by Amy Cross
“I don't know. All I saw were figures in robes, maybe twenty of them in total, carrying burning torches. They built the stone circle and the chamber beneath, and they left the Tenderling to guard something.”
“This chamber,” Nixon replied, “sounds... intriguing. Would it be possible for me to go and take a look some time?”
“Feel free. You'll find a tunnel that leads down there, just to the east of the circle.”
“Fascinating,” Nixon continued, getting to his feet. “You know, in all our debates on the subject, I just knew there was something else going on with those stones. Call it intuition or second sight or whatever, but there was quite clearly some great force involved in their construction. The raw materials obviously didn't come from Thaxos, so the effort alone to get them here must have been immense, not to mention the money that would have been needed.” He paused for a moment. “Who do you think they were, Edgar? Who were the masters of Thaxos before the Le Compte family?”
“I will find out.”
“And can you be sure that they have left no nasty surprises for us?”
“I will determine that too.”
“You don't think...” He paused again. “Edgar, look, I know this might seem like absolute madness, but you don't think there's a chance that they could have been the cult of Ashalla, do you? I mean, you know the stories about the cult, and how they fled from the war and sought a sanctuary where they could try to resurrect their god... Given the loose nature of the links between the worlds, and especially now that Kate Langley has shown up in such a strange manner, it's possible that the cult ended up right here on Thaxos, albeit in the distant past.”
“And then set about resurrecting their god,” Edgar replied darkly. “Yes, the idea has occurred to me.”
“They're long gone now, of course,” Nixon added.
“They died off,” Edgar continued. “That much is certain. Still, if they were attempting to raise Ashalla, it might be possible that they did not entirely fail.”
“But they must have failed,” Nixon replied. “That's the whole point. The legend says that they went somewhere, that they tried to bring Ashalla back to life and that eventually they withered away and died when it became clear that they'd had no success.”
“Or maybe they just gave up too soon,” Edgar pointed out. “Maybe it took a thousand years for their god to answer.”
“Blimey,” Nixon muttered, “that's a thought, isn't it? So have you worked out what the Tenderling was guarding?”
“Not yet, but I need to carry out a full examination of the chamber. Whatever's down there, it must have been highly valued by the people who built the place, otherwise they'd never have gone to such great lengths to keep it hidden. Perhaps they were waiting for a time when it might emerge of its own volition, or perhaps they hoped to come back one day and reclaim it. Either way, I intend to discover the truth.”
“With my help, of course.”
“You might be mildly useful.”
“Come on, Edgar,” Nixon continued, “this is totally my sort of thing. I know I'm not always so very useful, but I've studied a great deal and I've read almost every book in existence. Taking me along would speed up your work a great deal, and don't take this the wrong way but I might even spot things that pass you by.”
“Fine,” Edgar muttered, “you can assist me, but the project remains mine. I will not have other voices trying to push me in any particular direction.”
“I wouldn't dream of it,” Nixon replied.
“We'll head there at once.”
“But the party -”
“Is over,” Edgar said firmly. “Don't you hear that the music has stopped?”
Nixon opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly he realized that the music had, indeed, come to an end. “Packed all the ghosts away for another night, have you?” he asked after a moment.
“We must gather some equipment and set off at once,” Edgar told him.
“But you've spoken to Estella, haven't you?”
“There's no time,” he replied, turning and heading to the door. “She'll still be here when we get back.”
***
“Cheers, Edgar,” Kate muttered, raising a glass of water to her lips as she stood in the kitchen at the back of the store, “thanks for another swell party.”
Downing the water as fast as possible, she poured another glass, while looking out at the yard. Sunlight was spreading across the town, and high up on the hill Edgar's mansion was silhouetted against the deep yellow and blue hues of the morning sky. For a moment, Kate found herself lost in thought as she replayed the nights events in her mind, thinking back particularly to her journey with Edgar across the cold, dark fields.
Spotting movement through the window, she glanced at the yard's wooden gate and was surprised to see Jennifer slipping back through, carrying a shovel. She waited, watching as Jennifer propped the shovel by the door and headed inside.
“Jesus!” Jennifer shouted, almost leaping out of her skin as she entered the kitchen and came face to face with Kate. “What the hell are you doing there?”
“It's morning,” Kate replied, surprised by her jumpiness. “I figured you'd want some help in the store.”
Jennifer stared at her for a moment, before heading over to the sink.
“Are you okay?” Kate continued, spotting dirt smeared all over Jennifer's hands. “Where have you been?”
“Nowhere.”
“Where's Anna?”
“In her room.”
Kate watched for a moment as Jennifer began to wash her hands, scrubbing at her fingernails in an attempt to get the dirt loose.
“Been digging?” Kate asked finally.
“Just planting some things.”
“Like what?”
“Like none of your goddamn business!” Jennifer hissed, clearly on the verge of a full-scale meltdown. “Jesus, do you have to ask so many questions?” She sighed. “Just a few vegetables, that's all. I figured maybe I could get something extra to sell in the store next year.”
“You know, you're going to end up scrubbing your skin away if you keep doing that,” Kate told her, watching as Jennifer used a thick-bristled brush to clean her nails. “Maybe you should -”
“I need to take a bath,” Jennifer replied, turning to her with wild, terrified eyes. “Can you... Can you get Anna up and dressed, and then keep her entertained for a while?”
“What about the shop?”
“Forget the shop, there's -” She stopped as she heard someone knocking on the front door.
“That's a customer,” Kate replied, “I'll just go and -”
“Leave it, they can come back later.”
“But if -”
Storming over to the door, Jennifer leaned through into the main part of the store. “Get out of here!” she shouted. “Come back after lunch! We're closed this morning.” Sighing, she turned back to Kate. “See? It was only Winifred Wood, she's got nothing better to do anyway. I swear, the people of this town expect me to be open all day every day, just in case one of them decides they need an extra cup of goddamn sugar.”
Kate stared at her for a moment.
“What's wrong?” she asked finally.
“Nothing's wrong,” Jennifer spat back at her, “I just need to take a bath. I've had a bad night, so can you please get Anna up? You said you wanted to help out around here, and right now the best thing you can do is just stop asking questions and do what I tell you. Seriously, Kate, everything's fine, I just had a bad night and I need to get my head straight.” Without waiting for an answer, she turned and hurried through to the bathroom.
“Right,” Kate muttered, setting her glass down and heading to the door, “I guess -”
Stopping suddenly, she glanced at the coffeepot and saw that one side had been badly dented. Figuring that it didn't mean anything, she headed to the stairs and then made her way up to fetch Anna, already feeling that it was a little strange for the girl to stay in her room so late.<
br />
“Hey,” she called out, forcing a smile as she reached out to open the door, “are you ready to -”
Finding that the door wouldn't open, she tried the handle a couple more times before realizing that it was locked. She looked down and saw that the key had been left behind, which meant that Jennifer must have locked the little girl inside. Turning the key, she opened the door cautiously and saw that Anna was sitting quietly on the bed, having apparently already dressed herself.
“Hey,” Kate said, trying to work out exactly what was happening.
“Am I in trouble?” Anna asked.
“No, I...” Pausing, Kate realized that something seemed very wrong. “Why would you think that?”
“She got really angry at me,” Anna continued. “When she found out that I went up to Baron Le Compte's house, she threw Estella out and then made me go to bed. I thought it was okay, but then I heard voices downstairs later, like she was arguing with a man, and then when I went to look...”
Kate stepped over to the bed and then took a seat next to the little girl.
“What happened when you went to take a look?” she asked.
“She shouted at me,” Anna explained. “She picked me up and carried me back here and said she was locking me in. Then I heard her doing lots of stuff downstairs, and then I heard her going out.” She paused. “And then I heard you coming back a few minutes ago.”
“Sounds like you had a busy night,” Kate told her.
“And her hands were wet and sticky,” Anna continued, holding up one of her own hands to reveal some dried blood. “She'd been bleeding.”
“Is that right?” Kate asked, trying to piece together Anna's fragments with the strange things she'd noticed a moment earlier while she was talking to Jennifer. “Do you happen to know who your mother was talking to downstairs?”
Anna shook her head.
“She doesn't tell you much, huh?”
“I've only seen her that upset once before,” Anna continued. “That was when my father died.”
“I'm sure it's nothing,” Kate told her. “Everyone has a bad night occasionally, even your mother.”
“Is she still mad at me?”
“Of course not,” Kate continued. “She's taking a bath, but she asked me to come and get you up, and I thought we could find a game to play. Does that sound good?”
Anna shrugged.
“It will be,” Kate said, getting to her feet and reaching out to take Anna's hand. “I promise.” Glancing out the window, she spotted the shovel leaning against the door, and she couldn't help wondering what, exactly, Jennifer had been up to during the night.
V
“This will need to be an all-day job,” Edgar explained as he heard Nixon entering the study, “so I've told Jacob to prepare some food for us. We'll be working until sundown, so I hope you won't start complaining. The last thing I need is someone nagging while I try to get to the bottom of this thing.”
He shoved some more papers into his bag, before turning toward the door.
“Okay, let's get -”
Stopping suddenly, he saw that it was not Nixon but Estella who had come through to join him.
“Sounds like you've got a busy day planned,” she told him, her voice sounding thin with tension.
“We're going to carry out a study of the stone circle,” he replied cautiously, “or rather, of the chamber I discovered last night.”
“Chamber?”
“It would appear that there is a chamber beneath the circle. It was built many centuries ago and then abandoned, but the creature that attacked you last night...” He paused, as he remembered that he'd intended to go and check on Estella during the night but had then become sidetracked. “I trust that you have fully recovered from the incident?”
She opened her mouth to reply, but something seemed to be holding her back. After a moment, she walked over to him and then turned her back, before slipping her dress down to expose the thick scratches running across her back.
“You must get Jacob to take a look,” Edgar told her. “I'm sure he has something that can help.”
“Yes,” she replied, pulling her dress back up, “I'm sure he does.”
“I'm sorry that you were caught up in this,” he continued. “That was not my intention.”
“Thank you,” she said with a faint, sad smile, while keeping her back to him, “I appreciate your kind words.” She paused for a moment, wondering if he would say more. “So you were out at the chamber last night? With Kate Langley, I believe?”
“It's a long story, but she led me to the place,” he explained. “Without her, I might never have discovered the chamber at all.”
“Oh dear,” Estella replied, her voice sounding strangely calm, “that would be awful. Then the horrid little creature would never have escaped.” She turned to him. “What was it, Edgar?”
“You do not need to know.”
“But I would like to.”
“Another time.”
“I'm sure you told Kate.”
At this, he paused for a moment. “Kate was there with me,” he said cautiously. “She and I saw the creature as it escaped from the chamber.”
“I heard Nixon refer to it as a Tenderling.”
“There will never be another on this island,” he said firmly.
“I should still like to know,” she continued. “Am I in danger of infection? Could it be diseased? Edgar, it cut me quite deeply, and it -”
“You are in no danger whatsoever,” he told her. “You must calm yourself, my dear. After everything that happened last night, I'm sure you're terribly out of sorts. Why not take the day to relax and find some way to occupy your mind?”
“Is that how you see me?” she asked. “As some kind of weak fool who can be fobbed off?”
“Alright,” Nixon said brightly, entering the room with a backpack slung over his shoulder, “I'm ready to -”
“Get out,” Estella said firmly, while keeping her eyes fixed on Edgar.
“Hello, old thing,” Nixon continued, “how are -”
“Get out!” she shouted, turning to him. “Now!”
“Right,” Nixon replied, taking a step back, “I... Well, I suppose I'll go and see how the weather's doing. I'll see you on the front steps, Edgar. Take your time, I can amuse myself.”
As Nixon left the room, Estella turned to see a hint of anger in Edgar's eyes.
“You didn't come to me last night,” she reminded him.
“I intended to -”
“But you didn't.”
“It was my intention,” he replied, barely able to hide his frustration. “After Kate told me that I should check on you, I headed upstairs but I was distracted by my sister. She, too, had a difficult night. In fact, I still have to -”
“I see,” Estella replied, with tears in her eyes, “so you thought to come and check on me, but only because Kate Langley told you to do so, and then you became distracted by Madeleine. Well, it's good to know where I stand in the pecking order, then, isn't it?”
“Last night was extraordinary for a number of reasons -”
“I know.”
“Do not push me, Estella.”
“Do not push me,” she snapped, as her anger finally began to flow. “I swear to God, Edgar, you are lucky that I don't walk out of here right now!”
“Can we talk about this later?” he asked. “Nixon and I -”
“This conversation won't take long,” she continued, stepping closer to him. “Today, Edgar, is a turning point. Our lives together hinge on this very moment.”
“Estella -”
“If you want me to leave,” she told him, sniffing back tears, “then just say so. If you want our engagement to be called off, either because you despise me or because you would rather marry someone else, then for God's sake have the decency to tell me!”
She waited for a reply, but he merely stared at her, as if he was shocked by her words.
“I can't believe I even have to
ask this,” she continued, “but... Edgar, do you want me to leave, so that you can pursue a romantic entanglement with Kate Langley?”
“Whatever gives you that idea?”
“The way you are together,” she replied, “and the way she seems, in just a week, to have changed you so much.” She paused. “A woman knows, Edgar, when another woman is entering her territory. You might not admit it, she might not admit it, the pair of you might not even be aware of any of this, but I can see it so very clearly, and I refuse to stand back and let you make a fool of me. If you have feelings for Kate, and if those feelings outweigh your feelings for me, then I demand that you are honest with me.”
Again she waited, but again he seemed unable to give her an answer.
“It's really a very simple question,” she added finally. “Edgar, do you have romantic feelings for Kate Langley?”
Silence fell between then for a moment.
“Edgar?” she continued, her voice trembling as tears began to fill her eyes. “You heard the question, didn't you?”
He nodded.
“Then tell me the truth.”
“I...” He paused. “I have no such feelings for Kate Langley. Anything you believe is happening, anything you suspect, is all in your head.”
“I'm not sure that you're right about that.”
“I am. I'm always right.”
“Or perhaps you simply refuse to admit it to yourself.”
“Please,” he replied dismissively, “do you think that I'm so pathetically unaware of my own thoughts that I could deceive myself so easily?”
“I think that any man -”
“I am not any man,” he said firmly. “Whatever possesses you to think such foolish thoughts?”
“And do you still want us to be married?” Estella asked. “I'm giving you the chance to end it now, Edgar. If you have feelings for Kate, or if you simply have no feelings for me, I'm begging you... If you no longer love me, please, please call our engagement off.”
He stared at her for a moment. “I will do no such thing.”
