. I don’t feel good.”
“I got you tea. I’m the personification of all that is good and tender.”
Victor laughed and then it turned into a cough.
“I heard you,” Denny said from his lounging position on one of the sofas. “I absolutely chopped wood. Then I saw tracks. Then I looked at the tracks. And then no one took me seriously. Spies! Villains! Rogues! I revealed everything and no one believes me.”
“Were you drunk?” Victor asked seriously. “Had you descended so deep into your cups that you were slurring and stumbling?”
Victor would have laughed mockingly, but he had to cough, so Vi took over.
“Yes!” Denny said. “Yes, I had. Vi cooked and I wasn’t starving, but I had already decided to survive off of cocktails and wine and just go with it.”
“Vi, you cooked?” Victor asked, seeming almost surprised. “You did make omelets back in the day when we were poor.”
“I did,” Vi said. “Smith helped.”
“Smith,” Denny said and added, “bah!”
“Bah?” Beatrice asked mildly.
“Bah!” Denny repeated. “Humbug! I saw that spy’s tracks first, but they didn’t take me seriously.” He sighed mournfully and added, “No one does.”
Violet rolled her eyes and then asked him, “Can you blame me?”
“Not really,” Denny said with a grin. He sat up to move closer, taking a seat near them to prop up his feet. “I wouldn’t have believed me either.”
“We still don’t believe you,” Violet told him and then waited for his mouth to drop open.
On cue, Denny’s mouth dropped open and he squeaked. “But! They believed Smith.”
“We believed me,” Violet said. “I saw the woods fellow this time and I told Jack.”
Denny gasped again and then shot her a dark look. “It’s because you’re prettier than me.”
“It might have something to do with Vi not being zozzled,” Victor suggested and then held out his teacup with wide, begging eyes.
Vi rolled her eyes and rose to refill his mug and then made herself a cup. She scowled at it and announced, “I am going to master the art of making Turkish coffee after we escape this lodge.”
“Perhaps we should master a few more things than that,” Victor suggested. “It would behoove us to be able to do more than fry sausages and overcook eggs.”
Vi gasped, holding her hand over her chest as they heard the noise of Jack, Smith, and Ham returning. They made their way down to the library where the friends had taken up residence.
“Poacher?” Vi guessed. The property around the lodge was wooded and could easily be full of things that someone might want to roast for Christmas dinner.
Jack shook his head. “The man ran when we approached. Ham even called after him that we didn’t care if they were poaching, but he scampered.”
“Maybe he thought you were lying?” Denny asked. His expression turned as mischievous as a boy with his hand in the sweeties bin when he added, “I find you to be entirely untrustworthy, myself. I would, of course, trust you with my loved ones, but beyond that—purely a villain.”
Smith ignored Denny’s drawl and crossed to Beatrice, who had curled into a chair with a book and had been ignoring Denny since long before the gents came back. Rita disappeared when Vi hadn’t been looking and they were all spread throughout the house.
Vi glanced between the boys and noticed that light of interest in their eyes. They’d gone from humoring the ladies with the snowman building to boys playing cops and robbers. Violet shook her head at them and then rose. “I’m off to find someone who isn’t ridiculous.”
“No luck in this house,” Denny called, but Violet ignored him and hurried out of the room. She skipped up the stairs and knocked lightly on the door. Nanny opened it later and then said, “Mrs. Kate is just feeding the baby now.”
Violet sidled into the room and whispered low, “No fever?”
“No fever,” Nanny replied. “She’s on the mend already. No need to worry, Mrs. Vi. Things are taking a turn for the better.”
Violet took a breath of relief and crossed to her sister-in-law.
Chapter 5
“It could be worse,” Kate said, handing over the bundle of muslins and baby to Violet and leaning back. “It could be measles or polio. I have to admit, when I heard it was the influenza, I about cried. I couldn’t help but think of my poor cousin who didn’t survive the Spanish flu.”
“Are you all right?” Vi asked. “Really?”
“Really,” Kate agreed. “I truly am. I feel better to be honest, and my breathing is easier. I’m just tired. I have been since little Lionel joined us.”
Violet gazed down at the squishy little one. His cheeks were rounded, and he was a button of a baby. Violet trailed her hand down his arm and let him grasp her finger. “They’re such amazing little creatures. Look at him—”
“They are,” Kate agreed. She was thrown back on her pile of pillows with her arm over her face. “They’re also rather hard to produce.”
Violet laughed as she was meant to and then she placed the baby on her lifted knees, rocking him back and forth. He was barely awake and seemed as zozzled as Denny had been the night before, only from milk instead.
“What are you going to do now?” Violet asked as Kate stretched her toes out.
“After the baby?”
“After babies—the plan is to stop here?”
Kate nodded. “It’s too hard on me. Even following Nanny’s every instruction, I feel as though I’ve lost the last two years.”
“Three babies is a delightful number,” Violet told Kate while tracing her finger over the baby’s brows and chin.
Kate sniffed and said, “What shall I do then?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d have a brilliant idea and it would somehow help Jack find his own desire of what to do. He isn’t happy with the last round of cases. They were all cheating wives. He’s not happy, Kate.”
Kate frowned. “I have an idea, but I don’t know—”
Violet lifted a brow and then Kate explained. After back and forth, Vi admitted, “I hate it.”
“But—”
“But,” Violet agreed.
She could imagine the light in Jack’s eyes on the idea. He hadn’t said anything before about Kate’s idea, but Vi had witnessed the interest here and there. The ridiculous problem of boredom for the very wealthy was something Vi found both frustrating and shameful.
Kate said nothing as Violet considered the idea. Finally, Vi admitted, “It’s worth the attempt.”
There was another knock on the door and Lila’s nanny appeared with a tray of soup and simple rolls. They had an excess of veg and the nanny had made a spinach and tomato salad.
She’d known Vi was visiting with Kate and had brought lunch for them both. The two of them took up seats at a small table near the window and Kate sighed over the snow. “It is magical, isn’t it?”
Vi agreed and then pointed at th
e sight of birds fluttering above the trees. “I wonder if there’s a cat there or something to send those birds off.”
Kate took a bite of her salad. “I don’t think that’s a cat, Vi. Or a fox. Seems a bit larger. Look at the branches moving.”
“What else could it be?” Vi asked as she leaned towards the glass. “Do you think it’s a person? Why would anyone climb a tree in this snow?”
“A person climbing that tree?” Kate demanded. “Denny? Not Denny.”
“Who else would be ridiculous enough?” Violet laughed and then told Kate of the lurker in the woods.
“Odd that,” Kate muttered. “A poacher makes sense only if they’re not endlessly just in those trees. And why in this snow? Surely most animals are bedded down low with that much snow on the ground.”
Violet nodded and then said, “I thought perhaps some local looking for something for Christmas dinner.”
“That does make sense, except…”
“Except—”
Their gazes were fixed on the snow. Of course, animals would venture out a little here and there, but with this fresh snow, it probably wouldn’t be the best hunting weather. “Why else would they be here?”
“Maybe it’s another treasure,” Kate suggested. “Something hidden on the property?”
Vi shook her head. “Tempting to just dart out there and see what’s to be seen.”
Kate’s gaze turned to Vi and then back to the sleeping baby. “Let’s try it.”
“Shall we?” Vi asked.
Kate nodded, her eyes alight. “Let’s!”
Vi darted to Kate’s trunk and dug out Kate’s boots and a coat. Kate threw the long coat on over her pajamas and the two of them ran down the back stairs of the house towards the side exit.
“If we come at them unexpectedly, perhaps we can see the fellow.”
Violet nodded and put her hand over her mouth to hold back her laugh. Rather than darting towards where’d they’d seen the movement in the trees, they ran to the trees on the side of the house and then followed them around the snow-covered green.
